This ties in with how Brian McLaren begins his recent book “Finding our way again”. He tells of a time he interviewed someone (Dr Senge) with an audience of 500 Christian pastors listening. Dr Senge asked the audience “Why are books on Buddhism so popular and not books on Christianity?” Then he replied “I think it’s because Buddhism presents itself as a way of life, and Christianity presents itself as a system of belief. So I would want to get Christian ministers thinking about how to rediscover their own faith as a way of life, because that’s what people are searching for today. That’s what they need most.”

Most remarkably, however, was the overwhelming support registered among evangelicals for Republican candidate John McCain. In total, 88% voted for Sen. McCain, compared to just 11% for Sen. Obama. The 88% is statistically identical to the 85% of evangelicals who backed George W. Bush in 2004. Surveys conducted by Barna throughout the campaign season showed that evangelicals were not enthusiastic about either candidate, but on Election Day evangelicals came through in a big way for the most conservative major candidate on the ballot.

So, it is possible that Evangelicals in the rest of the country made up for the perception that we share that many younger evangelicals voted for Barack Obama, or that more “older evangelicals” offset the perception.

I guess there is one more possibility… that younger evangelicals did not actually vote for Barack Obama more than they would have any other Democrat candidate.

I have several thoughts on this.

1 – Barack Obama is thoroughly post-modern in his thinking and worldview. Many younger people in the evangelical church have also adopted this worldview perspective, or are at the very least heavily influenced by it. This is part of the attraction… they feel kindred spirit because they view reality in similar patterns and through a similar grid.

2 – The evangelical church has done a very poor job in passing on a balanced view of the Christian faith to the “Net Generation” – defined as the generation born after 1987. We have focused primarily on “right-thinking” and “right-belief” (also know as orthodoxy), and neglected “right-living” and right-practice” (also known as orthopraxy). We have largely assumed that if we told our kids what to believe, and told them that what we believed was right, they would accept this and be like us.

This has not happened. Our kids have grown up in a world and culture where everything is being questioned. Even the possibility of knowing truth is questioned. This calls for a church to not only focus on orthodoxy, but to demonstrate that it is real on the experientail level as well. It demands that we be authentic in our faith and live it out, in line with what we say we believe. Sadly, we have not done this. The demographic statistics for “Christians” and the rest of society are almost the same. We get divorced, have abortions, sleep around, etc… just as much as the world around us. We are virtually no different. We have lost credibility.

I think your observation about the voting patterns is the result of this trend. Many younger “evangelicals” do not have a worldview foundation that makes certain views, beliefs and behaviors non-negotiable and incompatible with orthodoxy. Many tend to view these issues as relative, and changeable in importance based upon the circumstances.

Our response (orthodox Christians) to this trend will be telling. We will either see the needs and change the way we live and engage the culture, or we will hunker down, and retreat from the “world.”

In some ways, I think this radical shift in politics, and the likely changes coming in our culture could be very good for the church. We needed a kick in the but… question is, will we see it for what it is and get going on the transformation that is needed in our own lives and outlook. That is the challenge I face and am thinking about these days.