The West is not as post-Christian as we imagine. There are undoubtedly places on earth, notably in Central America, where it might seem as if the broader culture is currently rejecting Christianity at an unprecedented rate. But the environment which characterizes post-Christendom is always (despite itself) irreducibly Christian.
Imagine a cryogenic Viking waking up in 21st century Scandinavia, or a Mayan exploring contemporary Mexico, or Asterix and Obelix encountering German social democracy, or French social democracy. secularism. As “secular” as these places may seem to many of us, their values would seem deeply Christian to anyone who had never experienced them before.
Nevertheless, living in the late modern world obviously presents many challenges for Orthodox believers.
Is Christianity Losing?
Whatever we call the religious outlook of our societies – secularism, post-secularism, post-Christianity or something else – people remain skeptical of Christianity and, in some cases, downright hostile.
The pagan gods of Mammon, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Gaia and Dionysus still trouble modernity at various levels of disguise. Giving it up to follow Christ is still costly. It is even more difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:23-24). The Church still has many flaws, and the cultural influence of Christianity has often served to amplify those flaws to those outside its doors.
In addition to external and cultural challenges, there is an internal and psychological challenge: some Christians have the feeling of being losers. In some countries, it’s just a matter of numbers. For a variety of reasons, including prosperity, fertility, and the postwar privatization of life, the percentage of people attending church on Sunday has steadily declined in many Western countries since World War II (while increasing considerably in parts of the majority world during World War II). same period). Even in America (often considered an exception), more than two-thirds of churches are in numerical decline. At the same time, there is a widespread perception that Christian beliefs have become increasingly marginal in public life, which is clearly true in many cases.
Five answers of faith
This decline in numbers and perceived relevance has prompted varied responses from the Western Church. Some of these responses (repentance, prayer, a renewed commitment to discipleship) are certainly positive. Others (fear, hostility, and seeking influence or power through moral or theological compromise) are clearly negative.
Some observers remain optimistic that things are not as bad as they seem; others think they are much worse. Some argue that the Church needs a radical change in strategy; others argue that the challenge is not really methodological and that the Church should essentially hunker down, get used to life on the margins, prepare to suffer for what it believes, pray and trust in the God who gives life to the dead. will do something new.
“The environment which characterizes post-Christendom is always (despite itself) irreducibly Christian. »
So how do we live by faith in a culture that is losing faith? In my book Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian WestI consider how the Church responded to a similar crisis nearly 250 years ago — particularly the celebration of Gracethe pursuit of freedomand an articulation of the Christian truth – and I suggest that the last two centuries have only served to increase the importance of these three answers. In this article I will mention five additional answers that, while perhaps obvious, are nevertheless vital for believers in a time like ours.
1. We suffer well
It is difficult to overstate the role that suffering played in the spread of Christianity. Unfortunately, a naive version of this assertion persists, which attributes almost magical powers to suffering to automatically grow the Church (a view that will not survive contact with the history of Japan, for example, or the peninsula Arabic). But from the Acts of the Apostles, when Christians are marginalized, robbed, imprisoned and even martyred, the Gospel grows because nothing validates the confident hope of resurrection like suffering.
For Christians in the West, this has long been a challenge, because believers have rarely been persecuted in ways that most unbelievers would recognize. But society is evolving. Jesus’ disciples here are suffering more and more, in various ways, because of their name. And preparing for this potential mistreatment – in a way that neither exaggerates nor underestimates the current challenges, and that equips the Saints to respond without resentment, to turn the other cheek, to suffer with joy – is vital to living by faith in a post-Christian culture.
2. We counter-catechize
Counter-catechesis is Alan Jacobs’ tenure for what the Church has always needed to do: train disciples on what to believe and how to live in response to (and in dialogue with) the specific ways in which their broader culture shapes their beliefs and practices. Since Jesus said, “You have heard. . . but I say. . .” Christian training took into account the most pressing distortions and deceptions of the day and applied the gospel to them.
However, when new distortions and deceptions quickly arise, as they do in a media-saturated and highly fragmented world, the Church targets a moving target, continually shifting its focus to ensure that we answer the questions that arise. our culture and our people. ask now. The number of pastors who admit to not teaching regularly and publicly about sex, gender, and sexuality testifies to the difficulty of this task.
To catechize faithfully, churches will need to address issues of autonomy, identity, sexuality, race, and morality, among others, provide clear and consistent answers to them from Scripture, and then show why cultural responses do not offer the same explanatory power as the word of God.
3. We model humble courage
In a social context where Christian orthodoxy can seem fanatical, dehumanizing and grotesque, and where people have no shortage of means to make their criticisms heard, believers are tempted to imitate the reaction of animals to danger: fight or flight. . The first resembles humility, but risks timidity and cowardice. The latter looks like courage, but risks slander and pride.
However, the faithful option is that of humble courage. If we wrongly think in terms of humility and timidity at one end and pride and boldness at the other, then we will end up justifying vices as virtues. Abusive and arrogant leaders will be described as “courageous” or “robust”. Compromise with immorality and idolatry will be hailed as “gentle” or “gracious.” The path of Jesus, on the other hand, combines exemplary humility with astonishing courage, all the more powerful as Christ goes to the cross. We must not allow the false dichotomies of our culture to prevent us from following his example.
4. We continue to repent
It is always easier to see the need for repentance in bygone eras. Anti-Semitism, crusades, inquisitions, wars, slavery and racism seem grotesque to us today, and we struggle to understand how previous generations of our brothers and sisters did not see these evils as We. The beam in our own eyes is harder to spot (Matthew 7:3-5).
So, in what way have we been complicit in the baptism of greed and materialism in the Church? Or the thirst for power? Or expressive individualism? Or a celebrity-obsessed, entertainment-driven consumer culture? Or the sexual revolution with all its tools to separate sex from marriage and children? Or an obsession with technology, embracing anything and everything for convenience without worrying about the consequences? Or demographic segregation, whether for reasons of race, class, wealth, education or otherwise? Or political hypocrisy?
A repentant Church is a faithful Church – not to mention one that is more likely to be heard when it calls the world to repent with it.
5. We continue to pray
The need to pray is undeniable in theory, but perhaps not always in practice. The kind of people who read articles like this – let alone the kind of people who write them! – are often, I suppose, more drawn to finding out what we can do (designing strategies, writing books, launching initiatives, flooding people with content) than asking God to do what only He can do (overthrow kingdoms, move mountains, crush gods). , fill deserts with flowers). But even a cursory glance at the contemporary landscape reveals that our plans and programs are hopelessly ill-suited to the task before us.
The West does not need to be awakened but resurrected from the dead. Only a powerful work of the Holy Spirit will bring the renewal and revival we need. And prayer is the way God has given us to seek it. The Church must therefore pray to God to do something unprecedented: bring a post-Christian society to repentance and faith on a large scale. Fortunately, as Tim Keller pointed out in How to Reach the West Again, every great new move of God was unprecedented until it happened. Come, Lord Jesus!
