A Pilgrimage Of Faith, J.B. Toews, 1993

hem, and only fifty percent agree that the Bible is the Word of God and is totally accurate in all its teaching,23 An article in Mennonite Brethren Herald described the variety of evangelical churches in a community, including Mennonite Brethren, as the latest venture in consumerism. People can inspect churches as they might inspect restaurants and never return to one that doesn't meet their particular taste or preference. To take adx^antage of this mentality, churches modify publicity, facilities, style of music, types of sermons and leadership so that people will attend, "Denominational- ism, dogma, discussion of sin, discipleship, or challenging the world's perspectives are not priorities in these churches,"24 Wrestling with the principalities and powers is difficult in an age when the forces of evil intrude with such stealth and subtlety Satan's deception is less frequently the outright de- 292 FAITH IN TENSION nial of truth than small, incremental distortions of truth. Thus, the systematic cultivation of the faculties of discernment is of utmost importance in wrestling with the principalities and powers. Mennonite Brethren have not always exercised this gift of discernment, especially when they sought to resist change through various forms of legalism. The struggle against televi- sion in the 1950s and 1960s, for example, was less a struggle of discernment against the spirit of the age than it was an at- tempt to maintain protective barriers against the outside world. The 1954 conference in Winnipeg issued a ruling against television as a danger of worldliness for the home and the Christian community.25 In 1962 a second signal came from the conference decrying the influence of television,26 with a fur- ther warning coming a year later. The "world," it was said, could be invited into the home with the "flip of a switch," Fi- nally, however, the church capitulated by referring the re- sponsibility for control of this intruding influence to the con- science of the individual, and especially Christian parents. The struggle with the problem as a corporate body-the church-concluded with the admonition, "Nevertheless, let us not close our eyes to the destructive effect of uncontrolled and indiscriminate viewing of television programs,"27 The bat- tle against television, waged from a position of cultural isola- tion, was ineffective. Today it is a rare Mennonite Brethren home that does not have one or more television sets. Very likely the need for discernment on this matter is now greater than ever. To be a people in the world but not of the