I fear that the fallout from the media coverage of the sexual scandals in the Roman Catholic Church has major implications for the whole church. We live in a society that is almost drunk on distrust. The current tea party movement is just one of its recent manifestations.
Jack Haberer, in the April 19 issue of Presbyterian Outlook, shared some statistics on the rising number of people who prefer to identify themselves as spiritual and not religious. They hunger for a faith that can empower them but distrust the community in which the faith can be nurtured.
The number of American adults identifying themselves as “more spiritual than religious” has increased from 19 percent in 1998 to 27 percent today. In fact, as reported by religion writer Peter Smith of the Louisville Courier Journal, fully 30 percent of adults under age 40 say they are spiritual but have no religion at all. And, according to a poll by Marist College, 63 percent of Americans say it’s either “very true” or at least “partly true” that they are “spiritual but not religious.”
All of this feeds into the attitude of institutional distrust that plagues our society. A major scandal like that which is getting such media coverage about the Roman Catholic church infects peoples attitudes about all churches. It also poisons the natural attitude of trust in religious leaders which once was part of our society. Recently I have heard priests report that it is no longer comfortable to walk down the street wearing your collar. It is now suggested that we do background checks on all volunteers who work with children and youth in our churches. Where you once could pull a troubled youth aside at a retreat and go for a long walk in the woods to offer counsel, such an activity may be viewed with suspicion in our time.
It is time that we take a look at the Demon of Distrust that plagues our religious community and consider how we shape our ministry in such an atmosphere.
