An argument could be made that even among those who saw themselves as too smart or too well-educated to need religion did not abandon religion but simply switched from the God of traditional religions to the gods of technology, education, pleasure, science, and progress. Of course, they would demur. That does not make this suggestion wrong but it simply affirms the fact that those who worked hard to rid themselves of religion were not going to quickly admit that they had merely switched allegiance and were still dependent upon some form of deity.
Across Europe as well as in the US, there is a resurgence of religion and, particularly, orthodox Christianity, among the young, males, and even the educated. It could be said that even among the most secular of Western nations and societies, there is the surprising renewal of faith among a people who had long thought to have been post-Christian. There is hope, at least, that the light has not completely been extinguished. Young people and especially young men are showing up more and more in congregations of conservative, orthodox, Christian congregations. This is not an anecdotal reality but something which has been documented in poll and survey.
What does this mean? That is, after all, the Lutheran question. While I would like to admit that it is due to the vibrant and profound Christian witness proceeding from the Church and the effect of the witness of the Christian life among the people of God, there is another cause. All the hope and euphoria once associated with science, technology, and progress have been dashed of late as well. The struggles of life in Covid and afterwards cannot be minimized. The loneliness that our digital connections has fed more than satisfied is another factor. The uncertainty of the cost versus benefit of AI (artificial intelligence) must not be written off. The demise of the global world and of a world marketplace to satisfy and improve the lot of all people is no longer universally held. Education has become a niche market with degrees that do not translate into jobs or richer lives and this has contributed to the desire for something more than what universities offer of the human dream.
We may not have contributed to the demise of the things that were once a solid wall keeping religion out of the public square but we can surely capitalize on the desire for something more than what progress failed to fulfill. If that is the case, we will need to be better catechized and offer the world a compelling reality and not simply an idea. Christian communities along with the Christian witness are needed. Nobody is making headway into once secular haunts of the world by presenting a watered down version of Christianity or the God who lives only in an idea. The world is looking not simply for the transcendent but also for the means to connect with the transcendent. It is looking for Biblical preaching, music that serves the Word, and sacramental worship in which the mystery of God is heralded more than explained away. The world is looking for not simply a private faith but a worldview that defines and determines how a person fits into the world. It is not looking for an echo chamber for the latest idea or trend but for the faith of the ages, the truth that endures forever, and the worship service that transcends time and reality with the Divine. The world will not be convinced by Sunday Christians who leave their faith at the door when they make their way back home anymore than it will be challenged by a digital reality that lives only on the screens. It will not be transformed by threat or compelled by fear but will be given pause by the power of love that speaks the truth and attempts to live by it in thought, word, and deed. I wish I could say that we Christians have given the world such a profound witness that we are being given a second look but I am fairly certain that it is the breakdown of the world and its vaunted institutions that has caused them to give Christianity a second look. Let us not disappoint them.
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