Where has my Church Gone?

It’s cliché at this point to bring up the lockdown and discuss its effects on nearly everything. It’s almost a waste of time to draw connections to it because there is nothing left to do except ‘move forward.’ However, one of the many casualties of that mismanaged period in American history is the shift in the Christian Church.

Before 2020, I had attended the same church for 27 years. It was a staple and a pillar in my life. Around that time, the church was also undergoing a transition, with the founding pastor stepping down and elevating his son. (There is much to be said about nepotism within churches, but that is not the focus of this post today.)

In 2020, many churches struggled with the dilemma of “obeying the laws of the land” versus using the reason and logic that God gave us to recognize that the restrictions placed on churches were not only unconstitutional but also uniquely targeted toward Christian congregations.

To make matters worse, many churches—like my own—that preached ‘trust in God’ accepted state money for payroll during this period. After all, it was “free money,” regardless of whether the church actually needed it.

Adding to this erosion of integrity, the “George Floyd riots” began, and churches across America faced yet another dilemma: How should they respond to the newly amplified (and conveniently election-year-timed) discussions on racism? Again, many churches—like mine—buckled under the pressure, not only preaching about systemic racism but also implementing racial bias training and mandatory staff classes aimed at helping (white) staff members “recognize” their supposed “unknown racial bias.”

During this time, I was doing freelance work for my church and walked into the end of a mandatory staff meeting. Two individuals (neither of them white) were leading a session, instructing the staff that white people are inherently, albeit passively, racist. What qualified these two to lead this discussion? Apparently, their skin color, because they had never held such roles before this manufactured controversy.

I witnessed an older, well-meaning white woman apologizing to a crying Hispanic woman—and I had to walk out.

Politics today is a scam. A power-hungry party exploits the good intentions of well-meaning people, twisting their morality toward misguided and damaging ends. The same political movement that has coalesced under the “Democrat” banner has infiltrated churches, selectively emphasizing “love thy neighbor” and “grace” while simultaneously rejecting moral standards, objective truth, and biblical discipline. Apparently, the only unforgivable sin to the Left is speaking about moral absolutes.

Again, this could lead to a broader discussion about the damage secular humanism has done to churches, but my focus is on the issue from the other side. Since 2020, I have struggled to find a church that isn’t caught up in pop culture, social movements, or political activism.

I get frustrated when people try to create false equivalences between left and right issues because I don’t believe any flaws on the right remotely compare to the damage the left has done. But when it comes to church, I don’t want to hear about politics at all. This morning, I listened to a church service online, and for 45 minutes, the sermon was essentially a U.S. history lesson. Was it valuable? Yes. Do people need to know these things? Yes. But is this what Sunday morning is for? No.

If a church wants to educate its congregation politically, it should set aside a night for that discussion.

I go to church to fellowship with other believers and to seek a deeper understanding of an often difficult-to-comprehend relationship with a personal God.

I do not go to church to learn that George Washington prayed three times a day.