Empty church
How can the values of faith translate into action in the so-called "secular" world? (File Photo)
FāVS News | Feb. 11, 2026
For most of my 34 years as a pastor, I’ve seen a pattern that keeps repeating.
Many people want the church to be a kind of theological Disneyland. It’s a place you visit for inspiration, comfort and meaning — and then you go home to the real world, where different rules apply.
More than once, after a sermon where I explored the public values found in the Abrahamic traditions — values like care for the poor, limits on power, truth-telling and dignity for every human being — someone has said to me, kindly but firmly:
“That’s nice, Pastor, but the real world doesn’t work that way.”
What’s interesting is that many of these same people still want the church to bless the real world — their work, their nation, their family, their economic life. They just don’t want the church to question it.
The result is a quiet deal:
- Church offers comfort, rituals and hope
- The world sets the real rules
The values of faith end up living in a very small space — safe, contained and mostly private.
But this creates a deeper problem. It doesn’t just split church from society. It splits people.
Many end up living with two value systems:
- One for Sunday
- One for the rest of the week
Most people don’t like this. They sense something is off. Discipleship becomes thin. Faith starts to feel performative. And over time, this kind of divided life can drift toward meaninglessness — even nihilism. It leaves us passive, both as people guided by a wisdom tradition and as members of a democracy.
How can we take “love your neighbor as you love yourself” when we ignore the policies and institutions that most directly impact our neighbor?
Faith becomes a ride on the Teacups: pleasant, emotional and forgettable once you leave the park.
I have heard leaders in every wisdom tradition name the same kind of dynamic in their communities.
Yet, with the low levels of trust in institutions and in each other, we are going to need a new way to form a social contract that draws on our diverse traditions in a new way.
Stay tuned for the next column in this series to learn more about this new way. The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News.
The Rev. Terry Kyllo
The Rev. Terry Kyllo is executive director of Paths to Understanding: Gathering Neighbors, Growing Trust. He is passionate about renewing civil society and democracy by helping communities build trust across deep divides—because he believes we are living too divided, and we do not have to live this way. A Lutheran pastor, Terry works through local practice, media, and public leadership to bring neighbors back into relationship, so we can build a world where everyone belongs and everyone can thrive.