A Response to Rachel Held Evans Article, “Why millennials are leaving the church”.
Written by Thomas W. Bigham
The following is in response to an article written by Rachel
Held Evans titled, “Why millennials are leaving the church”, published in CNN’s
“Belief Blog” on July 27th, 2013. As the author has offered her valued insight
both honestly and directly, such deserves the same in addressing her points of
issue.
The following excerpts from her article and this writer’s
accompanying responses will attempt to briefly address those concerns as they
have been raised. I respond as a lay person and practicing Catholic. My
responses are not to be construed as an official response of the Roman Catholic
Church or any affiliation thereof, but specifically as one who had been
separated for many years from all organized religion. It was only after the
realization of my own errors and the pursuit of a deeper knowledge and
understanding of Christianity that I had returned through the guidance of
scripture to the Catholic faith.
Rachel Held Evans, Excerpt
#1:
“Many of us, myself included, are finding ourselves increasingly
drawn to high church traditions – Catholicism, Eastern
Orthodoxy, the Episcopal Church, etc. – precisely because the
ancient forms of liturgy seem so unpretentious, so unconcerned with being
“cool,” and we find that refreshingly authentic.”
Response: I would only comment here that a number of changes
over the last few centuries and even more so over the last few decades have caused
many sincere Christians from various denominations to voice their concerns questioning
the guidance of the faith they had followed. Jesus Christ did not adapt His teachings
or His presentation to be more accommodating or acceptable to more people. He
did not accept the opinions of others in determining the “best approach” for
the biggest return, and he certainly did not conform to society’s popular
opinions - and neither should His Church if it truly presents His teachings faithfully.
Likewise, the Catholic Church has retained the consistency of His teachings for
2000 years even in the darkest of times, regardless of any particular era’s
fluctuating social or moral standards. In fact, just as today, there were times
throughout history the Catholic Church struggled in direct opposition to
popular opinion. As was said, the Church can not care about what is “cool” or
popular, especially when popularity infringes upon the truth and guidance provided
to the faithful.
Rachel Held Evans, Excerpt
#2:
“What millennials really want from the church is not a
change in style but a change in substance.”
Response: As has been noted in the previous response, the
substance of Christianity in truth can not change. It is deep in scripture and the
breath and teachings of Christ. By His authority given Him by the Father, Jesus
Himself founded His Church to be the perpetual teaching and guiding body accountable
to present His word and “confirm” the disciples in their faith. This authority was
placed upon His Church with the unyielding responsibility to preserve, teach
and guide the faithful until the “end of days.” Of course for 2000 years there
has been, are and always will be those individuals who reject the teachings and
guidance of the Church. Now as always each individual possesses the freedom to
choose to seek and learn and to accept or reject the word of God including the guidance
of the Church he established. But the substance can not be changed to suite a
particular society’s opinions.
Rachel Held Evans,
Excerpt #3:
“We want an end to the culture wars. We want a truce between
science and faith. We want to be known for what we stand for, not what we are
against.”
Response: Those who know the heritage of the Christian faith
and understand its teachings also know there is never intent to war, only to
recognize the existence of sin and evil and to struggle against it. We know we
are to love and pray for everyone including those who take up against us; we
know that the intelligence of man is a gift from God and the knowledge gained
through the sciences enable us to grow closer to truth and understanding of our
selves and all He has created. As faithful Catholics we know it is not necessary
to be “recognized” personally but to have Christ recognized through us; to aid
those who suffer and be charitable and humble striving to reflect Christ
through our words and actions to our best capabilities; to love one another,
never judging another person’s soul, but to judge the actions that constitute
sin or evil so as to avoid becoming part of the sin. “Love the sinner, hate the
sin”, and do unto others as we would have done unto us.
Rachel Held Evans,
Excerpt #4:
“We want to ask questions that don’t have predetermined
answers.”
