The Church is called to be a holy seductress. We tend to get tripped up in the negative connotations of seduction and leave the notion to the nasty side. But God Himself is the premier seducer: “Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing the goodness of teh Lord lkeads to repenrance" (Rom 2:4) When drawing Israel to Himself He gave her embroidered cloth, sandals, fine linen, silk bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and a beautiful crown, and her “fame went out among the nations" because of her beauty, "for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowerd on her (Ezek 16:10ff)
In our latent Gnosticism, we tend to despise teh centrality of beauty and goodness in our countercultural battles. We're so busy boycotting or teaching against pagan worldviews that we have little time actually to create anything ourselves “always learning and never able to... the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:7)—always teaching, never actually living.
..Different parts of the body, creating different things, some swinging at the idols, more showing hospitality, creativity and robust laughter. Then as The Black Prince of Modernity continues to lash out in all his unimaginative pettiness, we're there fighting nobly, seducing beautifully. And he will marvel at Christ's church in all her splendor..
from "Seductive Respect," the appendix to Douglas Wilson's "A Serrated Edge: A Brief Defense of Biblical Satire and Trinitarian Skylarking." pp 120-121
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