Modern Worship and more

[Avid Listener]

As far as getting up and leaving - did people have to go to the bathroom during the sermon on the mount? Did they have disruptive kids / pressing family matters / have to get to their jobs - and leave? Of course! Personally I'd have held it, because that was pivotal.

As Jesus told the multitude, if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery in his heart. Gos searches the heart, and knows what is motivating us. If someone leaves a worship service for a reason that is not rude, God knows that reason, and would not consider it rude. If someone leaves a worship service in protest over a piece of music, God knows that reason, and God sees it as rude. It is up to God to determine what action is appropriate as a response. My best guess is that God's action would be forgiveness.

It is not our place to pass judgement, but we are admonished in Scripture to be watchful of each other. It is even spelled out how to approach a brother in the church to encourage him to cease from improper actions.

And be careful about saying no one was ever rebuked. Jesus did rebuke Peter, James, and John at Gethsemane for falling asleep during a prayer vigil.

 

[vchimpanzee]

This is not protest. This is about something that is TOO LOUD. I won't be judgmental and call it an abomination because it seems clear that this is muisc seems to have clear Christian message and the people doing it aren't doing anything wrong, except driving me away because I can't be around it. I once suggested to a former pastor in an email the problem could be solved if they'd just TURN IT DOWN. I got no response. Maybe it was because it was anonymous, but she had already taken a "God approves, so it must be all right" stand.

If you aren't in that spirit of worship and drawing closer to Christ along with the person next to you - change the station or change the church! It - is - NOT - THAT - DIFFICULT! Do it the moment you are uncomfortable, do it without judging the guy next to you who IS worshipping, and find your niche quickly so you stay in fellowship with other believers.

But this is what happened with me. I don't immediately need to find another church because the crisis will go away soon. But my "niche" is outside where it is quiet and I don't have to get upset over the situation.

In some cases, just being in the Sunday School classroom is enough and I can actually hear the words with the music at a respectable volume and, therefore, the message. That wasn't true in this case because there were these drums, and I just had to leave at that point.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

This is not protest. This is about something that is TOO LOUD.

There are people with very sensitive hearing. You may be one. To them, many things are loud that would not be to others. Look at video of any rock concert. Venue workers, security, and other staff are wearing cuffs or earplugs. They know repeated exposure to the volume is dangerous. There is no health warning because it is assumed the concert goer is occasional and not regular. I think that is wrong. From an early age I fashioned earplugs out of tissue. I have the sensitive hearing. Loud is physically painful. I can relate. If that is your problem, you have my sympathy. If it is the old "drums are evil voodoo tools of the devil argument", I have nothing more to say other than "toph" Look it up. Its a drum. It is in the Bible. The anti-drum crowd needs to get over it, and get a healthy dose of Biblical scholarship.

I probably shared the story of the woman who interrupted me while I was working a sound booth - a very common place for we radio people to serve in a church! She was out of line. I should never have let her move me away from my post. You don't leave the board. Not a good idea in radio, not a good idea in the church. Although bathroom breaks happen in 4 hour radio shifts. Better put on a LONG song! Or have relief in the studio. I should have told the woman - either leave, or come back next week with hearing protection. Either way, the burden was and should always be on her. Which is my suggestion to you. If the volume of church music hurts - get the cuffs or the plugs! There is no disgrace in using hearing protection. It may make you look strange to others, but it also sends a message "maybe the music is too loud". Plugs are less obvious than cuffs. I assume that if the volume issue is solved, you would have no problem with the music other than you just don't like the style. But you know it is wrong to judge others who do and you are willingly in a service where the style is performed, and that is part of what you willingly attended to get. I think you will find that the 30 to 35 dB reduction in volume is more than enough to stop the pain, and protect your hearing. Just think spiritual thoughts to yourself while an objectionable song is on, then worship to the ones you like. Earplugs will make the music a bit "bass-ey", but you will be able to hear everything just fine. When the music is over, whip the plugs out for the sermon, all is right with the world.

Radio is a different experience. You control the volume. I just make sure I don't overmodulate and clip and I've done my job. The listener has to (1) tune properly and (2) adjust the volume to a desired level and the listening experience is set! Too bad for you church services don't have multiple music channels and volume controls! Although that does bring some interesting ideas to mind - if churches do audio feeds for the deaf, in theory there is nothing stopping them from having multiple music feeds during worship. But everybody singing different songs would really be a joyful noise! A lot of churches use micro power FM for audio as it is. I could sometimes DX one at my house.

