The geek in the wilderness is irritated by those who continually say things “in the name of Jesus”. He’s right, you know.

You know what this sounds like? An incantation. The name of Jesus is now reduced to mere magical words one merely has to bellow in order to achieve the effect he’s looking for. It’s not spoken out of faith or conviction, it’s simply a mantra or vain repetition. It’s ironic because it irritates me to no end, so those who see that think my irritation is a result of all the crazy demons inside me that are churning in uneasiness and fear over hearing the name of Jesus. No, it’s just me trying to restrain myself from slapping you one.

It never once occurs to them that they’re in essence using the Lord’s name in vain, and it is them who dishonors God by reducing Him to a magical phrase.

The Practical Conservative has some things to say about those who think the past was more righteous. I’d add that such people have not read their Austen, their Shakespeare, or their Solzhenitsyn.

And the wealth, the ‘stuff’, the ‘electronic opiates’. Are these things not sinful because we live in such plenty? Of course not, they are often occasions to sin and monstrous pride. But the idea that in the past, when wealth for the masses was just a pipe dream, everyone was holier is a part of this wealth-thinking. People can construct castles of fantasia about the past and never get confronted with their lies, as we all drown in the blizzard of ready factoids and distractions.

Returning to normal life is not about returning to a time when there was less sin among the children of Men. It’s about returning to a time when people understood that despite being born into a world of sin, there were still echoes of the Divine to model and live by each and every day. It’s about not getting caught up in eternal possibility and choice addiction, but about accepting and living within the limits of the Real.

So, the attempts to sell people on a holier, happier, healthier past when the data and our sinful natures say otherwise should stop.

And from L’Abri

The failure of the grand narrative of modernity – achieving it all: absolutism, progress, reason – is shattered. Its replacement is the master narrative of post-modernity – achieving nothing: relativism, play, contradiction. The former attempted to construct a unified story for all humanity, while the latter left behind shards, fragments, and sub-plots with no beginning or end. Unfortunately, many Christians have bought into one or the other of these story lines and uncritically woven it into the biblical faith. Moving away from the power schemes of modern or post-modern meta-narratives is an essential task for believers, if we are to be able to present the gospel in a credible and persuasive manner to a world that has lost its way.

Schaeffer once said that the Moderns had their feet firmly planted in mid-air. The Post Moderns are more foolish: they say the existence of earth implies an oppressive order. They are blinding people so they cannot see the light and walk, living dead to oblivion: don’t be like them.