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Religionless Christianity: Finding God Outside the Institutional Church
Recently a friend of mine shared concern over the fact that her children, who are in their forties, love Christ and live by Christian principals but have little interest in being a part of the institutional church.
I read this quote this week over at Emerging Mummy which speaks to why some Christians have left the church,
“As we all know, this is the world 2.0, meaning that it is interactive and we are the people formerly known as the audience, viewing our individual voices and stories as equal and valuable. Also, as Bill Kinnon said, we are also the people formerly known as the congregation:
“We are The People formerly known as The Congregation. We have not stopped loving the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Nor do we avoid “the assembling of the saints.” We just don’t assemble under your supposed leadership. We meet in coffee shops, around dinner tables, in the parks and on the streets. We connect virtually across space and time – engaged in generative conversations – teaching and being taught.
We live amongst our neighbors, in their homes and they in ours. We laugh and cry and really live – without the need to have you teach us how. – by reading your ridiculous books or listening to your supercilious CDs or podcasts.”
My friend attended my first book signing a few weeks ago which turned into a spiritual experience when each of my urban friends shared a portion of their testimony. She commented that in that experience she saw a new and very different kind of Christian Community. She stated “What you are doing reminded me of Bonhoeffer’s vision of a Religionless Christianity.” She went on to say that she felt what many Christians were seeking was an intimate place where they could discover themselves, share their lives with others, and find Christ in and through one another.
This concept of finding Christ outside the church walls and in ordinary people is a very strong thread in my book From the Sanctuary to the Streets and I also found this same thread in a book I read last week titled Divine Nobodies: Shedding Religion to Find God by Jim Palmer. Palmer writes;
“In my disillusionment with institutional church, I contemplated chucking Christianity but I discovered that these were two separate and not nearly equal things…sometimes it is not a professor or a preacher leading you to divine truth but the commonplace people God sticks right in front of your face…Isn’t it people God indwells, not buildings? When two or three believers are together encouraging one another in their journey with God, isn’t Christ present in their community whether the geographical location is First Baptist, St. Peter’s, or Starbucks? Maybe my greatest need isn’t another sermon about Christian living, morality, and do’s and don’ts. If the life of Christ is configured within me, isn’t spiritual growth a matter of grasping the reality of that and being transformed through my intimate, personal, individual relationship with Jesus? And if the risen Christ lives inside all believers, doesn’t it stand to reason that significant relationships with one another are another dimension of experiencing Christ’s nourishing and renewing presence?… Perhaps God never intended people to relate to him through services, programs, and meetings. Maybe “church” had devolved into a man-made bureaucracy seeking to control and manage God…Despite all the denominational distinctions I’ve come across along the way, for the life of me, I cannot find any other litmus test Jesus insisted upon to authenticate his followers except love.”
I think many believers, myself included, feel much the way Palmer does. Some of us have experienced Christ more powerfully outside the church walls than by sitting in the church pews. For Palmer, it is through encounters with individuals in his community and for me it has been through relationships with homeless and impoverished residents of our city.
My friend asked me what advice I had for helping her children connect to “the church.” I think that depends on how you define “church.” What if we created spaces where ordinary people are encouraged to see Christ in one another and in the ordinary stuff of life? What if through these ordinary encounters we helped people see God and grow in faith? Are we willing to let go of curriculum, sermons, and bible studies and instead look deep within our own souls and hear Christ spirit that dwells within each of us? Are we willing to see such spaces and encounters as a new expression of Christ’ s church? Are there individuals who have been rooted in the Christian faith who are willing to open up their homes, create such spaces, and point to God in the ordinary? Are we willing to trust the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us in our encounters?
I am not proposing that we do not need the institutional church nor am I suggesting that there is no need for theological foundations and training. The institutional church is the spiritual home for millions of American’s and I also know that I would never have found faith in Christ without the institutional church. I am also a seminary trained theologian who believes that solid theology is essential for healthy spirituality. However, our society hungers for a level of intimacy that is currently missing both in society and in many institutional churches and we have so busied those with a call to ministry with “church activities” that there are few who are willing to be guide those outside the church on their spiritual journey.
