Following the Spirit of the Age

There is a general view now, even in the church, that Christians must move in the direction of secular culture for moral reasons, that we lag in important areas rather than lead. Though it is currently focused on LGBT issues, those seem to be specific instances of a general impression of the church holding back progress.

I have previously railed against the Spirit of the Age in general, and around a particular specific. This may be my personality as much as my reason, but I at least have reason. Also - if it is my personality that leads me to that view, then could it not be that the other points of view are likewise motivated by personality and not reason?  Might they be motivated to be accepted by the world?  Perhaps the greatest failing of the church in the past 500 years is when it reversed field, abandoning what it had long labored to accomplish to follow the invitation of the secular world.

From the fall of the Roman Empire to the High Middle Ages, it was the church that beat slavery down.  This was not constant - in many times and places Christians seemed to have little to say about it and owned slaves themselves. It was not universal, as it was originally only slavery of Christians that was forbidden. It was usually replaced by serfdom, which was not much better, and then indenture, similarly bad. But over those years it worked.  There was virtually no slavery in Europe by 1500. Then the explorers and traders came back and said "C'mon, all the kids are doing it.  There's big money in slaves."

I would like to point out, just for the record, that this happened in what is called the Renaissance, that great awakening of the spirit when people began to be freed from the oppressive church. They started believing in the rights of individuals - including, apparently, the right to send 40,000,000 Africans to the New World, mostly Brazil and the Caribbean. The church followed. Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, they signed on. Some Christians objected and renewed the fight, but most of Christianity followed the world, against its own long teaching.

C'mon, all the kids are doing it.