How the Church Can Still Save the Country

 

What the heck happened?

Once upon a not-so-distant time, a solid majority of American society still looked to organized Christianity as a strong and sure moral compass. The church may have been countercultural and nerdy, but it was still generally respected for its principled stands on a broad swath of important public issues: life, family, law, ethics, morality, etc.  Smart politicians were careful to stay in its good graces—or at least not needlessly provoke its wrath—and carefully consider its favored positions.

But let’s be honest: does the country really care much what the church thinks today … about anything?

Consider that overall Sunday attendance is down to 36%, and is still plummeting. Even more ominously, less than half of Millennials and Gen-Xers have ventured inside a church in the past six months. The church’s once-central place in American life is disappearing, and its traditional moral causes are seen as almost embarrassingly anachronistic by many, even among its own dwindling congregants.  

Can there be any doubt that the Christian church, which once enjoyed a commanding position in the national conversation, has been largely marginalized as a organizing force in contemporary American society? Forget whether the church can save the nation … can it even inform the conversation without being laughed off the stage?  

If so, how?

Actually, the answer is fairly simple … and has not really changed in over 2,000 years: exalt Christ, make disciples.  Everything else flows from this basic mission. Our problem is that the (rapidly fading) era of relative prosperity lulled us into forgetting that basic purpose.  

We came to think public respectability was our birthright, so we learned to demand it. As it has slipped away, our only response has been either (a) increasing frustration about being ignored, or (b) increasing compromise in our desperation for “relevance.”

But the American church’s capacity to influence public culture was never automatic. The good reputation we once enjoyed was built upon centuries of patient Great Commission work by our spiritual ancestors.  

After all, public culture is only as healthy as its overall spiritual condition–that soil which feeds its dominant beliefs, values and ethics. Cultivating and transforming the soil of human spirituality, one soul at a time, is precisely what the church is for.

But we got lazy and comfortable, and we forgot.

Over time, we became collectively enamored with our influence over our public institutions—government, media, law, politics, etc. While these are the most visible manifestations of the culture, they are merely the leaves on the tree. They can be dazzling and give the illusion of permanence, but they are, in fact, extremely malleable.

This is why the church’s primary public responsibility was laid down clearly by its Founder: first, exalt Christ—that is, clearly, lovingly, and boldly represent Him in word and deed; then, make and grow His disciples. That’s why we exist.

When healthy, the church nourishes our surrounding society by faithfully performing this God-given mission. When unhealthy, we merely reflect the dominant culture, then wonder why that same culture finds no nourishment in our soil.

If the message the church is entrusted with is true, then we can still save the country. However, it won’t happen because we elect the right candidate, or pass the right laws, or see talented Christian actors and athletes win popular acclaim. These may make us feel better about ourselves, but they don’t transform society any more than a tree is suddenly healthy just because some of its leaves are green.

The church can save the country when we remember who we are … and why we’re here.

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  1. Tuck Inactive
    Tuck
    @Tuck

    Nice post.

    • #1
  2. jmelvin Member
    jmelvin
    @jmelvin

    Excellent reminder!

    • #2
  3. user_385039 Inactive
    user_385039
    @donaldtodd

    You are assuming that the churches all hold to the same moral beliefs. 

    NARAL Pro-Choice America has three churches associated with its position: The Episcopal

    Church, the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodists in whose DC building NARAL is headquartered.

    There are varying positions on homosexuality, and on homosexual marriage, in various churches. 

    There are large number of churches which have taken no position on specific moral issues because they are afraid.  At the congregational level the pastor and staff risk losing their livelihood if a message is preached which loses them members of the congregation.  This occurs whether or not the main body of the church has a moral position on the subject or not.

    You won’t be fighting this alone, but you may be surprised who your friends and allies are; and I would not be surprised if your group is infiltrated by those who would find something (or anything) to use against you.

    continued

    • #3
  4. user_385039 Inactive
    user_385039
    @donaldtodd

    3 continued

    Last item, you’ve self-identified as an evangelical:  exalt Christ, make disciples. Everything else flows from this basic mission set.

    Having left evangelicalism to become a Catholic, we see identical things a lot differently.  For your idea to work you would have to admit comrades you would not have expected, and if they are like me, they aren’t going (or going back) to what you represent as an evangelical.  If appealing to people about the truth is desirable, you might be in the backseat listening rather than in the driver’s seat in any particular engagement.

    Your call.

    • #4
  5. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Donald Todd: the United Methodists in whose DC building NARAL is headquartered.

     You gotta document something like that…

    • #5
  6. Roberto Inactive
    Roberto
    @Roberto

    I am attempting to recall the last time I saw a prominent Christian leader boldly and publicly stand up for doctrine. I cannot, all I can recall seeing is tepid equivocation.

