In an age when people want to be “spiritual but not religious,” those who are willing to commit to a congregation as a member are going to decline. Declining membership will force a major review of how congregations function. They will no longer be able to count on an easy influx of members and resources to support their variety of ministries. They will also not be able to assume the respect that used to be accorded churches within the larger community. Picture a time when belonging to a church is a source of embarrassment in social circles. I recently heard one pastor say that he thought one reason why people didn’t join the church was a sense of shame at how Christians are behaving. Can you imagine someone hearing that you belong to a local church and making a snide remark about what is going on in that church?
All of this will be a strange new experience for many Americans who are accustomed to a general atmosphere of respect being given to churches even by non-members. We may well want to draw upon the experience of some of our brothers and sisters in other cultures who are more accustomed to practicing faith in an atmosphere of alienation. Historically the church has often thrived under persecution. A major difference is that there is more intentionality to belonging. You can’t just drift into membership because membership comes with a cost.
When Luke comments on the cost of discipleship, there is a haunting reality to his quoting Jesus as saying, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?” Perhaps a major feature of our new context is that there will be fewer of us and we will have to honestly count the cost of what it means to be a disciple in an age of distrust.
