Whether we remain in the church or leave it, or follow a path somewhere in between, we are living in an age that is characterized by exile and spiritual search. Something new is trying to be born within us and among us. — John Philip Newell1
I have lost track of how many times I have recommended Brian D. McLaren’s book Do I Stay Christian? A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned. It was not an easy book for me to read; and I would imagine it would be challenging — but possibly also liberating — for anyone who devoted much of their life not just to the teachings of Jesus and his followers, but also (and perhaps most especially) to the institutional and cultural experience of being “a Christian.”
We are living in a time when more and more people are questioning being a Christian — and not just rebels and outcasts; these days, even the most dedicated Christians — pastors and lay leaders and other “pillars of the church” — are wondering if the church is where they belong.
Wisely, McLaren never tries to answer the question that forms the title of his book. He recognized that conscientious and thoughtful people will reach different conclusions when grappling with this question — even if their circumstances seem on the surface to be similar. His book is not meant to show people the door, nor to try to convince them to stay. Rather, what McLaren tries to do is to help his readers be thoughtful and discerning as they reflect on the future of their relationship to the institution.
In The Great Search, John Philip Newell takes a slightly different approach to the questions that McLaren wrestles with. Newell writes not about discernment in the way McLaren does, but rather seeks to make sense of the fact that in our time, so many people are leaving the institution behind. Celt that he is, Newell sees this “search” as leading ultimately back to nature and to forms of community that live close to the earth. But just as Thomas Merton felt that the existence of monks and nuns carried meaning for everyone, not just to those who lived in the cloister; Newell recognizes that the great exodus from religious observance is a “sign of the times” that likewise has something meaningful to say for everyone. We are all meant to participate in the great search, regardless of our religonship to institutional religion.
Someone told me recently they struggled with religion because they preferred asking questions to just having all the “answers.” I believe a healthy religion, at its best, is not afraid of wondering and questioning and seeking — but probably the old-fashioned church has some more changing to do before that kind of religious “best practice” truly becomes the mainstream standard. In the meantime, we are all equally responsible for visualizing (and manifesting) that “something new” that wants to emerge from our hearts. Some of us will give birth to this new kind of spirituality even while remaining “in the pews,” whereas others will do so only in the wilderness. Where you happen to be is not the point. The point is this: are you ready to, spiritually speaking, give birth to something new, to something born of love that will transform us all? That may very well be the only question truly worth asking.
John Philip Newell, The Great Search: Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home, Kindle Edition, p. 7.