Has the church neglected the arts in the last century? Franky Shaeffer argues that it has. We've gone from the magnificent works of Raphael, Durer, and Carravagio and reduced ourselves to bumper sticker slogans and kitschy trinkets promising to build our faith and remind us of our wonderful loving god.

I don't know about anyone else, but somehow I don't know how purchasing an eraser saying, "Jesus Loves You" or any other of the tacky knick-knacks out there are beneficial to anyone but the distributor. It didn't take me but a 30 second search on Christianbook.com before I found, the "Whatever is Lovely candle Crock," or the "Full armor of God" playset or my favorite, the Amen Game which is described as follows:

If you like the card game Uno, you'll love Amen! The object of this challenging game is to get all your cards into the center pile---but it's not so easy when everyone else is doing the same. Cards like ''Trial,'' ''Sin,'' and ''Temptation'' force you to add to your hand. But if you hold ''Prayer,'' ''Ask,'' and ''Blessing'' cards, give yourself another turn or even reverse the direction of play. For two or more players, ages 7 to adult.

The list goes on and on--Christian-afied toys, ornaments, and games. Cutesy slogans adorn mugs, t-shirts, keychains, and wall hangings. Is it really any wonder people shy away from exploring the possibility of God and Jesus? The tackiness that permeates Christendom hardly compares to the works of art created a couple centuries ago. I don't think a God is my Pilot and Jesus is my Co-Pilot bumpersticker will ever take anyone's breath away the way visiting Michelangelo's Pieta for the first time might.

Have our lives become too distracted from that which is beautiful and lovely?