Actually, everything I wrote about is based on my actual life experience. I’ve had numerous interactions throughout my life (too many to count) with religious people who actively tried to convince me of their beliefs. When I respectfully asked them to stop trying to convert (because it’s my right to choose my own beliefs), they became offended, kept trying harder or even abusive. In addition, raised as a child in the Christian church, I attended many services where the direct, explicit message was to go out and recruit others. We were told it was our duty to spread the ‘good news’.
As to making assumptions about spiritual seekers, I am not. I have thousands of hours experience teaching and coaching seekers. I’ve been leading spiritual communities for almost a decade and listen deeply to how my clients describe their personal journeys. There are patterns to being a spiritual seeker, just as I assume you’ve identified patterns with your parishioners.
I hold compassion as a spiritual leader, you are frustrated with this trend away from religion and into spirituality. It might even seem like what you’ve dedicated your life to, is slowly slipping away. Especially since some of the reasons people leave established religions are outside of your control: feeling like their lives are being controlled (many of my clients have reported abusive, manipulative and literally cult behaviors from the churches they attended as children or adults), witnessing destructive behaviors like child abuse that has been covered up church leadership, pastors and clergy misuse of tithing funds for their own gain, and the fact that many churches do not recognize women as equals, but instead we are expected to be subservient to men’s leadership.
Quite honestly, most established religions, through the scandals of some bad actors, have a massive PR problem. It’s why so many are leaving. You may be able to personally address some of these things, but certainly not all.
That’s not to say that the spiritual field doesn’t have scandals or issues either. There have been incidences of abuse by well established spiritual teachers and gurus, teachings that are wounding, and metaphysical fundamentalism is a real thing, just as it can be with evangelical fundamentalists.
You and I are in the same boat, regardless if our ideology is different. The world is changing at an exponential rate. How we’re meant to serve now as spiritual leaders is different than it was before.
People are asserting their freedom of choice and demanding more of their religious and spiritual organizations — which is a good thing, you know, walking the talk and all. If we don’t adapt to this new trend, we will get left behind.
Rest assured, there will always be people who want to be involved in a more traditional religious structure. The church is not going out of business any time soon.
I believe if pastors, reverends and clergy focus on who’s right in front of them, rather than lamenting that they don’t have more followers or that people are choosing something else (including not believing at all), they would be happier and so would their loyal parishioners…
