Is The Church Dead?

Tell me. How do guns, xenophobia and misogyny fit in with Christianity? 

Jesus wants to know. 

As church attendance continues to decline, especially among young people, I’m struggling to understand how so many pastors have bought into Christian nationalism. What was so appealing about that us vs them mentality that made it so interchangeable with the Gospel? I used to think people went to church hoping to become better people. Maybe I had that wrong. Maybe they went to church because somehow, someway it made them feel like they were better than other people. God’s people Amen? 

So did pastors just take the easy way out? I can’t help but think it is myopic to pander to congregations that are unwilling to accept the changing demographics of the land. Maybe they thought it would be too hard to speak Christ’s message of love and acceptance even when that’s exactly what they needed to do. When times are tough is when I was taught to lean into my faith. 

When Obama was elected president the reality of demographic changes in America punched some folks right in the mouth. Suddenly they had to choose if they were ok with what many of us hoped would be a post racial America or if they weren’t. The cognitive dissonance of resenting a black man holding the highest office in the land and the desire to be considered good church-going God-fearing pillars of the community was at a crossroad. Resenting the black man won. Fueling that resentment was the fact that they were forced to confront the choice. For many, things were just fine up until Obama. Then along came make America great again.

 I’ve been looking for a church for several years running. I run from any church that preaches an us vs them mentality as if  Christians in the United States are somehow persecuted and oppressed. Pot kettle. To make matters worse they’ve now expanded those who qualify as “others” to include “the woke.” The woke has  replaced their disdain for political correctness. How horrifying that someone might make them uncomfortable for not loving others as themselves. Christian nationalists have retreated to old testament scripture citing the tower of babel as justification that God wanted nations and their people to be separate completely ignoring how native Americans might find that ironic. They claim the gays and the trans community are trying to force themselves upon them while not seeing the hypocrisy of terms like sanctity of marriage and one man/one woman excluding multiple marriages and divorces. Along came Trump giving them permission to be blunt and bigoted. 

The whole thing boils down to this; I miss church. Maybe just like those young people who never returned after the pandemic. I sought fellowship and acceptance from church attendance. I pray every day that others might see a light in me that comes from prayer and sharing my thoughts with a higher power. I never went to church thinking I was special for attending. I went because I know I’m flawed and need help getting better. I’ll keep looking and I’ll continue talking with God though-out my days. In the meantime if you know of a good church near Manassas VA shoot me a message!