Over the last few weeks a number of events have occurred where the response has surprised me. Surprised me because there has been no response from Christians. I expect that as I write the following paragraphs many will be angry with me.

Here are some examples of what I mean.

• the new CEO of Yahoo announcing that she will take two weeks maternity leave after giving birth. I would have thought that questioning not the individual, but the way in which our society naturally prioritises workforce over family and the expectation that both parenting and leading a company can be done well without compromising either puts so much pressure on mothers everywhere.

• the comments by people who pledge to not drink alcohol for the month in order to raise money for cancer therapy under the Dry July program. Almost everyone interviewed has spoken of their grumpiness and the distancing from normal social life as a consequence of doing this. I am surprised that we have not been shocked by the expectation that alcohol is an almost necessary social lubricant.

 Why you wouldn’t say anything

To comment on such things will inevitably paint Christians as wowsers, people who want to restrict pleasure and choice. After all, to question the advisability of taking two weeks maternity leave sounds like we are undermining a woman’s career choice. To comment about Dry July sounds as if we do not want to support cancer research and are opposed to enjoying alcohol.

So I want us to be very careful.

 What is at stake?

But I do want to question our non response. Every public activity or slight changing in what a group does influences the whole society. But the changes commonly occur not at once, but incrementally, just a little change at a time. My hunch is that because the changes are slight and we do not want to seem like wowsers we decide it is not worth engaging in a battle.

But my problem is that behind many changes stand advertisers or companies that are seeking greater profit, not the common good, and it is our place to warn of the consequences of following, down a particular pathway.

And why should Christians do this? Whether people acknowledge it or not, God gives wisdom to His people through the understanding of His Word by His Spirit. So we do have capacity to view reality properly and so to warn.

But I think the problem is even greater than that. Behind the advertisers and profit seekers lies idolatry that we have a responsibility to expose.

Like an idolatry that thinks my self fulfillment is the most important thing in life. No. God made us for relationships, and relationships mean we will forego seeking maximizing our potential for the good of others.

Things like the idolatry of pursuing stress reduction. Even when it leads others astray and causes so many social problems.

The two examples I have given make me think of the many other areas we should be involved in. Things like the idolatry of greed as seen in our society and government obsession with gambling, and the idolatry of chasing middle class comfort at the expense of the glory of God, or our willingness to compromise ethics on the basis of “if I don’t do it, someone else will”.

I really am sounding like a wowser now. But if I am serious about this, the way I must start is in calling on myself to put into practice what I am expecting others to do. And it scares me. I wonder if this is one of the reasons I have hesitated in past days.