America is culturally Christian. Or, at least it was at one point. Maybe some parts of the country still fall into that category, but the data is in and cultural Christianity is on its way out.
This has led some well-meaning evangelicals to celebrate. At last! they think, cultural Christianity is dying, so now people will stop pretending to be Christians and we can do some solid evangelistic work!
Yes, this is true. And the death of cultural Christianity will provide many new opportunities for evangelism. As cultural Christianity fades and generations pass, the country once thought to be a “city on a hill” will no longer have any conception of where that phrase came from (it never really was, anyway). Jesus will fade from cultural memory, and post-Christianity will turn into pre-Christianity. The good news is that, once this happens, America will be ready to receive the gospel (again) for the first time.
But before we start popping champagne bottles at the thought of this, let’s pause. The death of cultural Christianity isn’t something to be celebrated. It’s something to be mourned.
It’s important to say up front: Societies don’t get better by moving away from Christianity.
Perhaps here would be a good place to say that there is a difference between cultural Christianity and Christian culture. Cultural Christianity is the result of wide-spread Christian influence over culture. It tends to manifest itself in the assumption of a Christian identity for all or most members of a particular culture. This can be a good thing if part of the cultural Christianity involves personal confession and faith in Jesus, but it becomes bad when people are assumed to be Christians without any real faith in Christ. Cultural Christianity, in itself, cannot save a single sinner.
Christian culture is what happens when Christians do what we’re supposed to do: fulfill the Great Commission. Do we think that mass evangelization will not shape the culture?
Maybe we evangelicals have gotten so used to the idea of personal conversion that we forget that Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations, and to teach those nations to “observe all that I have commanded.” (Matt. 28:18–19). This means that the gospel is intended to shape not only individuals but entire societies.
Where did Christianity’s influence on culture come from? It came from a rich tradition of Christianity among our forefathers. The first and second Great Awakenings. The revival movements of past decades. It came from the collective agreement that the Bible is true and should be observed (however imperfectly that was done). It came, simply, as a result of a lot of Christians living in the United States.
Now, it can happen that the Church grows stagnant, discipleship weakens, and the gospel becomes diluted. Christianity, like in medieval Europe, can be someone’s assumed religion from birth, so personal faith in Jesus becomes less important, leading to more and more false converts. Like I said, cultural Christianity doesn’t save anyone.
But mark my words: Christianity’s influence makes society better. Christianity makes cultures objectively better.
Christianity gave us the idea of basic human rights, the equality of the sexes, the abolition of slavery, and the value of monogamous marriages based on love. Christianity taught us to speak up for the oppressed and give generously to the poor. It taught us that there is strength in humility and power in restraint. Christianity's influence has led to some of the best art, music, architecture, and legislation that the world has ever seen. Don’t think that society will get to keep the blessings of the kingdom while forsaking the King. For a full treatment of Christianity’s influence on the West, check this out.
Can’t we see this truth in our society today as Christianity’s influence has waned? How does post-Christian America look in 2021? We are more divided than we’ve been in more than a century. People on the Left and Right doubt the integrity of our institutions. We’re killing thousands of our own children every year. Many public schools are teaching our children the preposterous idea that biological sex is an essentially useless factor in self-realization. And if you think homeschooling will always be a viable option, just look at how that’s going in Germany.
Suicide rates, especially among the young, are higher than they’ve ever been. Anxiety and depression have become cultural epidemics. Divorce rates are incredibly high.
Let me be clear: Cultural Christianity may be dying, but it’s dying from the same cancer that is metastasizing in our society at this very moment.
The idea that post-modernism and secularism will build healthy societies harkens back to those ancient fools who thought they could build a tower up to the heavens to usurp God’s authority (Gen. 11). Secularism attempts to build civilization upon the shifting sands of subjective morality, relative truth, and ambiguous notions of “progress.” I seem to remember a great Teacher warning us about what happens to houses founded upon sands such as these (Matt. 7:26).
I’ve seen our future. I’ve spent the past few years living in a thoroughly post-Christian culture. Western Europe, once the heart of Christianity in the world, is littered with beautiful, empty cathedrals. The European Union has tragically abandoned any acknowledgment of its Christian history. Christianity is what made Europe the cultural powerhouse that it is. It gave Europe its framework to understand the natural world, human rights, and basic ethics. Yet Europe has largely turned its back on its rich history of Christianity and embraced the idols of progress and liberalism.
This is America’s future. Heck, this is America’s present. And barring any supernatural work of the Lord — which is always likely — there is no changing it.
Be prepared for American society to get a lot worse as it becomes less and less Christian. And — as Ross Douthat has pointed out — if we think the post-religious Left is bad, wait until we see the post-religious Right. The rise of alt-right nationalism and Q-Anon conspiracy theorists certainly isn’t the result of going to too many gospel-saturated Bible studies. Moreover, Trump polled better among those self-identified “evangelicals” who reported scarce church attendance compared to those who regularly attended church (which calls into question why they are labeled “evangelicals”).
And before anyone says, Well, that just means there will be that many more opportunities for gospel sharing! — yes, that is true. But it isn’t that easy. I’ve shared the gospel on college campuses here in Brussels. I’ve shared the gospel with lost people who’ve come to programs at my church. The post-Christian public isn’t as enthusiastic about the gospel as some optimistic, young evangelicals might suppose.
I really don’t want to sound bleak, as hard as it may be not to. I wholeheartedly believe the Church will triumph no matter what happens, as I’ve written about before. I just want us to know what we’re saying when we shout “Let cultural Christianity die!” It may very well need to die. But as it does, things won’t get better for the society our children will grow up in.
But there is always hope in the power of the gospel. The message of the crucified Christ is God’s power to save — to the uttermost — anyone who calls upon Him (Rom. 1:16; Heb. 7:25). So as the former cultural Christianity dies, Christians will go back to doing what we’ve always done: calling our society to repent and teaching them to observe all that the Lord has commanded. We’ll just go back to building a new Christian culture, and hopefully one with more staying power.
If we want justice to flow down like waters — if we want people’s deepest desires fulfilled — if we want strong families and communities — if we want honest business practices — if we want respectable institutions — if we want systemic sins to be absolved — we need Christianity. We need people shaped by the gospel, equipped with the toolbelt of God’s Word, to address these issues and fortify our civilization.
This will never be done perfectly until New Jerusalem. But it’s what we’re called to pursue until that holy city comes down. Stay the course, pray for revival, and brace yourself for a full-fledged post-Christian America. It won't be easy, but we'll triumph nonetheless.