The Subversive Next Stage
written by: Dr. Rev. Scott Paczkowski
“All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?”
At one point or another, most of us raised in the faith mourn the numerical decline and influence of our Christian denominations in society. When I was growing up, the kid who didn't go to church was the outlier. The question wasn't whether you go or even what religion you were, but what church and denomination you were.
It's important to recognize that many people attended church out of social obligation. This realization has led us to strive for a more inclusive community, where other religions are accepted and differences are acknowledged in a meaningful way. The decline in societal dominance of the Christian faith may, in fact, be an opportunity for us to strengthen our faith by embracing diversity.
The early Christian Church wasn't dominant or influential. The power of the early church was its subversive nature. The early church did not feel forced to water down its message to keep rear ends in the pew or pledge numbers ahead of projections. Rome paid attention to the early church not because of its vast numbers but because of the power of its subversive truth.
Instead of mourning what was in the recent past, the Holy Spirit guides us to embrace our subversive ancient past and potential future. Perhaps that is God's way of recreating an even more faithful future for our beloved faith. The freedom to focus on spiritual integrity without offending those who struggle with nationalism or other ethical challenges at the expense of divine monotheism provides new opportunities for the Christian faith to burn away impurities and "make all things new."
