Christians live a fragile existence. I see this when I take a long term look. In the 28 years that I have been attempting to follow Jesus I've seen a huge revolving door. A rough count of those Christians I knew 20 years ago proves the point; a little more than 60% of all of those who called themselves Christian are no longer following Christ. I also see this when I take a short term look. Statistics say the most likely time to become a Christian is in high school and the most likely time to leave your faith is in college. As a college pastor, every year I get new seniors "assigned" to our ministry. And every year I see a significant percentage of them walk away from their faith. [Of course we've tried a number of strategies to help them stick - but that's another story.]
I've unconsciously assumed this exodus was a matter of immaturity. However, in reflecting on the matter, a large number of people from across the maturity spectrum leave their faith. I can think of more than one friend from seminary who has "deconverted".
This has left me wondering what, if anything, are the patterns of deconversion?
While there are a variety of stories behind every statistic there seems to be one factor true of nearly every story. Over and over I see an underestimation of the importance of Christian community.
Take for example the exodus that happens in college. These students experience a complete transplant from well established Christian communities. They are uprooted from Christian friendships and placed into new dorms, new athletic teams, new academic settings. And yet, the chance of leaving one's faith is dramatically reduced when heading for Christian college. There's no mystery here: it's the community, stupid.
As evangelical we emphasize how essential it is we have a personal relationship with God. Might we be sabotaging the very faith we seek to engender?
St. Paul was aware of the potential of deconversion. Many of the Christians he wrote were under intense pressure to leave their faith. Yet rather than emphasizing becoming more personal in their commitment he constantly emphasizes the corporate. Letter after letter he drills his converts to see themselves as a family, a body, a new society, a holy temple, a peculiar people. In the words of New Testament scholar Richard Hayes, "The primary sphere of moral concern is not the character of the individual but the corporate obedience of the church" (The Moral Vision of the New Testament, p. 196)
And strangely absent in Paul's letters is this evangelical emphasis of the personal. I can't find one place where Paul feels pressed for Christians to understand that it's not good enough to be a member of the community...they need to personally believe.
When we reflect on the metaphors Paul uses for community the point is clear:
We are a family (Ephesians 2:19;1 Timothy 3:15; 5:1-2) - a family by definition is a place where a group of people care for one another's basic needs.
We are a body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)- parts of the body can not survive alone. Chop my hand off and it dies.
We are building blocks (Ephesians 2:20-22; 1 Peter 2:5) - unless the blocks are together they cease to fulfill their function. (Ever try to find protection from the elements by wrapping yourself around a brick?)
Every one of these metaphors state that being a part of Christian community is absolutely necessary for Christian existence. The idea that, "I have a personal relationship with Jesus that I go to church to have expressed" flies in the face of Paul's metaphors. In fact, Paul defines Christians in terms of community- a Christian is a member of the body of Christ, a member of the family of God, a building block made to be fit-together with other stones. Paul is concerned that his converts identity not exists apart from the community; he's writing so that they DO NOT identify themselves as individuals with a personal relationship. To have this view, for Paul, was to be in grave spiritual danger. For Paul the church is not a place to express my personal faith. The church is the embodiment of Christ here on this earth. It is a community apart from which I cease to fulfill my purpose in God's plan.
Maybe the fall from faith comes from asking "what should I do?" instead of "what should we do?". Maybe the revolving door is implicit within us personally accepting Jesus. Maybe if I'm focused on getting Christ into my life I struggle to be in him and his body on his mission. Maybe, just maybe, it's not so surprising we live such a fragile existence.
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1 comment:
First- A Shout Out to both of you for actually reading my blogs and responding!
benc,
ya, it's definitely the case that Paul wanted to address communities and that therefore the letters address communities. Good point.
When we see these letters through a canonical lense we recongize the authorial intent as moving beyond Paul himself. From a cannonical perspective we are lead to believe it was not only Paul's but the Spirit's intent to focus on communities.
In addition it is interesting that when Paul does write to individuals(Titus/Timothy/Phileom) the emphasis on community is there (instructions to Titus/Timothy as leaders of the community on how to lead God's local community). In fact, Philemon (all 25 verses) is the only NT book that it could be argued focuses on the individual - and yet the basis of the behavior is brought back to a community ethic "onesimus is no longer just a slave; he is a beloved brother..." (v. 16).
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