entertaining ourselves at church

One of the most influential books I read in seminary was "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman. Have you ever read it? Please do.

Pastor Al again sent me a great article from Christianity Today entitled "Amusing Ourselves on Sunday." The article talks about the dangers and pressures of entertainment culture on the church. A good reminder and relevant to our recent discussion of media uses.

Here's a great quote:

"When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainments, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk, when, in short, a people become an audience and their public business a comedy show, then a nation finds itself at risk."

Are we an audience when we gather for worship or a congregation? What's the difference?

Just as consumerism is radically affecting the way we experience church, so is entertainment . . . and we don't even realize it. How do we start?