In our day and time, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America, is revered. He is remembered as the President who preserved the Union through the Civil War. He is the President who led the country as it transitioned away from the institution of slavery. The fact that the US is today one country “from sea to shining sea” is attributable, in part, to Abraham Lincoln.
Great person that he was, Lincoln did not go to church on a regular basis. This was not customary in his era. Upstanding community leaders were churchgoers, on the whole.
In the election of 1846, Lincoln was accused of being an infidel, in other words, not a Christian. In response, he wrote, “That I am not a member of any Christian Church is true, but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures.” [Abraham Lincoln by George McGovern, p. 31] It has been noted that Lincoln knew the Bible extremely well. We are told that, “he had the book ‘at his fingertips and quoted it more often than anything else.’ He once told a group of White House visitors who had presented him with a Bible that the book was ‘the best gift God has given man.’” [Lincoln’s Moral Vision: The Second Inaugural Address, by James Tackach, p. 130]
So Lincoln was not a churchgoer, but he knew the scriptures, the Gospels, and he chose to be guided by the wisdom and values therein. I think that there are many people today who see the value of the way of Jesus, but who do not go to church. Much of this is due to the way the church is perceived.
What might keep someone away? It could be hypocrisy. The church talks about everyone as a child of God, but then continues to perpetuate patriarchy which privileges men. The church talks about the poor, while maintaining enormous facilities and catering to the rich and middle class, not to the poor. The church talks about love and forgiveness, while the members are as base and scathing as the rest of society. You get the idea.
What else could keep someone away from church? It could be the perpetuation of the insistence on beliefs that are to be taken literally, that are completely at odds with science and logic. The church has set it up so that to be a Christian, you are expected to think that Jesus’ mother, Mary, was a virgin her whole life. That Jesus’ body actually came back to life after he died. That Jesus literally walked on water and performed other miracles. This supernatural element could keep people today away from church.
Another thing that could keep someone away from church is the church’s focus on heaven and hell, and that the main reason to be a Christian and to follow Jesus is to get into heaven and avoid going to hell. It is not unreasonable in today’s world to have moved on from the belief in an actual heaven and hell as places where people (their spirits) go after they die. The church has put so much emphasis on believing in Jesus as the Son of God as the only way to get into heaven and not go to hell. If you no longer subscribe to the idea of a heaven and hell, then why be part of the church? You don’t need it.
As you can see, this is just the beginning of why reasonable, thinking, moral, compassionate people of fine character, may not have anything to do with the church. Think of Lincoln. I don’t know what his specific reasons were for not attending church, but they were probably well thought out and had much validity.
But then, there are churches like Lakewood. We really are trying to live the gospel, and care for one another, the poor, and the world. We are trying to hold ourselves accountable and be forgiving. We are trying to glean the wisdom and truth from scriptures and from the Christian tradition, without insisting on magical thinking or literalism. We are trying to be Christian so that we find abundant joy in the living of our days. We are looking to appreciate life and take delight in the journey. And we feel that this can happen when we devote ourselves to the needs of the world and to serving others. When we give away our lives, as Jesus did, with joyful abandon, we find our highest good.
Personally, I can’t imagine life without church. I need the people. The community. The support. The solidarity in shared values. The ritual. The connection to a bigger reality. The reminder of our capacity for love. The hope that compels us never to give up – on anyone including ourselves. Then there is the sheer beauty of worship, especially the music and singing. And the wonderful diversity of relationships that really can’t be found anywhere else. There is the grounding in the wisdom of past ages and cultures through scripture, bringing forward what can be learned from the past. There is the sense of transcendence, the holy, and mystery that make life rich and deep and broad.
I can tell you this. Most of the people I have met in my lifetime who seem downhearted, depressed, or who just seem to be missing the zest for life, don’t go to church. It’s our job to let them know what church has done for us, and to invite them to find out for themselves what church can do for them.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 