Why are people leaving the church?
It is obvious that we are not living in the same church as we were some 50 years ago. How obvious depends on whether you are 60, 40, or 20, No need to look beyond the empty pews, the greying of those in the pews, the parish closings, to verify the facts.
The trickier question is “why”. You will probably find 5 different answers even if there are just two or three in the room. I have read many studies that seek answers. But I have yet to read one that stated an obvious but sadly overlooked insight that recurs in cycles over the centuries.
“… in the modern world we are primarily confronted with the extraordinary spectacle of people turning to new ideals because that have not tried the old. Men have got tired of Christianity; they have never found enough Christianity to get tired of. Men have never wearied of political justice; they have wearied of waiting for it.
Chesterton
Some 100 years ago Time magazine observed that the “Prince of Paradox”, G. K. Chesterton, would whenever possible make his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out.”
The powerful attraction of Christianity beyond words
The words triggered the memory of the challenge Frederic Ozanam faced some two centuries ago. A fellow student taunted the zealous Frederic with a question asking “What is your church doing for the poor the Jesus seemed so concerned about?”
The good news is that the question opened Fredrick’s eyes. He went on to discover two things with help of Sr. Rosalie Rendu.
- Christians to a great degree had forgotten the implications of the core teaching of Jesus – “Our Father”.
- He and his companions began to respond to the challenge of Jesus by carrying coals to the their brothers and sisters who had no heat.
Their example attracted others to band together as the Society of St. Vincent DePaul. They lived Jesus’ words! Today they number over 600,000 carrying the necessities of physical and spiritual life to those on the margins in over 150 countries in the world.
Chesterton’s words also triggered the memory of how in the earliest days of Christianity people would recognize Christians by their love.
The lesson I take from this is that each generation must learn anew what it means to try Christianity, to translate words and beliefs into actions.
Taking these insights to heart
Visitors to this site may have noticed something about these “mindwalks” that I was not previously conscious of. There is a thread in a number of posts. I have been hearing the challenge to move beyond my head to concrete actions. The thread is a variation of one question.
Do I really understand… and translate into action what Jesus taught?
- Our Father
- Do this in This is my commandment… wash one another’s feet”
Jesus could not have translated the eternal implications more explicitly than when he described what God will say on the last day.
Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Mt. 25:37
He certainly translated his words into action on the cross.
Maybe people are leaving churches today because they have not been inspired by our translation of Jesus’s words into action.
How good am I at giving flesh to Jesus words?
Click below for an audio version of this Vincentian Mindwalk
Fr John,
I read your Mindwalk for today after I returned from Mass in my parish in one of the outer areas of Philadelphia. Once again, our pastor provided an uninspiring rehashing of the readings. As he so often does, he repeated sentences from the readings and “explained” them to us as if we were 5-year old children hearing the readings for the first time. While in a different context (one in which he offers new insights) that might be good, it gets older and older each week.
As I was listening to the readings, I thought to myself, he could have done a slightly dramatic thing with the readings that would have caught everyone off guard. In both the readings from Numbers and Mark, people were NOT in “church” when the anointing happened and yet they were still able to carry on the Lord’s/Moses’ mission.
It would have been a dramatic, but effective, gesture for him to read that line (like he usually does) and simply say, “There you have it. You don’t need to be in Church. Do whatever the Lord tells you and go in peace.” Then, only briefly step down from the pulpit, wait a few, very pregnant seconds, then get back in the pulpit and say, “Why are you still here? … Okay, let me offer a couple of reasons why it’s important for you to stay. …. ”
Your reflection hearkens to several reasons why folks aren’t in the pews in the first place. In my example, we simply aren’t being fed. The pastor left us a bowl of dry food in the corner and said, “there you have it … don’t starve today.” Also, his words didn’t have any life to them.
I have grown fond of walking through cemeteries and noting the life spans of those buried there and the mementos family and friends have placed there. I have become especially sensitive to the “silent tears” that speckle the ground. Our pastor’s version of that would probably be to walk through the cemetery with your eyes closed and walk single-file to get through without incident.
The message received has to contain “life” before the words can become “action.” The message so many of us have been getting has been those dry bones from the Old Testament. We can’t add flesh to them on our own – someone needs to help us with that doctoring process.
That brings me to another observation from today’s Liturgy experience. Those TV preachers that dominate Sunday morning television spend more time quoting the Old Testament than Jesus did. I would expect that from a Jewish rabbi but not from persons still alive as part of the “New Testament.” If the “New” Testament isn’t still “alive” in all of us, there can be none of that action/response you ask for.
Just some thoughts from someone in the pews. We’re lonely but not dead yet.