In the 2009 Canadian comedy, The Trotsky, Leon Bronstein, a high school student who thinks he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky, organizes a demonstration in front of his father’s non-unionized business. As a punishment for this action Leon’s father takes him out of his private boarding school and sends him to public school (that deserves an entirely different post). On the first day of classes at his new school Leon looks around to see that non of his classmates are interested or paying attention, he then sees a girl near the front of the class hold a sign up sign to her friend near the back of the class that reads “Boredom or Apathy?” to which Leon smirks. However, Leon’s smirk turns quickly into a frown when the classmate holds a sign up in response that reads, “Apathy.”
This exchange foreshadows a much later scene in the movie when Leon decides to stage a walk out to protest the school’s harsh disciplinary policies. Leon is proud to see that his fellow students decide to join him in his endeavor, but as he beckons them to cross the street to “keep the momentum” he is disappointed to see that all the students stop to sit down on the front lawn. Here he realizes that the students are more interested in engaging in frivolous shenanigans than in a self-actualizing political protest. Out a window at the top of the school he sees his principal hold up a sign that reads, “Apathy.”
This movie challenges the purported activist, world changer, or future minister to ask the question about the people within a system before asking questions about the system itself. For my purposes I feel the need to ask this question in terms of the church.
Much has been said about the decline in church membership, the fledgling belief in the authority of “the Church”, or belief in God altogether. There is of course much conjecture as to why that is, but I feel it necessary to go on a personal journey to answer the question, “Is the church simply boring God’s people?” or “Are God’s people no longer interested in what the Church has to offer?” And whilst in the mode of inquiry I may as well ask, “What is it that God’s church offers its people, anyway?” Answering these question in the long-term will help me shape my ministry and better understand my calling, but in the short-term they I hope, will help point me towards home. (To be continued)