Disillusionment—The Cultural Christians Looming Catastrophe

dissillusion (noun)

: the condition of being disenchanted : the condition of being dissatisfied or defeated in expectation or hope

How can we possibly commit to the missional life of Christ when we are in the midst of soul crushing disillusionment?

About 10 years ago my wife and I were looking to buy our first house. And since we were first time home buyers we were a bit rosy in the eyes. Ok, we had on red romantic welding goggles. Our romantic vision led us to ask our realtor to take us through a charming old two story house. It was about 100 years old. It wasn’t terrible, but it needed some updating. But we were smitten with it. Nice corner lot. Walking distance to the coffee shop. It was nice. We wanted to buy it.

But we recognized we were inexperienced so we called in an expert to walk through it with us. My wife’s friend's dad was a former contractor. He was a good one. Real detail oriented kind of guy. And he agreed to be our home buying sage. He would walk through the house with us and let us know what he thought. The naked truth. And boy did we get more than we bargained for. The walkthrough ended with an impassioned plea from him not to buy. Speaking to us with wide eyes wet with tears he warned us of the impending doom that would certainly befall us if we purchased this home. One project would lead to another, and to another, and to another, and before long we would be house-broke, anxiety riddled slaves to this cute little fixer upper.

We bought the house anyway, it turned out ok. But that meeting has always stuck with me. And actually that wasn’t the last time we were to be warned like that. We must either be really romantic, really stupid, or have really wound tight friends (probably a combination of all of that). I began to discern a theme. I noticed that any time I stepped out in my life and took a risk there was someone, somewhere who came out like a town crier warning me of the terrible trouble that would come upon me if I took the risk. Each time I have prepared to set sail on a risky voyage I have bumped into some tortured soul at the port saloon, torn clothes, smelling of sea salt, eager to shove his crooked finger into my chest and cry, “ye beware! There is danger in those waters!” 

That’s a little dramatic I know. And to be clear, I recognize that I haven’t arrived. I have not achieved the fullness of wisdom. I quite often set sail straight into cliffs. I have a lot left to learn. And so I recognize I have youthful blindspots and still seek to keep my ears perked to listen for the voice of Wisdom crying aloud in the streets (Prov 1:20). But what I’m trying to point out to you is that anywhere there is a call, a risk, an ambition, a desire to change something, there will be people who have gone that path before you and have met trouble. Our ships are always navigating waters that others have shipwrecked on. And knowing that storms and troubles await all who desire a life at sea, the question becomes how do we maintain our vision for the sea in the midst of the storm? What happens to your life when you encounter trouble yourself?  What happens when you meet the inevitable—you find you have become that tortured soul. 

I take this question right into the realm of the church and relate it to the call of Christ that is on every Christian to go and make disciples. It’s a hard call. It’s tough to live with the missional vigilance that the gospel requires. And it's even harder when we are in a hard season of life. But it is the good life and the sea most exhilarating to sail on.

One thing that I am convinced of is that one of the greatest roadblocks that stands in the way of the missional church is personal disillusionment. I have watched so many Christians, especially those in my age range (millennials), set sail with great energy and intention just to shipwreck their faith on the rocks. And then many of them resign to a life of screaming and hurling rocks at any christian ship passing them by. 

Let me give you a concrete example. I was in a Christian metalcore band. And from 2005-2013ish I noticed something weird. Almost every band in the metalcore scene claimed to be a Christian band or adjacent to Christianity in some way. There were so many bands that made it their priority to write lyrics about Jesus, tell people about Jesus, and preach Jesus from the stage. And then it was like overnight I saw something shift. People who were in these bands just all of a sudden changed their tune. 

I won’t speculate all the reasons why this happened. But I can say with confidence that there was a significant pressure within the metalcore scene to claim that you were in a Christian band because it would get you stuff. Many of the largest festivals were “Chrisitian” festivals. Many of the venues around the country that would host metalcore shows were at churches or youth groups. And some of the most popular record labels were “Christian” labels with an audience of eager Christian consumers. So the name of Jesus became a means to an end. Christianity was just a label people used to get what they really wanted. This set these young Christians up for disaster.

And many of you know, biblical Christianity has become more unpopular and unpalatable by the day. So it reached a point when so many of the folks in the scene just broke and gave up. And they ditched the whole Christian thing. Life got hard. Their band wasn’t making it. Their girlfriend broke up with them. Their friends moved. Whatever it was many people realized that Jesus just didn’t work for them. It was a broke pursuit. And that’s when the soul crushing disillusionment set in for many. And I’ve been watching the root of bitterness grow deeper into their hearts ever sense. 

