Source: New form of Christian civic engagement – USATODAY.com.

“We are seeing head-snapping generational change,” notes conservative columnist Michael Gerson. “The model of social engagement of the religious right is increasingly exhausted.”

Thank God. A distinctive way of being Christian in the public square — a softer, less partisan way — is emerging. And this cultural change could be the very thing our faith needs to survive.

This article is inspiring indeed!  Even when I used to call myself and Evangelical Christian I was totally embarrassed by the extreme political turmoil caused by the so called “Moral Majority”. Their morals were limited to pretty much hating everyone and everything they did not agree with.  They were one of the reasons I quit calling myself a Christian and moved to being a “follower of Jesus Christ”.  They had drifted so far eschew from the teachings of Jesus as to being almost the opposite of him. They become much more about “empire” than they were about the kingdom.

Jesus had only a few harsh words for anyone outside of the religious establishment, so it is heartening to see as the article says a “softer, less partisan way” is being practiced by the current crop of millennials.  According to almost all statistics church membership is drying up and will soon die off if nothing is done.  But real change cannot happen as long as the empire seeking judgmental voices are heard from the weekly pulpits.  I can only pray that this change mentioned in the article will eventually occur in the pulpits as well as the pews.

When all Christians go back to the words of Jesus and away from extreme partisan empire politics of today the pews begin to once again begin to fill up. But it will no happen before then. Some have shown that every five hundred years Christianity has had a major shake up to restore it to its roots. Many are saying that is what is happening right now with the “emergent” church movement.  I will have more to say about the emergent church in coming posts both here and in the RedLetterLiving blog…..