This is the second part of a series responding to an article that went viral about why millennials don’t attend church and what the church can do to solve this. Part 1 dealt with the argument that they need to have their voices heard.
2. You don’t want to be bogged down with values and mission statements. Keep religious jargon out of the conversation, and instead let’s talk about action and service.
I think I’d like to start by reminding you that institution of the church has been around for a very long time. Having recently devoted six months to studying the church’s development since the death of Christ, I am happy to share with you that you are but a blip in a very long timeline. Your issues are not new; most have been wrestled with before, with different variables. So rest assured, you are echoing a problem that has existed before you were even conceived. When it comes to big nuts, they don’t crack as easily.
I think the saying goes like this, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” If there’s one thing that we can agree on is that any time Western civilization has gone all or nothing, greater problems arise.
I want to start with a look at business. You must know by now that successful businesses have mission statements, a document that points to what the goals and outcomes of the company are. Non-profit organizations have mission statements, to clarify who they serve and what their function is. When a group of people show up demanding services and funding, the organization can point their mission and show that these are the values we established our work on, and this is what guides our resources.
Look to the Bible for examples. God chose leaders, who instructed the people what to do, and cared for their concerns as a community. The New Testament is ripe with examples of issues arising out of church that Paul and the other apostles are asked to speak to and provide guidance for.
And you want to do away with the business of church, love?
Human beings are well intentioned and often flawed when it comes to creating organizations. We need leaders and followers. We have learned that things work better when we have laws and rules. Every group has to establish norms of what acceptable participation looks like, so that people know what is expected of them. And we have seen the benefit to having essential agreements in keeping high standards at all levels of organization.
You may be tired of hearing this language, but it was developed for your generation. It derives from the experience of group work where one person had to carry the workload of others, or conversely, one person did not do all what s/he was required to. You told us that wasn’t fair, and we agreed. We needed fair ways to talk about how we were going to handle out of line behavior. So in wanting to do away with all of this in church, but keep those systems in our work and personal realms, how do you think things will run if no consideration is given to it? Paul’s answer is that we are all parts of a larger body. We are designed to fulfill different needs in service to the larger body. That does mean your church, but it also expands to mean your community, city, country and world.
Service and action without a clear understanding of the mission and overarching goals are meaningless. It results in frustration when people work hard towards what they perceive is good, but do not receive feedback or confirmation that their efforts are beneficial. Stay with me- the next point is juicy. Different churches have different missions. If people are going to trust their spiritual welfare to a church, they deserve to know about the organization’s history, demographic and what kinds of services they are proficient in. And indeed, this is how you will know you’ve found the right church for you.
What qualifies as service is almost a different post. I understand that your generation is passionate about making a difference, however, I observe that there are varying degrees to which they commit to action. There are some who see a crisis and drop what they are doing to go and help out at ground zero. Some who organize financial and resource drives to provide for those in need. There are some who give regularly through volunteering at local events, or through recurrent financial support. And then there are others.
Others who take action by changing their profile frame on Facebook. Others who commit themselves to fighting for a cause by disagreeing with people online in comment wars. Others who put time and energy into “outing” and “shaming” people that are wrong. Sadly, this is also not a new thing. What many people in your generation attribute to action is really re-action. It’s small things that they can do that satisfy the conscience and allow them to go back to their own consumer-driven life.
To meet your needs, there are churches that are already creating a spectrum of service. They have lighter duties, like ushering and heavier duties, like setting up. There are duties associated with the function of church services and activities. Then there are spiritual duties- figuring out how to support individuals and families in their Christian walk. There are duties that arise out of crises within the church community. There are also those who are called to minister to the leadership and pastors. As a member, there are various tasks that you can sign up for and others you might be invited to assist with.
In this sense, service is not really action. Action involves doing something outside the function of the organization. Action requires time, money and sacrifice to benefit a cause or individuals who are facing suffering of some sort. But because you are already resistant to hearing about the mission and values, you are also susceptible to being confused about what your church considers meaningful action.
Here is my point: can you stop thinking about yourself? Long enough to know and understand what you are trying to be a part of? Can you not see that your dismissive attitude shows that you don’t value the purpose of action: which is to take the focus off of you, and give to others? The truth is we all need personal ministry. We all have things in our lives that need to be renewed by God. But the idea behind action is that when you give of yourself towards benefitting others, you are occupied and blessed. If everyone took care of each other with this in mind, the idea is that our community will be strong and that our commitment to each other’s success and welfare will be increased. If you skip right to the action, without laying the intent and prayerfully including the spiritual dimension, the same results won’t be yielded. Then church action is no different than that of the local optimist club.
I recognize this all millennials are not like this, but the tone of the article was so familiar, because while your generation is very good at pointing out the behavior of others, they are not so good at self-examination, or reflecting on their own actions. Everyone looks to point out the church’s fault in (fill in the blank), but you don’t realize that if a solution is going to be found, you need to be part of finding that solution, and you need to have vested interest. You can’t point out my flaws and tell me to fix it, then when you come back, see it hasn’t met your expectation so off you go again. This is the larger issue- you are so used to customizing everything in your world, when confronted with systems that will not allow for your particular desires, your response is to attack and blame someone.
What if, instead, we gave ourselves over to God and really took the comparison of the body of Christ into consideration? To be part of the body, you have to willingly make the decision to put aside your SELF, your comforts, your likes, your dislikes, and enter into, sacrificially, a larger body of believers, for the communal benefits of corporate fellowship. You retain your freedom. You retain your individuality. But it stops being the focus, as we join in agreement that God is the one we are here to worship. Well?