Mennonite Weekly Review

A report released this spring from the Pew Foundation suggested religion in the United States is increasingly a marketplace reality. This might suggest that we’re nothing more than consumers — gluttons not only of cashew chicken or Amish potatoes but also of theology and spirituality — mixing it up, picking and choosing.

Stephen Kriss is a teacher, writer, pastor, student and follower of Jesus living in Philadelphia.

In any marketplace, the results are distressing for the losers, like Sears and Kmart in retailing. In the religious field, Mennonites probably belong in that category.

Spirituality is increasingly consumptive in the Western context. We’re drawn toward what works for us and what is convenient.

A book released this summer, The Savvy Convert’s Guide to Choosing a Religion, offers glimpses into religions practices from A to Z. It’s funny and insightful, highlighting and weighing positives and negatives. Mennonites don’t make it to the guide, but the Amish do. They get a tough conversion rating.

Over the last month or so, I’ve been greeted as I have left my house by a woman who tried to press a copy of the Jehovah’s Witness publication, The Watchtower, in my hand. We’ve exchanged pleasantries, but I haven’t taken it.

I’ve found myself grateful for the quick interchange and her presence on the streets of Philadelphia, peddling an idea, inviting people to a way of faith. While I may not agree with her, I am glad she’s out there.

In the evenings, I often run into a man who walks my neighborhood at sunset. He wears a flowing white robe. We smile, and I assume he speaks little English. I am guessing he’s from the Buddhist center up the street. It’s not uncommon for me to see a man in a yarmulke or a woman in a hijab.

I’m grateful for this marketplace where diverse faiths thrive and where there’s space for me as well. Without it, we would have faith that leans toward the rigid rather than the creative. I don’t find this pluralism distressing, but refreshing.

Over the last six weeks, I’ve participated in a Byzantine and a Latin-rite Catholic mass. I’ve been listening to an audiobook by Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh. I’ve been teaching from the sermons of Martin Luther King Jr. I’ve been to a Bible study held entirely in Spanish. I’ve worshiped with Indonesian-speaking Mennonites and led a Serbian/Mennonite funeral. I’ve participated in a Ramadan fast.

All of this challenges and invigorates me. I have been shaped by this multiplicity of faith. I have largely found my own Mennonite/Anabaptist identity within it and maybe because of it.