Anyway, as some of you might know, I am extremely busy with my other career for the next couple of months and am feeling a bit disconnected at the moment. So, I thought I would take a minute to blog.
I do actually have a purpose in writing beyond plugging Heartland's Facebook page and maybe looking for a little sympathy. This might not be all that relevant to the younger crowd, but for those of you who are, say, thirty and up, see if you can relate.
One thing that has been really cool about Facebook is how many people from high school I've "friended." I haven't communicated directly with most of them (although there have been a few). But, I think it is pretty neat to get a little insight into the lives of these old friends and acquaintances; to see how they are doing and at least get a glimpse into how their lives have evolved since we were in school together.
One thing that has really struck me is how many of the folks who graduated with me took the time to identify themselves as "Christian" or "Christ follower" or the like on their information page. Maybe I missed something, but I just don't remember having any awareness back in 1978 of very many people in my class who went to church on a regular basis or, for that matter, who did anything at all to suggest they were people of faith. And, by the way, I am not casting stones at all. I was at best an C&E Christian myself in those days. (That is, "Christmas and Easter").
Honestly, I really don't think many of us had any interest in Christianity back then. We lived in Southern California. Need I say more? So, I have two questions. First, what happened? Second, what does it really mean to identify yourself as a Christian on Facebook?
It is entirely possible that as we have gotten older, and particularly as we approach or pass the 50 mark, the illusion of invincibility of youth has been battered down by life to the point where, somewhere along the way, we were basically forced to look beyond ourselves and revisit the meaning of life. Faith seems to be a pretty natural bi-product of mortality recognition!
Or, maybe we just all started back at church when we had kids of our own. I know that Pam and I thought taking the kids to church was just the right thing to do. I think many of us believed either that church was supposed to be part of the family experience, or maybe that church would help keep our kids grounded (or at least increase the chances of them finding a safer group of friends).
But, then again, I have to wonder what identifying yourself as a Christian on Facebook really means. Apparently the percentage of Americans generally who identify themselves as "Christian" is still in the high 80% range. But, I don't think for a minute that 80% of Americans see themselves as committed to a relationship with Christ. The data certainly shows that self-identification as "Christian" is often similar to national origin -- it's more of a historical fact than a reflection of attitude, belief or worldview.
Still, I don't want to be judgmental, skeptical or pessimistic when I see so many of my classmates identify themselves as Christian -- even if it is on a simple Facebook page. Honestly, it excites me. It gives me hope. In a funny sort of way it makes me think that maybe my class is not alone and that Christianity in America is stronger than the media reports would have us believe.
If you are a La Serna graduate I hope you will weigh in on this. Go Lancers!
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