These are exciting times to be laboring for a vital Christianity. The decades of social shifts in our societies continue to push the Church in the Western world to the sidelines. The sidelines of power, culture, and relevance.
How far down will depend on where we live and who we are. Some have been on the sidelines a long time, but increasingly that is where all of us will find ourselves as followers of Jesus.
Christianity in the West: Moving to the Sidelines
Christian influence is still visible in our countries and will continue to be, albeit in less familiar ways. Large numbers of people today see Christianity as part of our society’s past and not something with mainstream value for the present.
Where we still have influence, and we still have much, we should use it wisely with an eye toward the future.
The biggest opportunities before us lie in embracing our new location on the sidelines. The Church began on the sidelines over 2000 years ago. This is familiar territory to our ancestors in the faith as well as many of our fellow Christians today.
This is an opportunity for everyday Christians, congregational leaders, as well as for bishops and other denominational officials.
5 Ways to Meet the Challenge of Vital Christianity
1. Make spirituality, formation, and discipleship central to all we do.
In a secular age people of all ages will need more, not less formation in the faith to persist in faith. Adults with a vibrant faith will lead to children with a vibrant faith. Faith formation must become central in every church.
Our goal being to invite people into a faith that weaves into their everyday lives. In a secular age helping adults develop a thoughtful understanding of their faith is key.
This means our churches must be more than communities of lowest common denominator niceness or barely baptized versions of political ideologies, left or right. We have 2000 years of spiritual riches to draw from and to invite people to experience.
People are interested in spirituality today, but most of them do not perceive the Christian Church as a place of deep spirituality. Let’s change that.
This is exciting because it means we can major on what we have to offer the world. Encounter with God . A community, a family, sustained by the Spirit. A Gospel anchored in the life and teachings, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
2. Do not assume that social justice and outreach will be our salvation.
In a secular age people will be glad when the Church does good in the community. They will be glad when the church joins them in advocating for a particular cause. If the Church lacks a vibrant inner life, those attracted by our outreach may applaud our involvement but never get involved with us.
The work of justice must be complemented by vital prayer, spirituality, fellowship, worship, and teaching.
In most of our communities there are many secular organizations that individuals, couples, or families can get involved with that are meeting human needs or addressing matters of justice. We need to partner, as appropriate, with these organizations, while offering people something these organizations do not.
This is exciting because it frees us to engage in outreach and social justice in distinctively Christian ways. Knowing that we have a unique contribution to make as much as by who we are as people of faith, as by what we do and how we do it.
3. We exist for the purpose of serving those around us.
We often conduct ourselves as if our primary purpose is ourselves and only secondarily others. In a secular age if we intend to survive and thrive as the people of God we must embrace with an enthusiasm of time, talent, and treasure Jesus own words about himself,
“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.”
Mark 10:45
This means our churches serving the needs of our local communities. It means the Church, often through joint efforts of many congregations, putting hands and feet to work for justice.
This means giving at least equal weight to the preferences of those we are trying to reach (and having some idea of who those people are) in terms of how we organize our worship services, programs, and buildings.
This is exciting because as we focus on how we can serve others in Jesus name’ our own faith and that of others is energized, resources unleashed, and our tendency to major in minors, gives ways to concerns about how we can love our neighbors.
4. We labor for a Church larger than our congregation and denomination
Our cultural landscapes vary from Western country to Western country and from region to region within our countries. Yet, as Christians and Christian communities we face many of the same challenges and opportunities. Most importantly, despite our disagreements, we are
“the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
1 Corinthians 12:27
This means we should learn from each other. Learn from others successes, failures, and experiments. Learn from others experiences of being God’s people from the sidelines of our society.
There are best practices we can learn from one another. Tested ideas for nurturing the faith of our children , serving the needs of our neighbors, and bringing new life to struggling congregations.
This is exciting because however small or large our part of the Body of Christ may be we know we are part of something bigger. We have sisters and brothers facing the same challenges that we can celebrate with, serve with, and pray with.
5. Proactively reshape our institutions for mission from the sidelines.
We’ve inherited structures that were designed for a Church closer to the center of society. A Church that was richer in financial resources and people. In a secular age we need to ask if the ways we are organizing ourselves are serving us well as the people of God.
We need to embrace a variety of structures, from traditional churches with buildings and staff, to house churches with no buildings or staff.
The model of a full-time staff pastor serving one church will continue, but is just one option among many for a large minority of churches, but not THE model for all churches. This has implications for the development and deployment of lay and ordained ministers.
This is exciting because our task is to retrieve ways of being the Church from the past that might meet our present needs. As well as to preserve the best of the present, while innovating faithfully as guided by the Holy Spirit in order to be vital churches visibly serving our local communities.
Vital Christianity in the West: An Exciting Time
These are challenging and exciting times to be a Christian. The biggest opportunities before us lie in embracing our new location on the sidelines. The Church has been on the sidelines of society before.
In fact, it began there and from that location flourished under the most difficult of circumstances. This is our heritage. A reason to labor in hope for a vital Christianity and a vital Church in the West.
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