"There's always the tendency to transform the Church into an ethical agency, and of measuring the Church by the yardstick of social and cultural utility"
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Lehmann is warning against a very modern kind of compliment: treating the Church as “useful.” In a secular, managerial age, institutions earn legitimacy by proving they reduce harm, stabilize communities, polish culture, or deliver measurable “impact.” His phrasing - “transform the Church into an ethical agency” - targets the slide from sacramental and theological claims into a sort of moral NGO with incense. The critique isn’t that ethics or social good are irrelevant; it’s that utility becomes the only language left, and once that happens the Church is judged like any other service provider.
The subtext is defensive but also self-critical. Lehmann, a major German Catholic figure shaped by postwar reconstruction and Vatican II’s push toward engagement with the modern world, knows the temptation from the inside. After the 20th century’s wreckage, German Christianity often justified itself through public benefit: social welfare networks, reconciliation work, a voice for democracy. Those are real achievements. Yet Lehmann senses the price: if the Church’s public rationale is “we improve society,” then scandals, political disagreements, or declining attendance don’t just wound credibility - they erase the entire reason for existing.
“Yardstick” is the tell: an image of measurement, audit, and performance. He’s pushing back against a culture that asks, implicitly, “What is this for?” and accepts no answer that can’t be tallied. Lehmann’s intent is to reassert the Church as a community oriented toward transcendence and worship, not merely a dispenser of values. Utility may follow, but it cannot be the point.
The subtext is defensive but also self-critical. Lehmann, a major German Catholic figure shaped by postwar reconstruction and Vatican II’s push toward engagement with the modern world, knows the temptation from the inside. After the 20th century’s wreckage, German Christianity often justified itself through public benefit: social welfare networks, reconciliation work, a voice for democracy. Those are real achievements. Yet Lehmann senses the price: if the Church’s public rationale is “we improve society,” then scandals, political disagreements, or declining attendance don’t just wound credibility - they erase the entire reason for existing.
“Yardstick” is the tell: an image of measurement, audit, and performance. He’s pushing back against a culture that asks, implicitly, “What is this for?” and accepts no answer that can’t be tallied. Lehmann’s intent is to reassert the Church as a community oriented toward transcendence and worship, not merely a dispenser of values. Utility may follow, but it cannot be the point.
Quote Details
| Topic | Faith |
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