Response: All sincere questions have value. However, because
an answer may be predetermined, such predetermination does not devoid it of
truth or good determination as much as it may expose an inner bias of the person
posing the question then devoiding the sincerity of the inquirer. Under those
circumstances it becomes the inquirer who may in fact be willing to accept only
a predetermined answer. If a question is posed with the intent of accepting
only a desired answer regardless of reason, it is hypocritical. Wisdom provides
answers to a great many questions that can in fact be considered predetermined.
A person must be open to reason and not just the intended desire, as not all desires
are necessarily good for us or those around us. One who refuses to recognize
and accept the voice of wisdom will never attain wisdom.
Rachel Held Evans,
Excerpt #5:
“We want churches that emphasize an allegiance to the kingdom of God
Response: Then the question should also be raised; what of a
political party that rejects all recognition of God? Or what about the
declaration on our currency which states, “in God we trust” - when will that be
removed? Our military cemeteries display thousands upon thousands of crosses
over the graves of those Christians who died for this country - When will those
crosses be torn down? As a Christian and American I will speak for my country
as it was in my youth and as it has been debased over the years. It is a
country, regardless of what one chooses to accept, that was founded and has flourished
upon the principles of God, predominantly of Christians who form the majority.
The Christian faith by its true nature is not a faith adaptable to ever
fluctuating popular opinions of any given era or any political party as history
verifies in the many conflicts the Church has survived over 2000 years. But when
it comes to international behaviors, in every era in every nation, it begins
with the individual.
Simply put, each person is subject to his or her own beliefs
and opinions. The majority of those closest in their opinions form the disposition
of each nation’s social direction. In a democracy the majority elects leaders
who reflect their dispositions. As history has shown, a nation of devout
Christians will elect a person reflecting moral values and a nation disassociating
itself from God will reflect the corruption of values.
Each nation internationally can and must choose to live
either in peace without expressing animosity toward the others or become
aggressive thus creating conflict and the threat of war. Today our American
culture is in serious conflict within itself. A Conflict between the principles
of God our country flourished upon and the growth of selfness and a “talk to
the hand” mentality. Today we see the push for what has been referred to as
“political correctness”, which is nothing more than a poor attempt to make up
for some of the moral values abandoned over the years. However, there is a
critical difference; morality consists of values which include respect for self
and respect toward others. Values that are voluntarily but necessarily practiced
by the people of a free country such as ours. Political correctness on the
other hand calls for regulations instituted by government to restrict and
control what is said and done publically, thus limiting our constitutional
rights. What is not realized yet is those who insist on such limitations will
one day find themselves restrained. Such is an element of communism.
Rachel Held Evans,
Excerpt #6:
“We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our faith
communities.”
Response: To be a Christian means to live according to the Word
of God as a follower of Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church invites all people open
to a faithful relationship with God to seek Him through His body on earth, His
Church. But it would be untruthful to claim one seeks a faithful relationship
with God if they have no intention of living according to His word, regardless
of their predispositions, sexual or otherwise. However, many people having same
sex attractions choose to live their faith according to the word of God.
Rachel Held Evans,
Excerpt #7:
“We want to be challenged to live lives of holiness, not
only when it comes to sex, but also when it comes to living simply, caring for
the poor and oppressed, pursuing reconciliation, engaging in creation care and
becoming peacemakers.”
Response: The challenge has always been there. The question
is whether we will choose to live faithfully according to His word.
Rachel Held Evans,
Excerpt #8:
“You can’t hand us a latte and then go about business as
usual and expect us to stick around. We’re not leaving the church because we
don’t find the cool factor there; we’re leaving the church because we don’t
find Jesus there. Like every generation before ours and every generation after,
deep down, we long for Jesus.”
Response: The Church will not provide you a latte but it
will provide you the direction to a sincere relationship with Jesus Christ in
the fullness of His teachings. The Church will not adapt itself to the level of
faith a person wishes to abide in, but then that is part of the challenge you
are asking for.
May the Holy Spirit guide us on our quest for that most fulfilling
relationship with Jesus Christ.
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