[ACTS-TALK] Question

I'm following this discussion (on ACTS-Talk)
http://listserv.messiah.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A0=ACTS-TALK

with interest from a number of angles and concur with the general point about the sadness of the situation where sociology and other qualifications are commodified and imagination,
creativity and the love of knowledge and wisdom for its own sake, and for
the glory of God are crushed.

As you know I love researching and writing within the social sciences
(never quite willing to pigeon hole myself within the discipline of sociology!)
though I've recently more or less given up on it and returned to community
work and urban mission practice. One factor was the sense that the acdemic
world was pressing me and colleagues towards "publications in reputable
journals" for purely instrumental reasons and there was little real concern
about extending the frontiers of knowledge, developing new perspectives or
seriously influencing the way the world, the church or the policy makers,
and in our media dominated age little possibility of achieving it. And the
small amount of teaching I was involved in appeared to be mainly about
ticking boxes and ensuring the institution recruited students next year in
order to bring in the fees that would fund its expansion.

So I dropped back out into managing a community centre for the Salvation
Army, working with homeless people and trying to encourage and resource the
churches in this city to engage with the crucial social issues of our age.
I have to say though there is a sense that the churches on the whole are just
as influenced by consumerism, where despite some resistance the focus is on
marketing the gospel, or rather the experience of church... (some of the
themes of rational choice theory in sociology of religion do seem to fit
the evidence as I observe it.. though you won't be surprised I resit it on
theoretical and theological grounds). Anyway the older I get the more
radical my discipleship wants to become... not sure if its just a grumpy
old man remembering 1968 with nostalgia or something more Christ centred!) And
I rejoice in expressing my God given creativity and a sense of wonder and
worship by growing vegetables and taking photos as much as by taking part
in church services.

The other perspective is that of my teenagers.. preparing to go to
university. I am really heartened that our son (who has not yet made an
explicit personal Christian commitment), who is bright and gifted at maths
and IT has decided as he put it that he is more interested in "making a
difference to the world" than in just making money. So he is applying to do
courses in international relations. I'm a bit worried about some of his
political perspectives but at least it won't be banking or computer
software for him. While my daughter who is the creative arty one, and very zealous
in her faith, is wanting to do art, photography, textile design and might just
be persuaded to do English as a concession to the academic world (and she
is certainly capable of high grades). I guess we fear that her problem is she
will never get round to earning a living at the same time as she has no
sense yet of when to stop shopping (with our money!)

So it may be there are hopeful signs among the young and the old alike...
For me the crucial thing in our vocation as Christians in sociology is to
keep challenging the church and the world to make those vital connections
between the sociological perspective and the life of faith and discipleship
in a complex world.. So brothers and sisters keep up the good work and keep
the faith.

Shalom