How (Not) to be Religious
On a recent trip to California, I went to a Christmas Eve service to a church boasting an impressive 15,000 members and growing. The multiple sites, large facilities, and talented staff were impressive. Sitting in the huge auditorium amongst a throng of people, the pastor’s greeting was confusing as he mentioned he didn’t appreciate the church is described as a mega church but rather a church with a mega vision. Similar to the mega-church not wanting to be considered mega, How (Not) to be Secular reminded me of the tensions Christians face frequently in how to be spiritual but not religious, relational yet not legalistic, and large yet not mega. Just as we are unable to escape these tensions, Smith suggests we are unable to escape the secular impact on religion and our Christian beliefs.:”…no one, not even die-hard believers … can fully escape the feeling that maybe ‘this is all there is.’ This nagging doubt is captured by the parenthetical “not” in the title.”[1] It is a dismal concept that we are plagued with inescapable doubt as we join the ranks of secularism doubting our fundamental Christian beliefs. “We don’t believe instead of doubting; we believe while doubting. We’re all Thomas now.”[2]
I would argue that not all hold the secular belief question of “is this is all there is,” in reference to their faith but rather in reference to their church. When one has met a powerful God intimately, some believe the church is morally failing to offer an accurate portrayal of the image of Christ as reflected in the body of the church. As if to say when attending a church lacking in faith, unity, and spirit, “Is this all there is to who you describe Christ to be?” Is the church enacting its divine purpose to accomplish the calling and function to aid, heal, and befriend a secular world, and to be “in the world, but not of the world?”[3] As a church we need to be introducing people to a powerful God who can change their lives and offer them the hope, healing, and love they are desperately seeking. As much as we try not to be secular or too religious, we are both and neither, creating the perpetual, unresolved haunting tension, that lurks in the ethos of our churches and crevices of our spiritual lives.
I will compare two thoughts from this book to the tensions Christians experience in navigating secularism while attempting to hold onto their faith.
Buffered self…
To navigate these tensions, a protective response is to buffer oneself as Smith suggests. In doing so, we are not able to fully partake in the world around us, as we are operating in a protective, veiled posture from opposing thoughts and positions. This prevents one from fully experiencing
life, and keeps one buffered from discomfort, but provides a space for opposing thoughts and opinions to dwell. “The buffering of the self from alien forces also carves out a space for a nascent privacy, and such privacy provides both protection and permission to disbelieve.”[4]
Perhaps by providing open forums to discuss thoughts, ideas, doubts, and pose difficult questions might be a step forward in helping people not to have a buffered self in church, and to develop a community where people can be received in their authenticity. Open leadership can also cultivate and inspire a spirit of community with transparency as it “fosters new relationships.”[5]
Immanent frame…
“So the question isn’t whether we inhabit the immanent frame, but how.”[6] How do we live in the life, culture, and age we reside in? Some can live in an open way or a closed way, or as Smith describes it, transcendence (open) or immanence (closed). The article Dr. Jason Clark posted on being open-minded or closed-minded complements this well. Open-minded people: are curious and ask questions instead of saying statements, change their mind, are humble in presenting their perspective, seek to listen and understand others, and integrate opposing thoughts.[7] Sometimes it appears that we as Christians can fear to be open-minded to others out of a concern of being seduced by secularism and humanistic thinking, so we remain closed-minded and unrelenting, further isolating us from those we are called to reach. Could open-mindedness be a way to resolve the Christian tension to be “in the world but not of the world?” I consider my journey and see how much I have grown, changed my mind, and embraced different concepts that have grown my faith and relationships. Choosing to be open-minded as a Christian and a community seems to be a difficult challenge, as the fear of compromising doctrinal beliefs and retaining moral high-ground can often become the primary focus.
Fostering an open-minded community without compromising doctrinal theology is a feat to accomplish and one I often see many American churches struggling to achieve. This challenge is often perpetuated as the open-minded individual is dismissed, labeled, or marginalized, thus cultivating a culture of closed-minded individuals that “smugly dismiss those who disagree.”[8] Smith elaborates on closed systems as being “completely unsustainable for anyone with intellectual and existential honesty.”[9] Maybe this explains why my conflictive childhood church in Palm Springs, California was torn down and replaced with condominiums. As we reach out to convert others to Christ, maybe we need to consider converting ourselves to be more open-minded.
A great sequel for churches could be How (Not) to be a Mega Church.
