Transforming Theology - Church Decline

I didn't get any further than John B. Cobb Jr.'s first paragraph of Reclaiming Church as I started my reading and contributions to the Transforming Theology project.

Cobb states, "I have become distressed about their [the church and theology] growing separation and the rsults htis has had for both. The church has come to identify theology with what professionals do. Since what professionals do has been increasingly determined by the norms of the university rather than by the needs of the church, the church has lost interest in what it understand to be 'theology.' Too often the result has been that the church has ceased to think about its own life in terms of its faith, a faith that has itself becom vague and unconvincing. This is, I believe, the deepest cause of the decline of the oldline denominations."

As someone who has been working for the last 6 years in an oldline denomination, I have seen this first hand. In my own journey, as theology became increasingly more important to my faith and my transformation, I felt the need to share this discovery process with others. As a youth leader, it was natural that I began to encourage my students to develop their theology. I mentioned this to a parent who freaked out. It turned into meetings with the pastor and the leadership, during which the pastor and I patiently explained that theology was simply learning about God, God's attributes and searching for truth. That was OK with this parent (who had grown up in the church) until we moved from "just study" to action. It seems that a number of people are OK with knowing about God and Jesus, but when that knowledge turns into practice, it disrupts their nice, safe, comfortable lives and is totally unacceptable.

I've found this to be true in a number of church scenarios. Let's talk about God, figure God out, even debate various aspects of how the theology should change us, but don't cross the line and actually do something as dictated by your theology. The result is a lot of talk and no action - something that accounts for much of the "hypocritical" status that the rest of our culture often uses to define us. The church has become more and more an institution concerned about learning stories, learning beliefs, learning specific behaviors that make you nice and might appeal to others in your community. Ironically, it is this desire to control beliefs and behaviors that have pushed so many away. In my experience, people outside of the church or people who have been rejected by the church are much more likely to have at least begun exploring theology - or seeking of God and truth - in a mcuh more interesting, authentic and comprehensive way.