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When politicians like Mr Rudd comment on religion, and religious people like Dr Jensen or Dr Pell comment on political issues, someone always tells them to shut up. Those who offer advice to the churches usually appeal to two arguments. They argue that churches are composed of individuals, and, in any statements, should represent the views of their members. If the members are divided on particular issues, the churches should say nothing.
They may also argue that churches should aim at growth. They should, therefore, adopt policies and practices that will meet the desires and needs of people who may be interested in them. The rapid growth of successful churches shows that people drawn to churches want their ministers to confine their interest to God, and to issues of personal morality.
Both these arguments represent the emphasis on the individual over community, and the criteria of success current in our culture. Even to members of churches, they can appear plausible and seductive. Many Catholics, for example, are happy when their bishops respect the different opinions of their people by keeping silent about sexual morality. Others study the success of Hillsong, to emulate the strategies there that have brought young people back to church in large numbers.
Neither argument, however, is consistent with the way in which churches have understood themselves. They see themselves, above all, as communities that are shaped by Christian faith, and hand it on. People are drawn into them because they have accepted a faith that touches each detail and area of their lives. Their faith speaks of a God who takes seriously the world and each human being in it, and invites people to reflect on their lives and on the predicaments of the world, in the light of their faith in Jesus Christ.
This reflection takes place within a church. By belonging to a church, people commit themselves to a structured conversation about the implications of faith for their lives. The conversation takes place at many levels—most importantly at the grassroots level, where the issue affects human lives. But the conversation is structured: when the implications of faith for public life need to be articulated with authority, the bishops or other Church leaders have the responsibility to speak on behalf of the church. Their teaching does not close conversation, but it guides its direction.
From the perspective of the churches, then, when their leaders speak publicly, their responsibility is not to represent the opinions of the people in their churches. They are responsible for speaking truly of the reality and the implications of Christian faith. Although they should reflect the conversations at different levels that take place within their churches when they speak, they are not controlled by the opinions of church members.
It follows from this analysis that growth is not the highest priority for churches. The criteria for measuring the wellbeing of a church are much less tangible—they emphasise faithfulness in receiving and living out the Gospel that it has received.
Nor is success in meeting the needs and desires of potential members a test of a good church. In the classic stories of conversion to religious faith, the converts realise that many of the things they previously thought they needed are, in fact, harmful. And they come to desire different and greater gifts.
Sometimes, too, being faithful to the Gospel may reduce numbers and conflict with peoples’ felt needs and desires. That happened to some South African Church congregations, where the minister declared that apartheid was contrary to the Christian Gospel. The minister failed to meet the needs and desires of their people for reassurance that their attitudes, and those of their nation, were compatible with the Gospel. In such situations, any Christian familiar with the Old Testament knows that the popular ones will usually be the false ones.
Ultimately, the business of churches is truth, not growth. Of course, a passion for truth might also lead churches to reflect, on many of the unnecessary things that alienate people and prevent growth. But the great gift that churches can bring to public life is a care for truth.