The way this relates to life on mission in the local church is that we must keep Jesus as the end, not the means to the end. In Acts 1 the Apostles learned this lesson. They asked the resurrected Jesus if now was the time when He would finally restore Israel (1:6). They wanted to know if this was when they would see the change they so desperately wanted to see. They wanted to use the gospel and see change. Not a bad thing right? Especially when the ends they wanted were good ends. They wanted good change. They wanted to see their city flourish, families grow, business thrive, and shalom permeate the world. But what Jesus tells them is so underwhelming it’s often missed. But it is so necessary to keep us from the spiritual shipwreck of disillusionment. He told them to wait. Wait on what? He told them to wait for the presence of God. They were told to wait patiently for the personal presence of God through the presence of the Holy Spirit. God is the gospel.

This is the whole deal. The whole point of the gospel is that we get God. God is the end. He’s not the means. And when we realize this it paradoxically gives our mission power. You see that as the story in Acts progresses. Their missional life is animated by an intimate relationship with the presence and power of God. So it’s not a bad thing to want God to change things and give you stuff. But it goes off the rails when you use God like a tool or an object of raw transaction. God transforms your life as the overflow of a joyful life in his presence. And that’s attractive.

The temptation to treat God as a tool to get what we really want is particularly intense in Christian cultures. This is because Christian values and practice become the norm. Which is good. But then what happens is what Jesus warned us about in his Sermon on the Mount. People start to practice their faith “in order to be seen” (Mt 6) instead of in order to be with God. And this sets people up for massive disillusionment because when the outcomes and benefits they are after, that they are acting like a Christian in order to get don’t come their way, they abandon acting like a Christian in order to find some other way to act that gets them what they want. This would be like going into a job interview and highlighting how you are a ‘good Christian’ only to find that this employer thinks all forms of Christianity are toxic and therefore does not hire you. (I know this is illegal discrimination but biblical Christianity is considered backwards and bigoted to many people now.) And so after that interview you determine to actually abandon the practice of your faith because it is costing you a good job. This abandonment of Christian practice in order to achieve some worldly benefit, even if it is a good thing like being liked and accepted, demonstrates Christianity is being treated as a means to an end. It also demonstrates that Christianity is merely a fashion of thought. And you know what happens to fashions. They get dropped when they are no longer useful or cool. And when that happens you can be certain there is no strength to persevere when trials come. Rock the boat and the sailors will jump ship. 

This is the perils of sailing on the waters of cultural Christianity. They are rocky and the boat is flimsy. Being a cultural Christian is like sailing the icy Atlantic in a paddle boat. 

And I’m no prophet, but I would say that this is the looming catastrophe in my area here in the Clinton community and is the greatest obstacle facing the local churches here. It’s easy to think that the biggest looming threat to the strength of the local Christian church here is the growing secular culture. It’s really not. Any reading of church history will show you that wherever the surrounding culture is darkest the church stands out in stronger contrast. Contrast is good. Light in darkness is good. The darker the surroundings the more pronounced the flame. But what I believe we are living through is what other larger cities have already lived through, what my fellow Christian metalcore mates lived through—the great disillusionment with cultural Christianity. 

As it becomes less and less popular and advantageous to claim the name of Christ people will eventually stop. If it aint cool it aint worth it. As Christian opposition heats up nominal Christians fall away. And in our area the cultural Christian capital is almost gone. Means to and end Christianity is like trying to write a check that bounces. There's no money left in the bank because cultural Christianity is bankrupt. 

So what do we do? I think the missional focus of the local church, especially in this area, has to shift from ‘come to church because you get awesome stuff and experiences’ to ‘hear the gospel, the good news that you get God.’ And because we are itchy with sinful cravings for idols, false Gods, God leads us into the wilderness to test us, to purify us. And that wilderness testing looks like an awful lot of waiting. 

So it would not surprise me at all if even you, the one reading this blog, are on the precipice of disillusionment. You’ve tried church for it’s concert music, it’s comfy feel good messages, it’s free gifts, it’s programs tailored to you, it’s coffee (God forbid). You’ve tried using church to find a spouse, a best friend, clients for your network marketing scheme (I mean business). All the ends you have been pursuing using Jesus as a means are revealing themselves to be dead ends. Their breaking down. If this is you, my prayer is that you see this as a kindness from God, because he wants to lead you to the real sauce, the good stuff. He wants you to see that the whole time it was always about a personal relationship with him. And when you return to your first love, don’t be surprised when you begin to see the world with rosy eyes once again. 

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you (James 4:8).