Connecting The Dots Between Muslims in the Pentagon, Growing Churches and Narcissistic AdultsBob Burney
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Sometimes it's extremely interesting how seemingly disparate newspaper articles suddenly come together in a "connect the dots" manner.  Such was the case recently as I did show preparation for my daily radio program.
How can you link together an article about Muslims in the Pentagon, another about the 100 fastest growing churches in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />America and another about American business executives bemoaning the fact that more and more of the young people they hire are horribly narcissistic?   Well, let's see if you can connect the dots as I did.  First a look at the articles.
Out of the Washington Times is a troubling article about the growing number of Muslims in America's military and the concessions that are being made for their religous practices.  It started with a description of a celebration of Ramada that was actually held within the walls of the Pentagon.  That's not actually what caught my eye while in my "dot connecting mode".  This is what grabbed me, "the Pew Hispanice Center estimates the U.S. Muslim population in 2007 at 2.35 million people and growing..."   It was the "growing" that arrested me.
The business piece was in the Boston Globe.  The subtitle was, "The crop of talented recent graduates coming into today's workforce is widely seen as narcissistic and entitled.  And those ar their best qualities."  The article quotes several business executives, psychologists and studies - all indicating that today's young adults may be the most selfish, self-centered, self-serving generation in American history.  The conclusion is that the situation is only getting worse with no sign of improvement.
The third article is about a recent study in Outreach Magazine about America's 100 largest and fastest-growing churches.  The main body of the article was about the "Megatrends" that are common in all of these churches.  As I anxiouly looked to see what was causing these churches to grow - I was deeply disappointed to see little mentioned about anything Biblical or spiritual.  I'm certainly not saying there isn't anything Biblical or spiritual going on in these churches - I'm simply commenting on the "analysis" offered as to their rapid growth.
I read these three articles along with over a dozen others in preparation for the day's program - when suddenly my mind and heart began the dot connecting.  Unexpectedly these three articles were drawn almost magnetically together in my reasoning. 
Allow me to at least attempt to connect these stories.
I am absolutely thrilled that we have so many Evangelical Churches in America that are growing.  I have nothing against the current Mega-Church trend - as long as these churches are actually Biblically based congregations.  Unfortunately, however, all of the attention the Mega-Church trend receives sometimes gives a false view of what is actually happening, spiritually, in our country.  The statistics vary from poll to poll and study to study but all agree on this - church attendance is not increasing in America.  It is either staying steady or declining.  Evangelical Christianity is not on the rise.  Several studies in the past few years have indicated that at least 80% of all church growth, including and especially the Mega-Churches, is "transfer" growth - not evangelism.  In other words - moving bodies from one church to another.  Often, today today that simply means from many smaller churches to one bigger one in a particular community.  I will not paint with too broad a brush here - but much of that growth has come from a seeker-sensitive mentality that desires to give people anything and everything they want.  The program of the church is built on "felt needs" and desires.  You do a survey, find out what people want and you give it to them - in order to fill seats with warm bodies.  It's the Wal-mart syndrome.   When Wal-mart comes to town most of the "Mom & Pop" shops have to close - they simply can't compete.  Ditto with some Mega-Churches.  Do you see the line connecting this "dot" with the article on today's narcissistic culture?   Is it possible that in our zeal to build bigger and bigger churches we have unknowingly fed the narcissism
of our age?  Is it possible we have become part of the problem rather than the cure?  For centuries the cry of the Church was "come and die with us".  Today, often it seems to be, "come and let us entertain you".  Somewhere the true meaning of the Cross has been lost.
Finally the article on the Pentagon and the "growing" Muslim population.  Islam is growing in America, Evangelical Christianity is not.  We've got far more Mega-Churches than ever before - but we're not reaching more people - just re-arranging the ones we already have reached.   Maybe it's time to stop complaining about how Muslims are taking away our rights and start trying to reach them with the Good News of Jesus Christ.