Jake Meador, editor-in-chief of print and web publication Mere Orthodoxy, has noticed the rise in Christian denominational distinctiveness that stands in contrast to a “mere Christianity” type of ecumenical approach.
Younger people who have grown up without tradition or custom and often strapped to a screen for hours every day desire belonging, desire to enter into something that offers moral direction, identity, and a fixed way of life they don’t have to generate for themselves. But the only way to have something like that is through particularity and even some hard edges. So, Scrivener argues, Mere Christianity is out. Orthodoxy is back. Rome is back. Distinct Protestant traditions are back. In short, denominationalism is back.
I’ve seen this with the incredible explosion of interest in Eastern Orthodoxy, which is very distinctive. I’ve seen Presbyterians move to Rome. I’ve seen curiosity about Anglicanism. At this point, it seems the more your church leans into what makes it unique, the more attractive it is going to be for the seeker.
Particularly in America, people grow up feeling steeped in a culture of Christianity. When they find out there is more to the faith than they had previously known, it’s a revelation. I remember asking someone once about fasting and he said, “no, I’m a Christian.” Imagine that same individual finding out that the Christian faith has a rich tradition of fasting and well as other ascetic practices to strengthen the participant spiritually. I think a lot of the particularities of different Christian traditions can be eye-opening to the modern individual.
In related news, here is NT Wright explaining Orthodoxy in response to skeptical low-tier Protestant questions about some of the practices.
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