Some Christians Now Admit Their Problem is Apathy


As numbers in denominations fall along with church attendance there are Christian authors trying to figure out the problem. Most popular has been the notion youth are not trained. Or, people have a bad experience in the church.

An emerging view that I think gets to the Christian problem is that young people simply are not interested in what the faith says or what it offers. The word they use is apathy. If that really is the most important problem, what is causing it?

If there is apathy now in the faith why was there not before? From my experience growing up in a conservative faith I think it was there before. It was not recognized, however, because people looked to church for their social ties and identity. Some were in it for business contacts. The message of religion was more tolerated than received with enthusiasm. 

We have a close friend in Fargo who told us that in her youth and young adult life the local Catholic parish was the center of her life. Everything else made way for church involvement. She has several adult children and none of the has the church as central in their lives. 

Pandemic news often has preachers complaining the churches must continue to hold services because the members need church. I wonder if church is as important actually in their congregations as they themselves think it is. There is some polling showing that parts of the membership do not think they will return after prohibitions on church services is lifted. If ever there was a sign of apathy that is one.

Back many decades when I was first in college I took a Rural Sociology course in "Group Dynamics." It was about how to organize and run groups. One theme the professor returned to often was "A group needs a purpose." I've remembered that simple idea many times since. Several groups I have been in have stopped meeting after a while. Every time I could see there just was no longer a purpose. 

When people ask themselves, "Why am I spending this time in church?" there may be no answer. 

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