Ex-Christian America?
I’m not sure whether I’m writing a book review or a commentary or an essay today. I do know that we are living in a secular age, and Stephen Bullivant’s new book gives us access to what sort of water we are swimming in. Bullivant’s book, Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America, offers a readable, compelling, cheeky, and sobering look at the rise of the non-religious persons in America today.[1] And church leaders, whenever they get free from worrying about the decline of their congregations, may well want to read this book because Bullivant will give them the reasons for why they may be worrying about decline.
According to Bullivant, who gathers up loads of demographic data and weaves in the stories from 70 interviews conducted, one in four persons in America are non-religious. Or, to put it more bluntly, they are “nonverts.” What Bullivant means with this term is that they are persons who have consciously ceased to be Christian. They have chosen to walk away from faith. And although the reasons for this departure from Christian faith are many, the reasons do fall into some broad cultural realities that cannot be undone.
What are some of those reasons? For Bullivant, American culture is shaped by the aftermath of the Cold War where atheism was linked to communism. Yet the Cold War, along with communism, is no longer the primary threat; and still, atheism lingers on and has become quite accessible. Bullivant also identifies the weakening of religious affiliation (denominationalism matters less and less) and the expansion of the internet (where you can find out almost anything and form social bonds with all kinds of special interest groups). These factors result in a steady decline of religious authority over a wide array of social and cultural dynamics—including gender, sexuality, and the freedom of the individual to choose whatever they want to do.
Most importantly, from my way of thinking, Bullivant’s analysis offers another dimension. When persons leave the church traditions that have shaped them, they are still carrying the particular influences and wounds from those traditions. That makes them different from a person who was never a Church-of-Christ person or a Baptist or a Catholic. So nonverts—persons who were at one time some sort of Christian—have a particular history that persons who were never really Christian do not have.
Bullivant’s book is a blend of narratives from interviews and social-science data. My only critique is that the interviews do not really inform his opinions, they merely illustrate his own convictions. However, the social-science data is spot on, and the narratives make real the dynamics that are in play in our cities across America. His book is a readable one, and if you are looking for a way to gain insight into what is going on in the neighborhood that you live in or that surrounds your church campus, then Bullivant is a good read.
In short, Christian leaders are kidding themselves if they think that congregational life and teaching can remain the same. Bullivant will not provide answers to what congregational life and teaching needs to look like. But, as I noted in last month’s essay, the gospel is the key. For churches to flourish, the answer will lie in healthy congregational life and robust Christian formation. That has always been the case. What Bullivant’s work poignantly points out is how poorly American Christianity has attended to gospel-driven life and formation. Bullivant’s “nonverts” make up 25% of Americans today—and this group is growing rapidly. May God grant us wisdom and grace for a revival in our churches.
Blessings,
Carson
[1] Stephen Bullivant, Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America (Oxford University Press, 2022).
