|
| Christian news worldwide |
 Home |
 Archives |
 Subscriptions |
 Adverts |
 Find a church |
 About us |
 Contact us |
 Site Map |
 PrintableVersion The Way of the (Modern) WorldTHE WAY OF THE (MODERN) WORLD This is an excellent book, not only because of its masterly critique of the church in the world (and the world in the church) but also because it proposes some realistic but challenging solutions. Gay begins by tackling the last three centuries, with chapters about the worldliness of modern political aspirations; the irrelevance of God in a technological society; the intrinsic secularity of modern economic life; and the worldly self at the heart of modern culture. He then makes a sustained attempt at proposing a way out of worldliness for the church. He says that we primarily need to wait and watch for God, nurturing awe before the created world and personal creativity, in preference to spending time with technology which is manmade and limits us to virtual reality and constructed time and space. Gay is highly critical of the modern belief, shared by many Christians, that every problem can be fixed. Rather, says Gay, we should primarily love God for who he is, not for what he can do for us. 'Waiting and watching' is the means to cultivating patience and, as Gay says: 'The relevance of the Christian understanding of patience cannot be overemphasised in the midst of our culture of anxious impatience.' He writes powerfully of how our society vastly overestimates what human beings can achieve, and this has 'precipitated a kind of restless movement back and forth between the attempt to establish technical-rational control over the world . . . and ever-deepening despair over the dehumanising consequences of this attempt.' As a result, he says, 'modern society and culture have grown impatient with God'. I highly recommend that you read this analysis of where we are and the practical responsibilities we have for living today as a pilgrim people of hope. © Evangelicals Now - December 1999 |
|
