May I be completely honest with you for a minute?
I wasn't always a Christian.
I mean that to say that while I was raised in church (first Baptist, then non-denominational, a long stretch of non-attendance, and now Lutheran), the early part of my life was a lot of ritual performed out of habit, always doing what had always been done. How I actually lived, however, was an endless loop of experiences and regret when those experiences didn't turn out the way I thought they would. Or to be honest, I couldn't get away with what I saw my friends getting away with, at least not completely unscathed. We all called ourselves Christians; we had all been raised in church, and knew, at least peripherally, that there were certain expectations for our lives and behavior, we just chose not to meet them.
Looking back from a vantage point of 20-plus years, I now realize that we were part of a very common group of Christians. We called ourselves Christian more out of habit than anything else, but our personal practice of it was incidental at best, and completely non-existent at worst. This is not a condemnation. There is a time in every young person who was raised in a religious household's life, when they begin to question what they were taught, and if that is what they still believe. It is a natural part of growth, and an important transition from merely practicing your parents faith, to forming your own point of view, and spiritual life.
Or not. I suppose this is why I have no quarrel with questioners, atheists, or anyone who has a different spiritual practice than I do. Different points of view are a healthy part of a functioning society. Especially considering the behavior of some of us Christians. I will be the first to admit that sometimes it's our own behavior that gives people pause.
I wasn't always a Christian.
I mean that to say that while I was raised in church (first Baptist, then non-denominational, a long stretch of non-attendance, and now Lutheran), the early part of my life was a lot of ritual performed out of habit, always doing what had always been done. How I actually lived, however, was an endless loop of experiences and regret when those experiences didn't turn out the way I thought they would. Or to be honest, I couldn't get away with what I saw my friends getting away with, at least not completely unscathed. We all called ourselves Christians; we had all been raised in church, and knew, at least peripherally, that there were certain expectations for our lives and behavior, we just chose not to meet them.
Looking back from a vantage point of 20-plus years, I now realize that we were part of a very common group of Christians. We called ourselves Christian more out of habit than anything else, but our personal practice of it was incidental at best, and completely non-existent at worst. This is not a condemnation. There is a time in every young person who was raised in a religious household's life, when they begin to question what they were taught, and if that is what they still believe. It is a natural part of growth, and an important transition from merely practicing your parents faith, to forming your own point of view, and spiritual life.
Or not. I suppose this is why I have no quarrel with questioners, atheists, or anyone who has a different spiritual practice than I do. Different points of view are a healthy part of a functioning society. Especially considering the behavior of some of us Christians. I will be the first to admit that sometimes it's our own behavior that gives people pause.
At some point, I posted on Facebook that I didn't have an issue with either this song or a couple of others that were either denying the existence of God outright, or at least seriously questioning everything those of us who were raised in a faith environment, were taught to believe. Although, viewing the above video now, I notice how many of these disasters are really the results of man's greed, selfishness, and contempt for everything and anybody that has no personal benefit to himself. We Christians are not immune to these same characteristics, and I wonder if part of the reason most denominations are seeing a drop in weekly attendance is a lack of critical self examination that might reveal what part we play in the problem of how Christianity is popularly perceived.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7fkjv_pet-shop-boys-it-s-a-sin-1987_music
The video linked above, for the song titled "It's a Sin" by English band The Pet Shop Boys, shows songwriter Neil Tennant's take on his Catholic upbringing in England. Based on personal accounts of those who no longer attend services, the Catholic Church seemed to depend on guilt over perceived sins as a means of gaining obedience to entrenched church doctrine. The entrenched church doctrine being at least part of the problem. I give the current Pope, Francis, a lot of credit for trying to change the direction of the Catholic church to at least be somewhat more inclusive. While he is being applauded for practicing the philosophy "Change Begins at the Top", this still might not stop the slow trajectory of individuals and families away from weekly attendance and participation. There is a very different set of questions for that.
The video linked above, for the song titled "It's a Sin" by English band The Pet Shop Boys, shows songwriter Neil Tennant's take on his Catholic upbringing in England. Based on personal accounts of those who no longer attend services, the Catholic Church seemed to depend on guilt over perceived sins as a means of gaining obedience to entrenched church doctrine. The entrenched church doctrine being at least part of the problem. I give the current Pope, Francis, a lot of credit for trying to change the direction of the Catholic church to at least be somewhat more inclusive. While he is being applauded for practicing the philosophy "Change Begins at the Top", this still might not stop the slow trajectory of individuals and families away from weekly attendance and participation. There is a very different set of questions for that.
This song, "Loving the Alien" by David Bowie, delves a bit into Christian history, and the origins of our faith. It asks more questions than it answers, which is kind of the point. How much do we really know about the faith we practice? And if we knew more, would that make us better practitioners of our own faith? Would we still lie, steal, gossip, backbite? Would we still practice usury, mean-spiritedness, and spew vile rhetoric at others, as well as each other, then still stand before the world and continue to call ourselves Christian? Will we continue to teach our children one thing, do another, then try to cover it all with "Do as I say, Not as I do", knowing that just underneath the surface, it is our hypocritical nature that is driving the younger generation out of church more than anything else?
Spirituality is as old as the Earth itself, organized religion has existed for thousands of years, and while I doubt either of these things is going to change anytime soon, our approach is going to have to. Not just in terms of how we get our message out to the world, but how we conduct ourselves while teaching it. We will never be able to answer those honest questions, if the askers' are so turned off by the messenger that they don't bother to ask.
Methinks that's where our true challenge is coming from.
Spirituality is as old as the Earth itself, organized religion has existed for thousands of years, and while I doubt either of these things is going to change anytime soon, our approach is going to have to. Not just in terms of how we get our message out to the world, but how we conduct ourselves while teaching it. We will never be able to answer those honest questions, if the askers' are so turned off by the messenger that they don't bother to ask.
Methinks that's where our true challenge is coming from.
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