During the past few years a number of long-standing churches closed their doors; these churches were asked to ‘merge’ with other congregations. The reasons for mainline churches to close are legion. Recently I began to think about these ‘mergers’. I held this question: What are, or might be, some of the reasons why these ‘mergers’ were necessary? As I held this question I began to consider ‘Religion.’
The root of ‘Religion’ is ‘religio’ – to rebind, to make whole. Church closings do not re-bind, they fragment; they do not make whole, they shatter community – they divide its members. What follows is some of what is emerging for me as I think about ‘Religion.’ By its nature what follows will be incomplete; the story is still unfolding.
Consider that contemporary religion asks little of us. Oh, it is ready to offer, if not provide, comfort AND it lacks the courage (the heart) to challenge (We are our brothers’ keepers!). Religion prides itself on offering edification, YET it demonstrates little courage (heart) to challenge and shatter our idols (possessions, money, distraction, noise, busyness, power over). Religion struggles to replace de-humanization with humanizing love, compassion, caring, forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation (don’t believe me…consider our ongoing struggle with immigration). Religion as faith-trust, rooted in doubt, has been replaced with religion as dogma, surety and self-righteousness (pride, arrogance and hubris).
Today’s religion involves neither risk nor challenge nor tension; it is rooted not in doubt which both challenges and nurtures faith, but in surety which nurtures self-righteousness. Contemporary religion mirrors the self-righteous religion that Abraham, Jesus and Muhammad (to cite three examples) found so disturbing and that they had little tolerance for.
Religion rooted in ‘religio’ requires faith and commitment. Religion calls us to be ‘faithful’ not to be ‘effective.’ How many of us have defined ‘self-reliance’ as ‘faith’? How many of us have renamed ‘shrewdness’ ‘wisdom’? How many of us have embraced ‘relativism’ as our idol, our golden calf and in doing so announced that there is no ‘absolute truth’? It is a bit ironic that the relativist’s ‘absolute truth’ is relativism!
Religion is guided by the whisper of God’s Spirit. Contemporary religion silences God’s whisper by its noise. All of the great religions of the world have always embraced ‘silence.’ Because God’s Spirit comes to us in whispers silence is necessary. Contemporary religion embraces noise – don’t believe me, try finding even brief moments of silence during a church service (traditionally the Quakers have provided us an antidote to noise and have provided space and time for God’s Spirit to whisper).
Churches are closing because religion has become irrelevant. When faith is replaced by creed; when worship is replaced by distraction; when religion involves ‘righteous authority’ more than compassion; when ‘Justice’ trumps rather than being balanced by ‘Mercy’ religion becomes meaningless for it no longer re-binds; it no longer makes whole.
Consider that religion is a response to ‘ultimate questions.’ Contemporary religion no longer speaks ultimate questions and it no longer engages them. Contemporary religion has replaced the ultimate questions with irrelevant ones; perhaps religion no longer knows what the ultimate questions are. This might be a good starting place: ‘What are the ultimate questions that religion is called to address?’ By the by, Gentle Reader, consider that the most powerful and challenging questions emerge from ‘a place of not-knowing.’
Searcher-Seeker 