Struggle is real. No matter your walk of life, struggle will
come. Often it comes with deep pain, anguish, and isolation. God is leading me
out of such a season. To help guide me through those rugged waters He led me to
a book by Rachel Held Evans titled “Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and
Finding the Church.” A book that addressed many of the issues I was dealing with
in a way that was honest, direct, and full of hope.
To begin, there are some conclusions that Rachel arrives at
that I can’t get to but that didn’t distract me from the overall message of her
work.
She opens with giving a brief personal biography and doesn’t
sugar coat her story. Which is refreshing because many in the church hide or
run away from their past and that is harmful to the church. We need more members
to be open about the junk that they have gone through so that they can help
others go through the same.
So much of what the church is about, while good intentioned,
is misguided, and ultimately harmful to those in their congregations. Church leaders
look to church growth “experts” to point them to the latest greatest fad to draw
people into their buildings. Evans points out that millennials (and other adults
alike in my opinion) are “tired of the culture wars, tired of Christianity
getting entangled with party politics and power. Millennials want to be known
by what we are for... not just what we’re against. We... long for our churches
to be safe places to doubt, to ask questions, and to tell the truth, even when
it’s uncomfortable.”
Evans also addresses how many churches approach programs.
Most programs are “family” oriented. This can be problematic for those who are
not married or don’t have children. We have built programs around categories
while alienating those that don’t belong. In other words, we need to build
programs around people, not categories.
Her striking critique of worship trends was spot on. Church
leaders believe that if worship sounds “hip” or if they have a trendy coffee shop
or the worship leader wears skinny jeans then those who have left the church
will come back. As I have always said, and Evans says so well in this book,
people will see through the charade and be turned away all the more. People, me
included, are looking for authenticity, truth, and real relational Christianity.
A Christianity that gives us Jesus “in bread, in wine, in baptism, in the Word,
in suffering, in community, and among the least of these.” She states later in
the book that year after year of youth events with light shows, contemporary
bands and books, popular speakers, that many leave wanting more. Something
real. Somewhere safe. A place to be vulnerable. Sanctuary.
One last aspect of her book that I want to address is how communion
was such a vital event in the early church worship service but is lacking in worship
services today. Evans quotes from NT Wright the following, “When (Jesus) wanted
fully to explain what his forthcoming death was all about, he didn’t give a theory.
He didn’t even give them a set of scriptural texts. He gave them a meal.” Is it
any wonder why church members are so uninformed in the death of Christ when
they partake of His sacred meal so infrequently, if ever?
As I said at the start not all of Rachel’s conclusions I
agree with. What I did served me so well, aiding me through the tsunami that this
past year was for me. Maybe it will be for you also.
