Christianity in the Western world is going through a profound transitional phase. I've heard some people refer to it as "the collapse of Christendom." "Christendom" refers to anywhere that Christianity is the majority religion and the Church holds a place of power, respect, and influence in society.
Although the Church continues to maintain a degree of power, respect, and influence in certain spheres of society, its hold is slipping. Church scandals and the downfall of Christian leaders. Political division. The turbulence of a pandemic and lockdowns. Christian nationalism. Declining church attendance. The political right's takeover of large portions of white evangelicalism. Increasing deconstruction of traditionally held beliefs. Western society has been moving in a post-Christian direction for a long time now, and these developments just mentioned have simply sped up the process.
As a pastor and as someone generally committed to the Church I've been feeling the weight of these societal developments, but I'm also aware of how personal and individual this process can be too. I feel like I am constantly hearing from people that they have stopped going to church and/or have been disenfranchised with church. I know a number of people who are losing confidence in their faith or are simply feeling apathetic towards it. And to be clear, I say this with zero judgement towards any of these people. I get it. It's understandable!
All of this is just a long introduction to my main point: Brian Zahnd's newest book felt like a breathe of fresh air! Numerous people quickly came to mind that I wanted to recommend the book to.
Zahnd clearly get's it. He gets all the questions and griefs and doubts people are facing and he faces them head-on. This is not to say he has all the answers, but rather he doesn't minimize or side-step the questions. He acknowledges them in all their weightiness and he even shows that these same struggles we feel we are having all of the sudden have actually been voiced by some of the greatest skeptics and thinkers hundreds of years ago.
Another thing I think readers will find helpful is that he shows that deconstructing faith does not have to lead to demolished faith. I think a lot of Christians are under the impression that they have to choose between the Christianity they grew up with or no faith at all. They often don't realize there are literally hundreds of different "streams," traditions, and styles within the global movement that Jesus started. Zahnd charts a way for people to not throw the baby Jesus out with the bathwater, so to speak.
I need to mention that not all Christians will be ok with the specific ways Zahnd has personally managed to find a coherent faith in Jesus. For example, Zahnd cannot see a way that the violence of the God of the Old Testament could align with Jesus, so he concludes that some Bible passages accurately reveal God less than others. Or another example: Zahnd doesn't see how a loving God could send anybody to hell, so he concludes that in the end everyone will be saved. These two conclusions would be big no-no's in many church circles. But ultimately the power of the book is not based on the specific beliefs that Zahnd has landed on in his own faith. The power of the book is that whether you agree with Zahnd's specific beliefs or not, he inspires us to find a meaningful faith in Jesus amidst our doubts and gives us hope that it is in fact possible to do so. Deconstructing unhealthy beliefs can be a good thing, particularly if it leads to a purer focus on Jesus!
But ultimately the thing that most resonated with me was his shameless insistence on experiencing God. This has been an increasingly major theme in my own spiritual journey this year, so I admit I'm biased, but it's recently become my opinion that an experiential interactive relationship with God will become a greater emphasis in the Western Church across denominations. He quotes Karl Rahner's prediction that "The Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will not exist at all." I think there's truth in that. With all the challenges and reasons to not follow Jesus these days, the only way we will be able to persevere in our faith is if we know God, not just know about God. We need the God of the bible who speaks, acts, guides, empowers, and answers prayer, not a God that is uninvolved in the world. I know this emphasis won't resonate with everybody, and skeptical or left-brained people may be uncomfortable with it, but a vibrant relationship with Jesus is worth getting out of our comfort zones for!
Podcast episode: Brian Zahnd on the Restoring the Soul Podcast