In reading the recent opinion piece by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat entitled “ Can politics save Christianity” one is struck by the fact that it seems more like an exercise in the blame game. To obtain a more complete understanding of Mr. Douthat’s column one also had to read his article of December 10th as well as the American Conservative article “ In Defense Of Cultural Christianity” It is quite apparent that in America, Christianity is declining not only as a percentage of the population but also in raw numbers as reported by the PEW Research Center. While the Roman Catholic Church has done a good job in presenting itself as the dominant denomination, Protestants, who outnumber Roman Catholics two to one, are facing the same problems of decline.
What is missing from his column as he bemoans what he believes to be a diminishing Christianity is that the real decline is the church which is the main vehicle by which the message of Christianity is spread and practiced.
While the United States is still overwhelmingly a nation where faith is a major part of people’s lives, people are finding other ways of expressing their faith other than sitting in an old building every Sunday. In addition, the church’s overbearing reliance on traditionalism not based in scripture has not served it well in recent years.
The church needs to ascertain and wrestle with the true reason(s) for its decline. The constant blaming of the culture, society, or more recently on wokeness or progressivenesses is shallow and quite frankly lacking in intellectual honesty. Relying on an archaic sense of the past that seems to matter more to intellectuals than everyday ordinary parishioners reveals a fear of wrestling with its own demons and limitations. In the Roman Catholic Church, people are questioning the leadership on issues such as women not being allowed to be priests, priests not being able to get married (unless you are coming from another denomination and were already married) the church determining whether your marriage was legitimate or not, divorced people not being able to take communion in many parishes) and the abhorrent and immoral cover up of pedophiles. American religious leaders from Cardinal Timothy Dolan to Franklin Graham cozying up to Trump only served to depict the church as an intolerant institution more interested in position than prophecy. Former Pope Benedict’s depiction of the Orthodox Church as flawed and other denominations as not true churches reflects a narcissism that is so enamored of its own history that it cannot see its own flaws. Continuing to adhere to these actions and proclamations should not surprise anyone that it acts as a deterrent to participation rather than an attraction. The Roman Catholic Church is not the only denomination that can be accused of myopic thinking. The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod suspended one of its Bishops because he prayed with other people in a call for healing after the attacks of September 11th. This is on top of high profile congregations sounding more like motivational sessions than worship services. It is possible that people have perceived that the Jesus of Nazareth spoken about in scripture is not the Jesus practiced in many of today’s churches. Unfortunately, these issues depict a church that may be steeped in past glory but devoid of a new vision and relevance. While this may be attributed to unwarranted skepticism, people have seen religious hypocrisy and have made a decision to stay away.
As Augustine’s “City of God” refutes the idea that Christianity was responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire, it is also true that liberalism and progressivism is not the reason for the churches decline generally and Roman Catholicism in particular nor will conservatism be its savior. Blaming external sources may feel good but it simply results in avoiding their own complicity in the churches decline.
Mr. Douthat’s call for a more fully Christian politics may be part of the solution to a declining church. The challenge is what worldview is it going to organize a “fully Christian politics around.” Politics can save the church but not if it is like a typically elected official whose only concern is to be re-elected. If the churches goal is to simply be bigger than everyone else then its integrity and value must be questioned. Mr. Douthat is right when he says it starts with belief which has enabled progressivism to gain a strong foothold in American culture. Nonetheless, if the church organizes around what Mr. Douthat points out in his Deceber 10th column as the view of the new right about their idea of important issues, its already fragile hold on its parishioners will be further diminished. What the new right has identified as key issues is a depiction of empire to which Jesus was opposed. In addition, empire was against the person of Christ even as later generations utilized the newly formed Christianity for its own political purposes. Mr. Douthat’s depiction of the left’s vision being the “completion of a Scandinavian-style welfare state…..”may be correct but the reality is that when you remove the excesses from both sides, Jesus’ vision and mission would probably be closer to the left.
For the church in general its limited imaginative prowess has led it to think about its mission in overly dogmatic terms rather than service. What the church is missing is a collective of leaders who have a message centered in the gospel that speaks to today’s parishioner, and today’s world not a call back to “traditional values” which has different connotations to different communities.