    Elected officials who endorse murdering children are allowed to openly and continuously declare themselves Catholic with meager response if any and yet there are those surprised at the diminished roll the church now plays?

    One only has to look back briefly. Consider Gregorio Grassi or Dasius of Durostorum and so many others who demonstrated a courage that “modern” church leaders will never comprehend.

    • #6
  7. rayrich90@yahoo.com Inactive
    rayrich90@yahoo.com
    @Jailer

    I have no argument that much of the church has compromised its principles to accommodate the culture.  That was the point of this sentence:  “When unhealthy, we merely reflect the dominant culture, then wonder why that same culture finds no nourishment in our soil.”

    • #7
  8. Mrs K Inactive
    Mrs K
    @MrsK

    The King Prawn:

    Donald Todd: the United Methodists in whose DC building NARAL is headquartered.

    You gotta document something like that…

    you may be referring to the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights which has since been renamed to Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights. I read one article that said that the RCRC was headquartered in the UMC’s Capitol Hill building.

    • #8
  9. Badderbrau Moderator
    Badderbrau
    @EKentGolding

    “Having left evangelicalism to become a Catholic, we see identical things a lot differently. For your idea to work you would have to admit comrades you would not have expected, and if they are like me, they aren’t going (or going back) to what you represent as an evangelical. If appealing to people about the truth is desirable, you might be in the backseat listening rather than in the driver’s seat in any particular engagement.

    Your call.”

    Aren’t Roman Catholics called to Spread the Gospel and make Disciples of Christ also?   If not, what exactly is the Roman Catholic Church for?

    • #9
  10. rayrich90@yahoo.com Inactive
    rayrich90@yahoo.com
    @Jailer

    Mrs K:

    The King Prawn:

    Donald Todd: the United Methodists in whose DC building NARAL is headquartered.

    You gotta document something like that…

    you may be referring to the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights which has since been renamed to Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights. I read one article that said that the RCRC was headquartered in the UMC’s Capitol Hill building.

     Unfortunately, that proved depressingly easy to document:  http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/support-for-the-religious-coalition-for-reproductive-choice

    • #10
  11. user_385039 Inactive
    user_385039
    @donaldtodd

    Badderbrau: #9 “Aren’t Roman Catholics called to Spread the Gospel and make Disciples of Christ also?   If not, what exactly is the Roman Catholic Church for?”

    Two questions.  Thank you.

    Yes, the Church, its sons and daughters are called on to spread the good news and make  disciples for our Lord.

    The Catholic Church is the Kingdom of God on earth, serving its Founder Who is the King, as well as being the fulfillment of the Temple by bringing the sacraments to the people of God.   The purpose of the sacraments is to provide grace so that the people of God can respond to His call.

    • #11
  12. twvolck Inactive
    twvolck
    @twvolck

    Propagating Christianity because you believe it’s true is one thing.  Propagating it because you believe it will make the society better is something else.  The latter probably won’t work.  Those whom you wish to persuade will probably catch on that the propagators don’t really believe in it, but only that they think it’s beneficial to believe it.  Also, there is no guarantee that the society will be better.  For all we know it will be more divided and more quarrelsome.

    • #12
  13. SallyVee Inactive
    SallyVee
    @GirlWithAPearl

    If the message the church is entrusted with is true, then we can still save the country.

    That is not my mission, saving the country. That is up to God. While it would be nice to see this nation turn definitively toward God, my observations as a humble human indicate we are heading at high speed away from God, bent on having our own way on everything. This will not lead to any good outcome, only to destruction and evil.

    • #13
  14. SallyVee Inactive
    SallyVee
    @GirlWithAPearl

    first, exalt Christ—that is, clearly, lovingly, and boldly represent Him in word and deed; then, make and grow His disciples. That’s why we exist.

    This is right on, Jailer. Daily we listen to Christ-centered, Cross-focused radio (see IssuesEtc.org). And we attend a confessional/historic/orthodox Lutheran church. However, it is increasingly the case for me personally that my dwindling energy is spent clinging to my faith while the culture assaults from all sides, through the cracks in the windows, permeating the very air we breathe (hat tip: Mark Steyn for that last bit). The culture is at war with us and I’m afraid it is winning the worldly battle in the USA. I no longer feel patriotic in any grand sense. Matter of fact I fear my fellow citizens to a great extent… they seem increasingly given over to tremendous apathy, nihilism, envy, pornographic pleasures and such, and they seem ever more proud of their own ignorance and pride. All of this is to say that making disciples is difficult when said disciple-makers are barely hanging on to the life raft themselves.

    • #14
  15. user_385039 Inactive
    user_385039
    @donaldtodd

    twvolck:

    “Propagating Christianity because you believe it’s true is one thing. Propagating it because you believe it will make the society better is something else. …For all we know it will be more divided and more quarrelsome.”

