Shallow Puddles or Deeper Waters?

There is a lot to appreciate in the ancient traditions and wisdom that have gone before us. They act as wells from which we are able to draw in order to sustain our lives. So it was with surprise, that a few weeks ago, I listened to John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart podcast, on the growing trend he is observing in America at the moment. The entry of countless young Americans into older expressions of Christianity, most notably Orthodox Christianity.

For those less circumspect in mind, this is something that can be swept under the carpet in a brief dismissal or worse belittled, as misguided youths mislead by false theology. I dare say that this knee jerk reaction is especially prevalent in Protestant leaning countries such as South Africa and the USA. However, it is my belief that to do so, would be at one’s own peril.

In Eldredge’s observation, he notes two important aspects of this conversion. The first, is that the forms of Christianity that young people are moving towards, is not an easy spirituality. He explains that in Orthodox churches, people stand and sing (or chant) the entire liturgy… for two hours. This isn’t the pop/rock Christian worship that Australian church Hillsong introduced to the world and that most non-liturgical churches embraced soon thereafter. This is the chanting of Psalms and liturgical rites, usually in Greek, for hours. This is a large divergence from the Christianity popularised through American televangelists and mega-church leaders over the past 30 years. The divergence cannot be overestimated. It is massive.

This brings us to his Eldredge's second observation, which is more of an explanation of why people are exhausted by the Christianity offered to them, through what he terms the “comfort culture” which he claims has become ever more prevalent in the Western world over the last several decades. Comfort culture is something he has been critiquing for years now, noting that everything is immediate in the comfort culture of the 21^st century Western world. There is no patience in society because, it is not needed. Everything is 24 hour delivery or even same day delivery (although in South Africa we haven’t quite got same day delivery, except for fast food – oh the pain)!

The point being, is that, what was considered a great innovation for previous generations has become a hindrance to a younger one. For a generation steeped in the patience of waiting weeks for an purchase to arrive, to now have it arrive on the same day as the order was placed, is a true innovation. And it is right, to wonder and appreciate this phenomenon. However, for the generation that grows up with this as their normal, it is not a feature to be admired but a reality to be expected.

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Fast forward a couple of years and the current generation realise that the bill of fast and easy goods sold, has not lived up to its promise. In fact this fast and easy approach, has infiltrated every aspect of life, even the church. Making things easier and more comfortable, does for a season provide a measure of pleasure, but that season is short-lived. For humans, and in particular for men, something is only valuable when that thing requires something of you. Nothing for nothing equates to nothing. Yet great sacrifice for one’s beloved, for one’s sports team or vocation results paradoxically not in less but greater love and devotion.

Furthermore, the unexpected consequence of removing challenge and difficulty, even from our spirituality, might entice people into the church for a season, but it does not engender long term spiritual growth and maturity. The inability of the modern church to engender a culture of virtue creates a culture of apathy and this is a very dangerous, for apathy creates a dissociation between oneself and their reality. When everything is done for you, your strengths are not tested, your limits never exposed, you do not suffer and you are not required to. Other than blindly saying words, no deeper conversion takes place, they do not take root and transform your character. Fundamentally you are not relevant to the world around you – you are irrelevant and you know it.

This option of apathy is being actively rejected by the current generation, and in Eldredge’s estimation, a generation is choosing difficult forms of Christian spirituality in order to move away from comfort culture and its nihilism. The need for testing and suffering can be provided in the pithy example of a Blue Bulls rugby supporter I witnessed years ago. I once witnessed a man in delirious pain, stomping on his Blue Bulls hat in the cathedral of rugby, Loftus Versfeld stadium at yet another Bulls loss, probably for the thousandth time that decade – it was years ago. I was bewildered, because it was only a game. Since then, our team has gone from the pits of despair to the heights of glory, from win to win – long may it continue. I expect that man was equally jubilant with joy at the years of winning as he was with suffering endured at the years of losses. He had reaped a bountiful harvest by remaining a faithful supporter despite his suffering. I often think of that man, in enduring years of losses yet remaining a loyal supporter, and how he was able to savour the longed for win. Suffering losses, makes the win so much sweeter. Suffering and sacrificing, when entered into, creates character and make the “wins”, those moments of overcoming, worthwhile.

