Religious deconstruction has become a pretty popular term that refers to the way many Christians are reassessing their faith and trying to reconcile between what they've been taught and what they now believe to be true about God, church life, church politics, and general religious bullshit. While many of the deconstructionists have moved on to reconstruction -- trying to rebuild their faith and remain connected to God in some form or fashion, many others have all but given up on the idea of organized religion of any kind and have pretty much quit church all together.
Even after some serious reconstruction of my own religious life and after having found a church organization that has beliefs similar to my own, I could easily fall into the category of those that have left organized religion all together. It seems to me that today's church (probably always been this way) is more of a social club for like minded people than a gathering of people committed to worshiping, serving, and inviting others to do the same.
That probably sounds pretty harsh coming from a former Southern Baptist evangelist, but the truth is I'm pretty sure that I can get along with God just fine without the added complication of church. According to Pew Research, the number of nonchurch attenders was dropping steadily before the pandemic forced even smaller isolated churches to go online. Here is a link to the data from the research that shows the across the board downward trend in religious affiliation and church attendance.
Something tells me the addition of online services will also contribute to the decrease in church attendance.
When it comes right down to it -- my personal beliefs haven't changed much. I still believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. I no longer believe that God needs me, nor is God counting on me to shepherd souls into heaven. While I will gladly share my beliefs with others, I will just as gladly learn from others about their own beliefs and reasonings when it comes to God/man (or woman) relationships. As far as getting you into heaven -- I no longer see that as my responsibility. I'm going to leave that up to God.
I know readers of this blog vary from atheist and non-religious to devout Christians. I also know there are a few non-Christian religions, beliefs, or philosophies represented. Here are some questions I have:
How important is church to you?
How beneficial is regularly meeting with like minded people to your relationship with God? Humankind? or just knowing yourself?
Is the traditional practice of weekly religious gathering becoming obsolete or is it just a generational thing?
If you have quit going to church, what would bring you back?
Thoughts?
John
2 comments:
So, your title looked like a great intro to a song. I remembered the song 'burning down the house.' So I did a search on 'burning the house down' thinking google would know what I meant.
Well, it seems there is a song called 'burning the house down.' By a group called AJR. I gave it a listen. I now have a new song and group to listen to. It almost fits perfectly with your post. You've got a musical group in your church, don't you? This would be a great song for them to do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnsYG2PFgSw
As you know, I've been struggling with all of this for the past dozen years or more. Attending the mega-church I was a member of used to be the highlight of my week; that was until the senior pastor began to preach his political opinions from the pulpit—opinions that were 180ยบ from mine. I took a few years off before finding a progressive-oriented church. I thought I'd maybe found a new church home but after two years I walked away from that as well.
While I now find myself among the unchurched, I remain a spiritual person. I've seen God at work in my life again and again and again and could never imagine walking away from my relationship with him. I see God differently now, tho. I see him as someone not defined by the Bible but as an entity that is greater than a collection of books—many of which I no longer accept (I'm speaking of mostly Old Testament writings). Unless I find a way to reconcile God of the OT with Jesus of the NT, I'll remain on my own with my own belief system that acknowledges a higher power but one that no longer fits in the confines of any one particular religion.
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