“If I find in myself a desire which nothing else in this world can satisfy, the most likely explanation is that I was made for another world.”

-CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

It is very well documented by a variety of scholars, both Christian and non-Christian, that we are now living in a post-Christian culture in the West. Nearly 20 years ago, in 2007, Charles Taylor described our culture as “The Secular Age,” in which secularism has become the new civil religion. More recently, Aaron Ren has described us as living in a “Negative World” (2024) that no longer has a neutral attitude towards Christianity, let alone a positive one, but a world that is actively opposed to it.  Theologian Carl Trueman, likewise, has catalogued it in his tome “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self” (2020). And historian Tom Holland laments the loss of the West’s Christian heritage in his history “Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World” (2021). Scholars may have different attitudes towards this decline, but they are in basic agreement that we are living in a post-Christian society, which is becoming increasingly hostile to the gospel.

To make matters worse, even in the Church, biblical illiteracy is widespread. According to a Lifeway Study conducted in 2017, 80% of Christians who attend church have never read the Bible in its entirety. As a result, even when people do give church a chance, the beliefs of the Christians they meet sadly are not often any different from the surrounding post-Christian culture. According to the bi-annual State of Theology Survey conducted by Ligonier Ministries (2025), those who identified themselves as evangelical Christians, when surveyed, did not understand basic biblical doctrine. For example, according to this survey, 64% of evangelicals agree with the statement “everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God.” (Instead, the Bible teaches that we are all born sinners: Eph. 2:1-3; Ps. 51:5; et al.) In this same survey, 47% of evangelicals agree with the statement “God accepts the worship of all religions equally, including Judaism, Islam, and Christianity,” and 41% agree that “the Holy Spirit is a force, but not a personal being.” All too often, rather than being centered around the Word of God and the Table of the Lord, churches are structured to be an entertaining concert or an informational lecture, all centered around one charismatic leader.

At the same time, we live in a culture that, because of its departure from the gospel, suffers from fractured community. Loneliness, anxiety, and depression are rampant. In 2023, the Surgeon General Advisory declared that we in America are suffering from an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation.” The very next year (2024), the Surgeon General highlighted an alarming increase in “parental stress.” With the advent of smartphones and social media, Gen Z has been described as “The Anxious Generation” (Jonathan Haidt, 2024) for being the generation with the highest reported levels of anxiety. Is it any wonder there is an increase in neurodivergence among our children when our churches are saturated with screens, smoke machines, and light shows? We live in a society in which community desperately needs to be rebuilt.

Our world is experiencing the effects of trying to live a life apart from God. When people come to church, they aren’t looking for more of the world. They want something different. They are looking for change. At Resurrection, we believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ changes everything. We believe the riches of the Christian tradition offer the best resources necessary to meet the challenges of today. We believe that the gospel promises unchanging truth for every generation. Our vision at Resurrection is “Christ changes everything.” Whether you have been a Christian for a long time or if you have never been to church a day in your life, we believe that Christians are in just as great a need of the gospel as non-Christians. If you are looking for a church with rock concert worship, then we probably aren’t the church for you. If you are looking for a church with more entertaining programs for your children, then this probably isn’t the church for you. If you are looking for a church that attempts to keep up with the 24-hour news cycle by adding more political commentary to recent events, then this probably isn’t the church for you. But, if you are looking for a church where the one, true, unchanging gospel is preached, and you are longing to know the real Jesus, then you just might find a home here.

Want to know what this vision looks like at Rez?