‘Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.’
Miss Maudie Atkinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
I grew up in Alabama, the heart of Dixie. I was raised in church and met Christ as an eleven year old church kid. I have lived all but three years of my life south of the Mason Dixon line.
I am grateful for so much of my heritage. I learned early to love the Bible. When the Conservative Resurgence started in my college days I knew where I stood—I never got over Sunday school! I believe the Word and would stand on it.
I love the passion for souls to be saved I witnessed in evangelistic meetings, the lessons learned in VBS, the basic morality I sought to live. I loved the good natured, everyday kind of friendliness I saw among Southern people, or at least among many.
But now I am a man who has spent his life investing in the gospel and its spread. And while I am grateful for so much of my heritage, the reality is that so much of my Christianity as I have grown has forced me to move away from what I would call Southern Religion.
Southern Religion means well. It talks a lot of Jesus. It sings about Him with passion. It values the institutions associated with His movement. But in too many ways it has also missed the point. And today it often gets in the way of the gospel. Let me be clear: Southern Religion today is part of a greater problem of cultural Christianity that has been too prevalent in the past and in other places. But I am a product of Southern Religion to some extent, so that is what I want to address here. I am not picking on Southerners–I am one! But I am highlighting what I believe to be a serious issue facing the church today.
Today Mike McDaniel posted an article at J.D. Greear’s site http://www.jdgreear.com/?d2fc6260 demonstrating the fact that in the South, the church is in decline. I would submit one of the reasons for this is the growing population in the South has become unimpressed at best and intolerant at worst of Southern Religion. Gospel-centered, evangelistic churches are in fact growing in the South, some quite rapidly. I am a member of a church that started 13 years ago and had about 1800 last week. But churches steeped in Southern Religion are dying, and fast. That is only going to accelerate.
What is Southern Religion? Let me offer a few characteristics. I would be interested in your observations as well.
Southern religion sees Christianity as an INSTITUTION. Far too much emphasis is put on what happens in a church building during services to the neglect of how life is lived in the culture. The quote above from Harper Lee’s novel illustrates this. This kind of mindset creates a DNA that says as long as things are going well in the building—we preach hard, sing with passion, and dress just right—then all is well in Christianity. That affects our evangelism. We love to see people get saved in our meetings. But 90% of us (at least) do not raise our children to do as little as try to reach our own neighbors for Christ. I am weary of the stories of Church people denying the gospel between the time they leave church services and return home by the way they stiff the servers in restaurants, for example. The church is both an institution AND a movement, and there should be no disconnect between believers’ actions in a building and in the culture.
Southern Religion sees Christianity from a MINIMALIST view. It defines a “great” Christian by the big 3: Show up in church, be a steward and give, and serve in the church. No matter that you are a racist, or cheat on your taxes, or practice shady deals in your business, just be active at the church house. Such a minimalist approach creates a “good guys vs bad guys” mentality with the bad guys being those who disagree, not with essential doctrine, but with your preferences. I lost count of how many times someone in the South told me they are sure Southern Gospel will be sung in heaven around the throne. With all due respect to my friends who love SG, music in heaven will be much better. When we start deciding from our preferences what matters most, the gospel gets pushed to the periphery. And that is exactly what has happened. We are reaping a lot of what we have sown.
This minimalist view relates to theology and morality. Your views on eschatology and the prohibition of alcohol had better line up. By the way, mine do, but I do not think either is quite as important as the Atonement. “I don’t smoke, drink, cuss, or chew, or run around with girls that do.” Make no mistake: the Scripture is clear in its call to holiness. But when Southern Religionists get passionate about alcohol but remain silent about racism, or get more vocal about their SEC football team than the good news found in Christ, even lost people see the disconnect.
It also affects how we teach our children the Bible. We teach the stories of the Bible—Moses and the Exodus, Daniel and the Lions Den, etc—and show moral lessons. We do not teach the great narrative of the Bible with the mission of God at its center. We tend not to teach a compelling vision of giving one’s life for the mission of God to the nations. Instead we raise children to be in a church culture and to learn bits and pieces of morality from Bible stories. They do not get a big picture understanding of life, reality, and how the gospel relates to it all. So they have been leaving homes for years and have created a whole new category of people who want nothing of Christianity—the dechurched. These former Southern Religionists see Christianity through the lenses of Southern Religion, and they sometimes are the most hostile to the gospel.
Southern Religion has a failed view of RELATING TO CULTURE. It takes an extreme separatist/sectarian bent. Do not go to movies, for example. Do not listen to sec’lar music. Such an approach has caused Southern Religion to create the most elaborate subculture in history. There is now Christian soap, jewelry, and mints. As long as it has “Christian” on the label and is found in approved Christian venues, it is okay. Can I make the observation that there is some awful theology in some “Christian” songs. And a lot of emotion with no gospel content that goes under the banner of good preaching. I have even seen a Moses action figure and a lego with the Trinity. So let me get this: let’s stay separate from the world and create our own little heaven with our own toys and other junk. Meanwhile that evil old world can go to hell.
Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. But I have seen enough Christian surface religion to last for 5 lifetimes. And I have been a co-conspirator at times. We have a lot to strip away to get to the Word of God and to be able to proclaim the Gospel of God. As I argue in my book Radically Unchurched, we are called to INVADE the culture with the gospel.
