No doubt things are changing, but not everything

The church is changing.

We all know it and it shouldn’t alarm us. The church has changed in every age since its birth at Pentecost. Every 500 years or so, though, hinges of history have produced large-scale changes. We’re hinging now, it seems, and no one is any more certain of the shape the church will emerge with after this reshaping than we were at other key moments.

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People of faith should take to heart that God is at work in the world and in us in mysterious ways that aren’t all bad. They should also take to mind that all change isn’t necessary or necessarily good. Wisdom knows the difference, and it makes all the difference to know the difference.

Young adults today embody many of these challenges to the church. Traditional churches generally bemoan their absence in our pews. What’s become of our kids? We reared them in the faith. We taught them the Bible. We showed them the way. Doesn’t the proverb say, “Train up children in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it”? Do we have to wait for them to get old to see them return?

Many young adults have left the church altogether because they deem it either too judgmental or not firm enough, too political or not socially relevant, too uptight or too laidback. Others who share these contradictory concerns have found new church expressions that reinforce their spiritual values. These new churches look and feel quite different from the churches they knew as children. This concerns their parents and the preachers who preside over traditional churches.

Again, this shouldn’t surprise us. We are trying to find our way in a new day.

Allow me to speak to each in turn.

To faith-weathered Christians first I would say, keep your heart open to what God might be up to with young adults. See if there is something to learn from those who are trying to hold the faith as surely as you but differently. Some are discouraged by our slow pace of change in addressing issues of the day they find compelling. They have seen the destructive power of a spiritual life that divides institutional religion and the unchecked pursuit of wealth. They believe the church should say something to the way the world is organized. They don’t understand why we tolerate the gap between rich and poor, why hungry children go unfed in a world of plenty, and why their gay friends are ostracized from the church. More conservative young adults are seeking answers to the moral breakdown they see in their own broken families, in a fragmented society, and in the churches they grew up in. They want a more secure world that keeps chaos at bay. They are seeking churches that take their concerns seriously—one way or another.

To faith-fledging Christians I would say, the church wasn’t invented yesterday. Everything that has been passed down isn’t wrong, worn, or needing to be shorn. Every age needs to rethink the faith, but the church doesn’t need reinventing as we do. The church isn’t a current clique; it’s the body of Christ extending across time. Those who came before you bear wisdom worth listening to. If you only worship with those of your generation or your opinion, you will stunt your spiritual growth. The church needs you, and you need the church. Older Christians need you, and you need them. Critics sit on the sidelines and never get hurt; players may get bruised in the contest but have the thrill of being in the game.

To both groups this: Truth is stubborn. Sometimes it’s more black and white than you want it to be; sometimes it’s grayer. In each case, it is what it is. You can’t bend it the way you want it. You have to bend to it.

May God keep us in one peace as we discover the path forward together.