bored? try a Christian youth conference

I'm afraid I get more and more exasperated with the local rag every time I read it. For one thing, it's adopting a very tabloidy feel, in a vain attempt to make local news sound dramatic - using oversensational headlines and quoting people in terms like: "'It came as a great surprise,' revealed Colin." As if that was some big secret we'd just been told. And "'About twenty people turned up,' explained Mary," as if something puzzling had just been made clear.

But that's just style issues. This evening's rant is really about one of their columns. It's a column for teenagers, which previews and reviews all the cool things that are available for young people to do in the area. Sports groups, dances, and, this week, a Christian youth conference.

The columnist, presumably a cool young thing himself, selfconsciously admitted that he went along to this conference, and sheepishly says that actually, we had a great time ... no really guys. He quotes one of the leaders saying, Your relationship with God gives you a lifestyle for happiness and contentment. One of the attendees says, Fantastic! Jesus is the answer!

Obviously, it's good to run seminars where people learn about Christianity. Obviously, it's good if people enjoy them. Obviously, it's also good if young people aren't bored in their local communities.

But religion was never meant to be a cure for boredom. The church was never meant to compete with badminton clubs and valentines dances as a way of having fun. And 'your relationship with God,' if you have one, intrinsically must involve crosses as well as happiness, and a contentment that rises above your life circumstances rather than being produced by it.

My personal view is that when church leaders buy into the myth that Christianity can be cool, they've already sold out, and lost the one thing that makes religion worthwhile - ie, the fact that being religious should only be with a view to getting converted, and converted from a life that wants to keep up with the coolness of a world that lies in wickedness, the best parts of which are only 'vanity'. Or, to put it another way, the way they've been saying for centuries, The church that marries the spirit of the age is sure to be a widow in the next!