God has deliberately chosen
to use ideas the world considers foolish and of little worth in order to shame
those people considered by the world as wise and great~ 1st
Corinthians 1:27 TLB
Change is constant. Whether we are talking
about society or popular trends, one can pretty much count on the fact that life
is constantly changing and trends are continually evolving.
Some change is beneficial and welcome. Nobody with good taste or sound judgment
misses chain letters, segregation, black lipstick, pleather pants, avocado
green refrigerators, or any hairstyle popular in the eighties.
On the other hand, I would personally love
to see a revival of functional families, honest politicians, and telling misbehaving
children “no”—rather than the currently trendy “no, thank you.”
As with the rest of our culture, Christianity
has seen trends come and go in recent years. Hymnals, talking about sin, Sunday
school and pews are out; comfortable chairs, coffee bars, worship songs, and
being knowledgeable about popular culture so we can relate to the unsaved are
in. Compassion has replaced judgment; door-to-door outreaches and mass crusades
have been exchanged for the less offensive and more agreeable lifestyle evangelism.
Some of the changes in how we do church
and the Christian life have been unquestionably positive. Compassion and grace
are a welcome change over the rigid legalism and harsh judgment that was all
too common for far too long in some religious circles. Hymnals are awkward to
use and cushy chairs are far superior to hard pews. A really good cup of coffee
prior to the worship service can be beneficial to one’s overall attitude and
attention span during the sermon.
On the contrary, the loss of Sunday school
classes has not made us more familiar with Scripture. The emphasis on grace and
compassion is noble but has resulted in a reluctance to call sin out and in a
shocking lack of discernment in many situations.
The desire to relate to the unsaved is an
honorable aspiration that often morphs into a cover for indulging our sensual nature
in worldly entrainment. Mass evangelism was impersonal and some found it
offensive, but lifestyle evangelism has failed to deliver a huge influx of
converts to the Church.
Although
some changes have been helpful and even needed I suspect that others have come
about because we have become preoccupied with appealing to the hipsters in our
midst. According to the Urban Online Dictionary—which, by the way, is the more
than just a source for humorous definitions, but also a way for mature people (such as myself)
to stay current on trends. A hipster can be described as one on an…
Eternal quest
for what is cool, distinct and difficult to acquire
I
fear that in the quest for coolness we are in the process of losing our way and
forgetting the essence of what it means to be a Christ-follower.
The pursuit of coolness is a risky and
futile path for Christians because Christianity will never be cool or hip. Consider
how the Urban Dictionary defines hip:
Something that’s up to date,
fashionable, contemporary, relevant, The state of being modern in dress,
attitudes and interests.
Or…
Cooler than cool, the
pinnacle of what is “it.”
The
only word in the definition that aptly defines Christianity is relevant. If Christianity
is lived and preached authentically it
will be relevant to every human condition because it is the revealed truth
of the God who created everything and knows everything about what He created. That
said, Christianity will never be cooler than cool, or the pinnacle of what is “it”
and for good reason.
God never intended Christianity to be up
to date, cool, hip, fashionable, contemporary, or modern in its attitudes.
Christianity was designed to be a cleansing
and preserving influence on the surrounding culture. There is nothing cool or
hip about that message. In fact, it’s barely tolerable in our anything-goes, do-whatever-your-heart-tells-you-to-do
world.
Christianity is the delivery vehicle for
the tough and often unwelcome message that not everything that feels good to us
flies with God and the human heart doesn’t always know what’s best (Jeremiah
17:9). The bottom line of the gospel is that we are not okay without Christ. If
we embrace that truth, we receive a fresh start and are empowered to become new,
infinitely better versions of ourselves (2nd Corinthians 5:17).
I propose that as we enter 2014 we stop
worrying about being cool and hip and instead focus on being the loving people
and preserving influence we were intended to be. Coolness is a lost cause for
believers, so I propose that we worry less about the approval of man and more
about the approval of God. Lets seek new
and creative ways to love the unlovable and reach the hurting in our culture. We
may not be cool or hip but we will be effective.
Woe to you when
everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets~
Luke 6:26
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