 

[Avid Listener]

This is not protest. This is about something that is TOO LOUD. I won't be judgmental and call it an abomination because it seems clear that this is muisc seems to have clear Christian message and the people doing it aren't doing anything wrong, except driving me away because I can't be around it. I once suggested to a former pastor in an email the problem could be solved if they'd just TURN IT DOWN. I got no response. Maybe it was because it was anonymous, but she had already taken a "God approves, so it must be all right" stand.

This is what you originally said.

I didn't go to my church two weeks ago, but I asked what they did. I was told they had a regular service. I asked what about the fourth Sunday. Someone said if they're going to promise to have these services, then they need to be there for them.

I don't know if that's a good sign, but I'd be happy.

Yesterday, though, while it was a traditional service otherwise, I knew in advance that a soloist was going to sing, so I made sure to sneak out. I only went as far as a Sunday School classroom, but I could clearly hear the service on a speaker in the hall. And then I heard a soft guitar, and figured this wasn't so bad. Then there were these pounding drums and I was out the door. I don't get it. There are all these old people. How can they stand it?

At my church, it's not really that unusual for people to be walking down the hall in the middle of the service. I think a lot of them need to use the restroom, or there are restless kids. Now my aunt had a pastor whose previous church had some really traditional Christians who didn't want to do anything for young people, so the pastor's kids didn't feel welcome. And his wife had a medical problem which caused her to need to use the restroom frequently. They didn't like her doing that during the service.

At no point did you make it clear that the only issue you had was with the volume level being more than you could physically stand. If you want to communicate something, and not be misunderstood, you need to make a better effort to make what you say clearer. Based on your prior posts in other threads and even other forums about your dislike of certain musical styles, and the lack of specificity in this post about the only issue being an excessive volume level, you are being unfair to everyone who misunderstood your original meaning in the post I copied above.

And note the highlighted section. You didn't leave because it was too loud. You left before you knew if it would be too loud or not. And, though you mentioned "pounding drums", there was nothing to indicate that the problem was the volume of the drums or just your dislike of a pronounced beat.

In short, if you say it clearly the first time, there won't be so many people that misunderstand what you really meant in the first place.

 

[vchimpanzee]

It's more than just the volume level, though there was once a Southern gospel quartet at my aunt's church and they used the sound system, even though these guys had no need for microphones in that tiny sanctuary. They even put their backup instruments on the sound system and after two songs I saw that people were leaving to go get lunch ready in the other building, so I followed them. My intention was to listen on the baby monitor in the nursery (if someone is in the nursery they can hear the service). I don't recall actually listening to any more of their singing, so maybe someone was in the nursery, but that lasted for a while. I ate lunch afterward. But I just couldn't stand that noise any more.

When it's the music that they play at my church, it doesn't have to be quite that loud to bother me. I can just be in the hall and I don't want to hear any more. The volume inside the sanctuary is way louder. There's no sense in either the singers or the instruments being any louder than the pastor just making announcements or preaching his sermon.

Earplugs would just complicate the situation. If I found some solution that would make the noise level tolerable when it was the worst, and I didn't make a change, I wouldn't be able to hear the rest of the service.

I leave early (usually when people are shaking hands, because a number of people leave the sanctuary intending to come back during that time) because I have to assume the worst on those Sundays when a soloist sings or a group sings with recorded music. I come back when that part is over. It's a solution that works and no one has said anything to me. It hasn't happened all that often lately.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

It's a solution that works and no one has said anything to me. It hasn't happened all that often lately.

I am glad you have a solution that works. It sounds like you are well beyond the phase of judging musical style as it relates to other's worship, which is giant step forward for you. YES!!!! I got to admit - when I attend a church and hear music I don't like, I don't worship either. If somebody turned up opera music loud - I have a pierced eardrum from an artillery shell blowing up near me - it would be physically painful for me to hear some opera music at loud volumes and I would be looking for the door as well. But there would be no judgement on my part except for the fact: I really don't like opera.

