Have you ever noticed that there is a correlation between the amount something has cost you and the value you place on it? Let me give you an example. I own two pairs of shoes that are almost identical. I had been looking for this exact style for a long time but I couldn’t find it until one day I was walking through a department store and there they were hanging on a rack as if they were a clearance item. I went to take a look at them and then checked the price tag. They were selling them for $20. I was shocked and instead of excitement at what a great find this was, my reaction was to immediately start wondering what was wrong with them. Was this some sort of attempt to appeal to a lower end market with crappy quality or something? I never did get my answer so I just went ahead and bought them, but the feeling that I was getting something cheap and unworthy was nagging me.

After using the shoes for a couple weeks, I found that they were holding up well and were comfortable so I decided to go back to the store and buy like a life time supply of them because they were almost too good to be true. When I got there I was startled to discover that they were selling them now for $80.
I couldn’t make sense of it. Maybe someone had mislabeled the pair I had originally bought or something. So, I decided to pick up another pair that was almost the same but slightly different for that same $80 price tag.
Since then, I’ve noticed something strange. Of the two pairs of shoes I’ve been really diligent in the way I take care of the ones that cost me $80 and the ones that cost me $20… not so much. I wore them camping and got caught in a rain storm, I dropped a piece of juicy watermelon on them about a week ago, and just before that I wore them for a visit out to my Aunt and Uncle’s farm and if you’ve never been to a farm before, let me just say… there’s a lot of pooping that goes on there.

The reason for this disparity seems pretty obvious to me. Because this pair only cost me $20, I’ve carried an unshakable sense that they are only worth $20 even though I later found out that they were worth a lot more. That hasn’t influenced my behaviour towards them, however; because at the end of the day, they only cost me $20.

I think that stands as a powerful analogy for why Christianity has been on such a dramatic decline in western culture. The last 50 years have been characterized by a trend of relaxation in practices and teachings of the faith by it’s leaders. We’ve seen some dramatic examples, especially in mainline Protestantism, in which there have been complete reversals on moral teachings. While that hasn’t happened in the official teachings of the Catholic Church, we’ve seen a disregard for the disciplines and practices.
For example, in Canada, we used to be expected to attend mass on feast days of the liturgical calendar but they’ve since just moved those all over to the nearest Sunday. Many churches don’t even have kneelers any more because, I don’t know, we don’t want to be uncomfortable? Pro tip, that was the entire point of having kneelers. And instead of fasting during Lent, we’re often encouraged to just do something nice for somebody. I can understand the instinct for doing this. I think well intentioned pastors believed that aspects of the faith were too difficult for the faithful and so if we compromise and accommodate, we’ll retain members but what they essentially did, was reduced the cost of what it means to be a Christian. So the result has been a startling decline in affiliation and practice. In Europe, it’s even worse. They’re anticipating the complete disappearance of some denominations within the next few decades.

My investment in my faith has cost me so much and transformed me in undeniable ways that it would be really hard for me to let go of because I’d have to admit that it was all for nothing. But had I not felt the need to invest myself as much as I have, I’d likely be able to walk away from it quite casually and easily.

In the case of Christianity, this makes sense. After all, the symbol of our faith is an ancient method of torture and execution and Jesus said that following him would be like picking up your own cross as he did. Being a Christian isn’t supposed to be easy so if we continue to attempt to draw people in by reducing the cost of what it means to be a Christian, we’ll continue to set people up for disappointment by a counterfeit religion that does little to impact their lives.

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