What lies ahead for the church?

Alfred North Whitehead offered the clearest and most precise reason why the study of the future is so important: "Cut away the future," he wrote, "and the present collapses, emptied of its proper content."—Adventures of Ideas (New York: Macmillan Co., 1932), p. 191.

Christians are a future-minded people. We believe that the present is not good enough and that life is always changing. Specifically, we believe that there is a spiritual side to human nature that has not been actively developed, and that yearns for a fuller expression. It is in the development of this spiritual side that Christians place their hope for the future.

Two extreme waves of emphasis in our culture, however, have stifled this development: activism and meism. Perceptive students of modern history can now see that the age of mere activism is over. What began as the social gospel and degenerated into mere "do-goodism" is now dying a slow death. Separated from a spiritual base, and devoid of whatever gospel was originally associated with the social concerns, activism had no other path to follow. "Since it had no root it withered away" (Mark 4:6). ^* The death of activism was inevitable. No movement can sustain itself without a spiritual base of support.

But what has taken its place? Unfortunately, the major wave overlapping activism became meism. Instead of concern for others, people have become concerned only with themselves. This self-concern, however, is not the variety that asks, "How can I make myself a better person for the sake of humanity and my Lord?" It asks, instead, "How can I advance my own personal enrichment?" In a few years we have moved from emphasizing social concerns to emphasizing personal advancement.

Fortunately, fads do not last long. Mass-communication capabilities cause our patience with each new fad to become increasingly short. We quickly tire of anything that threatens to become permanent. And so we need not expect the age of meism to be around much longer. Although the lure of narcissism is very strong in each of us, we are still social beings. As infatuated as we may become with ourselves, sooner or later the mirror will crack. We know inwardly that we are called to something better.

The church, then, should be prepared to offer an alternative when meism crumbles. But the record of the church in starting trends is not very impressive. The Christian faith usually finds itself jumping on an already-moving wave, trying to adjust rather than setting forth trends that exemplify the best within human nature. Christians seem to be always playing "catch up" with the latest fad; just as they begin to "relate" to the world's culture, the fad changes. As a result, secularization of the Christian message has become a dominant theme within the present-day church. Nothing is more ignoble than the cheapening of Christ's message under the foolish guise of relevancy. When the church marries an age, it soon finds itself a widower. The age of meism is a good illustration. The church has moved inward to accommodate the growing interest in the self. With this wave, two major tracks of concern have appeared—both related to self-indulgence.

First, churches have become interested in growth. Of course, the church has always been concerned with growth, but the present situation has developed new twists to an old theme. The traditional purpose of winning souls for Christ still exists, but other factors seem to have entered the picture—an interest in growth for the sake of growth itself, or for the prestige of the pastor who likes building a "monument" to his guidance, or for the additional money more members can provide. Large numbers have become increasingly equated with success. The modern church tends to place more importance on the size of the congregation than it does on how those members are secured or the degree of their commitment.

A second major emphasis to appear showed up initially in the area of Christian publishing. In a quick change of direction, the "market" has moved from theological debate and social concern to autobiographical faith statements. Celebrities such as Pat Boone, Anita Bryant, Terry Bradshaw, and Johnny Cash have replaced the great minds of our theological schools as spokesmen on the Christian faith. Superficiality has replaced depth. "Sex for Christians" and "How to Make a Million Dollars Following Jesus" have become dominant publishing themes.

We are still working our way through the age of meism. We know from experience, however, that it will end. God alone is changeless; humans are always changing. Since we recognize, at least intellectually, the demise of meism, we must begin to think of an alternative. The church needs to lead rather than follow, accepting the truth given by the apostle Paul that we are not called to be conformed to the world, but instead to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). And so, if activism is nearly dead and meism is showing signs of impending death, what is in store?

In his best-selling masterpiece of interpretation, The Third Wave, futurologist Alvin Toffler makes the case for the demise of the present industrial age—the Second Wave, which followed the agricultural First Wave—and the coming of the age of technology, the Third Wave. At the risk of using secular terminology to make my point, I suggest that the church is beginning to experience a "Third Wave" of its own. If the church can combine the good qualities of the past two waves—activism and meism—and add the dimension of spiritual depth, a powerful "Third Wave" may be in the offing.

First, if the new wave does break upon the shore of Christianity, it will move the church away from the cracked mirror of narcissism. It will envelop and appropriate the growing desire in today's church for a more intense theology, a deeper understanding of the Bible and the Christian classics, and a more committed Christian life style. An everincreasing number of Christians are tiring of spiritual "fluff" and are anxious to learn about a faith that will withstand the tough questions and sustain the soul during times of personal crisis. The cultural religion of the recent past has failed to produce the spiritual depth that is now being demanded.

Second, the new wave will redirect the social concern of the church in the sixties, reattaching it to its spiritual roots. It is exciting to witness in evangelical periodicals an increased sensitivity among Christ-centered Christians to their responsibility to be their brother's keeper. What is different about this offering of the cup of cold water as compared with the social activism of the sixties? This time it appears to have a firm spiritual base of support.

Coupled with this redirected social concern is the recognition that the Christian cannot change the world via the human vehicle alone. A new realism, born of disillusionment, has entered the picture, accompanied with a compassion that does not condemn, tear down, or cheapen itself in the attempt to make a better world.

In the Cambridge, England, Friends Meetinghouse a sign points Christians clearly to their first order of business. It reads: "Don't just do something—sit!" Sitting, in this context, is not a call for docility, but a call to preparation. The "Third Wave" of modern Christianity will emphasize the need for Christians themselves to be changed persons before going out to change others. It will surely not be the last wave the Christian faith will experience, nor does it even promise to be the most spiritually renewing when compared with other "waves" through out the two-thousand-year history of Christianity. It does, however, promise to keep the church away from the twin extremes of activism and meism, and it may help sustain our civilization through a new dark age—a possibility that looms ever closer.