I donated about 400 southern gospel and praise band albums to someone who liked that type of music, kept the 20 or so albums by Stryper and other people. I was happy to give the others to someone who like the music.

As for radio, I'm not on the air right now, but I could definitely tell you which stations and streams you would probably want to avoid, and that is OK with me. Your taste is no threat to me, certainly not to God - nor is my taste any threat to you. I would never impose my taste on you, unless you choose to tune it in on one of the outlets where it is available, and I know you wouldn't want to impose your taste on me, so as far as I am concerned we are good.

 

[anotherguyTN]

If it's volume that's the issue, there are some preachers that are just as guilty if not more so at times. I've said before in other threads I'd rather hear loud CCM than a screaming preacher. Add false doctrine to that and I'll be more likely to walk out.

I've also said before that what's being preached from the pulpit is more important than what music is being played. I prefer a contemporary or blended service, but I'm OK with a totally traditional service at times as long as they aren't blatantly anti-CCM and the doctrine being preached is Biblically sound.

 

[vchimpanzee]

It sounds like you are well beyond the phase of judging musical style as it relates to other's worship, which is giant step forward for you.

I'm not as far along as you think, but others have made points that I can't dispute.

 

[anotherguyTN]

If it's volume that's the issue, there are some preachers that are just as guilty if not more so at times. I've said before in other threads I'd rather hear loud CCM than a screaming preacher. Add false doctrine to that and I'll be more likely to walk out.

I've also said before that what's being preached from the pulpit is more important than what music is being played. I prefer a contemporary or blended service, but I'm OK with a totally traditional service at times as long as they aren't blatantly anti-CCM and the doctrine being preached is Biblically sound.

A little more on this subject because I was short on time yesterday: There is an Independent Baptist church in the Memphis area that advertises on the radio that they do church "the way it used to be" and that they have "conservative worship." In looking at their website they say in effect that they're anti-CCM and KJV Only. If a church advertises they're anti-CCM and KJV Only (which seem to go together in most IFB churches in my area), that's enough to make me not consider them in looking for a church, even if in most cases I might be in agreement on a big part of what they teach otherwise.

I've said before that when IFBs get to Heaven that I hope their neighbor is a long haired NIV toting Christian rock singer.

 

[vchimpanzee]

That radio station I found which I mention on another topic is WKJV. Obviously with those letters they will be KJV only. I like a translation that I can understand and I can see why some would have a problem with other translations. How do they know the translation was done correctly?

But for the length of time I expect to be listening to this station, hopefully I'll just hear good music and not anything that would bother me. But you haven't heard the Bible read until you've heard it read by the man on BBN.

I noticed a church near where I live has traditional worship and blended worship. I've never heard of doing that. Usually if you're going to have a contemporary service, it's a contemporary service.

On the other hand, I don't think the church I went to before the one I go to now even has a traditional service. They had one to begin with but it was at 8:30 and the least popular. 11:00 was what we would call blended. 9:49 is still contemporary. But when I was there, it was a very traditional church in the inner city with a pipe organ and a very large sanctuary with only a few people on Sunday morning and no kids in Sunday School.They helped a new suburban church which was starting from scratch and calling people in the surrounding neighborhoods. The new church met in several locations before building a building of their own. Some people at the church I went to, after my father retired and we moved, were reluctant to merge, but they realized that was the only solution. Some people left the church entirely. But when we visited (and I don't even recall whether the service we went to was traditional) before the new building was complete, when the Seventh Day Adventists were sharing their building, people were there that had not attended the church I went to in years.

I have one more comment. My father and I went to church with my aunt when we would visit her occasionally. In the late 90s we were at Sunday School and there was all this noise. Drums and guitars, and it got on my nerves. I didn't consider they might have a contemporary service and I don't even recall if their big new fellowship hall was ready. That would have been a more appropriate place and wouldn't have disturbed us. But at 11 I went in the sanctuary and those evil musical instruments were still there. That led me to believe they were intended for use at 11 and that what I had heard was the rehearsal. I looked at the bulletin and it was pretty clear what was going to happen. Needless to say I wasn't around. I was reluctant to ever go to that church again, but my aunt assured me that what they did that was different happened early in the service so if I got there late, it would be over. Usually it was. And they had a contemporary service for a while. That ended.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

That radio station I found which I mention on another topic is WKJV. Obviously with those letters they will be KJV only. I like a translation that I can understand and I can see why some would have a problem with other translations. How do they know the translation was done correctly?

and those evil musical instruments were still there.