If it is intimacy that the 2.0 generation is seeking are we willing to release theologically grounded Christians out into the world to guide them on their quest? Or will we allow them to wonder in the wilderness like sheep without shepherds?
My prayer is that those who have not found a home in the institutional church, or who like myself have been called out of the institutional church will create these kinds of spaces: spaces where we experience intimacy with one another and through each other experience Christ. Intimacy will not be found through the internet or social media, but it is present when two or three of us gather, seek to see Christ, and learn to love one another deeply and authentically. That is the true church, no matter what you want to call it.
Thank you for this post. I was raised attending church 3 times a week, and I have to say, I feel closer to the Creator in my own personal space or in nature than I ever felt the Presence in church.
I think there is a return, though, to biblically based fellowship, and I found an interesting book on the subject called The Gathering by Ray Barnett. It discusses the biblical model of the first century Christian church, and how the insitutional churches have gotten so far away from that. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to gather and worship with others, but is not comfortable with the current modes of Christian meetings.
Take care and many blessings to you!
Molly – thanks for your comment. I also appreciate you sharing “The Gathering”, it sounds like something I would enjoy reading. I will add it to my summer reading list. Have you found a group to gather and worship with? I know of a few folks doing these kind of “simple” or “organic” type gatherings and I think what God is doing in our Fairfield and Hillside conversations is bordering on what you describe but everyone I know that is doing this kind of ministry is still very new at it and still just groping in the dark seeking God’s leading every step of the way. If you have found a community of saints to share life with, I would love to hear more about your experience. Blessings- Wendy
Thanks for this insightful post. I am currently rediscovering the Creator and removing the chains of religion in my own life. I must admit also that my experience outside of the Institutional Church walls has been life changing.
Nancy, thank you for your post. I know from the comments of many of my friends, that it is often hard to find a place to share your spiritual journey when much of that journey is outside the church walls. That is one reason I created this blog. I wanted to share my journey and encourage others to do the same. I hope you will continue to be a part of this on-line dialog. I would love to here how your experience outside the walls has changed your life.
This is a subject that interests me a great deal and which has just caused me much pain at the same time, as I have lost a spiritual friend because of our disagreement, and my friends’ deep conviction that being a Christian outside of the local church frame is unbiblical.
I am struggling with all of this at the moment, and I would be grateful for your prayers as you seem to be ahead of me, but on the same path. I know I need the fellowship, but the fellowship which births out of my local church right now does not feel genuine to me.
I know this will sound ridiculous to you, but God has provided me with amazing spiritual elders over the internet, people whom I have never met, but who are praying for me and giving me words of encouragement on my faith, etc. I know God has placed them in my path, and for some reason their words seem more honest and unbiassed than the ones coming from those who know me in my church. Why is that?
Please pray that the Lord would provide me with Christian fellowship outside of those church walls.
Thank you.
I am glad I found your blog.
God bless you
Mercedes
You are in my prayers. I think there are a lot of us kind of free floating right now. The structures that laid a foundation for “doing justice” do not support our work in the world so we have to create new structures that help us grow. I have several blogs about this and will be blogging more in the coming months about this exact topic. Your comment is further confirmation that this is what is needed in our world. Please join in the conversation over the coming weeks as I unpack what it means to start a movement of God.
Wow, just stumbled across this blog now for the first time. I really appreciate your insights.
Is it not a little bit narrow to define the problem as being inside/outside the institutional church? Surely, it matters what KIND of institution the church has become? I, for one, feel like the evangelical church “programme” (and the content of its teaching) has become tired and irrelevant, although I very much enjoy being in a community of Christians. If there was a different sort of church to be a part of, maybe I wouldn’t feel the need to go wandering “outside” of my community so much?
