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Practicing From the Inside Out: Is Church Just for Old People?

Practicing From the Inside Out: Is Church Just for Old People?

Last updated on: April 29, 2017 at 3:54 am by Greg Richardson

Practicing From the Inside Out: Is Church Just for Old People? 2017-04-29T03:54:03-08:00 Greg Richardson

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Is Church Just for Old People?

Churches often seem to be a lot like museums. Some people wear robes at church, apparently because people wore them a long time ago. We use music which was written a long time ago and repeat old words like they were magic. Even church buildings seem to be old, filled with dark corners and old stained glass.

Questions about why things are the way they are usually are answered “We have always done it that way.”

Churches are often protective of traditions. People grow comfortable with certain practices and ideas. Church people tend to rest in the feeling we have found good ways to do things.

Why would we want things to be different?

Some people are drawn to the comfort and reassurance of what we have always done. For some, church is a place to rest in the belief that some things do not ever change.

Other people see church is a place where anyone can change, where nothing needs to stay the same.

I have spent time in and around churches my entire life. There are two things churches mean to me.

Churches Are Made of People

Most of the people who have taught me things I remember are people from church. Yes, I learned things in school and gained information from books. The things I really remember, that changed me, came through a church.

As a child, people in church taught me I could figure things out for myself. I am not certain they actually mean to teach me that, but they taught me by example. They struggled to work things out for themselves.

I grew up in a church which was not willing to have anyone tell us what to think. People were not overly educated about theology or philosophy. They believed in trusting a direct relationship to the Sacred and they taught me to trust it.

In each church in my life, I found people who helped me struggle and helped me trust.

Churches are more than what we do on Sunday morning or any other formal worship. The intimate conversations, the listening, the discussions and arguments draw me into church. While not every person is a joy to know, there are treasures hiding in the dark corners. You never know when you will discover a new one.

Churches Are Places of Deep Power

I suspect we do so many things the way we have always done them to distract ourselves. There is deep, Sacred power in churches which can intimidate us.

It is easy to be distracted by the music or the service, the coffee or the activities. There are many things on the surface of the lives of churches which help us feel safe.

Because we are intimidated, because we may be afraid, churches camouflage their deep power. Old church liturgy and old church music lure us in to sit for an hour in a place of deep power.

In the church I attend we sit together saying the same words each week, week after week. The familiar rhythms of the repeated words distract us from the power and lull us.

Under the words and the music, under the robes and the candles, the Sacred waits for us. When we are able to stop fidgeting, stop analyzing, we are able to breathe in the depth.

Underneath, the words and music and everything else do not matter in themselves. Church is about the deep, Sacred power drawing us in and filling us.

For me, church is about honest connection and deep, Sacred power.

Are We Willing to Explore?

Church may not be the most hospitable place to seek spiritual life.

They do act a lot like museums, protecting their traditions. Churches are often not particularly open to listening or to explaining.

For many people in churches, especially those who grew up there, they do not need an explanation. They are so used to doing things in certain ways they have not really thought about it for some time. They are comfortable and not particularly interested in being uncomfortable.

Which means of course, it is all the more important for people to ask them questions. When people think we do things because we always have they are probably missing the Sacred power. That power may have engaged them a long time ago, but it has become tame for them. They need someone to stir things in them.

It may not be what they most appreciate, but it could be what they most need.

After all, if we are seriously seeking spiritual life, we need to be willing to ask a few questions.

Churches, like everyone else, do not have all the answers. They may be quite comfortable, but they may be too comfortable.

As good explorers we are willing to ask questions, listen, and figure things out for ourselves.

Spiritual Life Does Not Belong in a Museum

Museums research and protect things from the past. It is easy for churches to see themselves as being like museums, but that is not how spiritual life works.

Spiritual life is not an artifact from a long lost time or civilization. It is alive today, in the here and now. It does not need to be protected, but protects itself.

Spiritual life passes from person to person in honest conversations. It is the deep, sacred power underneath the words we use when we worship. Spiritual life is in the silence between the words.

Spiritual life belongs to everyone, no matter what age. Churches can be portals and guides, but they are not the only ones available.

The way we experience church needs to be turned upside down. Spiritual life is all around us and within us, a breeze of fresh air in the church.

No, church is not just for old people.

How will you find people with whom you can talk honestly this week?

Where is your place of deep, sacred power?

[Image by Colin Keigher]

Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and leadership coach in Southern California. He is a recovering attorney and university professor, and a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com, and his email address is [email protected].

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