Why are young people leaving the church? This seems to be the hanging issue that pokes church folks square in the eye. I’ve heard people’s opinions on this ranging anywhere from how our generation has been corrupted by evolution to blaming it on the Ten Commandments being removed from court house walls…. And the response, at least here in our own valley, has been to shoot up huge ten commandment signs and ridicule teachers from the pulpit. I have yet to hear anyone from the traditional Christian realm, who seems to be pushing the question the most, take any responsibility for the roles the church has played, which to me have been the most vital. One of the many reasons that our fellow peers have struggled with the church is this intense way of acting as if they have already figured it all out. It’s as if to say that any new revelation has to be blasphemy. It takes all questions and squashes them with annoying worthless answers, ever so condescendingly, “You just have to have faith,” or “I’ll pray for you”, forcing us to feel really messed up for sincerely questioning what those around us are calling “faith”. As I have pondered these questions and responses for the last month the thing that keeps reeling through my mind is the verse in Luke 18: 15 -17 “People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and me. These children are the kingdom's pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in."
Here you see Jesus telling us to model the open mindedness of children. If we maintain the open-mindedness of children, we challenge fixed ideas and established structures, including our own. We listen to people in other denominations and religions. We don't find demons in those with whom we disagree. We don't cozy up to people who mouth our jargon. If we are open, we rarely resort to either-or: creation or evolution, liberty or law, sacred or secular, Beethoven or Madonna. We focus on both-and, fully aware that God's truth cannot be imprisoned in a small definition. It’s not that I think there isn’t an Absolute Truth. It’s that this isn’t something we are capable of laying claim to. To allude to the “fact”, that we have unveiled Absolute Truth only continues to support our arrogant white American attitudes. I wonder how we are finding humility amongst all of the debate. Why hasn’t anbody asked us why we have sidestepped traditional structured church? For one sect of people to say that they hold the patent on Truth they create a ripple in two ways: First they state that they are the end all, declaring themselves above everyone else, secondly, they squash equality and create a relationship that can only exist as that of a slave and master. A teacher can learn from his student, through humility, because out of the mouth of babes God said he would shame the wise. We can learn from our neighbors…. That’s all the book of Proverb’s is. A book full of sayings stolen from wise people from cultures and religions differing from that of Solomon’s all over the world. To say we hold Absolute Truth is to tell Gandhi his way of life was wrong (though it was closer to that of Jesus than most of ours) and to tell Mother Theresa everything she did was in vain (though I can’t think of any other living example who did a better job of displaying perfect religion and loving the poor).
What I am seeing with this topic is a filtering problem. We all understand how filters work in cars, vacuums, air conditioners, etc. – They filter the air of all the small “harmful” particles that would damage the motor, the mechanism responsible for making the product function properly. The thing about filters, you can get several different stages - some more dense than others designed for a more zero tolerance motor. If you put a filter that is too dense on a motor it's not designed for - it can actually suffocate it causing it to stall. The bottom line, if you aren't a mechanic extremely knowledgable on all types of motors, you can't properly connect the right filter with the right motor. Sure it may run well for a while, but eventually.....
I’m going to pause here and post this – I’ll post the rest tomorrow.
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Jese,
ReplyDeleteI find this discussion an interesting one. No doubt there is need to be concerned regarding the exodus of young people from the "church;" however, the question I would raise in this regard is what demographic are we talking about when we discuss this exodus? According to author, Soong-Chan Rah, the shrinkage of American evangelism is primarily a white, Western phenomenon. He feels as though white, Western Christianity has reached its zenith; however, American Christianity is still, typically, "powered" by white Christians. Rah's argument is that a next evanelicalism has already arrived on the scene, but due to our ethnocentricity, we are unwilling to recognize the growth of Christianity in such places as the Hispanic, African, and Asian communities. A quote from his book, "The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity" (a book I'd recommend for the readers in your community):
"As many lament the decline of Christianity in the United States in the early stages of the 21st century, very few have recognized that American Christianity may actually be growing, but in unexpected and surprising ways. The American church needs to face the inevitable and prepare for the next stage of her history - we are looking at a nonwhite majority, multiethnic American Christianity in the immediate future. Unfortunately, despite these drastic demographic changes, American evangelicalism remains enamored with an ecclesiology [study of the church] and a value system that reflect a dated and increasingly irrelevant cultural captivity and are disconnected from both a global and a local entity (Rah, The Next Evangelicalism, p12).
