by Tom Krattenmaker.
Many times over the years I’ve written and spoken about my reaction as a secular person to religious disaffiliation and the oft-reported decline of Christian congregations and denominations.
My response is that I don’t necessarily applaud churches’ going through hard times. Nor do I lament every case of a church shrinking and/or closing. I need a few details before forming my opinion: What kind of church? What does it do and preach? How true is it to the way of Jesus? How does its closing or diminished clout affect its community?
These are things I still want to know. But while writing a recent article touching on struggles in the secular sphere, I found myself wondering about the inverse question: What is a committed Christian to make of the failure of organized secularism to take off the way it seemed poised to do about a decade ago?
Should Christians cheer the closing of a Sunday Assembly or Oasis chapter (a fate that has befallen many), or the folding of a humanist group (like the one I used to participate in)? Should it gladden Christians’ hearts to see data correlating church decline with social unhappiness and lack of social cohesion? A glorious opportunity to say “Told you so!”?
Conversely, should they accept that many of the unchurched will never become churched and hope they find beauty, truth, and purpose through secular means? Should they go so far as to support them on their non-church journeys?
Far be it from me to tell Christians how they should think and feel. But I am happy to offer a few observations and hopes as one who is not part of the faith but is impressed by what it and its people can be, and do, when they follow the way of Jesus.
For starters, let’s note that not all secular people are atheists. Far from it. Many harbor some remnant or inkling of God belief. It’s only logical and entirely fitting for Christians (especially evangelicals) to hope these folks join congregations, and to provide them with whatever direction and encouragement is needed. To the extent unchurched believers might have theological notions that are misguided or harmful, it’s an even greater imperative for them to find healthy church homes where their faith can mature and deepen—and for them to receive Christians’ help finding such a home.
Here is another category that interests me: the undecided and persuadable. As I see it, these are people who might have had little if any exposure to religion growing up, and who haven’t given much thought to the existence and nature of God. I find it entirely fitting for Christians to engage folks like this and encourage them to explore the “big questions,” while recommending answers and contexts (e.g., church communities) in which to pursue them.
Those are the relatively easy parts of this conversation. I suspect it is harder for Christians to discern what to think and do about people who are settled in their secularism, who have thought the matter through and have come to clear conclusions. How should Christians engage with them? What should they want for them? How, if at all, should they pray for them?
Again, I can only tell you what I hope the answers will be. Maybe you’ll think I’m naïve. But I hope, first of all, that Christians resist any temptation to turn these settled seculars into projects. Especially to the extent they approach the engagement as an argument to be won. I have been on the receiving end of this kind of interaction several times, and I find it becomes increasingly uninteresting as the “conversation” unfolds, more likely to repel than attract. I begin to resent their lack of earnest curiosity in my secular views and insights. I notice the absence of good wishes for the journey I’m taking.
I doubt that Christians who read the New Wine blog engage secular people this way. For that I am grateful. (It’s understandable, of course, if you privately pray for secular folks to eventually “see the light.”)
But is it too much to ask—and I mean this sincerely, not as a rhetorical question—for a secular person like me to ask for your encouragement, even your prayers, that I might deepen my life and become a better person through secular means? That I, and people like me, might succeed in our efforts to develop and promote positive articulations of secular life?
I am very interested in your responses.
To read more of Tom Krattenmaker’s work, check out his website at tomkrattenmaker.com