Os Guinness wrote a book titled Impossible People: Christian Courage and the Struggle for the Soul of Civilization about what Christians should do in a world that has changed dramatically and mostly for the worse. Eric Metaxas lays it all out in an article to describe the change and why Guinness used the term Impossible People. He starts out by saying this:
In the opening scene of the 2001 film adaptation of “The Fellowship of the Ring,” Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel whispers hauntingly, “The world has changed. I can feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost; for none now live who remember it.”
Western Christians in 2016 can relate. Something has shifted. The world we inhabit seems to have become disenchanted, and so many of those around us have entered a state in some ways worse than atheism—a state of indifference toward God and the supernatural.
Then he goes on to explain in brief what Christians can, and I would say must, do. The answer is a refusal to conform and I think that is exactly right. The eleventh century stand taken by a fellow named Peter Damian is worthy of emulation and a very interesting read. What is required is not comfortable, but it is required if we want to both be right and have any hope for cultural redemption.
Update: I guess I should not be amazed that Marvin Olasky wrote an article a week back that could be a companion to the one written by Metaxas. It gives another example of what to do when caught in a culture that is diametrically opposed to your world view in very bad ways. You can read it here.
Leave a Reply