I'M NOT DONE WITH THE DONES

People leave the organized and institutional church every week, people who once were active and supportive participants. Some sociologists and researchers have dubbed them the 'Dones.' These formerly involved church members are 'done' with church.

Brandon A. Cox is a church planting pastor and a blogger and a fine young and sincere gentleman. He confessed that he too considered leaving the church but he changed his mind. Now he is all in. He wants to persuade 'Almost Dones' to stay. He wrote 'Ten Terrible Reasons to be Done with Church'. If you are serious about understanding the heart-wrenching thoughts of departing church members, Cox's reasons won't cut it. At least no 'Dones' I know use these. The church is so judgmental. The church is full of hypocrites. The church is too institutional. The church is too political. The church complicates my life. The church is too dogmatic. The church just wants my money. The church doesn't care about issues that matter. The church seems irrelevant to my life. The church let me down.

To Cox's credit, he acknowledges the validity of the reasons he states and the church's responsibility for generating them, and his appeal is for people not to bail but to stay and to work out issues to be part of the solution. He thinks this is game-changing. However, the reasons cited by spiritual, honourable, thoughtful people whom I know, are multifaceted and arrived at through painstaking reflection. Cox's simple appeal has been considered and it is ineffectual for them.

Regrettably, Cox tops it off with the stock 'biggest' reason you can't leave the church. "Jesus died for her. The church, as imperfect as she is, is the love of Jesus' life … You need his people and you need to be humble enough to see the church as 'us' and not 'them.'"  The 'Dones' I know are part of the church that Jesus loves even outside the walls and the authority of the local church. They are not done. They don’t call themselves by that name. They are committed to Christ's church. They seek new ways to make disciples, to heal broken people, to feed the hungry, to make a difference in their communities and to bring people to his church. They are convinced this can be done effectively independent of organized church. I personally am not done talking about the “Dones” nor am I done with the Dones.

DUBIOUS ABOUT MIRACLES

We are so comfortable with the mundane, that we do not anticipate anything supernatural. We are theoreticians, academics. We state a belief in the phenomenal God for whom nothing is impossible, but we expect nothing beyond the routine as the consequence of our prayers. We believe He can, but we don't believe he will. Ours is a virtual reality. It's a pretense to trust. We ask for so little. We petition using banalities, truisms and clichés because we lack confidence in God, to ask boldly. "We" means all whose faith identity is Christian, Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox branches, whether denominational, undenominational, non denominational. We are a jaded bunch of professors, who make excuses for God. We are doctrinally dogmatic and practically agnostic.

Admittedly, I am overstating my case, painting this portrait with a broad brush. The subject is a Bride, whom I could paint precisely like DaVinci painted Mona Lisa, but my work here looks like an abnormally featured Picasso. We determine not to be identified with wing-nuts who charm snakes, and fake healings so we treat the miraculous as unscientific and irrational. Trying to insure that we are perceived as sane, we have placed ourselves in straight-jackets. Of course we should acknowledge our doubts or inability to understand everything about God, but surely we do not have to be cynical, contemptuous, disparaging, and suspicious of a God who can do very much more than all that we ask or even imagine.