About translations - I have a framed manuscript from an authorized version 1611 King James Bible hanging on my wall. Yes, it is 403 years old. NOBODY but NOBODY would use this as their Bible if it were a complete Bible. To begin with, it is about 20 inches by 14 inches, which would be a massive book. Secondly - the lowercase "s" in most cases looks like a lowercase "f" without the cross bar. Thirdly - it came from my father, who collected manuscripts. When I told him the story of the fools over at av1611.org who think the 1611 KJV Bible floated down out of heaven on a parachute or something - he sought out the one page of the real original King James Bible with an error in it - the get the gender of a Biblical woman wrong. Thousands were printed before the error was discovered - they tried to recall them but many of the Bibles and pages with mistakes survive. I have one. So much for "inerrancy". The KJV was translated from the Latin Vulgate, itself full of mistakes and compromises from earlier translations, not one of which survives from earlier than 80 AD. Most from considerably later. I still love those folks over at av1611.org - they are so consistent in their foolishness on some topics, and right on 90% of them.

You mention "evil instruments". I guess you are right, you have some growing to do spiritually. A musical instrument is an apparatus to produce sound. It is neither inherently evil nor good. It is merely and inanimate object. The same instrument that can be used to praise God can be used to praise the devil. I am not going to get into the whole "drums are evil because of voodoo" argument because it is RACIST. I am NOT a racist. Voodoo is an evil religion, the people practicing it are deceived. Their music is misuse of musical instruments, no more, no less.

When I put myself out there on the air, anybody with a radio can tune in the show. That includes some real nutcases, and I had some unpleasant experiences with them. One CCM opponent cursing out a sweet little 14 year old volunteer on the phone, another bursting into the studio brandishing a weapon. My experience with people who do not like Christian rock has not been good - their behavior anything but Christlike. Suffice it to say - WAPN now has a sturdy lock on the door, and a peephole so you can see who is at the door. The days of trusting everybody because it is a Christian station were OVER. Security for the station, its equipment, but most especially God's people inside is a priority. It is a shame that opponents of Christian rock, in some cases, choose to express their displeasure through the avenue of violence and terrorism. It does tend to influence my attitude about who is more Christlike and whose position is more aligned with how Christ would have us behave. I am not saying that you or anybody else who is opposed to Christian rock is necessarily evil like that, but be careful of judgement, be careful of where your opposition is coming from, and how you express that opposition.

I appeared on the conservative, hymns and preaching station occasionally as a guest commentator. Those were sweet, nice people. I like the lady that ran the station - I think it was in Adrian, Michigan. We had a half hour discussing the American Family association. Her station met a need, I am glad it was there for people that wanted it. WSAE was the station for kids - and me - and that is where most of my broadcast efforts, donations, and time went because it was changing kid's lives. You would hate the station, and to me that is a problem because why would you hate a station that is changing kid's lives? What is your motivation?

 

[vchimpanzee]

It was the 90s when those "evil instruments" were there. That was a sacred place and to me, those instruments belonged in the fellowship hall, where they could still be used for good but they wouldn't be so disruptive.

 

[Avid Listener]

Some random thoughts about translations and musical instruments

When King James ordered the creation of the English language Bible that bears his name, the Church of England had already split from the Roman Catholic Church. The church of Rome had access to a great many earlier manuscripts, mostly in Greek, that their scholars used to create the Latin translation used in churches. The English scholars doing the KJV translation did not have access to those earlier materials, and the accuracy of their translation suffered from that absence. Also, they were translating to the same sort of archaic English that Shakespeare also used. To 21st century English speakers, some of the words that meant one thing in the KJV mean something very different today.

Here is one example. In the early 1600's, "charity" referred to an emotional feeling that sometimes manifested itself through the giving of alms to the poor, or other unselfish acts. When they needed a word to translate from the Latin word that was used in place of the Greek word "agape", they chose "charity", which was correctly understood by readers in the 1600's. But to those of us in the 21st (or even 20th) century, charity had come to mean the alms themselves, not the emotional feeling that prompted people to give them. The result is a passage in 2nd Corinthians that is misread as giving alms to the poor is more important than faith or hope.

