I have just returned from three weeks in Europe, and while it was beautiful and fascinating, one aspect was quite disturbing. The gates of hell seem to be prevailing over Christ’s church. Radical secularization and moral chaos seem to reign in the countries I visited. The churches are small and declining. In Geneva, the regnant religion seemed to be prosperity. There’s not much left of Calvin’s reformation in the city as far as I can tell. In Germany, the churches are tiny and struggling to survive and to find their mission in a radically secularized society. Ireland was probably not as bad, but the (Anglican) Church of Irelands is struggling, and the Catholic church is reeling from abuse scandals and clueless bishops who fail to respond adequately to the crisis. But the worst experience I had was in the Netherlands. I went to church on Pentecost Sunday. Seven young women professed their faith. So far, so good. But no one in the church said a word to me, asked me who I was, or even said goede morgen. This could have been partly the fault of the relative who brought me, who didn’t bother to introduce me to anyone. But that relative, and his wife, his brother and his wife, are for the most part unbelievers. They go to church every Sunday, but don’t believe anything, and in fact some of them are outright hostile to the Christian faith. On that Sunday afternoon I endured an constant attack on Christianity and faith from these lifelong church members, who defend their hypocritical church attendance by an appeal to their enjoyment of singing, and the social aspect, and those specific parts of the Bible that they don’t find offensive. This experience sickened me for days and days, and even to remember it makes me feel ill.
This morning I turned to the daily lectionary (a list of Bible readings for every day) and there was my favorite lament, Psalm 42. Verse 3 struck me: …people say to me continually, “Where is your God?” That was the feeling I had with these relatives in Holland, attacking the faith, bashing the Bible, and derisively mocking those who still believed in the basic Christian message. It was an ugly scene, made worse by the reek of superiority and arrogance that is all too common among the Dutch. At Synod 2008, I voted in support of the Christian Reformed Church breaking ties with the Protestant Churches in the Netherlands, of which these relatives were members, and this experience did nothing to make me regret my vote. After these old people pass away, perhaps only the genuine believers will be left, and maybe they can rise from the ashes, if they seek after God like the Psalmist in Psalm 42.
To see the state of the church in Europe is a faith-shaking experience. It is also a warning, or should be, to the churches of North America. Don’t cave in to culture. Don’t compromise your principles. But for me, the sadness and questions outweighed the warnings. Why, O Lord, have you forsaken your church there? Why have they dwindled almost to nothing? Why do you not remember your promise to Peter, that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church? Is it because the gates of hell are outside the church, and the downfall of European Christianity has come from within? Why are you silent in Europe? Why do you seem to have abandoned the churches that were once so vital, so energetic to proclaim the gospel, so enthusiastic about transforming society by your Word?
The enemies say, “Where is your God?” And I wonder where you are as well. Is this your righteous judgment against a generation that has turned away from you? But your people are weak and foolish and fickle, and we always have been. Turn to your people in Europe again, and revive them. Socialism, which seems to have replaced you, which seems to have rendered you irrelevant to so many, has given them no answers to the big questions of life, so people just try to ease the pain with drugs and sex, or divert themselves with political activism. But why? For what purpose? Who says peace should be preferred to war, if there is no God? Why should human life be respected, if we are just highly evolved apes? While I was in Europe, I felt deeply your absence, O God. I was parched and dry, longing for the refreshing water of your Spirit. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.