    When the churches all pretty much believed the same things morally, that presented a solid front for people who listened.  Now that the churches are representing differing sides of the issues, such as abortion, the front has crumbled.  One might merely find the place one agrees with and use it for cover or justification.  If the churches don’t agree on what is morally right, it destroys the idea that Christianity will be able to solve the difficulties involved in holding together our country.  A divided Christianity won’t glue together a divided nation.

    One might read the history of the Southern Baptists and see where that led.

    One might also read the history of the Great Awakenings and see where that led.

    • #15
  16. TeamAmerica Member
    TeamAmerica
    @TeamAmerica

    @twvolck- “Propagating Christianity because you believe it’s true is one thing.  Propagating it because you believe it will make the society better is something else.  The latter probably won’t work.”
    Indeed. In fact, C.S. Lewis warned against the idea Christianity can be used as a tool to change society, which would border on blasphemy.
    Also, you need to fill in your avatar with some kind of image, (as long as it isn’t another cat!)  :-)

    • #16
  17. rayrich90@yahoo.com Inactive
    rayrich90@yahoo.com
    @Jailer

    TeamAmerica:

    @twvolck- “Propagating Christianity because you believe it’s true is one thing. Propagating it because you believe it will make the society better is something else. The latter probably won’t work.” Indeed. In fact, C.S. Lewis warned against the idea Christianity can be used as a tool to change society, which would border on blasphemy. Also, you need to fill in your avatar with some kind of image, (as long as it isn’t another cat!) :-)

    I generally agree with that.  Dissuading the church from over-involvement in such things (“coloring the leaves”) is generally the point of my article, if you look behind the headline.  

    • #17
  18. user_1938 Inactive
    user_1938
    @AaronMiller

    Again, I wonder if Rev Fulton Sheen‘s TV show could be as successful today.

    I bet it could, but whether or not any network other than an explicitly Christian network would give the show a chance is another matter.

    • #18
  19. user_3130 Member
    user_3130
    @RobertELee

    I’m not a fan of “the church”, whatever church one belong to, because of all the scoundrels operating in the name of “the church.”  Or those more enamored of “the church” than of God.  I don’t care so much what a person’s church is as how much they represent God in their deeds.  I suspect that if our religious and political leadership, whatever their stripe, actually upheld the beliefs they professed, more people would show up on whatever Sabbath they subscribe to.

    • #19
  20. user_385039 Inactive
    user_385039
    @donaldtodd

    Aaron Miller:

    “Again, I wonder if Rev Fulton Sheen‘s TV show could be as successful today.

    I bet it could, but whether or not any network other than an explicitly Christian network would give the show a chance is another matter.”

    EWTN would carry it but unless the other “Christian” networks had space to fill, I would assume not.  The good bishop does not do a very good job of representing their thinking.

    • #20
  21. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Jailer:

    Actually, the answer is fairly simple … and has not really changed in over 2,000 years: exalt Christ, make disciples. …Our problem is that the (rapidly fading) era of relative prosperity lulled us into forgetting that basic purpose.

    That isn’t our only problem. Another pretty big problem is that the people who feel called to go out into the world to exalt Christ and make disciples are often big on enthusiasm, but severely lacking in wisdom and knowledge of the human heart.

    Many of them are like Job’s well-meaning but foolish friends. They mean no evil. They are pious, and have pious-sounding easy answers. But in the end, God speaks out of the whirlwind, and says that only Job – Job who cried out in his suffering for answers and got none – has spoken rightly of God. The others, with their well-meaning, pat answers, have not spoken rightly.

    Too many people apparently think being “a fool for Christ” means having license to be foolish. To not bother with deeper understanding of others’ grief or doubt. But we are called to be wise as serpents as well as innocent as doves, and to be good physicians.

    • #21
  22. user_385039 Inactive
    user_385039
    @donaldtodd

    Robert E Lee: #19 “I’m not a fan of “the church”, whatever church one belong to, because of all the scoundrels operating in the name of “the church.” 

    Well Robert, we are on different sides of this issue.  If God came to save sinners, then to expect perfection from the average Christian might be a reach.  Human beings strive for the good, and at least occasionally fail.  The assumption of impeccability (sinlessness) does not work for us.  Ergo, a good confession is in order on a fairly regular basis, so that we might be once again forgiven by a good God Who wills our salvation.

    Or we can take your position and assume a bunch of scoundrels are at work.  While I am no longer an evangelical Pentecostal, I never had that impression about the leaders of the majority of the churches.  I assumed that they were largely operating in good faith, doing the best they could under the conditions that they labor under.  I also pray for them, assuming that a prayer is better than a curse.

    Of course, it may be that I am one of those scoundrels you abhor.  In that case, all bets are off.

    • #22
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