EDITORIAL:Awakening versus cultural captivity

If—as some observers claim—flames of spiritual awakening are fanning across the globe, then why have they seemingly leapt over the United States?

Titles of two great books provide a clue: At Ease in Zion by Rufus Spain and Churches in Cultural Captivity by John Lee Eighmy. These classic volumes cannot be summarized in just one paragraph. But it’s fair to say they address a vital question: Since the South was dominated by pious, church-going Baptists, why did it remain a regressive backwater, where human rights, justice and personal liberty stagnated for a century following the Civil War? The answer lay within the tight parameters by which provincial Baptists proscribed their faith. They measured themselves by narrow pieties—in those days, refraining from liquor, illicit sex and gambling—and failed to ponder the broader realm of moral rectitude. In fact, as far as justice and civil righteousness were concerned, they merely copied the selfish concerns of their surrounding culture.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Oh, we may be “right” on race now (although, were it not for black Baptists and liberal mainline Protestants, one could doubt racial attitudes would have changed a smidge). But the church in America—not merely Baptists—continues to be defined by what it is not instead of by what it is. So we decry the horrors of crime, the media’s glamorization of sex and violence, and the dangers of substance abuse, gay marriage and abortion.

Unfortunately, the church in America—particularly Baptists, mainliners and evangelicals—still mirrors its surrounding culture. We’re no less consumed by materialism than are our communities. Most of the time, we handle authority and power no better than the businesses, schools and governments nearby. In fact, we often handle power worse than other institutions. For example, our conflict-management processes typically look more like no-holds-barred political grudge matches than opportunities for Christians to practice redemption and restoration.

What’s more, as individual Christians, we’re doing no better than our churches. Except that we’re programmed to say the right things, and the most vocal and/or active among us protest gay marriage and abortion, we offer little evidence that what happens in our church buildings on Sunday morning makes any difference in our lives on Tuesday night or Thursday afternoon. We lust for power just like the next gal. We’re just as seduced by things as the next guy. Our marriages fail and we lie at about the same pace as everybody else. We have the same problems with our kids as our neighbors.

And we’re comfortable with it. If we weren’t, we’d do something about it. We’d change. We’re a church at ease in secular society; we’re captive to our culture.

This edition of the Standard contains a package of articles on spiritual awakening. I hope you’ll read it. I particularly resonate with an observation made by Jim Denison: Awakening doesn’t happen until Christians get desperate. We can spiritualize that idea, but it tracks basic human nature. People don’t change deep habits, addictions, customs or beliefs until they finally realize something’s wrong and they get desperate for difference.

Spiritual awakening is bypassing America because we’re comfortable in our consumeristic, class-driven culture. Nothing’s likely to change until we get fed up and desire change more than comfort and security. Many Christians have been fretting about the future, and mostly what they mention is the economy—their financial future. While no sane person would desire fiscal calamity, spiritual poverty is more serious than financial fragility. Likewise, while my theology doesn’t allow me to believe God causes an economic depression, God certainly can use one to achieve broader and deeper purposes.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard. Visit his FaithWorks blog