Wasson: The cost of quitting church

A pastor friend, Andrew Green of FBC Marble Hill, brought an article to my attention. Derek Thompson, an agnostic, wrote an opinion piece in The Atlantic titled "The True Cost of the Churchgoing Bust". It is an interesting read.

Thompson admits that he spent most of his life thinking about the decline of faith in America in positive terms. He referenced scandal and politics as if they are unique to the church. However, he has come to the realization that religion works like a “retaining wall to hold back the destabilizing pressure of American hyper-individualism, which threatens to swell and spill over in its absence.”

Do you agree that the lack of church attendance is having a negative impact on society? Thompson does not advocate for Christianity or any other religion, but he acknowledges the benefits that result from worship attendance.

One of the consequences of leaving religion is losing a sense of community. Face-to-face socializing is on the decline as young people are spending more time alone.

Most of my friends met their spouses through church or religious gatherings. If a person’s faith is meaningful to him or her, it would make sense to pursue someone who shares similar beliefs.

Thompsons realizes that without any religious affiliation, it may be more difficult to find opportunities for socializing in general. According to his research, low-income unmarried men have more alone time than almost any other group.

His statistics that show around 25% of people consider themselves unaffiliated with religion with many being atheists or agnostics. Not only are they losing a sense of community, but they are struggling on how to instill values into their children.

The local church is a help to parents who want to teach godly values to their children. We see the secular world and fringe groups working desperately to infiltrate kindergarten classrooms to shape the minds of young children. As a parent, I want my values, not someone else’s instilled in my children. Fortunately, we can find a Sunday school class, vacation Bible school, AWANA, or after-school program for our children from the churches of our choice.

Thompson points out that Americans are less civically engaged than they once were because of no religious affiliation. Christians are driven by values to find opportunities to serve their communities as an expression of their faith. God blesses us to be blessings to others.

Thompson points out that, “This year, the Pew Research Center reported that religiously unaffiliated Americans are less likely to volunteer, less likely to feel satisfied with their community and social life, and more likely to say they feel lonely.”

As people abandon church, they are not replacing it with other places that can offer community life. The CDC has noticed an increase in anxiety and depression.

A recent book by social scientist Jonathan Haidt is titled, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness". He discusses how people have become addicted to technology and spend time on their phones living a virtual life. While parents limit their children’s freedom to roam the neighborhood, they ignore their activity online.

Thompson discusses how people can browse stores online throughout the night and lose track of time and space. However, church attendance requires physically being in a place at a certain time. Unfortunately, even church is becoming more virtual with people choosing to “worship” online instead of in person.

Hebrews 10:25 encourages us not to neglect meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you "see the Day drawing near".

While Thompson thinks that any religion will solve many of these problems, he is missing the main idea. We need a relationship with the God who made us and interaction with others who are created in the image of God.

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Christians understand that even though we may feel lonely, we are never alone. God is with us through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Find a Bible-believing church and become a member of a community of faith.