The Disunited State of America (and the Church)

According to recent surveys, many young people are leaving the church because they say it has nothing to offer them. Although I have heard that reasoning used before, it struck me this morning that there is a fundamental flaw in its logic. The church is not meant to “offer” something; the church is supposed to be a place where believers offer something to God and to their fellow-believers. I think the church in 21^st century America is failing because even the leaders have turned its purpose upside down.

In my daily Psalm this morning I read Asaph’s inspired opinion that the Israelite generation who turned away from God in the Sinai wilderness did so because they were, “a generation that did not make ready its heart, whose spirit was not faithful to God.” (Psalm 78:8 LEB) I don’t want to parse this too intensely, but I think it is instructive that Asaph used two words to describe the inner selves of the faithless Israelites: heart and spirit. The “heart” can be used to mean the soul, the thinking part of a human being. The Israelites were not thinking straight. Because of this mental error, their “spirit” was not faithful. The spirit is that aspect of humans that relates to God. The Israelites mental error led them to a spiritual error.

The same situation is present in our generation: many are incorrectly thinking the church is a place that is supposed to meet their needs; they turn away because they are unfulfilled. The truth is the church is intended to meet others’ needs, other people’s and God’s; not that God actually needs the church (He needs nothing), but He has established it to accomplish His purposes on Earth. The irony is that as we selflessly give ourselves to God and others, we reach a level of fulfillment that no other activity can approach. That is another of the many paradoxes of Christianity akin to saying true freedom is found in complete surrender.

I wrote previously (What is the Church?) about the true purpose of the church, the ecclesia in Bible language. Briefly, the ecclesia is intended to infiltrate and indoctrinate a culture with Heaven’s priorities. It might help our understanding if we thought of church more like a political or military organization rather than a social club. In fact, when Jesus first mentioned church, ecclesia, He said that the gates of Hades would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18); that is military language. If you read His words throughout the Gospels carefully, you will find numerous military analogies.

The problem of wrong thinking leading to serious consequences is evident in many places in our generation. Wrong thinking about the purpose of the family has led to its devaluation and dissolution. Wrong thinking about marriage has led to a scandalous divorce rate, even among believers. Wrong thinking about the human need for community has led to an explosion of social media “friends,” and to a lack of any real friendship among many of the younger generation.

Please excuse my soapbox, but wrong thinking about politics has led many Christians to abandon the field or consider it a lost cause altogether. The thinking in this arena is similar to the mistaken idea about church: government exists to meet my needs. The entitlement mentality is suffocating the very institutions that were meant to help the less fortunate. Multiculturalism, so-called, is fueling one side of the immigration debate to the point of idiocy. Apathy has caused the demise of the one weapon of political power every citizen has: the vote.

In a participatory form of government like ours (representative, not democratic), we the people actually do retain ultimate power: the power to un-elect miscreants, de-fund wasteful programs, and debunk the misguided policies that are causing America as we knew it to implode. Recent surveys indicate that approximately 60% of Americans identify as conservative. A similar number, variously in the 70-80% range, call themselves Christians. If those numbers are correct, I have to ask myself why clearly liberal (or progressive) policies and programs are being heaped upon us. I know the answer to my question: wrong thinking.

As my blog name says, Heaven always matters most, so the problem with the church is paramount. However, Christians are called to pray for their leaders and to give honor where it is due. I believe we dishonor the blessing of participatory government when we relinquish our right to participate. Voting, paying taxes and staying involved at whatever level one is called are the evidences of the honor that is due. And remembering that the church, the ecclesia, is supposed to be a culture-changer brings the two into focus. We have the blessing of freedom in this country. Let’s use our freedom to “do church” in every arena; we have Jesus’ promise that we cannot be overcome.