This past week I was able to attend the first ever online conference put on by our FLGA District. It was pretty good. I have some good notes in my notebook. One of the keynote speakers for the conference was David Kinnaman, the current leader of Barna Research, a research group that polls about Christian and spiritual questions. One of the things that David presented on was the Four Exiles. These are four groups of 20 somethings that have at least historically identified with the Church or as Christians. The four groups are: 
- Prodigals – People who used to identify as Christian but do so no longer.
- Nomads – People who still identify as Christian but do not attend or belong to a local church
- Habitual Churchgoers – People who identify as Christian, attend a church, but do not have foundational core beliefs (i.e. Jesus is simultaneously true man or true God) or behaviors (i.e. regular prayer) associated with Christianity.
- Resilient Disciples – People who attend a church and have foundational core beliefs.
Barna’s research shows that looking at a sampling of 20 somethings who were at one time a part of the church, approximately 22% identify as Prodigals (ex-Christians), 30% as Nomads (ex-attenders), 38% as Habitual Churchgoers (heart isn’t in it), and only 10% as Resilient Disciples. And while Barna’s research here is specifically about 20-somethings, I wonder how close these numbers might be for everyone. Just sitting and thinking about it, I can think of a Prodigal, a Nomad, a Habitual, and a Disciple without too much trouble at all. Maybe as you are reading this article you are wondering where even you fit into that list of four.
As I reflect on these four categories, I think an important difference is made between the Habitual Churchgoer and the Resilient Disciple. We are tempted to think of these groups as the same. If someone just comes to church, then of course, they must be a “resilient disciple”. The Roman Catholic church all but codified this during Luther’s day. But Luther made a distinction – the “Sola Fide” (Faith Only/Alone) distinction. He made the point that people could come to the “visible” church (the worship service) but not have the faith that made them a part of the “invisible” Church (the believers in Christ).
In this strange moment of the history of the Church, I think we are being called to consider our existence in the Church in a way that specifically addresses our faith over and above our church attendance. Perhaps God is taking away something that has otherwise distracted our thinking so that we can address some real idols in our hearts, and putting those idols to death, run to the Cross and the grace of Christ that has forgiveness and blessings for everyone – the prodigal, the nomad, the churchgoer, and the disciple.