The Wonderful World of “Nones”

It’s almost a relief to find out that so many people in the U.S. identify as “nones” … survey slang for “religiously unaffiliated.”
When I have an opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, I’d much rather find myself “starting from scratch” instead of working to disabuse someone of erroneous preconceptions and misconceptions.
So when I saw various reports of the latest release of the General Social Survey (GSS) showing that there are now at least as many “nones” as, say, evangelical Christians or Catholics, I was encouraged. (See, for example, this article in Christianity Today.)
I’ve had too many discussions with really great people who have often held really odd …and often very lame … views of God’s holiness, sovereignty, justice and mercy. And any number of variations on who Jesus Christ really was and is.
With “nones” it’s sometimes easier to point to Scripture without first having to argue for the authority of Scripture as compared to other religion-based authorities. Let the Word speak for itself, without having to fight through “religious” filters. Or, in the words of Charles Spurgeon, “Let the Lion out!”
Of course, another recent survey shows that evangelical Christians too often harbor their own share of misconceptions and heresies. Even worse, some people become so accustomed to church and church life that they develop, at best, an indifference toward things spiritual, or worse, their own sense of religious self-righteousness. Casual Christianity can easily become “culturized” quasi-Christianity, so that Western cultural mores (genderism, redefinitions of marriage, acceptance of unguided evolution as a substitute for creation, unbounded licentiousness, beliefs about God based on feelings, relativism, etc.).
So, let me summarize: Lots of folks are now identifying themselves as “nones,” but even more folks who are religiously affiliated (including evangelical Christians), have unbiblical views of God, Jesus Christ, salvation and such.
Our country and our culture needs an avalanche of truth-telling. Too bad no one is commissioned to take on this task.
Oh, wait, maybe we are.