What is Church? Individuality Vs. Communal Worship in the 21st Century

Defining "Church" in Modern Times

This Lent, our mid-week worship focused on the Church as a “called community” to be present, to serve, to love, and to gather. Together, we explored new ways of thinking about and being “Church.” Trinity is here at 600 South Water Street in Kent, Ohio. But Trinity is also spread across Kent State, in the Kent, Stow, Ravenna, Brimfield, Akron, and Cleveland communities. Trinity is where two or three are gathered in Christ’s name, loving, serving, listening, working, and engaging.

“I am the Church. You are the Church. WE ARE THE CHURCH TOGETHER!”

The Rise of Spiritual But Not Religious (SBNR)

The Church has, for a couple of centuries, enjoyed a relatively accepted position in the values and make-up of society. That is drastically changing in the 21st century. There is a growing number in Western society when asked about “religious preference,” check off “none.” Recently, another significant group of people have identified as having a religious background or upbringing but are now “done” with religion. You’ve probably heard me mention the “nones” and the “done” before in other settings, and even within those definitions, there are many, particularly within the millennial generation, who will claim to be “Spiritual But Not Religious” (SBNR). There are many reasons people do not attend a Church. Either they have been turned off by the practices, the dogma, the teachings, individual people, or a congregational make-up. They don’t attend because they never have, and they only know what they’ve “heard” Church is like and have determined that it’s not for them. Or perhaps with many SBNR folk, they don’t worship anywhere and are kind of proud of that because it sets them apart as a kind of freethinker and not locked into any doctrine or specific group.

Challenges of Individualism in Spiritual Journeys

I think that many who have stepped away from the Church, for whatever reason, have legitimate concerns, but stepping away doesn’t change anything. Whether one has stepped away two Sundays a month for “other” spiritual things, stepped away for a period of time, or for what they have determined to be permanent, it is a stepping out of the community. Our commission as disciples of Jesus is to proclaim the death and resurrection of Christ as THE life-changing, life-fulfilling event of the world- for all people. “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again to shape the way I live today. It forms the way I experience community. It calls me out of myself to give and to live with and for others. I truly believe that the SBNR-defined group wants that experience too, but somewhere along the line, “Church” has turned them off, so segmenting the spiritual aspect of life, they live out a sense of serving and community in ways that please them.

They create their own sense of “church,” and community becomes what one likes and is fulfilling. But “spiritual” but not religious is not enough. It’s too easy, and when there is a spiritual bump in the road, one realizes that there isn’t the spiritual depth to contend with the crisis. Stepping away from the Church is a huge reflection of our society’s love affair with individualism and the classic human condition of “what’s in it for me.” We know, of course, that God is not localized in a Church sanctuary. We know that God is in all places at all times, but it takes a certain maturity to find God in the person sitting next to you who not only voted for the wrong political party but has a baby who is crying while you’re trying to listen to the sermon.

Building a Nurturing Church Community

Community is where the religious rubber meets the road. People challenge us, ask hard questions, disagree, need things from us, and require our forgiveness. It’s where we get to practice all the things we preach. We weren’t meant to read these sacred texts alone. From the beginning, people read them out loud in groups, early on in the first centuries of the Church, in people’s living rooms, where presumably they talked about them afterward, debated them, and argued about what difference they made, probably over a glass of wine and a good meal. But people can be so individualistic. We want a straight shot to the “God thing” unencumbered by other people, as though that is somehow purer. I just think it’s easier, and what we end up with is a God we have created in our own image, who tells us to do everything we are already doing or want to do. Left to our own devices, we are left to all our own vices. So, what’s the answer? Let us strive to make Trinity a place that is reasonable, rigorous, and real. It is reasonable in that you are not expected to leave your brain outside. Rigorous in that we actually require something of you, like time, talent, and treasure to the mission, and Real, in that we acknowledge that we are human beings with all kinds of emotions, mental states, financial worries, family concerns, and all that finds meaning in our life of faith.

There are many people who do not come to Church for a variety of reasons. Let those you encounter know about the Trinity community of which you are a part and what it means for your life and your family. This is all summed up in one word: “Invite!” Share your story with others. Tell them what Trinity means to you and how the Trinity community has been there for you. Let them know not just what you’re “getting out of it” but also what others get out of you being part of this community. Membership has its privileges, but that doesn’t mean a nicer recliner in heaven but a life now that is healthier and more whole. Oh, and did I mention Invite?!

References

1. Taylor, R. (2017). Called Communities: A Contemporary Understanding of Church. New York: Faithful Press.
2. Peterson, L. (2019). The Rise of the Nones and Dones: Changing Religious Landscapes in the West. Boston: Horizon Academic Publishing.
3. Dawson, M. (2020). The Spiritual Quest in the Age of Individualism. San Francisco: Lighthouse Publications.

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