The relationship between the Church and the culture is not simply evolving, it is evaporating. I wish that were not the case but the evidence is clear and getting more clear every day.
The Church is no longer the trusted lighthouse it once was for society. Growing numbers of people are beginning to think that the further society flees from the influence of the Church, the better off society will be. Recent scandals in clergy sexual abuse, the residential schools, financial cover-ups, and how the Church handled these grave situations, have increased the rage.
The relationship between the Church and the culture is not just evolving, it is evaporating. Click To TweetThis confirms what Bishop Fulton Sheen said in 1974, “We are at the end of Christendom.” He further explained, “Christianity is not ending, nor the Church. Christendom is dead. Christendom is the economic, political, and social life as inspired by Christian principles. That is what is ending and, because we live in it day to day, we do not see the decline.”
The Church is no longer a trusted lighthouse for society. Growing numbers of people think that the further society flees from the influence of the Church, the better off society will be. Click To TweetPrior to the 1960s, the greatest gift Christendom gave to the Church, was the opportunity to broadly influence society. Dozens of Catholic institutions were birthed and now populate our social landscape – schools, parishes, universities, and social agencies. All these institutions flourished when the growth of the Church was in no small way a benefit of her prominence within the culture.
Catholic institutions in education, healthcare and social services flourished when Church growth was a benefit of her prominence within the culture. But Christendom no longer exists. Click To TweetHowever, we no longer live in Christendom. The Church is losing influence in the West and the pace toward irrelevance and insignificance quickens every day. If the Church and her institutions continue to operate as though Christendom still exists, it will be disastrous.
A Sinister Message
As society grows colder to the Church, a subtle but coercive message is being spoken to our decades-old Catholic institutions, “Either you remain true to the Faith you profess and lose your prominence in society or you can abandon your relationship to the Church and remain a positive force for good in the world.”
As society grows colder to the Church, a subtle but coercive message is being spoken to our decades-old Catholic institutions. Click To TweetThe message is currently a whisper and many institutional leaders are not paying attention. If we do not listen to the whispers today, we will have to endure the screams tomorrow. At the present time, the pressure seems to be directed toward the family and to Catholic institutions in education and healthcare.
Stay True to the Core
The Church is never more in a precarious position than when she appears to be strong externally but internally losing her connection and dependence on the Eternal. Our foundation is the Lord Jesus. St. John of the Cross wrote, “Christ is the highest wisdom attainable by man. He is like an everlasting mine with many pockets containing treasures. No matter how far you dig, no matter how deep you go, you never come to the end or the limit, fresh riches are opened up on either side.”
In Christendom, the assumption is made that the majority of the population are committed Christians. With that assumption, the importance and sense of urgency toward the mission can wane. Neither the Church nor her institutions, have anything to offer the world that is more valuable, more precious, and more necessary than Jesus Christ.
Neither the Church nor her institutions have anything to offer the world that is more valuable, more precious, and more necessary than Jesus Christ. Click To TweetThings are Not as They Appear
We live in a world at war. There is a cosmic battle raging all around us – between good and evil; between the Christ and the anti-Christ; between the Gospel and the anti-Gospel; between the Church and the anti-Church. In times of Christendom, the cosmic battle can be hidden from sight. People that speak of the “world at war” come across as lunatics during Christendom times. If we lose sight of the fact that the battle is real and minimize it or consider the battle a mere fairly tale then, “The Church will be seen as one of many cultural institutions that enhance the human experience, rather than as the re-created race saved from death and slavery” (Christendom to Apostolic Mission). If a Catholic Institution loses sight of the cosmic battle, it may truncate itself from the Larger Story.
If Catholic Institutions lose sight of the cosmic battle, they may truncate themselves from the Larger Story. Click To Tweet
Apostolic Leadership
“In a Christendom culture, the type of person who is brought forward to lead is often the conflict-avoiding administrator rather than the apostle. The Church and Catholic Institutions (added by the blog) go from being a movement of the spirit incarnated in institutions to a set of sclerotic organizations that have lost their inner spirit” (From Christendom to Apostolic Mission). The times in which we live, which are a change of era not just an era of change, require transformational leadership. Business as usual attitudes and status quo approaches no longer suffice.
If any organization should be concerned, even fanatical, about becoming great through innovation, it is the Church. Innovation should be discussed as passionately by pastoral councils in parishes as it is by executive teams in board rooms. The Church’s mission is the most important mission in the world – we need to get this right!
The Church is not interested in market share, but we are interested in other metrics. One metric that should be top of mind for all leaders of Catholic institutions is this: the numbers of those who do not know Christ and do not belong to the Church are constantly on the increase. Since the second Vatican council, just 50 years ago, this number has doubled. If data drives innovation, this number should drive all kinds of innovation.
Innovation cannot exist in a culture of antiquated or maintenance type thinking. Pope Francis wrote, “Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: ‘We have always done it this way’. I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities” (EG #33).
Saint John Paul II launched the Church on the path of the new evangelization over 40 years ago. As for every individual in the Church, the Church’s institutions need to embrace new methods, new ardor, new energy and new expressions of missionary dynamism for the love of Christ and zeal for souls.
The real path to future-proofing Catholic institutions is to be more deeply rooted in Him who is never changing, He who is always doing something new. We need to re-embrace an apostolic mindset and be convinced, once again, of the power of the message we bear. We need to put our confidence in the re-generational nature of the Church and its potential, at all times, to expand and grow in ways that we could not even imagine (Eph 3:20). It is Christ who strengthens us. Our power is never borrowed from earthly sources but given, in abundance, by the Holy Spirit. Every Catholic institution must be thoroughly convinced that Jesus Christ is the answer to every human ill, every human problem and the only hope for humanity. Jesus, we trust in You.