The Christian Culture Phenomenon

Something that I've become increasingly aware of since leaving the "Liberty Bubble" is the fact that, in many ways, I've been more a member of Christian culture than a member of the Church for much of my walk with Christ. I've hopped on board the devotionals, charity efforts, new music, and lexicon like the rest of my Christian peer group only to see that, in retrospect, many of these things were trends-- fads that perhaps started out being about Jesus but ended up being about Christian culture.

Since leaving college, I've attended two churches-- neither of which are contemporary in nature, and neither of which are chalk full of other people my age. The result has been really interesting. In some ways I feel like my faith has suffered as a result; contemporary music connects with me so much more than hymns. I'm not sure why, but it just does. There are some weeks where I go an entire service without really paying attention to a word I've sung. In that regard, I miss being in a contemporary church. In many more ways, however, the experience has been invaluably eye opening.

My pastor does not preach from a stool, basking underneath a smokey purple hue on a stage, latte in one hand and ipad in the other. The people who sit in the pew behind me are, on average, at least twenty years older than I am. There is a box of donuts sitting in the foyer as opposed to a cafe. The people who make the most effort to connect with the college group are grandparents. The only context in which I see an acoustic guitar is in my office collecting dust.

When somebody gives a mission report at our church, they're not wearing cutoff jeans or a backpack, and they're not sporting some trendy tattoo or piercing that screams "look, I've assimilated into another culture! you wouldn't get it." They don't talk about how they "loved on kids" (because trendy Christians can't simply say "loved" without a preposition immediately following), or how they experienced some really big "God things."

The absence of all of these things has really made me see that while I was in the presence of them, I was more concerned with "Jesus culture" (pretty sure the Biblical term for this is actually the church, but hey, you just do you) than I was with Jesus. And to be honest, I can kind of see why the rest of the world gets a little annoyed with "Jesus culture" at times.

Let me be clear, I'm not attempting to say that the things I've described so far are wrong, or that they don't have a place in the Church, because that's not my point. I think the point I'm trying to make is that these things, while they're permitted in the church, AREN'T the Church. And if you're unable to worship without them, you're probably not really worshiping in the first place.

It's getting under my skin more and more to see posts on facebook or twitter about rallying behind big causes, not because doing so is wrong, but because I get the feeling most of the people who are "disappearing for a day" from facebook in honor of those in slavery (that'll show 'em!) are really only doing so because some pastor at some conference caused an emotional reaction, and plus all you're friends are doing it too. It's not wrong to start caring about a cause because somebody brought it to your attention, but it is wrong to just hop on a bandwagon. Are you contributing to causes like these because the Holy Spirit has convicted you to, or to make yourself feel good about the things you're doing? It's a fine line.

And all of these catch phrases are driving me crazy. "Love God, love people." Okay, I get it, you've minimized Luke 10:27 to make it bumper sticker worthy, but in doing so, you've also minimized the charge of the Gospel; is that really something you feel comfortable doing? If the Bible was supposed to fit on a bumper sticker (not even a long one-- one of those new oval ones you can stick on your back window) I don't think God would have taken as long as He did to compile the thing. Sorry to have wasted your time, canonization committee, but we're going in a different direction. Bright side: we'll send you a T-shirt.

We've taken the Christianity of the Bible and turned it into a culture. And some people are able to exist in this culture and still pursue the teachings of the Bible-- which is great-- but many more are not. Many more come through the doors of the church and leave without ever really knowing what the Bible actually says.

Something I miss about the north is the fact that people who said they were Christians actually followed Christ, and the people who didn't just didn't. There was no confusion about. There were very few people who were convinced they were following after Jesus when, in all reality, they were playing "Chubby Bunny" at youth group.

So in all that, I guess my point is not to let anything hinder you from pursuing Christ-- not even His people.

Just An Update

Hello all!

Declan is finally napping for the first time today, my classes for the semester wrapped up yesterday, and I finally have a free moment to update on life.

We've been pretty busy lately, but, honestly, who isn't these days? Easter is fast approaching, which means we're getting ready for some much looked forward to time on Cape with my family. It's crazy to think that the last time everyone from that neck of the woods saw Tutter, he'd just gotten proper head control. Now he's crawling all over the place and even trying to walk.

Having a mobile baby is an incredibly scary thing. I kind of joke about not being excited about his first steps, which obviously isn't true. I'm so proud of my little guy and am in awe of the way he's grown in the past eight months. (Let's be honest, I'm in awe of the fact that neither Matt nor I have broken him yet.) But in all seriousness, there's a part of me that just isn't ready for him to be moving as much as he is. Praise the Lord we decided to convert our dining room into a play area, because without that I shudder to think of the kind of trouble he'd find around the house.

I keep having nightmares that he's crawling around the kitchen, chewing on bottles of Windex and pressing his hands to a hot oven. I guess it's time to baby proof... which leads me to our next piece of big news.

We're moving! (Again...) At least this time I'm not 8.5 months pregnant. It was something we prayed about doing in January, quickly decided it wasn't a good time for us, and then re-considered again when we found the right house. It's newly renovated, has a new kitchen, and 4 bedrooms. The biggest bonus is the fact that it  allows us to reduce our monthly payments by a significant amount. If all goes well, we'll hopefully close by April and slowly start the moving process. (The last time for at LEAST five years, thankfully!) We feel really blessed that God opened this opportunity up for us. Needless to say, this house is a good deal more baby-friendly than the one we're renting currently, and we'll be able to baby proof once we start moving in.

Declan is now awake and wants to say hi:    yunnyn

Words of wisdom.

As he is now currently wobbling around the playroom like he recently got off the Mayflower, I'd better go assist him (find a helmet that fits him).