Anything can take you away from God, if you let it. Addiction is possession.
Nothing can take you away from God if you don’t allow it to do so.
I do take these things seriously. Jonathan Pageau is one of my favorite living thinkers and he disagrees with me, to an extent.
The key for me is ignorance. We are ignorant to the depth of meaning in Christian rituals, but that doesn’t mean that we are misusing them. It does mean that Christian rituals can be distorted to worship false gods. Just look at any church during playoffs.
Because these are meant to be spaces dedicated to the worship of God and emulation of Christ, I end up leaving as soon as there’s a celebration of government holidays, local sports teams, or innumerable secular idols.
Whether it’s a jiu-jitsu, yoga, Lego, grocery, retail, museum, arboreteum, etc., etc…space, I know it wasn’t designed with God in mind and isn’t run with Christ at the center. That doesn’t make me fearful. I know God is in these spaces and my intention is to be aware of Him and and align my actions, words, and thoughts with His Will as closely as I am able.
