Social Club or Faith Community?

I have been writing in this blog about faith communities, spirituality, and recovery and then I ran across an article in the The Charlotte Observer titled “Beliefs? Take your pick”. It made me begin to think about what belonging to a faith community really meant.

The article said,

“American spirituality is a mile wide but only an inch deep.

"America is awash in faith," said D.G. Hart, a church history scholar, but people often don't clearly understand what their religion teaches.

David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, reached a similar conclusion after directing a recent study on Americans' beliefs and behavior.

"Most Americans do not have strong and clear beliefs," he said, mainly because "they lack a consistent and holistic understanding of their faith."

Results from the study by the Christian research company tell some of the story:

• Sixty-six percent of Americans believe God is best described as the all-powerful, all-knowing perfect creator of the universe who rules the world today. This is down from 71 percent a year ago and represents the lowest percentage in more than 20 years.” There is increasing pressure on Christians to bend and shape their views into something that's popular, something that fits the pop culture's view of what spirituality ought to be," Kinnaman said. "And why would so many Americans -- seven out of 10 -- say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus but show so little evidence in their lives?” For one thing, the church has failed to teach young people to think as Christians, so many of them put Jesus on the shelf after they reach adulthood, he said.

Many people are shaky on the teachings of their faith, said Hart, a former church history professor at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, Calif.

One reason is that pastors often don't teach certain doctrines and biblical principles on certain topics, especially those that might offend people, he said. Another reason is the weakening of church discipline.

"Traditionally Roman Catholics, Protestants and Eastern Orthodox have believed that churches should supervise the lives of their members and make them accountable if they don't do what they're supposed to do," Hart said. "Some of the disciplinary aspects of the faith have been compromised for the sake of evangelism, drawing more people to come to church."

Despite the decline in traditional views, when compared with other industrialized countries, the levels of religious beliefs and behavior in the United States is still high, said Roger Finke, professor of sociology and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University.”

What does all this mean? It means that we may be treating our faith communities more as social clubs than as the place we go for spiritual growth. In the recovery process both are important. There is a social component to worship and fellowship in a faith community, but it can’t be the central or main reason for a person’s participation. Spiritual growth is more than going to a social function.

Why is spiritual growth so important to a natural recovery path and being able to live daily with a mental illness? Because any illness or trauma has lasting consequences on a person’s inner being and only by building a better inner life can one learn to cope each day as they ascend a natural path to recovery.

Being rooted in a faith community is the best place I know to grow spiritually. It affords the opportunity for social contact, but more important it provides a place to gather with folks who believe the same as I do who can help me grow in my own faith and hopefully I can be of some help to them. Helping others is another one of the keys in the natural recovery process. To feel useful to others is a great building block.

As with any building the foundation must be solid and so I became worried when I read the article. Are we building social clubs or faith communities? I hope we are building faith communities on solid foundations and are teaching those foundations to all who come to our communities for fellowship.

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