I am constantly thinking and praying about the place of
church in our contemporary mosaic of American culture. There are obvious issues and problems, and
very few 'solutions' just as obvious.
Nonetheless, God has instituted his church as a glorious thing that
survives both tyrannies and disgruntled youth.
Thus, this posting at Her.Menutics caught my eye. The article, "Replacing SundayMornings," is a taste of the book by the same author, "When We Were
On Fire." It tells of how the
author, her circle of friends, and countless other millennials, left the
churches of their youth and found temporary replacements in everything from
fitness clubs to bars. Though most of
the post is about what they replaced Sundays with, the end of the story is that
they have returned to the church and all of its imperfections.
Her description of leaving was interesting to me, for it
resonates with why so many have told me they are uncomfortable or dissatisfied
with church. They felt they didn't fit
in, and found acceptance in other communities.
Churches were clunky and full of pop-psychology and other circles of people
offered tastes of triumph, so they float from one option to another on Sundays. Church leaving millennials appear to replace
church-hopping with community-hopping.
I am sure the author is finding meaning and direction
back in the church, but a couple of thoughts occur to me about what is going on
when a young person leaves church and hops around looking for meaning in all
the other places.
Churches as they are largely envisioned in the American
evangelical culture not only cater to consumers, but create them. So it is not surprising that young people
raised on modern advertising and emotionalistic worship grow dissatisfied
quickly - not just with church but with every other replacement they try. So, consumers leave the church, consume all
kinds of other shallow replacements, and some of them return to church with a
tempered, if not chastised, consumerism.
The author has returned to church but her description of
that move in the post is short and, frankly, a little disheartening. It is quite possible the book teases out her
return in more detail and with more conviction, but she still sounds a little unimpressed
that church is the right place for her to be.
Her descriptions of 5Ks, book clubs, and bars were more appealing than
her description of church. So, I have a
simple suggestion to both churches and returning millennials.
Don't settle for simplistic, consumeristic, pop-psychology
driven churches. They are places that
typically play in the shallows of the oceans of possibility with the presence
and power of God. It is quite possible
that the American evangelical church has created its own problems with the loss
of young people, and for the life of me I don't understand why we would
continue to believe those same models will fix the problems they created.
The body of Christ made visible in the gathering of his
church can be a wonderful and beautiful thing.
It is greater than all the other options. It is evidence of a kingdom more glorious and
active than any other at work in our world today. I hope we can all come to a perspective that
begins with God and his glory rather than our wants and needs and begin to do
church as a result.