Being the Church by Going to Church
Church attendance has been dropping in the United States. By in large, religious scholars are really concerned about the amount of unchurched young adults. Robert Wuthnow in his book After the Baby Boomers compared two Galup polls, one from the 1970s and one from the early 2000s, which surveyed the frequency of church attendance. Wuthnow makes the comparison:
“6 percent of younger adults in the recent period claim that they attend religious services more than once a week, compared with 7 percent in the earlier period, and 14 percent in the recent period claim they attend every week, down from 19 percent previously. At the other extreme, 20 percent say they never attend, compared with only 14 percent earlier” (p.52-3).
Wuthnow continues and puts this reality in perspective for us:
“The majority of younger adults either attend religious services rarely or, if they attend more than that, are hardly regular enough to be the core of any congregation. On the other hand, the fact that regular attenders now characterize only 25 percent of younger adults, whereas this proportion was 31 percent in the 1970s represents a decline that cannot easily be dismissed. Had this decline not taken place, American congregations would have 6.3 million more regular attenders among younger adults they they presently do” (p.53).
These are quite sobering statistics.
Many factors play into the present decline of young adult participation in churches. I only intend to address a few of them here. This problem is by no means only applicable to young adults, because it is a characteristic shared by followers of Christ of all ages. By in large, there seems to be some confusion as to why anyone should attend church. For some, the practice of waking up on Sunday mornings for Sunday School and Sunday morning Church services seems archaic and boring. Maybe this is why churches have tried so hard at making their sanctuaries more hip and services more entertaining. (I am not against that, but these adjustments aren’t really addressing the heart of the issue). There is simply a lack of understanding as to why it is important for us to gather as followers of Christ and worship.
One aspect of our Christian Western culture that that plays into this issue is our extreme individualistic approach to Christianity. Individualism isn’t necessarily all bad. It reflects our North American cultural values of making decisions for ourselves and recognizing the unique ways God has made us. We approach Christianity with a desire for a personal relationship with God which some cultures miss out on. Our problem is that we often struggle with and even negate the very way God setup the Christian faith to be lived out… in community.
If someone who has never had contact with Christianity as we know it were to find a Bible and read it for himself, he would conclude that the Christian faith is best lived out in community. Passage after passage in the Bible speaks to the role of believers, as the Church, to carry on the mission of Jesus of reconciling the world to God. Ephesians 1:22-23 says,“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” Then later it says, “His intent was that now through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 3:10). There are numerous passages in the Bible about the role that every believer has in making up the church. We all have gifts and talents that God has specifically equipped us with so that we can be part of the larger whole and work as a unity it accomplishing God’s will on earth. We need each other and we need everyone that is part of the church to play their part. When we start viewing ourselves as important parts of a larger picture, then we might start to recognize the importance of being involved in the church… even on Sunday mornings when some of us would like to sleep in.
I was struck by the importance of the words in the book of Hebrews 10:24-25. It says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching”. According to this passage, one of the primary reasons for “gathering together” and worshiping God is to encourage each other toward loving God and people, and to make sure we are doing it in practical ways. When we choose to not be active participants of the church, people are missing out on what we can bring to the table to encourage each other toward love and good deeds and visa versa. Going to Church is part of being the Church.