There are also those who claim that when later translations came along, some of God's words were left out. That's because it takes fewer words to say something now than it sometimes did in the early 16th century. For example, now we'd say, "They went to Peter's house". That's only five words. In the early 16th century, they'd say, "They didst go unto the house that did belong unto Peter." That's 11 words to say the same thing.

As for "evil instruments" and "sacred places", my Christian faith tradition teaches that God is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere. There is no place where God is not present. Therefore, no place can be any more sacred than any other place, because any and every place where God is present is a sacred place.

I'm also reminded of the condemnation that the early leaders of my Christian faith tradition received when we started having the congregation sing along with the clergy during the liturgy, and to even sing hymns! Those outside of my faith tradition were aghast when we started using hymnals, actual printed books with hymns in them for the congregations to sing. One of them, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, a paraphrase of Psalm 46, was even written in an extremely rhythmic meter! When Martin Luther first composed the hymn, he used the instrument that he knew how to play, the lute. The lute of Luther's day was a direct forerunner of the guitar!

And when someone invented the new-fangled pipe organ (the devil's own instrument many said at the time!), it was people from my faith tradition, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, who composed some of the greatest works of religious music ever written. And they performed it on the pipe organ, demonstrating that those who mistakenly called it the devil's instrument were flat out wrong.

Narrow minded people are nothing new. All religions have been afflicted with the curse of judgemental, narrow-minded people who think they know God's mind better than anyone else. All the rest of us can hope to do is to illuminate those suffering from narrow-mindedness with the truth, in hopes that the scales might fall from their eyes. This goes for people spreading their narrow-mindedness in churches, and those same people doing the same thing at radio stations.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I'm also reminded of the condemnation that the early leaders of my Christian faith tradition received when we started having the congregation sing along with the clergy during the liturgy, and to even sing hymns!

I feel the same way about NOT using hymnals.

But I would have a hard time seeing words on a screen.

Every 25 years the Methodist Church has produced a new hymnal. It's time. Or maybe not. Not if some churches don't even use them.

Yes, you've made your point, but please allow me to desire real hymns and pipe organs.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Narrow minded people are nothing new. All religions have been afflicted with the curse of judgmental, narrow-minded people who think they know God's mind better than anyone else. All the rest of us can hope to do is to illuminate those suffering from narrow-mindedness with the truth, in hopes that the scales might fall from their eyes. This goes for people spreading their narrow-mindedness in churches, and those same people doing the same thing at radio stations.

Back in the late 1960s we had not yet become as accepting of the arrival of new translations. I had a "high profile" job at the time and a committee that wanted to distribute a copy of "Good News for Modern Man" also known as "Today's English Version" to every home in our metro area asked me to be on their committee and help them recruit workers for the event, and prepare people for the day someone would knock on their door and present to them their very own copy. (New Testament only) This was a city endowed and blessed with a lot of Fundamentalists. (This is not intended to be an insult or name calling. That is what they called themselves. The Fundamental Baptist Associtation took us on head-to-head over the project.

The American Bible Society had brought this new version about, and the New Testament was the translation work of ONE individual. I think his first name was Robert but I know his last name was BRATCHER who had been a seminary professor in South America for the Southern Baptists. (When the Old Testament was later translated, multiple translator folks were involved.) So I carted Dr. Bratcher around the city to meet with and speak with various folks and groups. The high-point of this tour was a meeting one day with the students and faculty of the local Fundamentalist Bible College. All of these kinds of issues like the word "charity" were aired very enthusiastically.

The experience gave me a whole new attitude about dealing with 'the translations' and I learned the difference between a translation and a paraphrase.

If I need to prepare a presentation on a Biblical topic, I like to have 4 or 5 translations handy and compare them. You figure out very quickly what everyone agrees on.... and which words are in dispute and maybe need some background information.... like the example AVID LISTENER gave about the word 'charity'.

One final thought: Yes, there are narrow minded judgmental people in the world of church, the world of radio stations... and I would add politics to that list also.

 

[Avid Listener]

Yes, you've made your point, but please allow me to desire real hymns and pipe organs.

It is not my place to grant anyone permission to desire whatever they want. Why should your desire to have what you want trump my desire to advocate more open-mindedness on matters of adiaphora?

