The End of Evangelicals Next Decade?

Billy Graham, April 1966

In the news yesterday, an evangelical gives his reasons why he feels that the end for evangelicals is near:

The coming evangelical collapse

An anti-Christian chapter in Western history is about to begin. But out of the ruins, a new vitality and integrity will rise.

By Michael Spencer

from the March 10, 2009 edition

Oneida, Ky. – We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.

Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the “Protestant” 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.

This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.

Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I’m convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close.

Why is this going to happen?

1. Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake. Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress. Public leaders will consider us bad for America, bad for education, bad for children, and bad for society…Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can’t articulate the Gospel with any coherence…

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we’ve spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture… Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures.

3. There are three kinds of evangelical churches today: consumer-driven megachurches, dying churches, and new churches whose future is fragile. Denominations will shrink, even vanish, while fewer and fewer evangelical churches will survive and thrive.

4. Despite some very successful developments in the past 25 years, Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism. Evangelicalism has used its educational system primarily to staff its own needs and talk to itself.

5. The confrontation between cultural secularism and the faith at the core of evangelical efforts to “do good” is rapidly approaching. We will soon see that the good Evangelicals want to do will be viewed as bad by so many, and much of that work will not be done. Look for ministries to take on a less and less distinctively Christian face in order to survive.

6. Even in areas where Evangelicals imagine themselves strong (like the Bible Belt), we will find a great inability to pass on to our children a vital evangelical confidence in the Bible and the importance of the faith.

7. The money will dry up.

What will be left?

•Expect evangelicalism to look more like the pragmatic, therapeutic, church-growth oriented megachurches that have defined success. Emphasis will shift from doctrine to relevance, motivation, and personal success – resulting in churches further compromised and weakened in their ability to pass on the faith.

•Two of the beneficiaries will be the Roman Catholic and Orthodox communions. Evangelicals have been entering these churches in recent decades and that trend will continue, with more efforts aimed at the “conversion” of Evangelicals to the Catholic and Orthodox traditions…

•Charismatic-Pentecostal Christianity will become the majority report in evangelicalism. Can this community withstand heresy, relativism, and confusion? To do so, it must make a priority of biblical authority, responsible leadership, and a reemergence of orthodoxy…

•Expect a fragmented response to the culture war. Some Evangelicals will work to create their own countercultures, rather than try to change the culture at large. Some will continue to see conservatism and Christianity through one lens and will engage the culture war much as before – a status quo the media will be all too happy to perpetuate. A significant number, however, may give up political engagement for a discipleship of deeper impact.

Is all of this a bad thing?

Evangelicalism doesn’t need a bailout. Much of it needs a funeral. But what about what remains?

Is it a good thing that denominations are going to become largely irrelevant? Only if the networks that replace them are able to marshal resources, training, and vision to the mission field and into the planting and equipping of churches.

Is it a good thing that many marginal believers will depart? Possibly, if churches begin and continue the work of renewing serious church membership. We must change the conversation from the maintenance of traditional churches to developing new and culturally appropriate ones…

We need new evangelicalism that learns from the past and listens more carefully to what God says about being His people in the midst of a powerful, idolatrous culture.

I’m not a prophet. My view of evangelicalism is not authoritative or infallible. I am certainly wrong in some of these predictions. But is there anyone who is observing evangelicalism in these times who does not sense that the future of our movement holds many dangers and much potential? http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html

While I do not agree with several of his points, there are several that I would like to comment on.

First, I agree that Christians should not become distracted with worldly politics (see Should a Christian Vote? and Military Service and the Churches of God: Do Real Christians Participate in Carnal Warfare?). But they should pray for their leaders (see LCG: Pray for President Obama).

Second, compromise with the Catholics and Orthodox will basically mean that the evangelical movement will nearly completely disappear. Billy Graham was one of the major Protestant leaders that began the path towards compromise with the Catholics.

According to E. Bynum, Billy Graham in 1948 taught against Catholicism, but a later he changed his mind:

In 1948, Graham said, “The three gravest menaces faced by orthodox Christianity are communism, Roman Catholicism, and Mohammedanism,” NOW, he is continually saying nice things about the Catholics. In 1963 Dr. Graham spoke at Belmont Abbey College, a North Carolina Catholic school. On Nov. 21, 1967, he returned to Belmont Abbey to receive an honorary degree. At that time he made a shocking statement. He said, that he “knew of no greater honor” than the receiving of this degree. Then the shocker comes when he said, “The gospel that built this school and the gospel that brings me here tonight is still the way to salvation”…

A disturbed Roman Catholic wrote Graham about some of the changes going on in the Catholic Church. In his answer, Graham wrote, “Above all, don’t pull out of the church! Stay in it, stay close to the Lord, and use these experiences as an opportunity to help your church be what God intends and what the world needs.” What an answer for a Baptist preacher to give. This was published in his newspaper column, “My Answer”.

Billy Graham says: “Anyone who makes a decision at our meetings is referred to a local clergyman, Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish.” (1957) Roman Catholic Cardinal Cushing said: “I am 100% for the evangelist . . . I have never known a religious crusade that was more effective than Dr. Graham’s. I have never heard the slightest criticism of anything he has ever said from any Catholic source.” (1964) In 1963 Billy Graham said that he had a Roman Catholic bishop stand beside him and bless the “converts” as they came forward in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Bynum EL. Why We Cannot Support The Billy Graham Crusade. Tract # G-603. TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH, Lubbock, Texas)

Last November, I read a piece in “Christianity Today” where Billy Graham gave his reasons for this compromise, but it does not change the fact that partially because he did, others inclined towards his persuasion have also become accepting of the doctrines of the Church of Rome.

