Here we are today, less and less sure of what it means to be the church, less and less sure of the church, less and less sure of what it is we are about in the world. It is one thing to have the structure and organization, to have the leaders and committees, to have the procedures and policies that guide the institution. It is quite another to know why we are here, to know what it is we are about, to have a clear idea of what our calling in Jesus Christ really means to us and to the community we make up. As Stanley Hauerwas and Bill Willimon in their book Resident Aliens contend, American Christians have fallen into the bad habit of acting as if the church really does not matter as we go about trying to live as Christians. It is harder and harder for us to realize the unique power and strength of the church, oriented as we are to strongly individualistic life-styles.
Religion is a personal matter.
Faith is not something we discuss readily with our friends, for as everyone knows, religious arguments are socially gauche. That is not only true of matters of faith, it is true of every aspect of our lives. The whole personal rights thing, so enshrined in our culture, so much a part of our everyday lives now, where everyone is only concerned about their own rights and any talk of responsibility for the large community is simply unheard of. Individualism isolates and breaks down community. That is what is the case now.