Is Christianity on the Cusp of Resurgence?

Some concerns and hopes

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Recently there have been signs of growing cultural interest in Christianity. I’ve written about some of this interest myself at Christianity Today. The general argument goes something like this: in the last few decades, even many secular people have grown dissatisfied or disgusted with the godlessness of the progressive worldview. Whether it’s middle-aged men seeking an answer to their loneliness during an loneliness epidemic; or young men attracted to the order, discipline, and hierarchy of Christianity; or what James Wood calls “reality respecters”—people who reject transgender ideology and other affronts to natural law; or whether it’s people attracted to the mental health and social benefits of Christianity, people are warming to the cultural idea of the Christian faith. What is less clear to me is to what extent people are being drawn by the beauty of the gospel and how much these people understand the life of self-denial and self-sacrifice that is called for in the life of a Christian.

All of this was in the back of my mind when a friend sent me this tweet by Inventor and Founder Jon Fio:

I’ve started to receive “Uber for religion” and “it’s like equinox but for faith” pitches.

Even the nerds are feeling the vibe shift.

When I tell you religion, Christianity in particular, is going to explode over the next 20 years, it’s going to EXPLODE.

What a fascinating cultural artifact this tweet is. First, consider that this consultant is getting investor pitches for companies planning on capitalizing on a potential rise in religion, “particularly Christianity” (he doesn’t explain why Christianity). Second, he’s predicting the resurgence of Christianity based on techbro vibes and pitches. Third, he’s so confident that he claims it’s going to “EXPLODE” in all-caps.

I’m no historian, but I don’t know if in all of Christian history anyone has predicted a revival in a country based on the number of investor pitches for Christian technological products.

On its own, Fio’s tweet is just a tweet in the Void of Twitter. But taken together with the other pieces (“reality respecters,” people fleeing the despair of a loneliness and meaninglessness crisis, the social and mental health benefits of religious practice), it does seem like just more evidence that some kind of resurgence of Christianity is happening. The only question is what form it will take?

Even from the time I wrote my piece for Christianity Today, I’ve grown more concerned that what we are headed for is not a resurgence or revival but a commodification of the Christian faith. Certainly that tweet did nothing to assuage my fears. I do stand by everything I wrote in that CT article; I still “believe unbelievers who are first attracted by the benefits, not the gospel, may yet stumble into the faith. They may seek God ‘and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us’ (Acts 17:27).”

But I also believe this: no revival can happen without the work of the Spirit. And the work of the Spirit will produce fruit leading to repentance and reliance upon Christ’s finished work on the cross, not upon the idea of Christianity, or the mental health and social benefits of Christianity. And certainly true Christianity cannot fall into becoming another social identity just like any other social identity. We are Christians because God’s revealed Word expresses the order of the cosmos, not because we want to differentiate ourselves from Others (Progressives, the Woke, and so on).

My concern is that what might be happening is precisely what Fio described: a “vibe shift.” Not, in most cases, an awakening of the Holy Spirit, but a kind of tribalistic, memetic act of negative partisanship or identity branding or a general mood. Christianity conceived not as a living faith before a living God, but as a useful tool for more efficiently waging the culture war, or achieving personal well-being, or standing out in a crowd. I think it’s entirely possible that we see a form of Christianity arise that looks little like the self-denying Christianity of Christ, with Christ on the throne, and more like an identitarian platform for self-actualization. Indeed, this is already the case for some. There are left-leaning and right-leaning versions of this.

I don’t think it has to play out like this. God is sovereign. And we ought to hope all things. But we should also be sober-minded about the motives and “vibes” of some actors in this diverse “resurgence.”

One mistake we must avoid is being so “winsome” toward this group that we fail to challenge their misconceptions of the faith. Plenty of people have made the (sometimes accurate) accusation that certain religious figures in the last decade or so erred by being so winsome toward left-leaning new believers that they failed to preach the whole counsel of God, allowing those new believers to become progressive in their theology or abandon the faith altogether. I don’t intend to relitigate that debate here, but I do think that general principle applies that when inviting new believers in we must be cautious about not giving them a false image of what the faith is just to make it more inviting.

Here’s what I mean. In an effort to draw in as many of these Christianity-curious folks, we downplay the life of self-denial and self-sacrifice at the heart of Christian life. We embrace technological tools like “Uber for religion.” We stress the culture war power of Christianity. The tradition and heritage of Christianity. We ignore grace, kindness, self-control, love, gentleness, and patience. We don’t focus on the gospel. We stress the psychological and social benefits of church, but ignore the life of persecution and suffering that naturally come to all Christians. But most concerningly, we ignore the gospel.

It doesn’t have to be this way. If people like Fio (along with many others) are correct, the coming years will see a resurgence of faith. The question will be what form that faith takes. Ultimately, God is sovereign over that answer, but we have a responsibility to do what we can at this moment in history to ensure that those who are curious about religion and especially Christianity hear the whole counsel of God. That when they conceive of Christianity they conceive of the true faith. The Good News of the gospel, first and foremost, but also God’s will for our lives, His law. Which entails self-sacrifice, self-denial, taking up our cross daily, turning from sin, rejecting disordered desires, not seeking after self-centered brand identities, not seeking after vain gains in culture wars (some culture war gains are not vain, but many are), and not seeking after vain comfort and ease.

We have a role to play in what the coming years will bring. And I think that means that we need to be leading with the gospel and emphasizing that Christianity is not a lifestyle option to be adopted on a vibe, but the truth about the cosmos.

One danger we haven’t discussed is the reality that there will be “dogs,” as the Apostle Paul would term them, who will try to turn people from the true faith. There will be “pastors” and “influencers” who take this fresh interest in Christianity that is inspired by the culture wars, identity branding, a desire for community or better mental health, or some other reason other than the gospel, and will appeal to them based on those reasons, giving them a “Christianity” that is Culture War Christianity, or Health and Well-Being Christianity, or Identity Christianity. Etc. The gospel will be lost. Christ will be lost. I have already seen such “influencers” doing this.

Here’s the reality: if you don’t want the dogs to divert people interested in Christianity from the true faith, then you need to actively pursue those people yourself. Which may mean reaching out and engaging with people who have different political and cultural views than yourself. If you choose to view those people as undesirable or unreachable or unclean, they will go to someone who will accept and respect them as people. And there are always people waiting to accept others for malicious purposes.

Do I think we will see an “Uber for Religion”? No. Do I hope all things for a Christian revival? Yes! But because I’m trying to be sober-minded and clear-eyed about our culture, I think we have several potential pitfalls to watch out for. Ultimately this is all the work of the Holy Spirit. But we have a duty to do what we can to invite people to the true living faith and preach the whole counsel of God in a way that is winsome and honest.