The Christendom Hangover: Reclaiming the Neighborhood

The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) faces a unique challenge rooted in its historical origins: what some call a "Christendom hangover." The denomination was founded at a time when the church played a central role in Western culture, a period where mission was strictly understood as an activity meant to bring the gospel to unreached people groups in foreign lands. In this world, the local church was viewed as the goal of the gospel—a destination for the saved—rather than an active instrument of God’s ongoing work in the neighborhood.

This historical neglect of local mission was deeply influenced by European state-church models. In these systems, citizens were automatically assumed to be church members by virtue of their birth. Because the surrounding culture was already Christian, there was little perceived need for local mission. When these immigrants arrived in North America, they brought this structural DNA with them, creating congregations that functioned as intergenerational extended family systems. Growth occurred primarily through procreation, migration, and immigration within the Dutch community, contributing to an inward, isolationist mindset that sought to preserve the church from the surrounding culture rather than engage it.

Thriving Essentials directly challenges this Christendom mindset by introducing a fundamental paradigm shift:

The church is not the purpose or goal of the gospel.

The church does not exist simply to serve as a nonprofit voluntary association dedicated to meeting the preferences and power-brokering of its members. Instead, drawing from the riches of Reformed theology, the course teaches that the church is the gospel's instrument and witness.

This means that a congregation’s identity is not defined by its past programs or its internal maintenance, but by its committed participation in God’s mission to redeem all of creation. A thriving congregation must move from a deciding mindset focused on organizational logic to a discerning mindset that actively listens for where Jesus, the actual head of the church, is already working in the local community.

By clearing the fog of the Christendom hangover, leaders can begin to see their immediate neighborhood as their primary mission field. The church is called to be missionary by nature, acting as a sign, agent, and foretaste of God’s kingdom right where it has been placed. Reclaiming this identity allows a congregation to stop being a "bystander" in its community and start owning its unique influence as an instrument of grace to its neighbors.

-----------------------------------

Contact Thrive ([email protected]) to find out more information on getting Thriving Essentials at your church to explore how it can better serve as God’s instrument to the local neighborhood.