5 Ways Culture is Changing

by Dan Scott

One of the first times I went to see a therapist. I explained how I was feeling anxious and wanted to learn some coping strategies to alleviate them. He looked at me and said; sure I can definitely teach you some techniques that will help you when you feel anxiety bubbling up. But that’s not why we’re here. We’re here to focus on WHY you’re experiencing this anxiety in the first place. You can manage symptoms all day, but until you get to the root cause of why the symptoms exist and address that, you’ll never experience the healing that is available to you. 

And lately, as I’ve been thinking about the church - the words of my therapist have been ringing in my ear because we’re dealing with a lot of symptoms. 

Symptoms like . . . 

Cost of Ministry

Volunteer Needs

Attendance Declines

Changing Family Priorities

Dropping Out

Division

Staff Burnout

Staffing Gaps

And while these are all important issues to address and make better. . . they are symptoms of even greater cultural moments impacting the church. 

And until we at least acknowledge that these exist, we’ll never get the chance to find an effective path forward. That’s why it’s important to understand some of the cultural shifts happening and how they are impacting our churches, communities, and the next generation. 

Now, of course, there are more than 5 of these, but these 5 seem to have the greatest impact on what we’re experiencing in the church as we start 2024. 

1. Hyperreality 

As of 2007, with the development of programming and tech that made big data possible combined with the release of the iPhone, we have entered what sociologist Thomas Friedman called “the Age of Acceleration.” This past fall, FORBES called it “hyperreality.” 

“Hyperreality - technology is moving faster than our ability to understand its implications.”

In short, the world struggles to keep up with the world. 

This has been true since the advent of the smartphone, but this is especially true with more widespread acceptance of AI. Not wanting to miss opportunities, people are rushing to use the tech and even monetize their experience with the tech. We’ve even seen courses on how to integrate AI into your sermon prep. However, the technology is moving forward at such a rapid pace that people are unaware of the parameters needed to ensure it’s safe and doesn’t lead to unintended consequences. 

One of the unintended consequences is that fact that culture faces: algorithmed echo chambers.

Each click, every Google search, every song we play, every post we like or share, video we watch on YouTube tells the algorithm what we want to see, and before long, we’re so immersed in the algorithm that we might not even realize the validity of another way of thinking about important issues. This, of course, has led to DIVISION both within the culture at large but also among our churches and denominations. 

These divisions are compounded by the fact that we’re trending towards a post-demographic future. 

2. Post-Demographic Future

This shift is coming out of marketing agencies that have been used to promoting products to traditional segments. In the past, adulthood could be divided by a trajectory of milestones: college, first job, first home, marriage, growing kids, empty nest, grandchildren, retirement, etc. Related would be things like age, gender, generation, location, or income. These were traditionally how marketing firms would know when and how to help companies market their products and services. However, PushkinPR in late 2023, commented that,

“People—of all ages and in all markets—are constructing their own identities more freely than ever.”

In April of last year, Forbes commented, “The very notion of life stages is being challenged and reshaped. There is no longer a neatly defined middle and end.”

Churches have often done the same: college and career classes, engagement classes, young married small groups, parenting classes, and empty nester day trips to local attractions. Yet adults are no longer neatly fitting into any sort of distinct category. A young married couple could be in their 40s, but the same could be true for empty nesters who never chose to have children. College and Career are a continuum as people are choosing to go back to school in their middle years for a second career in the latter half of life. 

Compounded by a growing life expectancy combined with hyperreality and accelerated culture, generational markers are shrinking the size of generations while also causing widening generational gaps.

These generational gaps are made even wider by generational shifts in their centers of gravity.

3. Shifting Centers of Gravity 

We are experiencing a massive shift in the center of gravity for the two youngest generations as culture has reached the postmodern tipping point. 