I know not every person in every church in the South is like this. Far from it. I constantly meet passionate, gospel-sharing believers in my travels. But I also see the impact of Southern religion.
Let me close with another quote from Harper Lee’s novel: ‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’ Miss Maudie Atkinson
Maybe we can learn from a Mockingbird. Let us be about the gospel, and let us spurn the pull to settle for religion.
Note: AdvanceTC is hosting a conference to deal with the issues facing the church in the South. I highly encourage you to come to this event. Speakers include Mark Driscoll, Ed Stetzer, Johnny Hunt, David Platt, Tullian Tchividjian, Matt Carter. It will be held in Raleigh April 26-27. Register at www.advancethechurch.com
Dr. Reid, I just wanted to let you know this article really clarified some thoughts I have been having as of late. As we prepare for this conference I have been looking back over what it means to be steeped in the civil religion of the South. Thanks
Dr. Reid
Being born and raised in a small town in east Tennessee, I went to that very Church. Looking back I can remember hearing if a woman wore makeup it was a sin, if a man had hair over his ears he was going to hell. Those type are Churches are still here, I am just blessed to have gotten out when I did.
Dr. Reid,
I am right there with you and have brought these same points up to the people of the church. However, how do we get them motivated if God’s word will not even do it for them.
I see and agree with what you have said here. I too have been raised in this culture.
One point I would like to add an opinion to deals with RELATING TO CULTURE. We have to be careful to say that it’s OK to go to movies b/c it reflects our culture or put ourselves in certain places, because we’re attempting to relate to culture. Too many disciples today allow themselves to be negatively affected by the culture. We are commanded to be holy as He is holy. Dwelling on things that are not pure, holy, true, etc. damage our relationship with Christ. We have to avoid being tempted and being carried away by our own lusts.
Being separate is not wrong. God wanted the Israelites to do so. Nothing is wrong in itself unless it de-glorifies God and the image He has placed in us. Satan roams seeking to devour like a lion, and salt that has lost it’s saltiness is only good to be thrown out.
Seeking to be in the world but not of it,
John
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Dr. Reid,
Thank you so much for what you do in obedience to our Savior! I really appreciate this article and the thoughts you present. I also wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed hearing you at the Evangelism Conference here in Warner Robins this past week. Enjoy might be the wrong word because it felt like you kept hitting me with wooden boards in the forehead the entire time! I appreciate how God used you to convict us when it comes to evangelism.
I am graduating from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis in May. I have see this daily in our city. The church has a skewed view of Christianity and it digusts me and my fellow students. It seems as if the churches want to sit on the outside of the city and leave the task of inner-city evangelism to a few crazy seminarians or a few crazy pastors. I am reading your book “Evangelism Handbook” right now, and you hit many of the problems in there. However, this article sums up ‘Southern Religion.’ Thank you for writing it sir.
As you well know, much of what you describe is the resulting point on the Venn diagram where American Independence intersects with what you refer to as the Institution of Church. Other countries deal with the gospel very differently than we do. They aren’t able to be so hypocritical, to live like what you sometimes call “practicing atheists”. Thank you for your boldness and honesty. I would appreciate any insight or feedback you would have for my blog as well. Until We’re All Home…
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Alvin,
thanks for the good words. I was born and raised in a church in Alabama and have spent most of my life there. But after seminary I pastored a very southern church in Louisiana, then left after a year. 2nd worst experience of my life. Then I spent 6 years in Tampa working in the IT industry. Loved being around the pagans there. I would rather be around pagans than Southern Christians because they are much more transparent and open. After now 6 years as a pastor in Delaware, I have no desire to pastor again in the South. Way too much institutionalism there. And most still don’t have a clue about life outside of the institutionalism that exists.
I wish all pastors and all professors could spend time outside of the South. It would change what’s left of our convention. It might change how we approach people, how we preach. It will change you.Just know this…what we live with now is coming to the South, and what is happening there now will have to change.
I hear alot of talk in Churches about what style or methods we should go with. I am weary of churches that fight over methods or styles. I am hearing alot of Christians complain about the Church more than the Lost world. I hear some many people say that the old methods do not work anymore For example I had somebody tell me that Churches should stop having Revivals because they do not work anymore or we need to change our styles of music or styles of preaching. I have seen some the meanest Lost sinners come in to a country Church where the preacher just Jesus and the Cross and God use that sermon to convict that person and that person got saved. I was in a tent meeting recently and the preacher preached on the cross and a whole local high school foot ball got saved. I have some awesome things happen in churches that are not traditonal type churches. I think both methods work as long as it is about JESUS. You can have new methods and you can have the old methods but if Jesus is not at the center it will not have any power. We should not be asking what method a church is using but what is the message a church should preaching. Lets get back to Jesus and realize not of it works without him and we will see revival.
Thanks for the comments all. I do not want only to point out problems but to offer solutions as well. Patrick, if you check out my new Evangelism Handbook you will see that I affirm both conventional approaches (such as mass evangelism) and more missional practice. Add without subtracting. And beyond that, methods will not bring change. A renewed theological conviction about the gospel and a posture of looking at the US as missionaries will.
I do enjoy reading your blogs and appericate what you do at southwestern I hope you dont think I was insulting your blogs by that comment I made. I am 28 yrs and I apperciate all you are doing to reach the younger generation coming up.
Not at all Patrick. Keep thinking and keep telling the good news. Noted I studied at SWBTS but teach at SEBTS.