Stephen
Thanks for your comment. By “institutional church”, I am referring to the idea that the church is an institution verses a body of believers. I do believe that God is creating ways of being church that are not institutional in nature. I don’t think a simple tweeking in the way we do church is the answer. I think we need to rediscover what church really is. For me, church is a gathering of believers who continue Christ mission in the world. It has nothing to do with an institution, building or hierarchical structure. Does that add more clarity? I am not suggesting that believers should not gather. Instead I am suggesting that that mere gathering is the church.
I found your blog because I heard you speak at Northminster church yesterday. It was my first time visiting that particular church and I am glad that I was able to hear your story and find this particular post.
I started attending a church a little over 2 years ago and I was so happy until it stopped being about church and started becoming something else…it felt like a social nightmare and I started to realize that I was seriously addicted to the church and not to God. It’s been a struggle. I find myself going back to my old church and getting stuck again. The social anxiety is terrible but I keep thinking- how can I continue to follow God without a church so I started searching and going to a new church every Sunday. After reading this post, maybe I should step back and think about “church” in a new way.
Hi Paula,
Thank you for your comment. If you ever just want to talk, shoot me an email and we can get together. You are not alone in your struggle of defining what “church” is – both it’s biblical intent and what it has come to mean for you. We all carry baggage from bad experiences and I have known many people who have completely disengaged and other who have simply redefined what church is for them. I would be happy to listen to your story and offer any guidance I can as you continue your journey.
Who in the bible was called “Friend” by God? Who is His “Friend” today?
Abraham never went to church, never read a Bible (did not even have one) but God called him His friend. Moses never had a Bible nor did he go to church but God spoke to him and did the most astonishing miracles through him. Why?
Because both these people acknowledged God’s existence and took the time to speak to and befriend Him. No better teacher or shepherd than the trainer of the shepherds.
David immediately popped into my mind as a man after God’s own heart. Thank you for your comments.
Hi, i have been a Christian for 35 years and going to church once a week for as long. I am tired of churches showing me i have no ministry in the church because i am celibate. Surely the Kingdom of God is more important than the church? Jesus having mentioned it countless times and the church only twice. We have got stuck on the church and we should be building the Kingdom.
You will not get any argument from me! A friend of mine calls our present reality, “Churchianity.” You might enjoy the post I posted earlier today. Same topic just a different angle. Thank you for your post.
Thanks for this blog. I just discovered it. I am an admirer of Bonhoeffer, who broached this idea while in Nazi prison. He was dismayed that the “church” in Germany had taken a holiday to the situation promulgated by Hitler and the Nazis. The Lutherans and the Roman Catholics looked the other way. Today, we have mainstream Christian congregations that are losing members because of “institutional” dogma and belief requirements that define who can be a Christian and who “needs help” on their walk. I have heard this so many times I am sick of it. To do otherwise, (IE, think on their own) brings up the always argument that Christianity is not a cafeteria of ideas and we are not allowed to pick and choose our elements from the Biblical goody bag. I rebel at this and feel that I must depart the scene of the institution of certainty and dogma. It is stifling. Any others that feel this way?
Dave,
This post has been in the top 10 posts on my blog for two years and most of the traffic is coming from searches. So, yes – I think there are a lot of people who feel just like you. I personally resonate with your word, “stifling”. I basically dropped out of the “inherited church” for four years and started hanging out with homeless and at-risk folks simply trying to follow Jesus where ever that may lead. To my surprise, my new friends became my a family of God on mission together (my definition of Church.) So now I am sensing a call to redefine what “church” is. I think it is our definition, our models and structures that is broken not the concept of a “beloved community” envisioned by Bonhoeffer.
I pray everyone finds or is freed to build a “beloved community” in what shape that takes. I think we either need new language for this kind of Christian community or we need to fight to reclaim the word “church.” However, right now in our culture that word has completely lost its historic meaning.
Thanks for you comment. I hope you will continue to visit the site and add your voice to the debate of what systems and structures and names need to replace the “inherited” ways of doing church for those for whom the “inherited” ways are not working.