The Rise of the 'Done With Church' Population
OK, so there is always some truth to the idea that we need to be talking to our people (which is one of the things this article encourages) but this statement highlights where we are today with many Christians:
Compare this with WCF XXV:
Which do we believe? Which do you believe? Have these people really not abandoned the Christian faith but they just don't go to Church anymore? Would you be willing to say to John that he can have no confidence that he will be saved being outside the Church?
I'm asking because I think there was a time when that question would not be hard to answer but voluntarism has created this category of "Christian" who isn't part of the visible Kingdom of God.
OK, so there is always some truth to the idea that we need to be talking to our people (which is one of the things this article encourages) but this statement highlights where we are today with many Christians:
John is one in a growing multitude of ex-members. They’re sometimes called the de-churched. They have not abandoned their faith. They have not joined the also-growing legion of those with no religious affiliation—often called the Nones. Rather, John has joined the Dones.
Compare this with WCF XXV:
II. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.
Which do we believe? Which do you believe? Have these people really not abandoned the Christian faith but they just don't go to Church anymore? Would you be willing to say to John that he can have no confidence that he will be saved being outside the Church?
I'm asking because I think there was a time when that question would not be hard to answer but voluntarism has created this category of "Christian" who isn't part of the visible Kingdom of God.