Minigolf and carnival rides: The profane conquers the sacred
by Joshua Gregor, Acton Institute:
[…] For at least the last 60 years there has been a vocal wing trying to make the church cater to secular fads under the pretense that this will attract people. So many churches put on ill-fitting trappings or accept every progressive trend that comes along, since we have to be “loving” and “tolerant.” It has often become very hard, impossible really, to distinguish between a church and a doctrine-free, feel-good NGO. Of course we care called to show love and acceptance, but though love is accepting of the person it can never leave truth behind, or else it can’t be real love. The truth will set us free. The Church has to offer a challenge, a sense of the sacred, an acknowledgement of the truth that is present – even if the truth is hard for some to swallow. Especially if it’s hard to swallow.
If people come to church and aren’t offered anything different and deeper than what they see in the world, there’s no reason for them to come. As Sam Guzman writes in this recent post, “I would even go so far as to say that if our religion isn’t weird to the world, then we have to some degree or another lost our faith. When our worship is a closed circle, when it turns towards man and man’s desires, it immediately begins to die.”
When the church tries to compete with the world on its own terms, it always loses. Where has this brought us, after all?
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