The Beleaguered Life of the Laity
It isn’t easy being a lay person in the church.
Sometimes we come to the church by birth and tradition. Sometimes we buy into the message having had little church background. Ultimately, it’s a life we choose. It doesn’t matter how we got here. Neither door warns us of what is in store.
- We will be relied upon to do much of the work with little recognition and no compensation.
- We are expected to adapt to every changing leader, shelving our lay talents if necessary.
- All our work and passion can be dashed at any moment by political forces in the church that consider neither the contributions of nor the consequences to the laity.
- Our beliefs, fostered by passion, can be sorely tested.
- At worst, we risk family, friends, social standing, profession and earthly possessions—while clergy carefully watch their compensation plans.
It’s exactly the life Jesus foretells in next Sunday’s scripture (Luke 14:25-33), but it isn’t what today’s church is selling.
There are few enough people in church today. Best to preach the happy life. Church membership is a rabbit’s foot.
In our Ambassadors 71 visits, we have spoken with countless lay people. They often share the same aura—a sense of futility. They are stuck believing in a message that their leaders don’t really believe anymore. They continue to work and sacrifice and see little benefit to the communities they love. They are taken for granted. They face a very real and ugly possibility. Church leaders may be waiting for them to fail.
In one of our recent Ambassador visits, I spoke with a woman who admitted she was one of the old guard. She was genuinely happy to see some new life in their church but seemed resigned in her new role as bystander. She was clearly worn down. There was a sense that the new people, welcome as they were, mattered. She and her friends were has-beens.
As we left, I told her that we had visited dozens of churches and her church was as good as any of them. I was surprised at the look of gratitude that swept across her face. A cloud lifted—the cloud of living under a judging eye. She suddenly seemed happy and enthusiastic.
A little validation goes a long way.
Why don’t we work a bit harder at pumping up the real rank and file—not just the ones who gain status by attending church-wide functions but the ones who stay home and teach the Sunday School and sing in the choir and sweep the floors and fold the bulletins—the ones who live with the problems church leadership would sweep away.
The annual rallying cries at Synod Assemblies fail to recognize the basic problems most congregations are facing.
- There are very few people in church under 40. Therefore, probably half our congregations will be facing serious problems of survival within 20 years.
- The modern cost of living has outpaced many churches’ sources of income.
- Most congregations can afford ministry but they cannot afford benevolence.
- There is no infrastructure to welcome the diversity we seek.
- The pool of pastors who are willing to commit to neighborhood ministry is very shallow.
- Church life is slow to embrace or connect with the fast-changing world that lay people face every day.
The Church’s survival depends upon the lay people.
Jesus’ message—it was for us!