A number of dynamic, young, different-thinking megachurch pastors fly a little bit under the mainstream radar. I’m thinking of people like Perry Noble, Craig Groeschel, Francis Chan, David Gibbons, and Rob Bell. They are the future of evangelical Christianity. And yet, some of them strike fear into the hearts of mainstream, baby-boomer evangelicals, because they don’t toe the party line. They are stretching evangelicals in some directions we’ve been ignoring during the past 30 years as we’ve been focused on wielding power–something tese young pastors show little interest in.

Another of these young pastors is Geoff Surrratt, pastor of the multisite Seascoast church in South Carolina. He recently posted a blog item called “I’m Through with Christianity.” I must say, I agree with practically everything he said. Let me offer just a few quotes:

• “I am one of the many Americans who would no longer describe themselves as a professing Christian. I cannot in good faith associate any more with what the label Christian has come to represent in America. Christianity is now a set of political views, a way to distinguish different groups of people (Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus)….”
• “In order to be a faithful Christian I can only vote for politicians who say they hold the party line on the right issues.”
• “Christianity in America seems to be led by self-appointed spokesmen who attack others without charity, seek places of prominence wherever they go, and live outrageously extravagant lifestyles.”
• “I love Jesus more and more the older I get, and I love the church with all my heart; I just can’t buy into the Christian thing anymore. So I quit. I am resigning from the Christian party, the Christian club, the Christian religion. I am going to devote the rest of my life to loving God with all my heart and loving my neighbor as myself.”