Brett September 12, 2022

The recently published book From Christendom to Apostolic Mission could have been subtitled A Tale of Two Modes as it proposes shifting the Church into a new mode of mission, acknowledging that, “Christendom no longer exists” (Pope Francis).

The actual subtitle, Pastoral Strategies for an Apostolic Age, illustrates why the book should be required reading for all those working in the Church today. It is that good and important.

This is the next post in a series of articles on the book. 

The authors begin by helping us first understand the place of a ruling imaginative vision in human cultures (Chapter 1).

“Every human society possesses with more or less strength a moral and spiritual imaginative vision, a set of assumptions and a way of looking at things that is largely taken for granted rather than argued for. These fundamental assumptions provide the atmosphere the society members breathe and the soil in which the various institutions of the society take root and grow. Such a vision is holistic. It is not so much something that is seen as something through which everything else is seen” (From Christendom to Apostolic Mission).

For emphasis, here are some bullet points on imaginative vision that are found throughout the book:

  • To call such a vision “imaginative” is not to say that it is “make-believe.” Rather, imagination refers to the human capacity to transcend the immediate environment and to hold within the mind and heart a whole world of possibilities. Imagination is informed by the ability to reach back into the past and look forward into the future.
  • The imaginative vision of society is shaped by the people and institutions that can answer the deepest questions. At times, the narrative is shaped by cultural influencers trying to redefine the most important questions.
  • Every time the questions are asked, “How are you doing?” or “How are things?” the response is usually about the overall narrative vision, one that spells out what is meant by a “good person” and what each individual should aspire to for “success” and what to avoid in terms of “failure.”
  • In a stable society the imaginative vision is more or less a settled matter. The longer it is settled the more deeply unconscious it is assumed.
  • When a given way of thinking or acting is part of the overall vision, the vision will seem to be self-evident.
  • When the imaginative vision of culture is seriously contested, society may go into a crisis of instability and polarization until the original imaginative vision is reconstituted or another one takes its place. This final bullet certainly provides context for much of the polarization we see today. 
The imaginative vision of society is shaped by those able to answer the deepest questions. At times the narrative is shaped by cultural influencers redefining what are the most important questions. Click To Tweet When cultural fundamentals are seriously contested, society may go into a crisis of instability and polarization until the normative vision is reconstituted or another one takes its place. Click To Tweet

Christendom as a Ruling Imaginative Vision 

“When the Christian narrative of the human drama and its corresponding moral order has become prominent in a given society and have come to provide, at least largely, that society’s ruling vision, what emerges can be called a “Christendom Culture.” Some have used the term Christendom to refer to society in which the Church is officially established as a confessional state – medieval England, say. Here is meant something broader. A Christendom society goes forward under the imaginative vision and narrative provided by Christianity, whatever the specific polity concerning its establishment may be” (From Christendom to Apostolic Mission).

Remember when there was no shopping on Sunday because it was the Lord’s day?

The Church in Christendom Mode 

In Christendom, the growth of the Church was in no small way a benefit of her prominence. She attracted new members because her presence was positively woven into the social fabric. Catholic institutions grew in number and stature within Christendom which was a perk of the elite status of the Church.

In Christendom, the growth of the Church was in no small way a benefit of her prominence. She attracted new members because her presence was positively woven into the social fabric. Click To Tweet

In a time of Christendom, the Church aimed to maintain the influence she had on the culture. The great advantage was that God’s truth was readily available to anyone without obstructions or restrictions. God’s word found in the scriptures and the teachings of the Church were generally assumed to be beneficial both for the individual and the collective culture.  

In Christendom, Christianity was invited to influence all sectors of society – politics, education, medicine, arts, and sports. The major institutions that drove industry, education, medicine, and the economy often bore God’s name or referred to him in their constitutions and policies. In a Christendom era, Christians could aspire to leadership in any realm of society.

The fact that most of Western society lived in a state of Christendom for several centuries should be celebrated. A Christendom state is tangible evidence of a fruitful, missionary Church.

The fact that most of Western society lived in a state of Christendom for several centuries should be celebrated. A Christendom state is tangible evidence of a fruitful, missionary Church. Click To Tweet

However, there were some negative realities within Christendom. For example, in Christendom, one could minimize the nature of discipleship by equating it with mere membership in the Church, even if not practicing the faith regularly. The high calling of giving one’s utmost commitment for God’s highest glory was often reduced to being a conventional, somewhat spiritual, contributing member of society. In Christendom times, we came to expect Catholic leaders in politics and business to profess a private faith that contradicts their public persona.

In Christendom times, we came to expect Catholic leaders in politics and business to  profess a private faith that contradicts their public persona. Click To Tweet
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau during their virtual meeting in February 2021.

Furthermore, in Christendom, committed disciples may feel pressured to keep their faith private and modest. It seems like a reasonable requirement, even virtuous if it is assumed that everyone is Christian. Unfortunately, keeping one’s faith private stands in stark contrast to the will of God. Jesus’ last command was to go public with one’s private faith – to make disciples of all nations.

This is the crux of the matter. In Christendom times, the true identity of the Church as an evangelizing institution may get lost in the pursuit of other priorities. “The Church exists to evangelize,” Saint Pope Paul VI wrote in Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975). In Christendom, even Catholic institutional leaders may under-emphasize the unique salvific work accomplished through Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. Under the banner of equity and tolerance, there is an assumption that everyone in society is already Christian or “Christian enough.” This can become a contagious mindset of universalism where spiritual apathy seeps in and weakens our commitment to the proclamation of the kerygma and call to repentance.

This is the crux of the matter. In Christendom times, the true identity of the Church as an evangelizing institution may get lost in the pursuit of other priorities. Click To Tweet

The Culture Today 

For the first three centuries, the Church lived in an Apostolic mode. She continued to embrace Apostolic mission every time she entered territory that had not been exposed to the Gospel – the mission ad gentes.

Jesus told his disciples to baptize and make disciples of all nations, and for the first three centuries, the Church lived in an Apostolic mode. (Wikimedia)

Eventually, because the Church proved so fruitful in her evangelizing mission, we entered a time of Christendom. The Western world was animated by the spirit of the Gospel. Historians might not agree when Christendom began to deteriorate, but most would speculate that it ended in the 1960s in North America. As a result, we are now watching many long-standing arrangements and relations being altered. The relationship between the Church and the culture is not only evolving, it is evaporating. Each year the pace quickens.

Nobody who loves the Church is celebrating the death of Christendom. It is painful to observe the disintegration of relations between culture and the Church, but we must understand the difference between something that is capitulating and something already dead. While we celebrate what once was – the state of Christendom – we must radically edit the way we view the Church and her current relationship with the world. Only when we define current reality as it truly is – not what it was or what we wish it were today – can we begin to talk about methods, programs, and initiatives to make progress. I will finish with a quote from the book, From Christendom to Apostolic Mission, as a clear statement of diagnostic clarity. 

“We are dealing with the first culture in history that was once Christian but that by a slow and thorough process has been consciously ridding itself of its Christian basis. Our society is full of many – including those baptized – who believe that they have seen enough of Christianity to see that it has little to offer them. We are therefore not attempting to make converts from pagans; we are attempting to bring back to the Church those who knowingly or unknowingly are in the grasp of apostasy, a different and more difficult challenge. C.S. Lewis once described this difference as that between a man wooing a young maiden and a man winning a cynical divorcee back to her previous marriage. The situation is made more complex in that many who have abandoned Christianity and have embraced an entirely different understanding of the world still call themselves Christians.”