In an apostolic age, because of the bitterness of the spiritual climate, groups of Christians face the temptation to develop an overly rigoristic attitude to faith and the moral life or to become sectarian and abandon the task of engaging and confronting the wider culture with the Gospel. There can be a tendency to “let the rest of the world go to hell” or to become dominated by a fearful attitude that robs the Gospel of its joyful and conquering spirit.
