A Radical Idea

It started years ago. First one or two, then a few here, a group over there. Now it has become a torrent; one that seems about as unstoppable as the water in the proverbial thumb in the dike leak story. Oh, I never said what I was talking about. I don’t know if it even has a name or not, but what happens is that Christians give up on church and religion in favor of living lives of service and devotion to God.
“Wait,” you say. “That can’t be right. You can’t be a Christian and not be religious. You can’t be a Christian and not do church.” There are many, many souls out there who will beg to differ with you, and they may well be correct.
We see it all the time. Fewer and fewer are attending traditional church services in buildings. More and more are calling it quits when it comes to aligning with a denomination. Many have begun small groups of like-minded Christians and meet in someone’s home or other nondescript location. Why? I confess I don’t know the full answer to that. But I suspect that the following may play a part in someone’s decision. What follows is in no particular order of importance; you judge for yourself.
First, denominations and religions tend to be top-heavy with bureaucracy and bloated with money-guzzling offices, buildings, and work. Some believe this is an unnecessary waste of resources.
Second, religion in general is suffering from the pains of humanity. Sexual abuse, theft, extortion, greed, and racism all play significant roles in some religious institutions today. Many people see this as hypocritical.
Third, people are recognizing an inner nudge to make the world a better place in some way. Some religious organizations haven’t a clue (or don’t want to know) how to harness that nudge and provide the help that may be needed.
Fourth, religion is full of officials of some kind or another who discourage innovation, individual initiative, and in general doing things differently than has been done in the past. It’s called obstructionism. The officials might well call it doctrine.
Fifth, the lives of people today are more harried and busy than ever before. We are inundated with data, lists, calendars, and appointments. We long for a simpler, easier time. Sometimes, that is attainable, even if for a short time, by eschewing tradition and ceremony in favor of innovation and informality.
I don’t know if this movement is on target or wildly off tangent. I suspect that, like much of what humanity thinks up, there is good and bad in it. Regardless, it is here and we must not only deal with it, but work with it, interact with it, and learn from it. After all, Christianity itself was a radical idea two thousand years ago.