A Christian response to our secular world
by Martin Davie, Christian Today:
It is often noted that Western society has become increasingly ‘secular’ since the eighteenth century, and the reality of what this means has been brought home to me afresh by two events that occurred while I was on holiday recently. In this article I shall reflect on how these two events illustrate what it means for a society to be secular and three ways in which Christians should respond to such a society.
A town guide which doesn’t mention what a church is for
The first of the two events that I mentioned occurred when I looked at the town guide produced by the local chamber of commerce in the town in which I was on holiday. The town in question has at its centre a very large, very ancient, and extremely beautiful parish church. In the town guide this church is described as an ‘inspiring 5 star community space’. The guide goes on to say: ‘Established by the Normans in the late 11th century the church is a key link in the town’s history and heritage’ and it encourages visitors to enjoy the stained glass windows, the medieval misericords and the view from the top of the church tower. Finally, it says: ‘Do check what’s on – community arts events, concerts and recitals are held all year round.’
This entry in the town guide is in one sense totally unobjectionable. All the statements of fact it makes about the church are correct. However, what I found disturbing was that the entry viewed the church as a place of purely historic and cultural significance (and a place to get a good view of the town). Viewed in this way the church has exactly the same significance in the life of the town as its medieval castle, which is also a place of historical and cultural significance and whose main tower also gives a good view of the town.
What is missing from the entry is any idea that the real importance of the church is that it is a sacred place. It is a place set apart for the worship of God in which for centuries, week in week out, God’s word has been preached and the sacraments have been administered, and in which, through these means, countless generations have been offered and received God’s miraculous gift of eternal life. It is this, and not simply its historical and cultural significance, that makes this church a truly special place. The problem with the entry in the town guide is that none of this gets a mention (there is not even a hint that it is a place where church services get held on a regular basis).
If we ask why none of this gets a mention, the answer has to be either that the person who wrote the entry was completely ignorant of the church’s true religious purpose, or that they assumed that no one would want to know about it.
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