When Reverence Diminishes - A Bishop’s Reflection on the Erosion of the Sacred

What we bless publicly, we reproduce privately, and the Church is not immune. For nearly five decades, I have served the Church across a wide range of expressions, preaching, teaching, leading, and listening. For the past thirty years, I have served as a Bishop in the International Charismatic Communion, a fellowship born from the bold, Spirit-led ecumenical work of David du Plessis and Pope John XXIII. Du Plessis, affectionately called “Mr. Pentecost,” was instrumental in building bridges between Pentecostal and Catholic believers at a time when such dialogue was rare and risky. His influence extended beyond Pope John XXIII to include Pope Paul VI, who welcomed him to the Second Vatican Council as an official Pentecostal observer—and eventually Pope John Paul II, who awarded him the Benemerenti Medal in recognition of his contributions to Christian unity.

This was not a unity of convenience. It was a unity forged in reverence, for the Spirit, for apostolic continuity, for the holy weight of what the Church carries in both Word and sacrament. Du Plessis did not seek the spotlight. He sought the shared presence of God across our divisions. He moved with conviction but never with mockery. His was a posture of holy reverence toward God, toward tradition, and toward the other. I fear that such reverence is slipping through our fingers.

What I witness now grieves me, not because I am scandalized by a culture I cannot comprehend, but because I understand it all too well. We are living in a time when coarseness has become a currency, where trolling is mistaken for boldness, and sacred things are sacrificed for applause. The Church is not exempt from this trend. In some places, it is leading it.

The late cultural critic Christopher Lasch saw this coming. In The Culture of Narcissism, he warned that modern society was losing its capacity for self-restraint, for humility, for deeply rooted moral meaning. In its place would rise the performative self, one that feeds off visibility and sensation, and ultimately loses the capacity to distinguish reverence from ridicule. That time is no longer future. It is here.

The signs are everywhere, especially in how leaders behave publicly, and what they signal to their followers. When a person with platform and power indulges in mockery or spectacle, it isn’t just personal expression, it’s a public permission slip. It teaches others how to behave. And what we bless in public, we reproduce in private. This is social contagion at scale.

This is why reverence matters. Reverence is not a pose. It is the recognition that there are things so holy they demand restraint, things so weighty they must not be reduced to props or punchlines. It is what keeps us from treating the mystery of the Gospel as just another tool for cultural commentary or partisan theater.

I say this not with anger, but with pastoral sorrow. I have seen the consequences of irreverence in the lives of the people I’ve shepherded, confusion, fatigue, spiritual disillusionment. When leaders make light of the sacred, the faithful quietly wonder whether anything is truly holy at all. And cynicism begins to take root.

But I’ve also seen another way. I have sat on global roundtables with Catholic and Pentecostal bishops alike, men and women who have laid down the need to dominate, who have chosen instead to bless one another, to honor the apostolic tradition in one another, and to make space for the Spirit. These were not moments of compromise. They have been moments of awe. These conversations are continuing, and our bonds are deepening That awe is what we’re losing. That capacity to tremble before mystery. That willingness to walk softly in sacred space. And without awe, we drift. We harden. We turn the things of God into performance, into brand, into entertainment.

My plea is simple: let us return to reverence. Let us guard our symbols, not out of rigidity, but out of gratitude. Let us recover the sacred imagination that formed our faith before the algorithm reshaped our instincts.

Let us not lose what David Du Plessis and Pope John XXIII saw as possible: a Church Spirit-filled, sacramentally grounded, and marked not by volume, but by holy weight.

Because when reverence diminishes, so too does our witness. And what we lose in that exchange may cost us more than we know.

Written by Mark J. Chironna, PhD. - https://www.markchironna.com/
Bishop Mark J. Chironna PhD
Church On The Living Edge
Mark Chironna Ministries
The Issachar Initiative
Order of St. Maxmius
United Theological Seminary, Visiting
Professor, Co-director, House of Pentecostal Studies

Dr. Mark Chironna is a public scholar, executive and personal coach, and thought leader with five decades of experience in leadership development, cultural analysis, and future-focused strategies. With advanced degrees in Psychology, Applied Semiotics and Futures Studies, and Theology, he brings a unique interdisciplinary approach to helping individuals and organizations navigate complexity, unlock potential, and craft innovative solutions.

As a Board Certified Coach with over 30,000 hours of experience, he empowers leaders and teams to thrive through resilience, foresight, and actionable strategies. Passionate about human flourishing, he integrates psychological insight and cultural trends to inspire growth and transformation.

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