By Amy Butler
Like a lot of people I know, I am up at night sometimes thinking, wondering and worrying about the viability of the church as we know it.
I’m not worried about the gospel. I’m pretty sure the gospel message will be around long after I’m gone.
No, it’s the church I worry about: the institution I know and love, the context in which much of my personal faith, for good or ill, has found its expression.
Part of my worry surely comes from holding keys to one such brick-and-mortar edifice called church, the responsibility for its care and the never-ending attention just the building exacts. But part of my anxiousness comes from what seems like a waning interest in church in general.
I am not the only one thinking about such things. In her recent book Christianity After Religion, Diana Butler Bass notes that in places where Christianity is most vital it is viewed less as a religion, an institution, and more as a spiritual practice. In other words, many of the trappings we’ve come to identify as integral to Christian faith and expression are increasingly less relevant to the general population.
Frankly, this isn’t news to some of us. If we’re honest, many of us who lead the institutional expression of Christianity will admit the traditional church has less appeal these days to society as a whole. The 1950s everyone-flock-to-Sunday-morning-services trend has waned, if not died altogether.
Just because it’s not the 1950s anymore, though, doesn’t mean we Christians are headed for extinction. The church as we know it may be destined for the history books, but all this means is that we’ve been presented with a challenge to discover and live into whatever expression our faith will take next.
Sound hopeful? Yes. Sound scary? Yes!
Butler Bass proposes four ways we can practice our faith in anticipation of whatever future form it will take in our world. Easy prescriptions always make me suspicious, but if I hope to get any uninterrupted sleep at night anytime soon, I need to have a plan. Here’s what she suggests:
First, prepare. Read. Learn. Know the stories of our faith. In an increasingly secular world where biblical allusions on CSI go right over most people’s heads, Christians face the task of steeping ourselves in the stories of God’s work in the world. These stories are the underpinnings of our faith, no matter where or how we worship, so we’d better know them.
Second, practice. Being “spiritual” instead of “religious” is all the rage, but just because it’s trendy doesn’t mean we should discount it. Practice faith in inner and outer personal expressions — Butler Bass suggests prayer, worship and meditation — however you find a connection to God. Our spiritual selves are just like our physical selves. They need exercise.
Her third tip is play. Find joy in practicing your faith. Do fun things with others who share your yearning for God. Build the association that vital Christian faith is fun.
And fourth, participate. We believe our faith calls for the transformation of our world. Get your hands dirty by bringing about reconciliation here and now, putting action to God’s message of love for the whole world.
It’s not easy to live on the cusp of major change like we’re experiencing in the church these days, especially if you’re not getting enough sleep. As we live through the changes ahead, though, we can rest easy in the knowledge that God’s work in the world will not be thwarted, even if we can’t quite see yet what’s ahead.