Like the rest of western society, the church in the West tends to be good at helping people cope with modern life, but not at undoing the disorder of modern life. Too often the church’s response to deep societal ills has been, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled.” We offer spiritual self-improvement, prayer, counseling, medication, exercise, discipline, wealth, government aid, charity, education—all of it a Band-Aid, but we leave the disease untouched, or perhaps muted, anesthetized.
