I want to preface this post with the confession and admission that I have and still get wrapped into all of these things–and they are not inherently bad. What is inherently bad is when we start to become the cultured Christian who doesn’t recognize the difference between the lifestyle, and what is was supposed to be about in the first place, and thus begin worshiping it rather than our Savior.
It is so hard not to get wrapped up in the whirlwind of the Christian vernacular, or the ‘rights of passage’, even the style and current ‘hipsterness’ of it all, and everything we think we need to do to fill the boots of a ‘solid’ Christian. However, I don’t want to look like other ‘solid’ Christians–I want to look more like Christ. I think that it turns a lot of people off, because unfortunately often people watch the Christian and not Christ or His teachings in scripture. By no means does this mean that we should try and control what others think of us, but we have been told to be the light of the world, to no longer conform to the patterns of this world, and that means that instead of remembering the formula for the rad Christian, we strip Christian culture of its validity and give it to the one who deserves all praise.
The hard part about it is that all of the things that make up Christian culture we think add to our identity as believers, they show others who we are. Sometimes rights of passage, language, the journals, and the things that we say to each other, the good works are things we think we can reach out and grab, because faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance in what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1) and that is much harder to grab onto in our human desperateness to be in unity and fullness. But truth be told, from personal experience without a soul desperate for Christ and the power of Him within us, grabbing for those things is like trying to catch smoke with your hands. It slips through and falls short.
I don’t ever want to say, “oh I’ll pray for you!” and have it be an expression, I don’t ever want to wear Toms on my feet but have sinful thoughts in my heart, I don’t want to throw around words like intentional or stretching and just use them as fillers in sentences. I don’t want go out and say or do something un-Christlike, and then go do service to justify or level out the playing field. I don’t want to read all the right books, and then have an empty heart that numbs those meaningful words and stories. I don’t want to profess Christ as the center of my life, all the while I am attempting to make him a supporting actor and myself the star. I don’t want to rock out at a Christian concert where crazy worship is encouraged and common, and then be afraid to praise Him openly in the streets when it’s not ‘normal’
Community is so important, but what happens when we start to make fans of ourselves instead of followers of Him. What happens when we put culture before Christ? Sometimes the devil tries to reach my heart even after I’ve realized how He has tried to use culture to distract from Christ, and I just see the depths of my brokenness and failure to seek the heart of Him. And then I remember, nope. You don’t get that victory. His power is sufficient in my weakness, He fills in the gaps. I am not responsible for fixing Christian culture. I can share my feelings about it, not fall into it and away from Jesus. But He will not be overshadowed, such greatness cannot be overcome.
Like I said, I have done all of these things. And all of the above things in the Christian culture can be good, but only if they are far second, mere side effects of our living out our purpose for our marvelous King. I’m sorry Lord for the things I’ve tried to make this, to make you. Not at all that it would work, because you are the same papa I fell in love with yesterday, 2 seconds ago, and next Thursday. Nevertheless, since I didn’t grow up in this culture it is still enticing to me to belong and submerge myself into it, but I will approach my journey to the World Race and when I am on it with a full awareness that it’s not about the words I use, or all the countries I’ve been to, or the clothes I wear, or the music I listen to…it is about being the light and bringing Jesus everywhere I go not allowing the mere figments of our culture to distract me.