As the world celebrates the birth of the Christ Child, it is important to remember that the life of Jesus was a radical departure from the traditional manner in which religion was practiced during his time. The priests of his time were more concerned with their place in society rather than the kingdom that Christ envisioned.
The church does great things in the field of charity whether providing food, clothing and on a broader scale running hospitals, schools and other institutions. Nonetheless, the reality is that the church has not made a cogent argument for participating in its traditions and ceremonies. While sacramental theology is important it does not and cannot guarantee salvation, it is simply a visible reminder of the promise but not the promise.
Can the church find its way again? Yes it can.
The church is an indispensable player in public life and in the lives of people. Sometimes as an advocate, other times as a mediating institution that can inform its people about about the pros and cons of issues, and in other times a consoling force during times of strife in people’s lives.
If the public square is going to be a lifeline for the church, then it must adhere to the principles of Matthew 25 rather than empire. As ministers erroneously called evangelicals, as well as leaders such as Cardinal Timothy Dolan cozied up to Trump they began to resemble the religious leaders of the New Testament that Jesus railed against. This coupled with an absurd meeting of Catholic Bishops to discuss withholding communion from President Biden paints religious leaders with a conservative leaning as intolerant, dogmatic and more concerned with having power over people.
The church must decide that its role in the public square is primarily for those who have the least and those who have been marginalized. The churches constant anti-choice and anti-gay stance particularly the Roman Catholic Church (even as its priests were preying on young boys) cannot be the narrative that describes the church. It must cease to align itself with right wing lunacy simply because they claim a pro-life or anti-gay stance. Their Faustian bargain has not resulted in renewed prestige amongst the populace. Crying about non-existent persecution may serve as a rallying cry to remaining adherents but does nothing towards reversing its downward trend. In a time of political dissension, insurrectionist tendencies, wealth disparity, the church has an opportunity to proclaim a message that would resonate with the majority of the nation that has maintained its sanity.
The church must speak to the changing demographics of the nation as well as the faithful remnant.
The church must deal with a growing Christian nationalism that is the antithesis of the gospel.
The solution for the church is recognizing that it starts with local leadership both clerical and laity. The Roman Catholic idea of a parish remains a prudent way to rebuild its relevance. Nonetheless, it cannot bemoan the fact that there may be less Catholics in their community. The issue for any church is not to bring them into the denomination they represent but rather to lead them into Christian discipleship. As new students enter seminaries they should not only be taught to be theologians according to the denomination’s canon but also church developers who are actively engaged in leadership development.
Any institution must constantly ask itself what is its purpose and whether it’s present structure is an obstacle to carrying out that purpose. While the overall purpose is the worshiping of the savior, nonetheless the church must find new ways of telling the old,old story that speaks to today’s people and their situation.
As its main act each week is the Sunday worship service, leaders must ask some hard questions. Is the weekly drama known as liturgy presented with an air of excellence or has mediocrity become its standard operating procedure? The issue is not one of style but any congregation that is not dynamic in its presentation of the gospel through word and sacrament may hold on to its present parishioners out of loyalty but will struggle to attract new members.
The advantage that Christianity has is that four times a year, Easter Christmas, Good Friday and to a lesser degree Ash Wednesday, church leaders, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, becomes visible to the world. It is given the opportunity to speak to the world. Yet in most cases the world hears a milquetoast message designed to simultaneously offend none and inspire no one.
Ronald Reagan said “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction” This observation can also be applied to the church. While the church is a long way from disappearing in the United States, continued decline will render it irrelevant only to be used by people seeking political power.
Apostolic Minister David Kalamen said “From my perspective, the Church as a whole has majored in rebuking the darkness and has consistently failed at lighting a light.” In other words the church is good at the law but lacking in the gospel.
The reality is that neither progressivism nor conservatism will turn the plight of Christianity in America around. To adhere to either one elevates it to a place to which neither ideology is worthy. The church belongs in the public square but its role is to be an advocate for those who have been shunned or pushed aside by the dominant society.
Can politics save Christianity? Yes if it eschews ideology and adheres to the mission assigned to it by the one whom the church claims it belongs.