DOING GOSPEL IN AN INDIVIDUALIST AGE

Two Supreme Court decisions last of June seemed to be pulling the country in two directions.  But in fact they reflect a unified trend: the nation is lurching toward an even greater sense of individualism.  "Don't mess with me.  I won't bother you. Don't muffle me - even if it is my money that is doing the talking.  Don't tell me what kind of gun I can buy or whom I can marry.  And don't even think about sending me the bill for the improvements that we desperately need at the school down the street or to fix the bridge over the river that is going to fall in one day soon.  You live yours.  I will live mine.   I owe you nothing, not even a watchfulness to protect your right to vote.  If you have problems, it's not my problem.  Get a life.  If you don't like the laws in Alabama, move to New York."

I learned in my first appointment more than 25 years ago that the United Methodist social principles were about as compelling to the grassroots people in my parish as the National Enquirer.  Collective wisdom is rarely trusted or accepted these days.  Whether we are talking about the wisdom of a cabinet that thinks they know who our next pastor should be or the wisdom of the Supreme Court - Americans are not buying.  And eventually, when trust of such institutions falls low enough, these institutions are placed at risk.  Beyond  our plummeting trust in institutions, we are increasingly distrustful of our society's basic capacity for creating social and economic safety nets and structures of justice.  Our social compacts are unraveling on multiple fronts.  I read a poll this week that suggested the majority of Americans would not be willing to pay a slightly higher utility bill even if this would, in and of itself, stop global warming.  "You live yours.  I will live mine."

There are exceptions, where hopefulness wins out over cynicism - we seem quite ready to trust the folks who tell us that $10 mosquito nets will wipe out malaria.  I do quite a lot of work in the Dakotas, and I continue to find inspiration by the can-do attitude of the folks in Fargo, who team together to build ever higher walls of sandbags each spring to keep their city from flooding.  But such stories are the exception these days.

Individualistic instincts have deep roots in American experience and thinking, reaching back to colonial times.  We are quick to grow impatient with group life, especially group life in a complex, diverse and inter-connected society.

I was in a church the other day where they received some new members and actually made them recite the old United Methodist thing about being loyal to the denomination.  I thought, "They must be kidding.  In 2013?"  Any church that starts the conversation with tribal/institutional loyalty pledges is going to face some tough days ahead. 

There is one question for the American church even more vexing than how to find the next wave of trendy, relevant programs and services.  The question that haunts me is this: how can we invite a highly individualistic generation to truly hear the Gospel invitation toward a different kind of social engagement?  How can we invite this society to coalesce around love and basic respect for neighbors that is more than cheap talk, sentiment and a summer mission trip?  Has anyone lately figured out how to give an altar call that effectively invites highly individualistic people to consider an alternative lifestyle of loving neighbors and embracing community?  (Jim Wallis has worked on this for decades.)  But what if Christians prove to be harder to convert on this front than everyone else? 

Many non-Christians and non-church young adults understand the Gospel much better than we do when it comes to the cultivation of a just society and the care of the earth for future generations.  If the church cannot soon get its act together on such issues, our loss of credibility may be impossible to recover.

My colleague Beth Estock believes that our generation is simply moving through a phase of our planet's social development.  Her arguments are persuasive, and there is good evidence that 20-somethings (as a group) are ahead of many of us in terms of appreciating the key social covenants necessary for a good and just world.  But I am still concerned that the transitions toward a more mature social engagement may take several generations - and that may not help us with some of our most pressing crises in the near-term.

I am a trouble-shooter that delights in helping churches find answers to various conundrums.But this question of how more self-identified followers of Jesus can get in front of the parade for greater social and ecological justice has me stumped ...at least for now.

  

The more likely you are to work and vote for social justice these days, the less likely you are to be found in any church.