Spiritual Claustrophobia

Author: Mark Fenstermacher
February 25, 2022

When I saw the title of the book by John Pavlovitz, If God is Love- Don’t Be a Jerk, I knew I had to have it.

Near the beginning of his book about the spiritual hunger of people that is no longer met by old assumptions about God, worship styles, and denominations, the author uses the phrase “spiritual claustrophobia.” John talks about being trapped in a closet in a pair of pants that no longer fit him as he explains how, and observes how people are “taking off the no longer useful hand-me-down theologies they inherited and looking for something that fits them (spiritually) today. 

We are, one scholar has observed, in the middle of one of the great transition points in the history of the Christian movement. About every 500 years, the faith is reborn and takes on new forms. Attendance in worship is down in many places, mainline denominations are now not so mainline, and increasing numbers of evangelicals are turned off by worship that is shallow entertainment and beliefs that seem materialistic, racist, sexist, political, and too simple. 

God is bigger than this, many seem to be thinking (and feeling).

Pavlovitz writes: “These days, Sundays are different for them (those leaving hand-me-down religious forms and answers behind), church is different, and God is different, but the yearning is still there and the burdens twist their insides.” People haven’t lost their hunger to find sacred spaces, John says, and the need to confront “the persistent questions, to live in justice communities, to see realities deeper than the surface, or to participate in something greater than themselves - and this is where the journey to a more loving religion begins: embracing the questions, discarding old stories, being humble enough to start again.” (p13)

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God is doing something good, new, and exciting in the faith community where you and I have anchored ourselves.

Last Sunday, I preached a sermon where over and over again I said Jesus (in Luke 6) is saying, “Choose love.” Choose love when you speak, when you drive in traffic, when you deal with your employees, when you react to the pain in a close friendship. A friend in another part of the country joined us in worship online and she sent back a note: “I loved it! You preach like a Buddhist.” 

I laughed and sent back a note, “No, I preach like a Methodist.”

Here is what I see happening here at First UMC (and many other Spirit-tuned congregations): we are on a journey to more loving religion.

We are shaped by our love for God (and Jesus!).

We are shaped by our commitment to love and welcome all people (yes, them - whoever the “them” might be in your mind right now).

We are shaped by our desire to share God’s love in practical servant acts to meet human needs.

Whether it is the Wednesday night food ministry, the community pantries, the Confirmation Class for youth, the Front Porch Class, the weekly card-making ministry, or the new (starting the first Sunday in March) men’s Bible study on Sunday mornings, I believe we are on a journey to a more loving religion where we understand God is bigger than we had once thought. Some of the old forms of religion may be drying up and blowing away, but God is up to something new and good.

I am convinced that there are many, in our world, who are hungry for a God who is big, gracious, and mysterious. I believe there are many in our own corner of the world who would eagerly join our journey to more loving religion.

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Not a bad book title to remember, is it? If God Is Love - Don’t Be a Jerk!

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Join us this Sunday at 8:45 (Sanctuary) or 10:45 (Chapter 2) in person or online as we livestream or offer our services on YouTube.

On the 27th, we will be hearing Good News preached by an amazing, courageous young disciple who grew up here as one of our own: Madison Schultis. Also, we will be celebrating an adult baptism and receiving three new adults into the membership of God’s church.

See you Sunday!

Always blessed,
Pastor MarK

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