What is the Church’s “Real” Competition?
- Posted on March 09, 2010
- Viewed 669 times
- (13) comments
When a church is in trouble, the warning signs become apparent and public: Decreased attendance. Increased conflict. Power struggles. A lack of financial viability. They all contribute to the point that many churches eventually close. But what happens when church's close? Michael Jinkins writes an interesting piece over at Faith & Leadership that asks the question: "Who or what is capturingh the hearts of former adherents?"
Jinkins gives us three choices:
1. Galloping secularism
2. Rampant modernity, or post-modernity, or post-postmodernity
3. Other faiths
4. That trendy church on the outkirts of town the campus of which looks like some corporate headquarters and "brands" itself with a non-religious moniker
5. All of the above
6. None of the above
Actually, Jinkins thinks that the biggest competitor of the church today is henotheism. Here's how he describes henotheism:
Officially, henotheism is a sort of tribal worship. The “Oxford English Dictionary” defines it as the belief in a single deity belonging to an individual, a family, a tribe or a nation. Henotheism does not assert that there is only one god, just that this particular person or family or tribe or nation worships this particular god.
Jinkins continues:
A generation ago H. Richard Niebuhr argued, “The chief rival to monotheism . . . is henotheism or that social faith which makes a finite society, whether cultural or religious, the object of trust as well as of loyalty and which tends to subvert even officially monotheistic institutions, such as the churches.”
In other words, the culture itself (that invisible continuum in which we swim like fish in a water tank) becomes the object of adoration, veneration and worship.
If Niebuhr is right, the chief competitor of the church in our times does not challenge the church directly. It does not need to challenge the church head on, but is insinuated into the lives and loyalties of our membership through seemingly benign sources -- the many good things which should receive our relative loyalty and that only become bad things when they claim our absolute or ultimate allegiance.
Henotheism isn’t a common word, but it may just be the most common faith of many Christians, a faith which converts not its adherents to strange or foreign gods, but that subtly replaces the worship of Jesus Christ with a lesser deity, while retaining all the trappings of Christian worship. The lesser deity is a threat because it is familiar, even homemade.
One can find henotheism on the right and on the left, whether in the form of an “America first” mentality that gives narrow national interests the veto power over the radical claims of the gospel; or in the form of a civil religion enshrining certain assumptions of the Enlightenment that seek to ban altogether the vocabulary of faith from the public realm. Household gods tug at the coattails of Christians, demanding “you may go just that far with Jesus of Nazareth, but no farther.”
What do you think? What is the biggest competition for 'church' today? And where do people actually go when churches officially shut their doors. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Todd
Comments
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Leonard on Tue, March 09, 2010
Great insight… I need to chew on this some more.
Probably one of the biggest issues the church faces here in the US is an issue of authority. This probably ties in here sin heathenism essentially swaps God’s by making self a God.
We are self styled Christians… meaning we are in charge of defining or better redefining a faith that was once for all delivered to us. Much of this boils down to IMO an issue with authority.
CS on Tue, March 09, 2010
I think the lead-in question is the most interesting thing here:
“Who or what is capturingh [sic] the hearts of former adherents?”
If the people are being described as, “former adherents,” this means that they weren’t truly saved in the first place. If a church fails, then Christians who were attending that church will go to another church or start a new one. But if those people go into other faiths, secularism, or corporate churches (possibly here—I found it interesting how this was lumped in the list, too), then those people did not have relationships with Jesus Christ.
And, I think that underscores the biggest problem here—churches that have large numbers of non-Christians in them. Let’s get back to preaching the Gospel and seeing souls saved.
—
CS
Oliver on Tue, March 09, 2010
its hard to tell where todd’s thought start/end and where jinkins thoughts start/end, so I am not sure who to address, or who jinkins is anyway, but I don’t know if either is reading Niebuhr right? The ‘church’ isn’t threatened at all if we are talking about the mega-church travesty that packs the house daily across america, in that case, they have taken hedotheology to heights hitherto unseen in the annals of world history with great results. The ‘real’ church however is, as I doubt most churches today are churches at all! I think we should ask can a false church exist? if it does what does it look like? When henotheism take over a church it eats it up from the inside out and it doesn’t end up in a closed church door, it can actually make it into a very “successful” mega ministry, but does it resemble what the church is suppose to be if its been turned into an abomination?
Oliver on Tue, March 09, 2010
by the way, this is one of the best posts I’ve seen and i talk really worth having, because i think it nails the problem of the church spot on. I just don’t think many understand it! also, as a response to CS, what does having a relationship with jesus have to do with anything? I can have a ‘reltaionship’ with jesus (whatever that means) and never darken the door of a church, again this is part of the problem that sees our faith as an individual personal thing, with no connection to community. Many that do go to church go for a spectator driven emotional experience and have little to no interaction with others. The reason I left the institutional church was because I felt it was impossible to do church there, but I haven’t left the idea of being linked with christians in trying to really do church and it is alot more than just a relationship with jesus.
CS on Tue, March 09, 2010
Oliver:
“also, as a response to CS, what does having a relationship with jesus have to do with anything? I can have a ‘reltaionship’ with jesus (whatever that means) and never darken the door of a church, again this is part of the problem that sees our faith as an individual personal thing, with no connection to community. “
Good question. When I say, “relationship,” I mean that that person has repented of his sins and put his faith in Christ, which then opens a relationship with Him, as described in the Bible. I don’t mean it in a huggy-feely way like many people casually toss it around. I mean it with everything that comes along with it.
—
CS
Pat on Tue, March 09, 2010
I think the Church is its biggest competition in the form of all the “stuff” that goes on that merely serves to discourage and disenchant. At times we get so caught up in our own agendas, that we forget our original purpose for being. As people become discouraged by this, they will either leave or stay but become lax in their giving of time and money and shrivel up spiritually. It’s not long before the church has to make a change to invigorate itself OR shut the doors.
Ken Eastburn on Tue, March 09, 2010
Is it too passe to say the answer is simply: sin - the same thing that has vied for our allegiance since the beginning?
sarcasm on Tue, March 09, 2010
Whoa Ken, that’s crazy… If we say that the answer is ‘sin’ then we can’t point to ‘mega churches’ as the problem…
Ken Eastburn on Tue, March 09, 2010
First of all, love that your alias is “sarcasm.” Nice.
Second, I know. And, actually, I have nothing against mega-churches simply because they’re megachurches. I say this only because I sense a bit of a jab in there.
sarcasm on Tue, March 09, 2010
Ken, no jab in your specific direction my brother…
I’ve been a reader of MMI for some time now (you proably are as well), MMI is such a cool place to come for many reasons. The comment was more of an attempt at adding some comic relief-and was more for the long-time-readers of MMI that know that sometimes some comments can leave the impression that some view mega churches as a cuprit of all things evil…
Your comment definitely wasn’t one of them. Thank you for posting…
CS on Wed, March 10, 2010
sarcasm:
“The comment was more of an attempt at adding some comic relief-and was more for the long-time-readers of MMI that know that sometimes some comments can leave the impression that some view mega churches as a cuprit of all things evil… “
Put the humor down, sir, and step away slowly. If you don’t know what you’re doing with it, you can severely injure someone. Please leave it to the professionals—licensed comics, satirists, and cynics.
=)
—
CS
Ken Eastburn on Wed, March 10, 2010
Ah, I see. In that case, it was quite funny.
I often get accused of hating mega-churches. And churches that meet in buildings. I wonder why that could be?
sarcasm on Wed, March 10, 2010
yeah CS, you’re right… We should stay away from comedy, we run the risk of misspelling words like ‘culprit’ from the laughter…
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