The loss of clear thinking

We've been on the road and (mostly) offline since April 18th and ever since I started New Brunswick I've noticed a disturbing trend that I couldn't quite put my finger on...

 

Today as I cast about our host family's basement for a good read my eyes lit on John MacArthur's "The Power of Integrity: Building a Life Without Compromise" and something twigged. I think this quote from page 43 pretty well captures my initial impression:

Mindlessness is virtually equated with godliness in the modern church. The video age has swamped us, and the result is the loss of clear thinking with more sound bites, i.e., little bits of information (we even have longer "infomercials"now) which will move the will almost directly without prompting serious reflection and thought. Preaching, if we can still even call it that, is aimed at being short, relevant.... and moving. Modern worshipers (?) do not want to think; they want to feel something, and to take away something which will help them cope with fast-paced, busy modern life.

Since then we have some good visits with many of our prayer partners and I realize that, mercifully, not everyone buys into this trend! But to say I was deeply disturbed that first week would be an understatement.