I really wanted to title this ‘Pre-Rapture Pet Care.’ It’s this sort of thing that gets the atheists going.
Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Seminary in the USA, comments here on an Associated Press article originally posted here, about specially targeted church Services to which people can bring their dogs.
This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Having reduced worship down to something that is pitched at the maturity level and attention span of eight year olds, the idea that a new generation is framing it with the family dog in mind is really just a logical step.
Just as children were the focus of family a generation ago, many people, now too committed to their own life-styles to actually have children, instead lavish their attention on their pets. They’ve moved on from the idol of 2.5 children to that of a Poodle or Burmese.
Oddly enough, given the propensity of dogs to actually do what they’re told and take pleasure from simply doing what their master commands, it would seem that the canine species is more suited to worship than many of their modern masters, who are only happy when doing what they want with scant regard to commands from their Master. Modern worshippers remind you more of cats.
Now, you’ll all be glad to know that this initiative is taking place in a Presbyterian Church in the USA.
The theological justification for these canine inclusive services is provided by Rev. Tom Eggebeen, (who we are told is also a dog lover: “The Bible says of God only two things in terms of an ‘is’: That God is light and God is love. And wherever there’s love, there’s God in some fashion,… and when we love a dog and a dog loves us, that’s a part of God and God is a part of that. So we honor that.”
One of the participants is described in these terms: “Sczesniak said the dog-friendly service came at the perfect time for her: she’s been thinking about getting back to church, but wasn’t sure how or where to go. “I don’t have any kids, so my pets have always been my children, so it does mean a lot,” she said of the dog-inclusive service. “I haven’t been to church in a long time and this may push me into it. I’m getting older and I’ve been thinking about those things again.”
Mohler offers eight observations about animals and their place in creation, redemption and human life. He finishes with the observation that: “the churches that offer these services are concentrated in the liberal wing of American Protestantism. The declining membership of liberal churches is matched to a loss of theological focus. Churches concerned with the preaching of the Gospel, committed to authentic evangelism and biblical preaching, are not going to demonstrate the confusion that leads to “Canines at Covenant.” It is not surprising that Covenant Presbyterian Church lists its support for same-sex marriage and opposition to California’s “Proposition 8″ defending traditional marriage on the front page of its Web site.”
When churches won’t focus on worshipping God in response to His saving call on our lives they’ll substitute the just about anything: sentimentality, music, entertainment, children or animals.
We focus on the Gospel because it is the best corrective against error in belief and practice.
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