Yet national and church leadership is still primarily run by older generations whose center of gravity remains firmly planted in a modern mindset. We were once warned of the impending post-modern future, but we’re here, and there’s much to be excited about. But that doesn’t take away from the assumptions being made on both sides that leave us with a culture that lacks empathy and understanding. This goes both ways, and it’s impacting how we can move forward and grow as congregations and disciples of Jesus because it’s literally like we aren’t speaking the same language. 

This eventually leads to . . . 

4. Widespread Deconstruction 

As the culture at large becomes more aware of the global perspectives that have shaped history and the way they have influenced the human story, we’re experiencing shifting views on significant sociological issues. 

How culture thinks about these hot-button issues is not only causing division among families, but we are now experiencing fractured churches & denominations, leaving families caught in the crossfire and feeling abandoned by people and institutions they trusted. In the US, these nationally covered fractures and denominational infighting have people wondering if they even want to be part of the church anymore.

But, although we’ve experienced it in the church, deconstruction is not a phenomenon limited to faith traditions. Anyone can experience a life event that triggers them to rethink what they’ve known about life as they’ve learned and experienced. 

As we were all impacted by a global traumatic event throughout the pandemic, it’s no wonder we’re seeing a massive reimagining of life, including what it means to be a follower of Jesus in the mid-2020s.

And speaking of the impact of the pandemic, the final shift is the . . . 

5. Decentralized Global Economy

I bring this up because decentralization is 100% impacting the church. In so many words, decentralization means that the pandemic essentially shattered the traditional boundaries of work that have influenced work life–cubicles, set schedules, and geographic limitations. 

We now live in what Harvard Business Review calls,

“A 24/7, boundaryless ecosystem of collaboration that spans continents, time zones, and cultures.”

We can work from anywhere. So, in response to that, people are choosing autonomy, flexibility, and immediate income over college debt, cubicle farms, and even traditional job security. 

This is especially true of the emerging generations who are choosing to enter the workforce after high school or after attending a 2-year trade school. They’d rather be guaranteed some sort of work rather than crushing student loans without the guarantee of a high-paying job to pay it off. 

This is also true of higher religious education. Seminary is expensive. And we are hearing about an increasing number of staffing gaps and underprepared & undereducated church staff. We can’t find people to do the work of the church. And if we do find them, they’re not quite prepared to do the work unique to local church ministries.

But as you can probably tell already…

everything is connected to everything. 

As you think through the shifts themselves, you can see how they are related to each other, but these are also related to the symptoms of issues we’re experiencing in the church.

And while we can be upset, lament, etc… the truth we need to remember is that:

Every cultural shift creates an opportunity for growth. 

The church has been changing since its inception. The church was never meant to exist as a static, unchanging organization. After all, Jesus knew it was made up of humans who grow and change and develop the world around them. The church of the future cannot look like the church of the past… or even the present. 

Rather than put bandaids on symptoms in an attempt to cling to an old model, we have an opportunity to address the needs of a changing culture and perhaps even make some major changes ourselves. We can innovate new models that continue to capture the imagination of the emerging generations with the way of Jesus.

Sources:

“Thomas Friedman on Thriving in the Age of Acceleration - Intelligence Squared.” Intelligence Squared, 23 Jan. 2019, www.intelligencesquared.com/events/thomas-friedman-on-thriving-in-the-age-of-acceleration.

Bakhtiari, Kian. “7 Cultural Trends That Will Shape 2023 and Beyond.” Forbes, 1 May 2023, www.forbes.com/sites/kianbakhtiari/2023/04/30/7-cultural-trends-that-will-shape-2023-and-beyond/?sh=6f2f487f7c5b.

Carrico, Caty. “What Post-Demographic Consumerism Means to Your Organization.” Denver Public Relations Firm, 24 Mar. 2020, www.pushkinpr.com/blog/what-post-demographic-consumerism-means-your-organization.

Piscione, Deborah Perry. “4 Forces That Are Fundamentally Changing How We Work.” Harvard Business Review, 16 Oct. 2023, hbr.org/2023/10/4-forces-that-are-fundamentally-changing-how-we-work.