The Great God Entertainment is
ardently worshipped by many, for there are millions who cannot
live without amusement. Life without some form of entertainment,
for them, is simply intolerable. They look forward to the blessed
relief afforded by professional entertainers and other forms
of psychological narcotics, as a dope addict looks to his daily
shun of heroin. No one with common human feeling
will object to the simple pleasures of life, nor to such harmless
forms of entertainment as may help to relax the nerves and
refresh the mind exhausted by toil. Such things, if used with
discretion, may be a blessing along the way. However, the all-out
devotion to entertainment as a major activity for which and
by which men live is definitely something else. The abuse of
a harmless thing is the essence of sin. The growth of the amusement
phase of human life, to such fantastic proportions, is a portent,
a threat to the souls of modern men. It has been built into a
multi-million dollar racket, with greater power over human
minds and human character than any other educational influence
on earth. And the ominous thing is that
its power is almost exclusively evil, rotting the inner life,
crowding out eternal thoughts which would fill the souls of
men, if they were but worthy to entertain them. The whole
thing has grown into a veritable religion which holds its devotees
with a strange fascination, and a religion, incidentally, against
which it is now dangerous to speak. For centuries the Church
stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing
it for what it was, a device for wasting time, a refuge from
the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention
from moral accountability. For this, the Church got herself
abused by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired
of the abuse, and has given up the struggle. She appears to
have decided that if she cannot conquer the great God Entertainment,
then she may as well join forces with him, and make what use she
can of his powers. So, today we have the astonishing
spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy
job of providing earthly entertainment for so-called Christians. Religious
entertainment is in many churches rapidly crowding out the serious
things of God. Many churches these days have
become little more than theaters where fifth-rate producers peddle
their shoddy wares with the full approval of ministers who can
even quote a holy text in defense of their amusements. And hardly
a man dares raise his voice against it. The great God Entertainment
amuses His devotees mainly by telling them stories. The love
of stories, which is a characteristic of childhood, has taken fast
hold of the minds of the retarded saints of our day, so much so
that not a few persons manage to make a comfortable living
by spinning yarns and serving them up in various disguises
to church people. What is natural and beautiful
in a child becomes shocking when it persists into adulthood, and
more so when it appears in the sanctuary and seeks to pass for
true religion. Is it not a strange thing that
the professed followers of the Lord should be giving themselves
up to religious amusements? It is simply astonishing that
vast numbers of churchgoers should revert to spiritual childhood
and clamor for religious toys.