According to a Barna survey, eighty-nine percent of adults think engaging in faith activities at home with the kids is a biblically valid replacement for church. Almost seven in ten think they can get church in front of a television set. Study author George Barna says there’s a continuing shift in terms of how people experience and express their faith.

“There’s a huge and very much a growing body of people who are continuing to look for new ways to be the church.”

Forty-five percent of Americans think they can experience a biblically valid form of church in front of their computers. The trend is alarming to HB London of Focus on the Family.

“I think it really does represent a dangerous trend; people finding church satisfactory without having to interact with people or to worship or to praise God.”

The solution, somewhat counter-intuitively, is to demand more of those who attend church.

“Number one, you’ve got to engage people’s faith. You can’t just have them come and be pew-sitters. The problem is the church today is a consumer church.”

Of course, London is not sure Americans are the best source for a biblically valid definition of church.

“We’re illiterate when it comes to the reading of the Word. Very few people read the Word, fewer people apply the Word.”

Chances are they are not going to get their fill of the Word at a Christian concert.