So, a question for the community in Kalispell - as you all ask the question of what it means to live faithfully, together, following Jesus, how are you looking outside of your own frame of reference (I'm assuming most of you are white, Western, and U.S. citizens) for others who are doing the same? In order to not sound as though I'm assuming you are not already doing so, the next question would be, "what examples of this have you experienced?"
Peace and love to you all (those I know and those I have yet to meet). See you in a few short months!
This is a real interesting topic indeed, one that I seem to hear a lot about in certain circles, and none about in others. Hailing from Portland, arguably one of the top 5 most liberal cities in the U.S., I have heard quite a few statistics of the number of church plants and INCREASED church attendance. In fact, in Portland, churches are needing to branch off because they are simply ill-equipped for the large numbers flocking to them. These are churches of varied denominations.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering where the idea is coming from that young people (as a generation) are leaving the church. I mean, they are, obviously -- many of the ones I know that are leaving are there in the Flathead Valley. But elsewhere, they're also going TO the church. I am just curious if there are statistics out there on church growth/shrinkage in regards to age, or if this is just a perceived exodus in certain intellectual circles. If there are stats on this, I'd love to see them, and to understand how a liberal city like Portland seems to be growing in its number of churches if the rest of the U.S. is, indeed, losing it's younger generation.
In my life, it seems to be a fairly small but strong population of intellectuals leaving the church. Specifically intellectuals. And every generation has them, don't they?
Dane brought up some interesting facts as well. Given that this blog in particular seems to believe fairly strongly that young people are indeed leaving en masse, I'd just love knowing where that idea is stemming from.
I meant Dan, not Dane. Don't know how that "e" snuck in there...
ReplyDeleteRachel, et. al.,
ReplyDeleteA few thoughts come to mind here.
1) As people are headed TO the church, is this a sign of actual "church" growth or is it a simple "switching of numbers;" wherein, people are moving from one church to another? Is it actually people beginning to follow Jesus (conversion/new statements of faith/etc) or simply sheep moving from one pasture to another?
2) There has been a significant trend over the past 100+ years regarding a decline in the evangelical church; a study has been done to indicate that, over the past decade, that decline has been fairly sharp, especially in mainline denominations. This begs the question of which part of the "church" are young people actually leaving? Evangelical? Mainline? Roman Catholic? Orthodox? What part of the body of Christ in North America is actually declining? I have a copy of that study if anyone is interested.
3) Rachel, as regards the leaving of intellectuals, can you offer data showing this to be the case, as many of the theologians and other intellectuals that I know are actually remaining in the Church, whether that be in denominational bodies, house church groups, or new monastic communities.
4) In my limited knowledge, as regards human development, I wonder if one of the reasons that young people are leaving is simply because this is what young people do as they search for identity, meaning, and answers to the questions that life throws at them between the ages of 18-25? Moreover, I wonder to what extent the liberal environment of Portland and other cities creates an environment wherein "liberals" offer something more akin to relativism rather than meaning in the "who am I"/"what is life all about" questions? In reaction, are people seeking out religion to help answer those questions, and, are churches the only ones growing? Are there growth spurts in the mosques, temples, etc. as well?
Great discussion.
Peace.
Dan
P.S. Rachel, I sent a considerable amount of information to Jese and Nikki; if you have their email address, or if they have yours, the stats and the information is available. Moreover, from what I could find and from what I saw, it would appear that this is no new trend; I noticed articles written by sociologists of religion dating back to the early 1970s. I wonder, as we seek to ask questions regarding our concerns for the church, if we will be able to offer a more creative, favorable response to the questions, concerns, and critiques of young people today?
ReplyDeleteSorry I haven't posted the rest of my blog... my school/work schedule has been more than daunting... I will include some of the stuff you sent me Dan, but I have also found some other stats that our pretty astounding... love you guys and thanks for being apart of shaping all the discussions that take place here (You too Rachel!... even though I wasn't invited to your wedding, lol)
ReplyDelete