Reclaiming Identity as Central

Richard Rohr once said, “We had the tradition. We lost the tradition.”

What he means is that within us are roots that go deep and have much to offer. But as we have become more and more unclear about what is central, we have lost some of the best of what we have, still buried somewhere inside.

Over the past few decades much of mainline American religion has looked more and more alike. Liturgies may vary a bit, but now even many conservative evangelical churches have Advent wreaths and do something during Lent. While much of this is good – the church should share a unity that transcends which “tribe” we are part of – it also can lead to a generic Christianity that means everyone starts to sound alike. Since the average American is not interested in church as a generic, then being a generic church may not be a good thing.

I see this in my own brand of Christianity, which happens to be Lutheran. I would guess that you could take the heading off of 80% of Lutheran newsletters across the country and if you just changed which night church council meets and the time for choir practice, most members would hardly notice if they were reading their congregation’s newsletter or someone else’s. This is because the internal stuff of our congregations looks pretty much the same (and often pretty bland and lacking substance) and the external stuff where the congregation engages the community around it is often not present. So, we are left with generic religious stuff as our primary substance.

In response to this, I propose that every congregation needs to become less generic. Lutherans need to know what makes a Lutheran unique and what contributions their slant on the faith offers. Likewise for Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and the rest. “Why go to church?” is a hard enough question for most people to answer. “Why go to your church?” is almost impossible to answer if you don’t know what makes you unique.

If you are going to reach people for Jesus and have anything meaningful to share, then you have to more clear than ever what it is at the heart of your identity. People don’t need self-help tips or rituals to walk through as much as they need to encounter the God who comes to us in Christ and to understand what difference it makes to have Jesus at the center of your life.

Your faith tradition has a way of understanding who Jesus is and what God is up to in Christ. At its core there is something there to offer. Figure out what that is and help your people know it, believe it, and be able to articulate it well. If not, people can drive by lots of generic churches and include yours on the list. Do it well, and there may be a reason for some to listen to what you have to share.