FORCED FROM THE HEREAFTER TO THE HERE AND NOW
Worship (bowing low) is related primarily to God’s transcendence (His existence high above us). But developments in the world have slowly shifted Christian spirituality away from God’s transcendence toward God’s immanence – His coming down and being present among us.
As science has unveiled nature’s mysteries – weather cycles, the circulation of blood, the function of sperm and egg, and the role of bacteria in spreading disease – things once held in God’s hands have now descended to the grasp of human intelligence. Understanding nature’s mechanisms significantly better than we did in the 16th century has given us greater control of our world. We’ve not mastered everything, but infant mortality rates have plunged, lifespans have almost doubled, and more illnesses and conditions are understood and are treatable (or manageable). Life has become more convenient and comfortable.
These changes forced a shift of religious focus from the hereafter to the here and now. A supreme being sitting on a distant heavenly throne gives us less to fear than does microscopic bacteria. If God wants us to be religious, He has to demonstrate His worth in the here and now, or we’ll just move on without Him.
Irreverent as it sounds, this is what is happening. People who hold to traditional Catholicism or Orthodoxy often do so, not because they are convinced of church dogma (many rarely attend services and often live in contradiction to the church’s teaching) or have eternal concerns, but because of this-worldly matters, e.g. social connections, whether ethnic, familial, or even business.
Evangelicals are not unaffected. For example, we no longer construct sanctuaries but spacious multipurpose rooms (more like theaters), gyms, foyers (with coffee bars), and childcare centers used more during the business week than on Sunday. Our churches don’t rise inspirationally heavenward but sprawl across a property, earthbound. Our architecture shouts that Christianity is about this world, built on God’s immanence rather than His transcendence.
God is indeed immanent, and these developments aren’t necessarily bad. I’m just pointing out facts that have ramifications. The world has increasingly found God to be irrelevant, and believers have had to respond. Those challenges have affected the way we think about and structure our church ministries, including evangelism, missions, and worship. More on those issues in the next blog.
As science has unveiled nature’s mysteries – weather cycles, the circulation of blood, the function of sperm and egg, and the role of bacteria in spreading disease – things once held in God’s hands have now descended to the grasp of human intelligence. Understanding nature’s mechanisms significantly better than we did in the 16th century has given us greater control of our world. We’ve not mastered everything, but infant mortality rates have plunged, lifespans have almost doubled, and more illnesses and conditions are understood and are treatable (or manageable). Life has become more convenient and comfortable.
These changes forced a shift of religious focus from the hereafter to the here and now. A supreme being sitting on a distant heavenly throne gives us less to fear than does microscopic bacteria. If God wants us to be religious, He has to demonstrate His worth in the here and now, or we’ll just move on without Him.
Irreverent as it sounds, this is what is happening. People who hold to traditional Catholicism or Orthodoxy often do so, not because they are convinced of church dogma (many rarely attend services and often live in contradiction to the church’s teaching) or have eternal concerns, but because of this-worldly matters, e.g. social connections, whether ethnic, familial, or even business.
Evangelicals are not unaffected. For example, we no longer construct sanctuaries but spacious multipurpose rooms (more like theaters), gyms, foyers (with coffee bars), and childcare centers used more during the business week than on Sunday. Our churches don’t rise inspirationally heavenward but sprawl across a property, earthbound. Our architecture shouts that Christianity is about this world, built on God’s immanence rather than His transcendence.
God is indeed immanent, and these developments aren’t necessarily bad. I’m just pointing out facts that have ramifications. The world has increasingly found God to be irrelevant, and believers have had to respond. Those challenges have affected the way we think about and structure our church ministries, including evangelism, missions, and worship. More on those issues in the next blog.