Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation

Chapter 6: Conclusion

157 Chapter 6 Conclusion It’s not about you. —Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Life In the emerging social scientific literature on spirituality, analysts have largely framed “spirituality” as a counterpart to “religion,” with the spiritual referring to the inner life, and the individualistic search for meaning, whether this is from within a particular religious tradition or traditions or from a religiously unaffiliated “spiritual but not religious” approach (e.g., Carroll and Roof 2002; Fuller 2001, Porterfield 2001; Roof 1993; 1999; Wuthnow 1998, 2001, 2003). Spirituality is thus alternately framed as a search for meaning, a quest for spiritual fulfillment and/or development, or a move from an understanding of the spiritual as a place of “dwelling” to one of “seeking,” or even “shopping” (Roof 1993, 1999; Wuthnow 1998; 2001; 2003; Cimino and Lattin 1998). The individual and her or his spiritual journey is the referent rather than the religious congregation or community, and the metaphor is one of movement, development, or choice as opposed to stability or constancy in a particular tradition or community of faith. This individualistic questing, searching, and seeking for spirituality and spiritual fulfillment does not necessarily connote a complete break with all commitments to religious communities of the past. Rather, although some remnant of the more stable past remains for the individual, these forms of spirituality are primarily to be understood as an individual search, or quest, Chap-06.qxd 11/14/07 4:54 PM Page 157 F i n d i n g F a i t h 158 for spiritual growth, fulfillment, and understanding, with the religious community acting, to the extent that it has an active role, as a sort of inessential aid, or context, to this journey. None of the four types we have presented in this book would fall neatly into any of these characterizations. For example, Innovators, while clearly seeking out ways to deepen and expand their spiritual lives, embark on a journey that is not simply individualistic. They embrace “postmodern” culture and seek out how best to be a Christian within that context, but their commitment is not just to their personal spiritual journey, it is also to the religious community through which their spiritual quest is to be pursued, and to the surrounding community as well. Similarly, Reclaimers are also seeking out a deeper, more personally meaningful spiritual life, primarily through a retreat into a protected and established religious structure and set of expectations; yet, like Innovators, they are committed to their community of faith and it is the community through which their quest is to be pursued. Appropriators, of each of these four types, seem to be the most similar to the individual questing suggested in the literature, and while their pursuits are certainly individualistic, there is also at least an acknowledgment of the need for aspects of the community, and that it has an important role in their spiritual lives, even if it is in the context of small affinity groups through which they share their experiences, needs, and desires. Resisters, in contrast to each of the other types, represent a sort of rearguard defensive action intended to rationalize and scientize Christian beliefs, with the goal of increasing their cultural status while simultaneously preventing young people and others from even embarking on a spiritual journey or quest because of their fear that such a journey might take them away from the sort of rational beliefs they see as crucial to Christianity. Given that the description of an individualistic spiritual quest does not precisely fit the types we have been describing, Chap-06.qxd 11/14/07 4:54 PM Page 158 our goal in this concluding chapter is to develop an explanation that will take into account the different approaches to religion and spirituality that we have presented in this book. With that in mind, there are several things we need to do in this chapter in order to develop an alternate explanation. First, we will review the major characteristics of each of the four types we have presented in order to point up similarities and differences between them and show how each of these types, as different as they are, are all responding to similar desires of young believers, in particular the experience and embodiment of beliefs in worship, service, and outreach. We will then provide snapshots of two congregations that we believe are demonstrating how the different concerns and...