I’ve had something on my mind for a few weeks now and it was brought back up this morning. I’m not going to go into the specifics of how these thoughts and feelings were stirred up because my goal is not to bad mouth anyone or act like I’ve got it all together and figured out and others don’t. With that said, here’s my deal…
Is it really that bad of a thing to be a Christian? It seems like when I was growing up and in the youth group, everyone was all about being “counter-cultural”. We wanted to be anti-everything about the world. We had t-shirts that made fun of/talked down on the different social issues of the times (things like abortion, drugs, premarital sex). We were all about separating ourselves from the world. The big catch phrase was, “We’re in the world, but not of the world.” But there seems to be a shift going on. Instead of being counter-cultural, it seems like many people are counter-Christian.
Seems like more and more churches are doing their best to get away from “church” things. Stuff like calling things Bible School (or Sunday School). Not having some of the more traditional things that are found in a church. Some churches even do their best to have their buildings look nothing like a stereotypical church building.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m in no way saying we need to get back to robes, hymnals, and responsive readings. I love progress and I love finding new and relevant ways to connect with God. But have the means and modes of connecting with God become our focus instead of God? Are we so afraid of calling our gatherings “church” because we’re afraid that people won’t want to be a part of our groups? Are we willing to forsake our roots and all the groundwork that others did before us just so we can seem like we’re hip?
Well, not me. I love being a Christ-follower, Christian, Bible-thumper, Conservative, Jesus-freak…whatever you wanna call me. I love that the fact that the church I serve with is proud to put the name of Christ and the label church out in the open. I think our senior minister Rick once said it best, “We are a church for people looking for church.”
So, what are your thoughts? Have crossed a line? Are we on any kind of dangerous path? Are you counter-cultural or counter-Christian or just a follower of Jesus?
That’s what im talking about man…i give an AMEN to that. Its awesome to hear another Christian brother desiring to stand strong to wanting to be what God wants us to BE.
Hi thanks for a great post. I’ll be back 🙂
Its a tough matter for me.
Just for an example, the notion of calling one’s self a Christ follower as opposed to Christian came about as damage control. It came about because you had people who called themselves Christians who really weren’t at all, they just used the title to generically acknowledge that they believe in some sort of God (after all, 80% or so of Americans call themselves Christians). You also had the people who claimed to be Christian that were actually doing bad things and hurting people with that title. A simple example of that is the abortion clinic bombers or the “God Hates Fags” church. While those people are in the minority, they are perceive to be the majority because they get the news coverage. Thus Christ Follower came about as a title merely to disassociate real Christians from the fakers or the evil ones. And I think that type of idea is what transpires through these “newer” trends. We are trying to do damage control because so many people have bad impressions of church, Christians, or even Jesus from the unfortunate negative encounters that they have had.
I mean, lets be honest here. You and me joke all the time about the “Jesus Got-R-Done” shirt… Well of course we as Christians know that Jesus did get it done and made things right between God and man, but to the average Joe (haha) that comes off as a lame joke at best, or a really offensive joke if the shirt is misconstrued. That is why I think the trend now has been to shy away from that stuff.
Its an attempt to make the gospel more accessible perhaps. Granted, the gospel in and of itself is attractive enough. But the reason we have to “sell” it is because of the red tape that has been put around it (Pharisees know what I’m talkin about.) Just an example from my ministry. My first week at West Park I had someone complaining to me that one of the girls who attends youth group always wears a Family Guy shirt. So I was commissioned with getting her not to wear it. Well, the thing is, she isn’t a Christian, so I wouldn’t expect her to be sensitive to that, and my primary concern is gonna be getting her to know the love of Christ. Once she accepts what God has done for us, then we worry about changing things in life. And things like this are everywhere.
The bottom line to me is to show your faith in lifestyle. My faith is not restrained to a t-shirt that parodies a commonly known logo to make it Jesusish, to a church building where I sing for 20 minutes, take communion, and listen to Keith preach. I try to live it through compassion, love, and honesty in my convictions. If I have to meet you in a bar to share the gospel, that would be great. If I meet you in church to share the gospel, that would be great too.
I think there should be a balance. Yes, make it accessible, but don’t sacrifice your integrity for it. And don’t limit your integrity to the traditional stuff. Let your integrity be dictated by your Biblical convictions.
I hope that makes sense…
Amen brother!
Last Wednesday night I went on a mini-rant (surprising, I know) about people using the term “Christ-folower” rather than “Christian” (we were in 1 Peter, where it says, “If any man suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in that name”), including the PC/Mac, Christian/Christ-follower parody videos. And I get Conley’s point — I know why they do it. I don’t have a problem with “Christ-follower”, but the air of superiority over those who are still old-school (and biblical) enough to prefer “Christian” is simply unnecessary and dumb.
Similarly, I have noticed people now referring to Jesus as “forgiver and leader.” Nothing wrong with that except when it is an intentional attempt to avoid the terms “Savior and Lord.” Really? That’s going to make the difference? I don’t buy it.
Let me say, for the record, I don’t use the term Christ-Follower. My personal thought is that I am a Christian, even if other people have tainted that term. It just gives me more reason to live in a way that restores it.