Faith formation in a Post-Christendom context. Part Two: Some Ways Forward
This week, Jonny Price, Youth and Children’s Ministry Leader in York, returns to give us some insight faith formation with a post-Christendom culture. This is the second in a two part series, so check out part 1 here.
Recently I wrote about some assumptions that we make around faith formation. Here I want to explore some positive ways forward for us in a post-Christendom world, which may be able to help us inspire, encourage, and grow our young people in a life of faith.
1. Start with Jesus
Much of our evangelism starts with trying to convince people that God exists. What if, instead, we start with exploring who Jesus is, what He did, and then move onto what Jesus tells us about the God who sent Him?
Jesus is compelling, intriguing, and captivating. Trying to convince people of the existence of God can be dry, dull, and focuses too much on the intellect. Focusing on Jesus can capture people’s imagination and encourage them to wonder about the character of God. Once they start this wondering for themselves, we can help them on their journey, rather than convince them there is a journey to start with.
2. Recover the verb-ness of Faith
Last time I said that faith and belief had become about agreeing with an idea. That isn’t what we see when we look in Scripture and it shouldn’t be what we expect from our young people today.
Think about the amazing examples of faith we look to in the Bible; how Abraham left his land and followed God’s instructions (mostly), the way that Moses stood against the tyranny of Pharaoh and lead the people to freedom, the way Samuel challenged the people to turn their backs on evil and follow God, how Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah stood defiantly before different kings of Babylon. And that is just a few examples from the Old Testament! Think of all the other examples from the New Testament, the history of the church, and from recent history. What marks them all out is that their faith involved, led to, and inspired action.
3. Treat the Bible on its own terms
I recently had a church visit from some GCSE RE students. As part of looking around the church we got into a conversation around Levitical Law. The usual weird laws came up in conversation, but when we got onto talking about what the Law was actually for, they were surprised at how contemporary and relevant it sounded. At the heart of the Law is the idea that all humans are image bearers of God, and so are worthy to be treated with dignity, respect, and care.
By talking about the Bible on its own terms, we were able to move past the surface level conversation about how weird the laws were and started to move towards a more interesting and impactful conversation.
When we make excuses for what is in the Bible, we undermine our own faith. When we promote the Bible as simple, we cheat the young people we work with of an opportunity to engage deeply with it. When we treat it on its own terms, however, we can catch our young peoples’ imaginations and intellects, and then help them to engage with their faith in a holistic way. This will draw them in and help them to be agents in their own spiritual formation, rather than simply receivers of just our wisdom.
4. De-spiritualise spirituality
Think of how conversations around spirituality are framed. The spiritual is a realm that is parallel with ours; it is other, abstract. The result is that either the spiritual is pushed to the side and takes on less significance than what goes on in the ‘real’ world, or that the spiritual is emphasised as being behind all the problems in the world.
But if we remove this lens and try and replace it with a biblical view of the spiritual, then an important change happens: Things in the world take on a spiritual significance that calls us to action.
Let me give you an example:
Unethical supply chains exploit people. In a view of the world where the spiritual is abstract, this is sad but the result of the way the world is. However, in a view of the world where the spiritual is a real and a central part of life, these supply chains are evil. Anything that reduces people to be less than human is part of this evil, anything that exploits creation is part of this evil.
If we can help our young people to develop a view of the world in which the spiritual is neither Paranormal Activity-esque, nor is it a nice luxury for those who have time to contemplate, then their choices take on greater significance, and calling them to a life of faith has a real impact on the world around them.
Also, within this framework, you need never have a conversation about how Christianity is ‘boring’ ever again, because it is clear what impact it has on the world.
Conclusion
At the heart of each of these is the idea that living a life of faith is far more than waiting for God to call us to heaven. It is about living lives inspired by God’s perspective, working against evil and for good in a way that brings peace, joy, beauty, and goodness into the world.
If we can promote these ideas in our faith formation, then we will call our young people to a life of faith in which they are bringing goodness into the world through their actions and choices.
Further reading
There are a number of books which have influenced my thinking around this. Below is a selection that I think are helpful in exploring how we develop the faith of the young people we work with:
Frost, M & Hirsch, A. 2009, ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church. Baker Academic.
Frost, M. 2006, Exiles: Living Missionally in a PostChristian Culture. Baker Books.
Smith, J. K. A. 2009-2017. Cultural Liturgies series. Baker Academic.
Smith, J. K. A. (ed), 2006-2015, The Church and Postmodern Culture series. Baker Academic
Viola, F. & Barna, G. 2012, Pagan Christianity. Tyndale House.
Wright, T. 2013, Surprised by Scripture: Engaging with contemporary issues. SPCK.
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