If I need to prepare a presentation on a Biblical topic, I like to have 4 or 5 translations handy and compare them. You figure out very quickly what everyone agrees on.... and which words are in dispute and maybe need some background information.... like the example AVID LISTENER gave about the word 'charity'.

There are several editions published with include as many as eight parallel translations in one book. Friends of my who went to seminary often have copies. They include several in English, as well as Latin and Greek. I also rely on my own Oxford Study Bible, which contains almost as much in the way of annotations as it does in actual text.

One final thought: Yes, there are narrow minded judgmental people in the world of church, the world of radio stations... and I would add politics to that list also.

One thing I regret not making clear in my earlier post was that I was only referring to adiaphora, not core theology. Which translates in the world of politics to "core" values.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

It is not my place to grant anyone permission to desire whatever they want. Why should your desire to have what you want trump my desire to advocate more open-mindedness on matters of adiaphora?

// s n i p //

One thing I regret not making clear in my earlier post was that I was only referring to adiaphora, not core theology. Which translates in the world of politics to "core" values.

Aha! A very Lutheran word. You sent me to the dictionary with that one. I'll have to think about that one for a while.

But my first reaction is: Like the flea-market and yard-sale philosophy: "One man's junk is another man's treasure".... in the world where people examine their inner-most beliefs.... "One man's adiaphora may be another man's core belief."

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Yes, you've made your point, but please allow me to desire real hymns and pipe organs.

Welcome to a world of deeper faith and more sincere love for your Christian brothers and sisters. Of course we allow you a desire for real hymns and pipe organs - to the degree you allow us our desire for guitars and drums and contemporary music. We live in peace and tolerance for each other. Sounds a lot like Jesus' world view, doesn't it?!

It is so easy to have this on the radio where a different station is a tuning dial away. Locally, the KHCB listeners merely tune to 105.7 to have their preference, and I tune to KSBJ HD-2 as my preference. I had assumed the same solution worked for churches. The time spent in preparation and driving to attend one could be used to attend a different one. But when you social contacts and friends are involved, it is a different experience from radio.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Back in the late 1960s we had not yet become as accepting of the arrival of new translations. I had a "high profile" job at the time and a committee that wanted to distribute a copy of "Good News for Modern Man" also known as "Today's English Version" to every home in our metro area asked me to be on their committee and help them recruit workers for the event, and prepare people for the day someone would knock on their door and present to them their very own copy. (New Testament only) This was a city endowed and blessed with a lot of Fundamentalists. (This is not intended to be an insult or name calling. That is what they called themselves. The Fundamental Baptist Associtation took us on head-to-head over the project.

A bit off the radio topic --- when I was a bit more physically fit, I did youth ministry. The first thing I did was a "bible inspection". What I found was 80% King James with an assortment of other translations. It didn't take me long to realize the problem with youth ministry isn't illiteracy - it is alliteracy. Kids know how to read, they just choose not to. I also discovered that junior and high school reading skills are nowhere near where I was when I went to school. King James was completely beyond their capabilities. I purchased easier translations with my own money. The results were immediate and dramatic! I kept getting comments like "I never knew that was in the Bible" "It is fun to read the Bible now" "I can understand it now" "I don't mind reading it now". I would rather they be reading any translation, paraphrase, or condensation of the Bible than not reading it all. Ours ended up being the class with 100% attendance each Sunday. Ours was the class that gave up secular radio and only listened to Christian radio. Ours was the class that went out and picketed abortion. Ours was the class organizing voting drives - even though the kids themselves couldn't vote yet. Some of my announcers came out of that class - fanatics for taking back the airwaves. And good announcers they were, good enough that secular stations in the area started trying to hire them away. All because they were actually READING the Bible and ACTING on what they read! We can argue translations later. Let's get people saved first, then fret the details later. King James - good for 1611. Not so good today.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Aha! A very Lutheran word. You sent me to the dictionary with that one. I'll have to think about that one for a while.

But my first reaction is: Like the flea-market and yard-sale philosophy: "One man's junk is another man's treasure".... in the world where people examine their inner-most beliefs.... "One man's adiaphora may be another man's core belief."

Would that be equal to what I've heard called essentials or basics vs. non-essentials?