NBC Nightly News: Young Evangelicals in the Political Arena
The other night (11/30/07), the NBC Nightly News ran a report about young evangelicals in the political arena. In 2005, a survey was given to evangelicals ranging from age 30 and younger. The survey revealed that 55% claimed the Republican Party as their political party of choice. But just two years later, a similar poll showed that the numbers had dropped to 40%. The news report suggested a shift is taking place within the right-wing party of the Republicans. The NBC report identified a new group of young evangelical Christians within the Republican Party as being a part of the Emerging Church movement, which is strong among twenty-something Christians and more interested in showing the power of God's love to others, than in flexing their political power within a system.
The news piece centered in on the changing political environment within the Republican Party, emphasizing the differences, especially in moral issues, between younger evangelicals and their Boomer counterparts. A segment featuring Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, expressed Mohler's concerns about younger evangelicals watering down biblical orthodoxy within Evangelicalism. One of his main concerns was if young evangelicals continue to move away from traditional churches, then many of the older evangelical churches, including mega-churches, will lose people and leaders for the future.
The newscast was a very clear picture on what is occurring with many young Christians here in America. As for me, I don't think I had ever seen any of the major news media do a report on the transitioning political movement taking place within the churches in America. This showed me a couple of things. First, the media is slow to recognize, as has the Republican Party, the changes happening in many churches across the country. These changes with younger evangelicals have been going on for at least a decade (read Robert E. Webber's The Younger Evangelicals), so it should come to no ones surprise to see what is happening within the Republican Party. Second, older Christians are recognizing that young believers are leaving their churches. The Southern Baptist denomination is taking the lead in proactively searching out the reasons why this is happening. A recent survey by Life Way Research, part of the publishing ministry of the Southern Baptists, is revealing sobering numbers of just how many young Christians have left evangelical churches.
For NBC, it was just another news item to fill a spot. For evangelicals, it was a reminder of how a generation seems to be reevaluating and rethinking what it means to be "Christian". It made me think about what God is doing in our Country, and what is the role He has for me. I don't want to ignore His movement, nor do I want to respond too late to what He is doing among young believers. Time will tell of whether this younger evangelical group will redefine themselves in such a way that no political party will be able to claim them as their own.
The news piece centered in on the changing political environment within the Republican Party, emphasizing the differences, especially in moral issues, between younger evangelicals and their Boomer counterparts. A segment featuring Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, expressed Mohler's concerns about younger evangelicals watering down biblical orthodoxy within Evangelicalism. One of his main concerns was if young evangelicals continue to move away from traditional churches, then many of the older evangelical churches, including mega-churches, will lose people and leaders for the future.
The newscast was a very clear picture on what is occurring with many young Christians here in America. As for me, I don't think I had ever seen any of the major news media do a report on the transitioning political movement taking place within the churches in America. This showed me a couple of things. First, the media is slow to recognize, as has the Republican Party, the changes happening in many churches across the country. These changes with younger evangelicals have been going on for at least a decade (read Robert E. Webber's The Younger Evangelicals), so it should come to no ones surprise to see what is happening within the Republican Party. Second, older Christians are recognizing that young believers are leaving their churches. The Southern Baptist denomination is taking the lead in proactively searching out the reasons why this is happening. A recent survey by Life Way Research, part of the publishing ministry of the Southern Baptists, is revealing sobering numbers of just how many young Christians have left evangelical churches.
For NBC, it was just another news item to fill a spot. For evangelicals, it was a reminder of how a generation seems to be reevaluating and rethinking what it means to be "Christian". It made me think about what God is doing in our Country, and what is the role He has for me. I don't want to ignore His movement, nor do I want to respond too late to what He is doing among young believers. Time will tell of whether this younger evangelical group will redefine themselves in such a way that no political party will be able to claim them as their own.
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on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 8:17 AM.
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