Faith was made for questions and to withstand questioning

I love watching good television interviews. Some interviewers are better than others and we all end up having our favorites.

I have my favorites, but I have yet to watch an unbiased interviewer. Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley, George Stephenopolis and Oprah Winfrey are all very good at their trade. Yet all are flawed. Charlie is too Jewish, Tavis is too black, George is too short and Oprah cannot get past the horrors of her childhood and teen years. I confess that I envy them all. They have the privilege of asking the questions, and any thoughtful observer knows that the person asking the questions controls the conversation.

What is true in television interviewing is, I believe, true in life. Those who ask questions, flawed as they may be, are the most powerful people in the world.

The drain of young adults from churches has been verified by comprehensive surveys and studies. As one who cares deeply about the health of Christian churches, I ask the question, “Why are people leaving our churches in such great numbers?”

Recently I read a review of a new book by Brian McLaren, “A New Kind of Christianity.” The thesis of the book is that Christian churches have not been asking the right questions. He proposes 10 questions that, if they are asked, will transform churches. His book will be deeply disturbing to many people and churches. I believe McLaren is on to something.

My purpose in referring to McLaren is not to list his 10 questions. I refer to McLaren because his proposal flies in the face of our church practice of demanding agreement rather than encouraging questioning. Asking questions may well be the key to restoring vitality to struggling churches.

Questioning and arguing about the beliefs and practices of churches is an old tradition and has its roots in first century CE. In chapter 15 of the book of Acts, the writer reports a gathering of church leaders in Jerusalem. It was a contentious meeting with lots of arguing and questioning. The conflict was between Paul and the disciples of Jesus. The subject was the tensions created in churches by diversity. The result of the conference was more a truce than an agreement. If there was agreement, it was that Paul and his mission to include non-Jews in the emerging churches could not be controlled.

Christian teaching spread rapidly in every geographic direction. Paul went north and west, and others headed in other directions. There was minimum communication among churches. Diversity among churches was widespread. Diversity remained the hallmark of Christianity until the early 4th century CE, when the Roman Emperor Constantine became an arbiter between disagreeing churches. Out of that period in history, the Bishop at Rome took on new power and Christianity became unified under his rule. Christianity became the official religion of the Empire. The vitality of diversity was lost.

During most of their history, Christian churches have been authoritarian. Authority has been defined and maintained by an empowered clergy and through creedal affirmations. Theological conformity is routinely required of clergy to attain ordination and some level of obedience to hierarchy is demanded.

My wife’s education was in science, primarily in biology with an emphasis on ecology. One of the lessons that I have learned from her is the strength in diversity. She has convinced me of a working standard. Stability is a function of diversity. Uniformity produces instability. I believe that principle and lesson from biology transfers to theology.

It is my own observation that churches have not created opportunities for questioning and honest discussions. Worship services are dominated by rituals that are controlled by clergy. Sermonizing is authoritarian and is the prerogative of ordained clergy. Teaching tends to be catechetical. Today, churches are not very exciting places for people who have questions.

The Barna Research Group has found that at least 5 percent of all Christians in America worship in home churches. The Barna Group speculates the number may be as high as 10 percent. Home churches almost always are led by someone other than an ordained clergyperson. This is a phenomenon that is almost completely hidden from the general public. I suspect most of the people who attend home churches are people who have been denied the opportunity to ask serious questions in the church of their rearing.

What are the questions that should be asked? Brian McLaren dares to list his 10 questions. I suspect his book will create its share of discussions. I have a long list of questions I want to ask and then discuss with other questioning people, but it is not the purpose of this column to list the questions I find most pressing.

The more pressing issue is, what is your question? The health of your own church and the stability of our world are dependent upon your participation.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His e-mail address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.