[1]Matthew Claridge, “Review of James K.A. Smith, How (Not) to be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor”, December 8, 2014, Accessed January 6, 2018, http://www.booksataglance.com/book-reviews/review-of-james-ka-smith-how-not-to-be-secular-reading-charles-taylor/.
[2] James K. A Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2014), Kindle, 194.
[4] Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, 31.
[5] Charlene Li, Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead, (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2010), Kindle, 469.
[6] Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, Kindle, 2057-60.
[7] Ray Dalio, “The Difference Between Open-Minded and Closed-Minded People,” Accessed December 17, 2017, https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2017/09/open-closed-minded.
[8] Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular, Kindle, 2090-92.
About the Author
Jennifer Dean-Hill
8 responses to “How (Not) to be Religious”
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Okay Jen, I see Mega issues (smile).
Christians bring into worship secular ideas. Church leaders seek secular services to operate the church needs. Secular and Christianity partner in many aspects of our lives.
I always say that my organization is small but we have a big heart. Megachurches are defined as having 2000 members in attendance. Many churches are Mega. What people challenge are churches with members in excess of 10000. Maybe those churches should have a different category.
I understand what the pastor was saying. They have been categorized by the secular world as Mega. Being consider a Megachurch automatically brings on negativity from the outside before getting to know the people inside.
Great insight
Lynda, of all of the “sevens,” I would guess that you are the only one of us who attends a megachurch.
In my mind, megachurches are easy targets for criticism. This usually is surrounded by the amount of money that it costs to run them.
I wonder if anyone has done a study? Is the budget of one 5,000 member megachurch much larger than the budget of five 1,000 member churches? What about the budget of fifty 100 member churches?
Stu, in my mind, you worked at a mega church– how big is Southcliff? Maybe it’s just because you’re so active as a mission church that it seems big???
I was just waiting to read your post. I wondered in light of your interaction with ‘buffered’ self and ‘imminence’ what do you think of the first (second?) step of Alcoholics Anonymous – that there is a higher power that can help you?
Some churches have ‘Christian’ versions of AA where they say the higher power is God. (I had a friend though who said her higher power was the Cascade mountains.)
I have tried to reconcile this and what do people do? Can their higher power just be themselves? How do you counsel people on this, Jen?
God bless us all as we tackle the 800 page book!!
“Fostering an open-minded community without compromising doctrinal theology is a feat to accomplish and one I often see many American churches struggling to achieve.”
I believe that this struggle, having an open mind while staying true to sound doctrine, is a tension that is healthy.
I believe that God is big enough to handle our questions and our doubts. I believe that there are essentials that Christians must believe, otherwise they are not Christians (like the literal resurrection of Christ). I also believe that there are plenty of issues that Christians can disagree about and still be “Christians.”
I really struggled with this concept last Fall in Serbia. Our group interviewed a Serbian Orthodox Priest. I asked him a simple question… “what must a person do to be able to go into heaven? His 5 minute explanation left out the words “God,” Jesus,” or “Bible.” His answer was basically the same as the answer that a Buddhist would give… “do good things and honor those who have gone before you.” As we left that encounter we were all stunned by the irony that he was a representative of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN religion.
Keeping an open mind while staying true to Jesus is a struggle, but it is a struggle worth having.
I’m so intrigued that we’ve got different perspectives on this text, because I didn’t get the sense that secular was pitted “against” religious at all– at least in the secular3 model. It seems much more oppositional in the secular2 model.
But yes, I can absolutely say Amen to your suggestion that “As we reach out to convert others to Christ, maybe we need to consider converting ourselves to be more open-minded.”
“I would argue that not all hold the secular belief question of “is this is all there is,” in reference to their faith but rather in reference to their church.” This is what Jim’s post made me think about too, Jennifer. We have put so much faith in our religion that we forgot that church is a place to respond as a community to GOD, not to distinct ideologies and human leaders.
I have to admit – I am a secular-minded person with a deep faith. My religion battles against my faith, but my faith works in tandem with my secular thinking. I made a choice to “stay” with Jesus when my religion failed me. I walk through Portland and am able to see God in the secular, realizing that God loves all of it more than I do. My work now is to dream with God about how to be such a visible, tangible representation of Christ’s love that the people I encounter can see deep faith as more than simply another option for them.
Oh to be an open minded believer! What a challenge that we face. It can be hard to grasp at times and yet even harder to express to others. I believe this is the tension we live in today. I believe it is in this space that we must rely on the interpretation and guidance of the Holy Spirit to best know how to navigate.
Great reflections!