Why the corruption of American Christianity isn't as uniquely horrible as it feels.

If you feel like American Christianity has been completely corrupted by money, power, celebrity, racism, sexism, or some other thing, you aren’t alone. In every social media group I’m in, whether it’s about faith or not, someone will eventually call out institutional Christianity for its ugliness and unJesuslike behavior.

In School For Seekers we name your problem this way:

When culture and theology conflict, culture wins.

It's really just about the power that the physical/material world has over physical/material creatures like us.

Humans like institutions, so will work to keep an institution going even when it's going wrong.

Humans like camaraderie, so will lean into their relationships with their connections even when their connections have bought into an online cult.

Humans like having influence and renown, and we all know what happens with that.

When you despair over the state of the local church, reminding yourself of the power of our material existence can defang the specific pain of American Christianity (or any other institution gone awry).

The power of the physical is also your ally. When you put your material self—body, brain, habits, choices— into your spiritual life, you will grow closer to God.

Spiritual practices connect our bodies and our souls.

Spiritual practices that become habits transform every part of our lives.

When those feelings of anger or despair about the state of the institution of Christianity arise, put them to work helping you remember just how connected the various parts of miraculous you are.