This is a follow-up to my last post about feeling alienated in the North American Church.
So I’ve been speaking with quite a few of you out there. Some have responded directly to the blog in the comments (always appreciated), while others have communicated with me face to face and online elsewhere. There seems to be a growing number of people out there, in the early-to-mid 20s, that seem to have a growing dissatisfaction with Church at large. I, in my limited wisdom and knowledge, do not know if this is transcendent amongst all twenty-somethings for all time, within the Church, or if this is a new(er) phenomenon. If it is something that happens to everyone, everyone over the age of 30 give us some sage wisdom; but if it is something beyond that, I think we all need to listen to everyone around us for some clues.
Before I write anything further, many of you will come forward and say that my education is what’s to blame for this, and to an extent, it is. I can’t unlearn the evils (re: realities) of literary and historical-cultural biblical criticism, nor can I ignore the same realities and implicaitons of what bodily resurrection and homousion really mean either. More importantly though, I’m bringing this up because my problems are being felt by people outside of my educational circles as well. So I’m going to write what I think are the most important things not to do in this time of disillusionment:
Don’t start a new church.
The Lord has enough buildings and institutions consecrated to him. Adding another with a new faith statement and a new, hip congregation will not make you feel better. It is better to work within the places we know and the places that have kept the Church for us to inherit. It is harder, to be sure, but for now, in North America, let’s start in the places we are.
Don’t stop going to church.
This is probably the worst idea of all. To cut yourself off from other believers is to tie your own spiritual noose. Read a book like Life Together, by WWII martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer to understand what I’m getting at on this one. We are made to be in communion with other believers. Don’t ever forget that. Even if everyone at your church is a moron, try to love them and look for their genuine love – if the spirit is in them, then you will see the love.
Don’t feel overly righteous about your own convictions.
Like I said at the top, we don’t even know if we are right about the problems going on. We could just need a slap to the side of the head and a suck it up to realize we are being whiny wimps. Humility is the number one thing to strive for in this time. (Trust me, this is hard – probably what I struggle with most, being so knowledgeable and wise and all.)
Don’t stop questioning.
We shouldn’t just shut up, however. If you see something that is wrong, pursue and learn and critique. Get some answers. Challenge the authority. You might even be able to effect some change.
Don’t stop listening.
Despite our own unease, our Church fathers and mothers still have a lot of good to teach us, so don’t close your ears and eyes to it all around you, while you wait to be vindicated. Listen to what people are saying, and maybe you’ll find you aren’t the only one after all.
Don’t stop loving.
Finally, I urge you to never, ever, stop loving your Christian brothers and sisters. We’re all saved and we’re all going to be with Jesus eventually. If you get into a big argument with someone, it’s only because both of you care about how God wants his church today. Keep loving others to keep God the focus of this transition.
I might be talking more about this later, but until then, remember these intermediary priniciples.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on January 5, 2009 at 1:54 am, filed under Christianity, Church and tagged Church, Disillusionment, Evangelicalism, North America. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I’m starting to think that there is very little middle ground in North American Christian circles.
It seems that you are either a social and economic conservative, intent on ‘keeping to a literal interpretation of the Bible,’ and espousing a very strong set of convictions (see my posts on Evangelicalism),
or
you are a social and economic liberal, with a low-view of Christ (e.g. not divine, etc.) and God (Deism),
or
you are a part of a Christianity that is primarily cultural (i.e. family-tied) and is very closed on almost every respect.
I’m not any of these. And I feel alienated because of it.
It’s difficult, because for the last 3 years I’ve had a exhilirating time delving deeply into the Word: learning the original (or as close as we can understand) languages, defining contexts – both historical and literary, redefining my theology to align with what I truly and utterly believe is the biblical theology. But, because of this, I’ve had to make some concessions. Concessions like, maybe the Old Testament isn’t entirely a factual, scientific document; maybe only the Gospel of John calls Jesus divine; Maybe the Rapture doesn’t exist (ok, that was an easy one); maybe there isn’t a soul separate from the body and that heaven and death and end times as we commonly understand them have little to do with each other?
I’m not a Liberal. I believe in the Creeds and all that they entail. But, as you see, I’m not a fundamentalist by any modern sense of the Word. I can’t adhere to any determinist view of God, but I can’t hold to any true open theism either. I’m stuck somewhere in the middle. A magical middle that doesn’t entirely seem to exist.
I’ve said from the start that I keep finding the Jesus and the Christianity I’ve always been looking for – a robust, intellectual, revolutionary, ancient and transcendent Christianity. Sadly, I’ve been losing a hold on how to understand our Church – its culture, place, and meaning. I see so many things that are contrary to what I now hold to believe the Bible is saying, and that people are creating part of a cycle that has little to do, and is often contrary to, the call to usher in the Kingdom of God.
So why am I worried about this? Why couldn’t I just start ignoring other Christians and live my own life, apart from them? Well the thing that I’ve learned more than anything else from God this year is how important faith community is to the Christian life. We need each other, consistently and constantly. We need to eat meals together, join in praise together, mourn together, hold each other up, hold each other accountable, save each other from trials and tribulations and be unified in love, because I believe that these things are good and well for our beings and our walks with the Lord. Strike that, it is imperative to our Christianity.
So how do I do that when I’m not sure about most, if not all of it, any more?
Suggestions would be great.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 30, 2008 at 9:24 am, filed under Christianity, Church and tagged Church, Disillusionment, Evangelicalism, North America. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.