Snippets from part one of a three sermon series I’m offering at Church of the Holy Comforter in Vienna, Virginia.
David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, published a book in 2008 called “unChristian.” And in the book he outlines the results of a survey of some 400 young adults ages 16-29 “outside” of the church and the results are pretty unsettling, at least they were to me. Today 40% of persons age 16-29 have opted out of the church. 20% consider themselves atheists, or agnostic, the rest are spiritual just not interested in the Church or the Christian faith. What these kids are saying is “We reject Christianity. We don’t necessarily reject Jesus—we reject Christianity.” When they are asked why, the primary reason they cite isn’t a theological reason; it has to do with the Christians they meet.
Now, I happen to believe that we are a congregation that offers a gracious welcome to all people, that we are, and can certainly be more so, honest and transparent about our own flaws and shortcomings, that we are all sinners learning a new and life-giving way. But the terrible perceptions that people have of the Church and Christianity are definite obstacles to our future as a congregation. What needs to change? How can we live a real and authentic faith in a real and challenging world?
That’s a question I’ll be seeking to answer in this sermon series I’m offering before the season of Lent. But as we learn today in today’s Gospel reading, we must respond in the authority of Jesus’ compassion and love. We must not avoid those who are on the outside of the Church but meet them as they are and where they are.
“Nothing that we despise in the other person is entirely absent from ourselves. We must learn to regard people less in light of what they do or don’t do, and more in light of what they suffer.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
[MARK 1:21-28] Sermon audio below:
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