Paradigm Shift

I had a thought today - for the first time in a long time, the church is no longer the prevailing moral authority in Western culture. The U.S. claims to be a Christian country, as does Canada, but the truth is that it is hard to be too pro anything at the risk of leaving something else out. It used to be that even though there was plenty of not 'christian' things happening, the majority of people actually went to church and that was the guiding force behind the ethical and moral decisions of the majority. To be fair, that didn't mean everyone who went to church actually believed in God - it was almost more of a social thing. This can be seen in shows like the Simpsons when they attend church regularly and are considered members of the congregation even though they obviously don't really hold to any of the teachings.
But nowadays, it seems like, though freedom of speech and religion is touted, it is difficult to espouse christian ideals and morals without being viewed as narrow minded and backwards. People believe in science and in nothing beyond what they can see. Being good is preferable, of course, but don't knock yourself out or take it too far. Relax a bit and let everyone make their own choices for what is right by them.
The problem is that the church doesn't seem ready to acknowledge this. I feel like the response that the church has to things like homosexuality and sex and marriage and divorce and other moral issues is still coming from a position of power, a position that does not exist. It is though the church is acting like the world is a child and we are the parents who must come in and scold the child and tell them what is wrong and they will change. I don't think the world works like that anymore. Truth be told, I'm not sure the world ever actually worked that way, but now people aren't willing to go along with the charade anymore.
That is not to say that the church is no longer relevant, that the message of God doesn't need to be presented. The gospel is probably more important now than it ever was. But I do think that the message may need a new method of presentation. The church can't fall back on being the moral authority anymore. People won't accept that. But they will accept love and caring and understanding that doesn't come from a mighty high horse. It's almost subversive, but not quite because God's love is genuine. People still want that. We just need to figure out how to show it to them.