A must read Christian classic is Harry Blamires’ The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian Think?
, first published in 1963 in London (when I was 2 years old!). Blamires was a student of C. S. Lewis. His perspective below (taken from chapter 2 of his book) on secularism’s seduction of the Christian mind highlights the danger of the contemporary church’s fascination with relevance. What begins as a sincere desire to reach unbelievers ends with the church herself being so seduced by its own relevance it loses its eternal perspective (its Christian mind) and thus the distinctive nature it is called to exhibit to the culture.
A prime mark of the Christian mind is that it looks beyond this life to another one. It is supernaturally oriented, and brings to bear upon earthly considerations the fact of Heaven and the fact of Hell.
In this respect the religious view of life differs so fundamentally and comprehensively from the secular view of life that it seems scarely possible for the Christian to communicate intelligibly with the modern secularist. And indeed this is our most acute problem today. It seems virtually impossible to bridge the gap between ourselves and our unbelieving fellow-men so as to present to them, vividly and convincingly, the Christian view of the human situation.
The Christian mind sees human life and human history held in the hands of God. It sees the whole universe sustained by his power and love. It sees the natural order as dependent upon the supernatural order, time as contained within eternity. It sees this life as an inconclusive experience, preparing us for another; this world as a temporary place of refuge, not our true and final home.
But outside the sphere of Christian thinking there is a totally different view of things. Modern secular thought ignores the reality beyond this world. It treats this world as The Thing. Secularism, by its very nature, rooted in this world, accounting it the only sure basis of knowledge, the only reliable source of meaning and value. Secularism puts its trust in this life and makes earthly happiness and well-being its primary concern.
The modern rejection of Christianity, rooted as it is in a hard-boiled secularism, has at its heart a total failure to sense the dependence of man, the creaturliness of man. Its most basis presupposition, implicit in all its judgements, is that this which we experience directly with the senses constitutes the heart and totality of things. Hence the collision between the Christian faith and contemporary secular culture. For all teaching of Christian revelation deals with the breaking-in of the greater supernatural order upon our more limited finite world. That conception is at the heart of the doctrine of the Incarnation. It is at the heart of every claim to individual experience of God’s love and power. The Greater breaks in upon the Smaller. But if our world here is seen as the totality of things, or even as the dominant sphere of existence, then the notion of the Greater breaking in upon it cannot be entertained. If This World = All that Is, then there is no Greater-than-It to break in upon it. The idea of God can be entertained only if you have first thought of man as someone whom there could be Someone greater; only if you have first thought of the universe as something than which there could be Something more stable and important. Secularism is so rooted in this world that it does not allow for the existence of any other. Therefore whenever secularism encounters the Christian mind, either the Christian mind will momentarily shake that rootedness, or secularism will seduce the Christian mind to a temporary mode of converse which overlooks the supernatural.
Is there any doubt that today’s church is in “a mode of converse which overlooks the supernatural”? Rather than do the difficult and unpopular work of proclaiming biblical truth to the secular mind, and trusting the Holy Spirit to draw the unbeliever, today’s church has adopted the secular mind, not as a creed and not because they necessairly hold to a secular worldview, but as a sincere effort to relate to and reach secular unbelievers. The church has become double-minded, attempting to live in the world of the eternal and the world of the secular simultaneously. The church has not abandoned the gospel necessarily so much as it has added the secular like a welcoming front porch. The unbeliever is enticed by that which is familiar in the hopes that the foreign language and culture of the church will not be noticed so much. But in adding the secular porch, the gospel is denuded of its power to truly save.
The secular mind, with its focus on technique, pragmatism, buildings, cafes, and programming trumps the Christian mind with its focus on “the things which are not seen, which are eternal.” Unchurched Harry is drawn, not by the power of the Holy Spirit through a faithfully proclaimed Gospel to the Cross and repentance, but by the novelty of a church whose programming and premises resemble that of the local mall complete with all the amenities. The church succeeds in drawing the secular unbeliever to a secular church, providing no inducement for developing a mind focused on the world beyond this one. The end result is more secular believers whose attachments are more to this world than the one to come.
Paul,
I am in agreement with the assessment on the many churches today who have altered the prescribed format of delivery of the message of hope.
I add this concern, not to criticize, but to enlarge this discussion.
It appears we often have more ammunition for those in the kingdom than for Satan. It seems apparent to me that this evil engagement of the head host of hell has been diminished within our ranks.
May I offer encouragement to us to first fight our adversary, and then shoot a few volleys at those astray. Again, I’m not suggesting we are not to expose the error of this movement, but rather we need to include the primary reason of their deflection in our battle plans. The battle still and finally, is against him, the accuser of the brethren. The one whom goes about seeking whom he may devour.
Peace my brother.
You had better not broadcast live from a certain church in Sterling Heights any more, it seems you are indicting them. They have a church whose programming and premises resemble that of the local mall complete with all the amenities inside a former builders store.