First, a joke: An Orthodox Jewish congregation was dedicating a new synagogue. The pews were packed as the rabbis processed in with the Torah scrolls held high. With great solemnity, they marched toward the ark where the Torah would be housed. As each rabbi in the line passed a certain spot, he would bend forward almost to the waist, take a few steps and straighten back up before marching on.
A local reporter was in the congregation to cover the opening of the new synagogue. As he watched the rabbis bend forward, one after the other, he turned to the congregant seated next to him and asked, “What is the religious significance of bending over at that particular spot?” The congregant replied, “Oh, that? It doesn’t mean anything. That’s where the water pipe stuck out of the wall in the old synagogue.”
Nevertheless, the idea that the message might need to change never enters the equation. The Times article quotes Bob Vander Plaats, president and chief executive of The Family Leader, an evangelical organization in Iowa. Vander Plaats comments, “We’re not going away, we just need to recalibrate.” It seems Vander Plaats thinks their message is fine, but the way the message is delivered needs tweaking.A recent New York Times article examined the impact (or lack thereof) of the Religious Right on the recent election. Conservative Christian leaders admit that, although they organized and turned out their constituency like never before, their preferred candidates and issues lost almost across the board.
In other words, they know very well that there is no water pipe anymore, but they are going to keep ducking under just the same. Next time, they will just have to duck faster and lower.
My concern is not so much about the future of organized Christianity’s influence over electoral politics in the United States. My concern is what recent polling and demographic information tells us about the future of organized Christianity itself in the United States.
A recent Pew Poll referenced in the same Times article reveals that 20 percent of all Americans identify themselves as being either atheist, agnostic or having no religious preference. In 18- to 22-year-olds, that number increases to almost 35 percent. A Barna Study from several years ago tells us that non-Christians identify Christians as being “anti-homosexual” (91%), “judgmental” (87%), “hypocritical” (85%), “old-fashioned” (78%) and “too involved in politics” (75%).
These perceptions will not be changed by “recalibration,” be it contemporary worship, casual dress or a coffee station by the front door. They certainly will not be changed by a doubling-down of what is already being done. It isn’t the marketing; it’s the product itself. To change what people think of the Church requires a fundamental change in both what we stand for and how we stand for it.
The Church is quickly approaching a crisis point. We must radically reassess our priorities, not only in our commitment to a particular political party or about hot button social issues such as homosexuality and abortion, but also in the ways in which we build and maintain facilities, accomplish church business, plan our budgets and make disciples. We ignore the shifting demographics at our peril.
If we are not careful, it will not be simply that we keep ducking under water pipes that are no longer there. Soon, there may not be anyone left in the pews to ask what the ducking is all about.