By Peter Sung, Conference Coach, PacNWC
Easter reports from around the church planting world have been coming in. To no one’s surprise, every single report indicates higher than normal attendance. In fact, it was not uncommon for smaller churches to see more than a doubling of their usual numbers. If you don’t care for numbers, ask your staff and volunteers what they witnessed and felt on Easter Sunday and the days that followed.
Given all the studies and observations about declining church attendance in America and the rising self-identification as “None” (as opposed to, say, Christian), an outstanding question for me is: Why do people still go to church? Why is Easter (Christmas and Mother’s Day, too) still a cultural and religious phenomenon? If SBNR (or SBNA – short for: Spiritual But Not Religious/Affiliated) is the popular label, why do people still possess a reflex to shuffle over to church? As someone “in the industry”, I wonder, Is the church destined to make a comeback, even in its current form? Are we going to make it, after all?
Part of the answer, I think, is that spirituality is simply insufficient. The soul wants what it wants – more than mere spirituality. It wants, dare we say it, religion. Though it’s fraught and often disappointing, hard realities about who we are and how we’re wired will always persist and therefore emerge. You can consider a secular view on this from pieces like this Time Magazine article, or you can ask a few pointed questions of your own soul-full self:
- Will I ever shed my need to worship (God, god, or otherwise)?
- Is anyone else (besides Christ) truly worthy of worship?
- Do I really want to be my own authority?
- Is power from within really enough, or do I need power from without?
- Is hope possible without a savior?
- What are the actual alternatives to Christ?
- What would history have been without the intervention of Christ’s kingdom?
- Do I want to be part of a future world without God, God’s people, and God’s purposes?
In no way am I trying to say that religion is perfect or even good. Only God is good – that’s what Jesus said to the rich young ruler. But religion in general and Christianity in specific, is the best that we have. The organized, religious collective known as the Church is and represents the Body of Christ, the Salt of the Earth, and the Light of the World. It somehow embodies Christ, practices love, gives hope, and carries the coming Kingdom with it wherever it goes. Sometimes I feel embarrassed or frustrated; often I feel totally done with the church. But I cannot truthfully wear the label “None”. Not truthfully. I know that SBNR is actually just another religion with me at the center, and I am not worthy of such trust or focus. For better or for worse, the church represents who I am – a child of God, what I am – a worshiper of God, and where I’m headed – Home. That is, church, for now.