Monday, March 07, 2011
I Agree - So Why IS It True?
Jollyblogger goes to great lengths to correct a Joseph Sobran quotation:
There is a twofold argument to back this up. The first has to do with the fact that the church DEFINES what it means to be relevant, and does not follow it. The church is the most relevant thing there is - well, actually He who the church worships. Salvation is relevant, music is not. The fact that the world demands such things as musical relevance from us means the world is trying to distract us. Sadly they are being very successful.
Secondly - the church is about truth - timeless, changeless truth. A constant search for relevance makes that truth look changeable, somehow in flux. When the church constantly changes we give credence to the argument that truth is somehow relative. (Wait - I sense a shared Latin root between "relevance" and "relative." Hmmm....)
Fashion does not matter in church because the church is supposed to rise above such things. That s what is at the heart of the quote. Church uplifts and takes us to someplace we could not otherwise access.
I like that places - I'd like to go there more.
"It can be exalting to belong to a church that is five hundred years behind the times and sublimely indifferent to fashion; it is mortifying to belong to a church that is five minutes behind the times, huffing and puffing to catch up."I agree with that statement, as I bet David does, but it is in this age controversial and should be examined. At a time when the church is constantly morphing in the name of "relevance," this sentiment demands justification.
There is a twofold argument to back this up. The first has to do with the fact that the church DEFINES what it means to be relevant, and does not follow it. The church is the most relevant thing there is - well, actually He who the church worships. Salvation is relevant, music is not. The fact that the world demands such things as musical relevance from us means the world is trying to distract us. Sadly they are being very successful.
Secondly - the church is about truth - timeless, changeless truth. A constant search for relevance makes that truth look changeable, somehow in flux. When the church constantly changes we give credence to the argument that truth is somehow relative. (Wait - I sense a shared Latin root between "relevance" and "relative." Hmmm....)
Fashion does not matter in church because the church is supposed to rise above such things. That s what is at the heart of the quote. Church uplifts and takes us to someplace we could not otherwise access.
I like that places - I'd like to go there more.
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