Monday, February 27, 2006

Discipleship as carnival

At Gratitude and Hoopla, Bob has reposted an essay from Mr. Standfast, Too Long at the Fair:
The Christian life, here in America at least, begins to resemble nothing more than a carnival midway. The barkers compete with one another to grab your attention, making euphoric promises. The colored lights, the jangling music, the cotton candy and the plastic prizes - our senses are filled but our minds are empty. Stay too long, and you begin to feel a little queasy. Your head aches. Your body yearns for substantial fare. But someone just hit the bull’s eye and won a Christian CD. Her face is ecstatic. Surely it’s a God-thing. And someone else just bought a ticket on the carousel of "purpose." He just knows it’s going to change his life. Meanwhile, at the other end of the midway is the big tent where the miracle-workers promise power from on high. You’ll have to wait in line, but that’s okay. It’s all so much like "the world," you feel right at home.

Meanwhile, on a hill far away stand three unattended crosses.
I'm glad to see Bob reposting that one. It's a repost for this blog, too.

2 Comments:

Blogger Dan McGowan said...

I have wondered for a while - is this really ONLY "an American" thing? Or is "church" (Christianity) a bit skewed all over the world? I mean, are there places/countries where Christianity is more - true?

7:29 AM, February 28, 2006  
Blogger Milton Stanley said...

I think it's a function of the church having been a part of Western culture long enough to be thorouhgly compromised by the world. From what I've heard, places where the gospel hasn't traditionally had a foothold are exploding in power--like in S. Korea and other parts of Asia.

7:46 AM, February 28, 2006  

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