It’s Good Friday as I post this, perhaps the most somber holy day on the Christian calendar. In two days, we’ll celebrate Easter—the day we commemorate the crux of our faith, Jesus’ resurrection. Even nominally Christian folks who hardly ever go to church find time to go on Easter.
Or, at least, they used to.
According to LifeWay Research, about 41% of self-described Christians plan to attend Easter services this year. Almost as many (39%) are planning to skip. The remaining 20% don’t quite know yet. Call it one more sign of the times.
The United States is mired in a confusing religious climate. Many Christians are migrating from traditional church services, and many Americans are falling away from organized religion. Every day, it seems, I read another story about the “nones”—people who claim no religious affiliation on surveys. Young adults are the people most apt to declare themselves nones, and while some religious leaders insist the trend is nothing new (people often drift away from faith in their early 20s, only to return to church when they have children of their own), the numbers still suggest that we are growing less religious by the year.
Why? Gary Laderman, chairperson of the religion department at Emory University, points his finger at a number of factors in a column for The Huffington Post: Our mix-and-match consumerist ways, a more pliable definition of religion, the surprisingly durable influence of the anything-goes 1960s. But Laderman also says that popular culture—particularly in entertainment—plays a huge role. It has, in fact, become the country’s font of transcendental wisdom, usurping religion’s role in that regard. He writes:
Films, music, the internet, television, literature—these now are just as important, if not more important, than the teachings found in sacred texts and theological pronouncements for the younger generation as well as baby boomers. Reality TV and rap, Harry Potter and the Super Bowl provide Americans with moral dramas and existential ideals these days, and can make a profound impact on the lives of followers. Organized religion is clearly losing its authority and relevancy in the day-to-day worlds of Americans, and so those forces that predominate in our culture, such as new media, entertainment, and information technologies are now shaping spiritual sensibilities and sacred values.
So, is entertainment leading us to a more secular, less spiritual world? Perhaps. But that’s not quite what Laderman’s saying, I don’t believe: Religion as we know it may be changing—but faith itself isn’t going anywhere.
I think that almost all of us, whether we embrace a particular religion or not, have a spiritual yearning, braided in our very DNA. Because we were created, we long to know, and love, our Creator. The pains and distractions in our lives make it harder for some of us to engage or even pause long enough to feel that longing. But it’s still there. And when we examine the rise of the “nones” in society, we see some interesting but not-so-terribly-surprising things at work. For instance, many who claim no religion also say they’re quite spiritual. Many insist they pray every day. They still feel the pull of the Infinite, of God. But, for a whole host of reasons, they’re not turning to traditional sources. Instead, they’re turning their attention to, among other things, entertainment. And perhaps the entertainment trends we’ve documented here give evidence for that spiritual longing.
I’ve already talked about how this year’s batch of Academy Award nominees were filled with overt spirituality—some pushing a predominantly Christian message, others, a bit more free form. And we’ve discussed The Bible miniseries on the History Channel, and how miniseries’ first episode was the highest-rated cable show of the entire year. According to The Barna Group, a Christian polling organization, 27% of those who watched were not Christian.
And there seems to be a hunger for more. Studios are rolling out competing versions of the story of Exodus, one starring Christian Bale. And I just read this morning that another biblically themed miniseries, titled Jesus of Nazareth, is in the works.
That’s great. And yet …
The worlds of entertainment and religion have had a long, fruitful and sometimes fractious relationship. Sometimes, Christian or Judeo-Christian stories can be co-opted by folks who put a different twist on the stories than we’d like, hamstringing the message. Sometimes we Christians can make some pretty lame stories, making faith look as powerful as a go-cart, as otherworldly beautiful as a greeting card. There is, and forever will be, the push-pull tension of artistic excellence and theological integrity.
And yet, we can’t be fearful to step into this space. This is a space we need to fill. To speak into. We Christians still own the best, the most life-changing story of all—the climax of which we shall celebrate on Sunday. Here’s to hoping we can find new, ever-more-excellent ways to tell it.
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