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For untold millions of Christians throughout history, the Church has been at the center of anything and everything that ever mattered.
It was the church that blessed our babies, baptized our new believers, consecrated our wedding vows, comforted us in our suffering, buried our dead, and lifted our souls through the ecstasy of worship, to envision a Kingdom that was constantly breaking in and making something beautiful out of our ordinary lives.
Yet, for decades now, the church in the U.S. has been in a steady decline.
We have watched as countless friends, neighbors, co-workers, and loved ones have walked away from the church, with little or no evidence of ever returning.
In recent years, experts who study us have noticed trends that may shed light on reasons why.
And while the reasons range from “messages that are too safe and shallow” to conflicting attitudes about science, sexuality, partisan politics, and more, one observation is striking:
Those who are leaving church, are not leaving faith.
Most still have a deep desire for transcendence, mystery, personal transformation, and true spiritual growth. They long to be lifted from listless lives tedium and despair, to be rescued from predictable patterns of self-destruction, and to be welcomed into authentic community, love, and belonging.
So, they are leaving the church to find these things.
What does it look like to lose your religion, in order to find your faith?
At the heart of the gospel, the invitation is not to some kind of unexamined and unquestioned fidelity to the broken systems of institutional religion.
No.
It is an invitation to a dynamic, life-giving relationship that changes everything.
It is a relationship that is deliberate and authentic; one that is courageous enough to never settle for easy answers; one that comes with risk and insists on trust; and one that offers a life that is worth leaving everything behind in order to find.
What if the church could be the place to lose your religion and find your faith?
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