The time is coming when an ecumenical movement that will take the whole world by storm will rise up that the Bible warns against (Revelation 13:3-4; 18:4). And while this movement will call itself Catholic, even some Catholics have worried about it–and Orthodox should as well. Notice the following:

Abbott Joachim (died 1202): A remarkable Pope will be seated on the pontifical throne, under special protection… he shall recover the states of the Church, and reunite the exiled temporal powers. As the only Pastor, he shall reunite the Eastern to the Western Church…This holy Pope shall be both pastor and reformer. Through him the East and West shall be in ever lasting concord. The city of Babylon shall then be the head and guide of the world. Rome, weakened in temporal power, shall forever preserve her spiritual dominion, and shall enjoy great peace…At the beginning, in order to bring these happy results, having need of a powerful assistance, this holy Pontiff will ask the cooperation of the generous monarch of France (Great Monarch)…A man of remarkable sanctity will be his successor in the Pontifical chair…all men shall revere him (Cited in Connor, Edward. Prophecy for Today. Imprimatur + A.J. Willinger, Bishop of Manterey-Fresno; Reprint: Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford (IL), 1984, pp. 31-32).

Priest Paul Kramer: “The errors of Orthodoxy and of Protestantism will be embraced by that false church, it will be an ecumenical church because the Anti-Pope will be recognized by the world — not by the faithful, but by the world — by the secular world and the secular governments. The Anti-Pope will be recognized as the legitimate Pope of the “church,” and the legitimate head of the Vatican State. That “church” will be united with all the false religions. They will be united together under the universality of the Masonic umbrella. In that motley ecumenical union will be the established religion of the so-called civilized world. This is how we will get into the time of great persecution such as the world has never seen. (Kramer P. The Imminent Chastisement for Not Fulfilling Our Lady’s Request. An edited transcript of a speech given at the Ambassadors of Jesus and Mary Seminar in Glendale, California, September 24, 2004.THE FATIMA CRUSADER Issue 80, Summer 2005, pp. 32-45 http://www.fatimacrusader.com/cr80/cr80pg32.asp viewed 4/15/08)

Frederick William Faber (died 1863):…Antichrist…Many believe in a demonical incarnation–this will not be so–but he will be utterly possessed…His doctrine as apparent contradiction of no religion, yet a new religion…He has an attending pontiff, so separating regal and prophetic office (Connor, p. 87).

Priest O’Connor: “This final false prophet will be a bishop of the church and will lead all religions into becoming one.” (http://www.geocities.com/rebornempowered/ApparitionsofMary.htm 10/12/07)

Hence, knowingly or unknowingly, Catholic writers have warned those who will see that a dangerous ecumenical church will form and the world will tend to support it.

But my third and perhaps most important point, is that while the evangelicals I know seem sincere and profess to believe the Bible, because of their normally limited understanding of the teachings and practices of the early Christian church, they normally misunderstand many parts of the Bible. I strongly urge evangelicals to do something that Martin Luther urged, but did not practice himself (see Sola Scriptura or Prima Luther? What Did Martin Luther Really Believe About the Bible? ), and that is to base their doctrines on the Bible and not on traditions of men when those traditions depart from it.

Because time is short, it is highly likely that Michael Spencer is correct that the evangelical movement will be through by the end of the next decade. During the next decade, I believe that there will be a divide between two groups similar to how it was in the beginning (see also Early Church History: Who Were the Two Major Groups that Professed Christ in the Second and Third Centuries?).

There will be one group that has held to original Christianity, and another group that has compromised in the past and will compromise more so in the next decade (it will be a more changed, more “ecumenical” group). And while the Bible indicates that the latter group will be much larger for a time, it also shows that the ecumenical militaristic group will also be abolished.

The time to practice the original Church of God faith that Paul and the original Nazarene Christians practiced is now (see also Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes?). Probably by the end of the next decade, the evangelical option will be no more ( see also Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?).

People need to be grounded in the Christianity of the Bible and not the compromised versions that the majority of those who profess Christ somewhat follow.

Of course, the Living Church of God is NOT Protestant/evangelical as we trace our history back to the original apostles and do not hold many doctrines that the Protestants kept from the Church of Rome as opposed to the Bible. And, I believe that, those who truly wish to follow the cry of Sola Scriptura will be led by God to support us. Please, if you are an evangelical, be like the Bereans who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Several articles of possibly related interest may include:

Hope of Salvation: How the Living Church of God differ from most Protestants How the Living Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background.
Sola Scriptura or Prima Luther? What Did Martin Luther Really Believe About the Bible? Though he is known for his public sola Scriptura teaching, did Martin Luther’s writings about the Bible suggest he felt that prima Luther was his ultimate authority? Statements from him changing and/or discounting 18 books of the Bible are included. Do you really want to know the truth?
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Living Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions. Português: Qual é fiel: A igreja católica romana ou a igreja viva do deus? Tambien Español: Cuál es fiel: ¿La iglesia católica romana o La Iglesia del Dios Viviente? Auch: Deutsch: Welches zuverlässig ist: Die Römisch-katholische Kirche oder die lebende Kirche von Gott?
Some Similarities and Differences Between the Orthodox Church and the Living Church of God Both groups claim to be the original church, but both groups have differing ways to claim it. Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are?
There are Many COGs: Why Support the Living Church of God? This is an article for those who wish to more easily sort out the different COGs. It really should be a MUST READ for current and former WCG members or any interested in supporting the faithful church. It also explains a lot of what the COGs are all about.
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?