The findings from the 2010 census are set to be released this summer, but some preliminary estimates are already being reported by the Associated Press. Every Southern Baptist (and indeed every Christian) who wants to understand what Great Commission ministry is going to look like in this century needs to pay attention to these numbers.
Probably the most significant item in this report relates to minorities. No doubt, many readers have already heard that demographers predict that by 2050 whites will no longer be the majority in the United States. This census finds that for the first time minorities already make up a majority of babies in the U.S. This means that the churches in America that wish to fulfill the Great Commission in the United States will have to have a strategy for reaching America as it is, not as it was. In short, that means that we are going to have to believe and practice what our parents taught us: "Red, yellow, black and white -- they are precious in His sight." If a church is not welcoming to minorities, not only will it be in sin (Matthew 28:19; Revelation 5:9-10), it will also become increasingly irrelevant.
Here's another item from the report that we need to pay attention to, according to one demographer quoted in the story: "We're moving toward an acknowledgment that we're living in a different world than the 1950s, where married or two-parent heterosexual couples are now no longer the norm for a lot of kids, especially kids of color." This reality is as sad as it is sobering. But it also alerts us to another set of challenges that we have to face.
To read more, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment