20th Century Shift

I am reading a book by Franky Shaeffer called, "Addicted to Mediocrity." In it he traces through the 20th century shifts in thinking both in the church and society. His main focus is on the loss of appreciation among Christians for the arts. The chapter I just read is called: "spirituality" and "secularism."

This chapter says that during the 20th century the church began to compartmentalize spirituality. Thus many more people began to live different lives on Sunday than on Monday. Shaeffer says, "If God is some spiritualized 'praise the lord' feeling, then He is not much of a God. Indeed, He is not I AM at all. When our Christianity is allowed to become merely spiritual and inward without the incarnational and outward expressions of God's presence in the world, our faith is no longer meaningful in all areas of life."

Secondly, this chapter says the society of the 20th century was influenced by Darwinism and industrial factors. It became a society that judged things on the basis of how much they could produce. Shaeffer states, "so the tree which once had value, not least of which was its beauty, its shimmering leaves, the dappled shades it cast upon the mossy ground beneath, now only had value because of how many cubic feet of paper could be produced from it."

And people in the church began to be judged in the same way. From Shaeffer's point of view, "Now everything anyone did had to measure up somehow in utilitarian terms in the church..it had to help in its efforts, in its programs, its church growth emphasis week or whatever."

Is there a beauty that is unquantifiable in the Christian's life?

The Sun knew not the beauty of its rays,
When knowledge came to steal the day,
and darkness fell across my eyes,
The Moon reflected the beauty of its cries.
JP