Thank you for articulating this so clearly. Though I identify as an "institution kid" in the David Brooks sense, what bothers me most about church decline is not the withering-away of an institution, per se, however necessary that institution is to human flourishing. We've all seen the stats about people drifting away from church. But now, as a pastor of a once-flourishing parish, I personally know the names of dozens of people who used to be part of the life of the church and are no longer active in any church. Indeed, four of these are my own brothers and sisters. Obviously a variety of factors can be blamed, but this is happening everywhere.
I'm not sure how it does matter to God, and I admit some ambivalence about the implication for reward or framing a belief transactionally. That said, I think something like Christian practice is a profoundly truthful and empowering way for a person to be present in the world.
The mechanics of evangelism, of course, remain obscure. It's not just cheerleading, or being cloyingly friendly, or being obnoxiously honest, or being a doormat for others, but something else. Perhaps just doing the work is living without rivalry and envy because know a God who has loved us and has redeemed us.
I agree that 2 should be true. However, in practice it does not seem to hold. Across denominations, I don’t think most churches are facilitating relationships with God
Thank you for articulating this so clearly. Though I identify as an "institution kid" in the David Brooks sense, what bothers me most about church decline is not the withering-away of an institution, per se, however necessary that institution is to human flourishing. We've all seen the stats about people drifting away from church. But now, as a pastor of a once-flourishing parish, I personally know the names of dozens of people who used to be part of the life of the church and are no longer active in any church. Indeed, four of these are my own brothers and sisters. Obviously a variety of factors can be blamed, but this is happening everywhere.
I'm not sure how it does matter to God, and I admit some ambivalence about the implication for reward or framing a belief transactionally. That said, I think something like Christian practice is a profoundly truthful and empowering way for a person to be present in the world.
The mechanics of evangelism, of course, remain obscure. It's not just cheerleading, or being cloyingly friendly, or being obnoxiously honest, or being a doormat for others, but something else. Perhaps just doing the work is living without rivalry and envy because know a God who has loved us and has redeemed us.
I agree that 2 should be true. However, in practice it does not seem to hold. Across denominations, I don’t think most churches are facilitating relationships with God