The Fading Church and the New Generation

"Spiritual not Religious" confounds me (I had written about it earlier here), and now there's a survey of 18- to 29-year-olds, known as "Millennials".

The survey was done by LifeWay Christian Resources, and found that in this age group, 72% say they're 'spiritual, not religious'. Of the 65% of this survey group (1200 people) that identified themselves as Christian, they don't pray much or attend services on a regular basis.

The thing about rejecting centuries of doctrine, creed and religious wisdom, is that one makes up one's own beliefs. Perfect for our egocentric, narcissistic culture. This endangers the Church. Dorothy Sayers published a book, "Creed or Chaos" 'Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster', contending that doctrine is vital to Faith. John 4:22- "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvations is of the Jews." I'm saddened by how many Christians really don't know what they believe. What the Christian Creeds do is provide a point of reference, point out important points of Christian doctrine.

Now we have a whole generation not aware of doctrine, dogma, creed, or the commonalities of the Faith. Part of the rejection of church and dogma, is a misunderstanding of dogma. It's now viewed as something rigid and inflexible. Originally dogma, from the Greek root, meant something that was fitting and good. Christian Faith is fitting and good.

Something fitting and good, maybe something you haven't read in awhile, The Nicene Creed:

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son].
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.

Rick Warren from "Purpose Driven Life", I like this too: "As believers we share one Lord, one body, one purpose, one Father, one Spirit, one hope, one faith, one baptism and one Love."

Being 'not religious', threatens no only Christianity, but the personal sharing of other's experiences. God means us to be unified, and loving and supporting of each other. The church, the religious experience, brings that and much, much more.

"I'm Spiritual, But Not Religious"

We've heard the phrase a lot, "I'm spiritual, not religious". The SBNR (spiritual but not religious) see religion and church as ridged, inflexible, dogmatic, controlling; not allowing freedom of thought.

I'm surprised to find I'm not capable of thinking for myself. People that don't know I'm a Christian think I'm quite a creative thinker. These people, I guess, change their minds about me after they learn I'm a religious person. Guess I become an unthinking idiot at that point. I guess Dr. Martin Luther King was not capable of thinking freely; or perhaps Maimonides, Augustine, Reinhold Neibuhr, Francis of Assisi, Rumi, CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien. Boy, what a bunch of unthinking, stick in the mud idiots that lot is.

Jesus. That unthinking rube from the sticks! Did he get in trouble and crucified by following religious convention? Or did he get in trouble for questioning, thinking and acting outside the accepted conventions?

Of course, if you're an SBNR person, you at least recognize the spiritual aspect of our lives, so that's a bit better than people that believe we are just interacting organisms and nothing more. Being an SBNR is convenient. Just you and God, or 'my god'. I just have a problem with the phrase too, "That's between you and your god", or "that's between me and my god". SBNR's have their own individual little gods going on. You get a high end spiritual smörgåsbord. I'll take a little Buddhism, a little Islam, a little astrology, a little Theosophy, and season the mix with whatever.

That's just about that singular person. It's about self. It's about doing and saying whatever makes you comfortable. It's whatever you can use to rationalize your thoughts and behaviors. I guess one could say that's a religion too, the 'it's all about me' the "I AM" religion. Thinking like that, who's there to challenge, correct, get you out of your comfort zone? That's why God sends prophets, to correct us. (Those of you that aren't religiously educated, prophets don't predict the future, they warn us of the consequences of our bad behavior, what will happen if we continue to turn our backs to God.) If you're an SBNR, then you are alone with God. God wants us to experience Him with each other. Experiencing God is a communal experience, not a singular experience.

In the church, you can be corrected, or be a corrector. You need humility when in a community. I know I've grown as a man, spiritually and religiously since I've joined the church. I've learned to interact with people much better. I've learned to serve much better. I used to be an SBNR, so I know the thinking, the experience.

Has the church made huge mistakes and bad decisions? Absolutely. Has religion always provided the right process, and gotten right results? Of course not. The church is a reflection of ourselves, our humanness, and we recognize that, and constantly correct for it. Over all, the church, religious people, have done more good than ill in the world.

Ultimately, the two, religious and spiritual, matter only when combined.

James Martin, SJ, From his book, "The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything":

"Overall, being spiritual and being religious are both part of being in relationship with God. Neither can be fully realized without the other. Religion without spirituality can become a dry list of dogmatic statements divorced from the life of the spirit. This is what Jesus warned against. Spirituality without religion can become a self-centered complacency divorced from the wisdom of community."