‘You’re gonna struggle to get anyone in my generation coming to church.’ So said an agnostic Jew I spoke with recently.
We had a wide-ranging conversation about fascinating subjects. He acknowledged many of the benefits of Christianity but remained utterly uninterested in taking things further. Why?
At bottom he saw Christianity as positive – for society and for individuals – but he could never see himself submitting to ‘organised religion’ as he called it. And when I suggested that he read the Gospels he simply moved the conversation onto something else. It’s not something he’s looked into (at least not since childhood) and he doesn’t now feel the need. Christianity would feel like a restrictive detour from the life of fulfilment he’s trying to pursue. In other words he values freedom as his highest goal. And as far as attaining that goal goes, he considers God to be the problem while he is the solution. This thinking is shared by so many of my friends and family – I’m sure yours are similar: Christianity is fine for some, but please don’t restrict me. How can we respond?