This applies to all areas of life. There is so much joy in overcoming, that perhaps it is the only path to true joy.

This lack of suffering and expectation of any requirement other than showing up to the comfortable chairs in the large non-denominational auditorium, with charismatic leaders ready to entertain, seems to be coming to an end. Exercising one’s faith through propositional Christianity (a forthcoming essay) requires nothing from its adherents and as such, it seems an entire generation is leaving.

Depending on your own partiality, this exodus out of modern church, and entry into older forms of Christianity creates an interesting dilemma. For the mega-churches and those denominations which include small aspirant churches with the same goal in mind, they might have missed the boat. The only thing needed from attendees in such settings, is to sit quietly, admire the pastors weekly sermon and of course tithe. The larger the institution becomes the more this financial aspect is emphasised, for without the financial means to support the operation, the entire edifice collapses.It seems as if the non-denominational generic watered down Christian message is being rejected by young Christians in the 21st Century.

Several weeks ago, my family and I attended a large Sandton based church in Johannesburg. It could be considered a mega-church by South African standards. It felt as if I was entering a pop concert hall with lights flashing, very comfortable chairs and loud music. What a production. What a performance. It was performance art. However, nothing in the entire performance stimulated any faith nor drew me to deeper truths that would transform me. If anything, the performance art felt shallow and dated, as if, it has somehow gone past its’ sell by date, for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on.

National elections are occurring in 60 nations this year, including South Africa, and if performance art is what I want, then I only need to tune into any news platform. Politicians are, however, more honest in their duplicity which makes for a greater show so I’m not so convinced that performance art on stage in the name of Christ is viable anymore. To be clear, I am not saying that these pastors are duplicitous in anyway, most are probably very well meaning or at least started out that way.

Many if not most famous Christian leaders that fell over the last few years were less “malicious” and probably more victims of their own success – that is, they fell victim to an organisation of their own ill design and did not have the depth of character development to uphold the structure they had built.

Put another way, Christian history has no examples of massive auditorium style performance art, week in and week out. A generous critique would be, the comfort culture church that presents a generic (read: acceptable message) is a watered down message that requires nothing (except one’s attention and tithe) of its attendees. It might have been meant for a season in the churches life but that season might be passing before our eyes. Another more ferocious critique that we won’t fully explore here is that it was always an aberrant phenomena born of dissolute and irreconcilable protestant theology, that is only now exhausting itself after 500 years.

Returning to Eldredge’s observation about comfort culture. He is dead right about comfort culture, or a life designed around maximising comfort and minimising pain. Comfort culture kills. If he didn’t say it, well I am. Flee from it as to save your soul. Although he is far older and more generous than I am, at my current stage of life and I do not claim to represent him in anyway.

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What is clear, is that a younger generation in the former lands of Christendom are asking more profound questions of their faith they inherited. One question would be, “is this all there is?” and it is questions like this that potentially threaten the way of “doing” church that has become common place.

It seems as if the non-denominational generic watered down Christian message is being rejected by young Christians in the 21^st Century.

I don’t know where this will lead, but I do know, that at this time on the earth we should not be wasting our time in small puddles, but should instead be seeking out those sailing on deeper seas where lost treasures lay buried, ready to be rediscovered.

Instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and rejecting Christianity en toto as so many are doing across the West, we should rather realise that any bathtub we find ourselves in, holds only a minuscule amount of water, it is but a puddle itself that was siphoned off from much larger seas of water. Remember, the seas with their tides regularly refresh themselves, whereas dirty bathwater can only be diluted but will always retain its filth. The churches that these young people are fleeing, but not be filthy but they might very well be stale. In either case it needs repeating that there is a much larger Christian tradition that exists that birthed the Western World over the last 2000 years to draw.

In searching of deeper more refreshing wells to quench that spiritual dryness they find themselves in, they might discover that these well trodden paths to wells actually lead to ancient seas and are always awaiting rediscovery.

What waters are you swimming in?

Happy swimming fellow Thinker & Doers.