How to help former evangelicals navigate their way out of despair and towards meaningful action?

Here’s a letter from one of my readers that asks: “Because you have your finger on the pulse of this movement of alienated former Christians to a more specific degree than any public figure I am currently aware of- I encourage you to ponder how you might be able to be a leader in helping former evangelicals navigate their way out of despair and towards meaningful action…”

So please read the letter, then go to my Facebook page and jump into this thread with your answer to the “How to” question on helping former evangelicals navigate their way out of despair and towards meaningful action.

Dear Frank,

I wanted you to know that your Thanksgiving message and choice to remain available was very touching. It is entirely possible that that action made it possible for at least one (and likely more) struggling soul to make it through the day and stay with the inherent suffering connected to feeling isolated rather than drowning it in addictive behavior. That was a profoundly loving act, and one (judging by the comments/conversations) that the Holy Spirit (or whatever it is we want to identify as the source of life giving energy) used for good. I am grateful to have had the benefit of friends and family this holiday season, but have not always had this comfort and am very attuned to those who are recently widowed, divorced, or feel estranged from the circles they would otherwise belong to. My hunch is that your journey has imprinted upon your soul a very diverse empathy for the disenfranchised.

I write to you because I have been carefully following your critique of mainstream evangelicalism. Most of what you say I agree with, having lived it myself. That said, I am struck by the sense of persistent alienation that recovering Christians are haunted by. They have left the illusions of an old and broken tradition but have lost a sense of meaning. But they have nothing to replace it with beyond a myopic sense of victimization. I say this, because I have certainly done more than my share of wallowing in despair.

The way out of despair, and back to purpose for me has been a reengagement with meaningful action. I may never again possess the theological certainty I once possessed, but I still have hands and feet and a mind that can be used for good. Because you have your finger on the pulse of this movement of alienated former Christians to a more specific degree than any public figure I am currently aware of- I encourage you to ponder how you might be able to be a leader in helping former evangelicals navigate their way out of despair and towards meaningful action. I am in process on how to make this a transition a reality- I don’t know yet, but I do know that I experience profound discomfort with the idea of closing my eyes to the suffering of the socially marginalized who exist outside of the evangelical concept of “us”. I want to act- but not just to satisfy my own sentiment- but rather in a life affirming fashion. I don’t want to let my disillusionment with legalism and hypocrisy congeal into despair.

I suspect that you may have some wisdom on this matter that many in my shoes would find very helpful. Thank you for your humility in revealing your own winding path and your extraordinary capacity of engaging with others suffering in a life affirming fashion.

The evangelical world will likely never stop judging you. But you are doing God’s work- I know that to be true.

With love and respect-
Katherine Bennett

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Frank Schaeffer is a writer. His latest book —WHY I AM AN ATHEIST WHO BELIEVES IN GOD: How to give love, create beauty and find peace

Available now on Amazon