Self-Directed Spirituality and Failure to See a Direct Benefit
In his April 2023 article, “10 Reasons Church Attendance is Declining (Even for Committed Christians),” Carey Nieuwhof listed off several very well known reasons for declining attendance, however two in particular were very pertinent and often overlooked: Self-Directed Spirituality and Failure to See a Direct Benefit.
These two in particular are products of not only a post-modern world but also the result of the classically American trait of placing disproportionate importance on achieving an objective. The consequence of this is to view everything, both products and services, as commodities whose value is based on their ability to achieve our human-centered objectives.
In an age where technology has given us unprecedented and instant access to information, there has been a progressive erosion in the desire to seek out knowledgeable in-person guidance. Nieuwhof gives an example of this in the medical profession….