So, in religion, where are you, and where am I? Are we spectators or participants? … Believers or casual participants?

The real question is, what is religion, really? Humans have argued and fought wars over religion, but we should know; what are we arguing and fighting about, really?

Recently, we visited a church that we don’t belong to. The speaker was someone who I would describe as a friendly acquaintance, and if we had the time, we could possibly become friends.

Something in that other church bothered me, but I don’t want to be too critical. I think they are a congregation of good people.

The speaker, at the was very educated and intelligent. I think he could easily become a professor in a Seminary or a Bible College. He had so much to say, that we missed our coffee break, and then went into overtime, at the end.

We had a question and discussion time, at the end, and I think we were all tired. Only one person had a question, and it was answered quickly. When we were finally dismissed, we bolted for the door and hurried home.

Human beings usually belong to some belief system, that we call a ‘religion.’ That is how millions of us deal with spiritual things. Whatever the belief system is, we probably sit in a room somewhere, and a serious religious professional speaks to us.

Sometimes, someone at the front sings or chants, and sometimes there are clouds of incense, or containers of holy water. Usually, the few people at the front wear robes or at least clerical collars, and some wear special hats..

Our speaker, in that other church only taught us. There was no robe or incense burner. He did have a slight accent, and I think he came from a place in Europe where old religious ideas are common.

The problem that bothered me, was laziness. It would be so easy to participate in a church meeting with such an intelligent and hard working speaker, and only be a spectator. If anyone asked what I believed, I could just point at him. This is called “Priestly Religion” and it is the pattern for almost all religious groups in the world.

One professional represents us all, like a lawyer speaking to a judge in a courtroom. The clients don’t always need to show up.

I know a farming district, where the original farmers were from places in Europe. It is interesting that most of the large towns in that area have a Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I have also noticed several Mormon Stakes, which we might call churches.

I had a friend from that area, and I asked him about that trend and he had a simple explanation. He told me, missionary organizations, like the two that I mentioned, sent teams into that district. The missionaries would knock on a door, and when people opened the door, they would usually get a response like “If you want to talk about religion, talk to the priest [or pastor].”

If the missionaries persisted, and talked to those people about their own spiritual life, they could sometimes break through and convince the people to switch to a different ‘priest’, theirs. Those areas are productive breeding grounds for new religions, where the ‘believers’ are mostly spectators. 

It is easy for them to switch to a different team.

I was raised in a religious family, and I know that most of my friends found other things to do when they grew up and moved away from their parents. Spectators easily find something else to watch.

When I finished high school and started working, someone gave me some advice. I was given a schedule with Bible references, and if I followed it, I could read the whole Bible, in one year. 

Beware, that is not an easy assignment. The Bible is a large and complicated book, but I was able to move away from being a shallow spectator, in the direction of being a more mature believer. I am not boasting about my spiritual life, as a Christian, but I started to learn about my own responsibilities.

I needed more than a priest or pastor at the front of the room.

Other Christians are trying to move shallow believers in the direction of maturity, in different ways. One group, in England, wants Christians to meditate more. That is not my favorite solution, but they see the same problem that I have experienced.

• Silence could be a way to revitalise churches 

We may have different solutions, but we see the same problem.

Shallow, spectator religion, easily dies or changes to something else. If you notice that religion is fading away where you live, it is important to ask; What is dying, really? Are the numbers of sincere believers declining, or are the spectators finding some other way to spend their free time?

This is not a new problem, the first Christians were warned:

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready. (1 Corinthians 3: 1 and 2)

Too often, what we claim to believe is only like a spectator sport. We also have these words:

Take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2Peter 3: 17 and 18)

What bothered me, in the church that we visited, was my own laziness. It would be so easy for me to go back to being a spectator in an auditorium, who sometimes nods. That would make my spiritual life and maturity such an easy pretend-game.

That is the condition of so much religion, in our modern world.

Our team needs players on the field.