Thoughts

My sweeping takeaway from The Democratization of American Christianity is this: ingrained in the very DNA of the American Protestant church is an aversion to authority. 250 years after gaining our independence from England, nothing has changed; we’re still fiercely independent, anti-authoritarian, and obsessed with freedom. No wonder we struggle with passages like Romans 13:1 (if we even read it in the first place):

Let every person be subject to governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Even as I read it now, my heart bristles. My mind jumps quickly to all the exceptions, all the ways that I could possibly explain it away. “What about tyrannical governments? Does God establish those leaders too? What about Hitler?”

I don’t know all the answers. But I do find it interesting — and it helps to explain some of my experiences with Church culture — that our resistance to authority is nothing new. It’s woven into the very history of American Christianity.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

I feel opposing forces pulling on my heart as I read this book. One is enthusiasm. It shouts with excitement, “Go on, you Christians—spread the gospel!” The monumental pace at which early American Protestants proselytized in city, town, and countryside is truly remarkable.

The other force is skepticism. “It was all empty preaching—a zeal to grow a human movement, with little real commitment to teaching Christians how to live and grow in the faith after conversion,” it says with a sneer.

I’ve felt this conflict before. I’m afraid I don’t have many answers, only more questions.

Where does discipleship and Christian formation belong in the life of the Church? What is the purpose of the Church: to reach the lost or to grow believers in the faith? When does a zeal for evangelism become merely a zeal for growth? And what good is conversion if the convert is never taught how to follow Christ?

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

I found it fascinating to learn that many Christian leaders in America prior to the American Revolution were reformers rather than rebels, meaning they were more interested in bringing about change within their respective groups than in separating from them. The massive influence of the American Revolution on American Christianity cannot be denied. The separatist impulses of the self-ascribed “Christian” movement popularized by James O’Kelly, Abner Jones, Elias Smith, and Barton W. Stone may never have come to fruition without the language of liberty, equality, and resistance that the American Revolution made so convincing.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

The diversity of religious movements that emerged after the American Revolution is impressive. Empowered by the distinctly American belief that all men are free to rely upon themselves rather than an established authority, ambitious people from all backgrounds and walks of life began to pioneer new religious groups, both inside and outside the bounds of Christian orthodoxy. Here we see the rise of the Free Will Baptists, the Mormons, and the Universalists.

“The democratic winnowing of the church produced not just pluralism but also striking diversity. The flexibility and innovation of religious organizations made it possible for an American to find an amenable group no matter what his or her preference in belief, practice, or institutional structure.”

It seems to me that this era of church history helped create what I would call “religious consumerism,” which remains a striking quality of American Christianity today. This emphasis on the churchgoer’s preferences has no doubt affected the way church leaders think about attracting new members.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

The camp meeting came to define religious revivalism in America. Why? In a word, success. In the same years that British Methodist leaders were choosing to sacrifice numerical growth to preserve church discipline, American Methodism, enabled largely by ever-popular camp meetings, pursued expansion with an unquenchable zeal. Francis Asbury described American camp meetings as “fishing with a large net” and despite warnings from his British counterparts, championed them as the future of Methodism. To his point, by 1811 an estimated 400 to 500 camp meetings were being held each year.

There is no doubt that camp meetings were popular, but did they really lead men to God? I don’t know yet. I guess I’ll keep reading.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

In recent years I have often thought that the Protestant church could use a little more Catholic influence, a little more tradition. I look around and see a landscape of shattered churches that are quick to split. It disheartens me. But as I read about the spark of these denominations in the United States, I can’t help but root for them. They were formed on core principles that feel so natural and right to me: the idea that “common” people can think for themselves, the belief that every Christian can and should interpret Scripture without the need for an official minister, and the conviction that a calling doesn’t require a theology degree. Yet here I am, a few hundred years later, wondering if we swung too far against the establishment.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.

Hatch compares revolution-era American preachers with politicians. Young, energetic, and driven by the idea that anybody — not just a trained religious elite — can inspire and lead the masses, these gifted speakers gained immense popularity and drew large audiences. It’s concerning to think that magnetic personalities might have played a larger role in steering the direction of religion in our country than the love of scripture or the commitment to obey the words of Jesus.

Daily thoughts on The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch.