Repentence: so not cool

It's true. Just try and mention the word 'repentance' to a congregation and watch the eyes glaze over. It is so not cool. It is word totally out of touch with current culture, therein totally irrelevant. Unfortunate, regrettable and simply wrong, yes. Nonetheless, this is where we are.

I'm not particularly convinced the theme of repentance was ever well received, truly. I mean who wants to be reminded that they need to be forgiven? It points to the fact that, well, we've done something that we need to be forgiven for. Umm, bummer. I do think this concept was at least tolerated to a large degree, in fact for all of the centuries of monotheism leading up to this moment. And as the beloved hymn, Amazing Grace, testifies, a great many people have found tremendous spiritual renewal in asking for God's help in loving both God and neighbor more fully, more rightly, and for forgiveness for having not done so. But in the last few decades, even the smallest opening in that window has been shut tight. Perhaps its as simple as a language problem, but I think it might be something on a grander scale.

I read an article recently ("Missing the signs," Christian Century, April 5, 2011, p. 28) that made the case that the Gen Y segment of the population (and I would argue many Gen X and Baby Boomers as well) are fundamentally, not inclined to subscribe to metanarratives, that is, stories that give universal meaning and purpose to life. Further, it is essential to understand that such people have not suddenly stopped putting stock in existential themes, they never have. Rather, meaning and purpose is found relationally; individualism is out, communal values and venues are in. Metanarratives have traditionally held religious communities together by providing central and unifying stories on which to hang meaning, but they tend to be strongly individualistic. Metanarratives that support themes such as incarnation and resurrection, redemption and repentance, have largely focused on the needs of individuals to obtain and claim such things. This accounts, in part, for why Gen Y'ers are missing from church pews, they have no desire to obtain or claim, dare I say it, such things.

But what about the folks who are sitting in the pews? The Christian directive is to influence the surrounding culture by living out, teaching and preaching a Gospel of love and forgiveness (of sins, ie., repentance) largely through traditional metanarratives. But could it be that the culture that surrounds the Christian body on every side has influenced its life far more than has been acknowledged? Could it be that the people sitting in the pews are being so transformed by culture that the metanarratives that for so long provided succor and cohesiveness to Christian congregations is as corroded as the Titantic after decades of exposure to the natural forces of its environment? The institutional church finds this alarming, even with limited insight as to its root cause, and has mounted many a campaign to buttress and redress its shrinkage and absorb the inevitable deaths of so many congregations. This is understandable, though, realistically, not terribly helpful. Were it better for Christiandom to repent and return to the Lord?

Most people, regardless of when they were born, truly regret the wrongs they commit. And research shows that not being affiliated with religious order does not correlate with atheism. Most of us want to make the wrongs we have done, which directly or indirectly affect our neighbor, to be set right, and hope that at the end of the day, we too, are set right with that Holy One for whom there are many names. And lots of people, many of whom are not affiliated with any religious body, work tirelessly for justice, peace and the relief of human suffering. They are doing the work of repentance, but apart from the framework of the metanarrative of Christian repentance. They recognize, as should we all, that the wrongs we commit are not isolated to our own lives, but have far-reaching effects on local, even global communities. Through the huge leaps of technological advances of the last two decades, the concept of neighbor has been made real and tangible in a way incomparable with any other time in the history of the world. Is it any wonder that a nuclear accident in Japan sent the people of the US, 3000 miles away, into a panic to protect themselves? The reality of the threat is debatable, but the point is not. Our wrongdoings, intentional and unintentional, require us to consider the value of the relationships we have with one another, communally as well as globally; and invite us to experience a change of heart (the definition of repentance). Ironically, this move away from overarching metanarratives is moving us all, including the Christian community as well as the unsuspecting non-believer, toward the essential work of repentance. If this is indeed the case, what then can serve to unify and affirm this work of repentance without its doctrinal baggage?

For those who, in increasing numbers and for the most part silently, struggle with the metanarratives of Christianity, but understand the love God and neighbor through the life and redemptive ministry of Christ, can, and do, find comfort and help in the texts of holy scripture. Regardless of the winds of culture and change, of ebbs and flows of the building up and the erosion of the "church," of what's in and what's gone by the wayside, of the generations of Builders, Boomers, Gen X's and Y's alike, the inspired words of God remain foundational to any understanding of God we possess. Its prose, poetry, stories and parables draw from the timeless fiber of humanity and divinity and the relationship between the two. It has the power to move not just individuals, but whole communities, toward a change of heart, toward our hearts deepest and most hidden desire, to repent and return to God.