The Abduction of Churches?

In the Summer 2007 issue of City Journal Heather Mac Donald writes about The Abduction of Opera. (Read the whole article, but be warned, the language explicitly describes the vile and base extent to which European, and some American, opera directors have taken classical opera.) The vivid description of what some have done to Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, Strauss, and others is necessary to show how low some will go to elevate their opinion above that of the genius of a former era.

Mac Donald’s last three sentences in the article are especially worth noting, “But Gelb should remember that he is the guardian of a tradition that generations have built. That tradition approaches the magnificent works of the past with love and humility, recognizing our debt to them. The Met will remain a vital New York and world institution for another century if it allows those works to speak for themselves.”

In addition, the article shows the end result of Postmodernism on popular culture. All the past is irrelevant; only my own experience today matters. What someone in the Enlightenment (i.e. “modern”) period thought or intended when they wrote music, or an opera, or a play takes second place to what we think today. We must transform the message as well as the medium in order to appeal to today’s audience.

This is exactly the problem churches face today. Churches have to decide whether to appeal to this generation by using different technology (such as PowerPoint projections on a screen above the pulpit); by changing the worship experience through more contemporary music; and by changing the message of the Gospel to one that is more in line with multiculturalism, moral equivalency, religious pluralism, and diversity politics; or to use whatever technology and methods of presentation are helpful in communicating the one Gospel that has transformed lives and cultures for centuries.

I’ll paraphrase Heather MacDonald’s last three sentences above. But churches should remember that they are the guardian of a tradition that generations have built. That tradition approaches the magnificent gospel message of the past with love and humility, recognizing our debt to it. Churches will remain a vital American and world institution for the future if they allow that message to speak for itself.

There is a reason that certain Christian denominations in the U.S. have been on a steady decline for the past two or three decades while others are growing. Trends and political themes come and go. The traditional message appeals to the felt needs of people, regardless of to which generational group they belong. Changing the message may be trendy in some circles, but changing the core of the Gospel message leaves it hollow, shallow, and ineffective. Churches today that do well follow Paul’s example in saying, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16 NIV)