I'm seeing more and more "trendy" Christian posts on Facebook and Twitter lately. I think we all know what I'm talking about, and I'm sure we are all guilty in some way or another of contributing to this awful hipster Christian image simply because we as humans are going to put our own spin and/ or life experiences on our spiritual journey. But does God want that? Does He need our help making his message more exciting to the world? I'm inclined to say "No." In fact, I'm not sure I would want to follow a God that didn't have enough faith that the path he called his people to walk would stand the test of time without various amendments and tweaks over time to make it more socially relevant. I'm actually thinking that by us trying to "help" God reach people who don't think the Gospel is cool enough, we are just severely watering it down and keeping ourselves and others from experiencing the fullness and greatness of the message of Christ.
I always wrestled with the corniness of alternative Christian music, and growing up in a culture where it was placed on a pedestal, that was a bit of a stumbling block for me. I taught myself to play guitar and piano in high school, and while I had dreams of being the next female rock star, my only venue was the praise and worship services at church. That limited me a bit in terms of exposure to different musical influences, and while I did have quite a bit of musical talent, I quickly lost interest because I had no desire to enter the Christian music scene. It always somehow rubbed me the wrong way that we as Christians were trying so hard to be like "them" in our music, and almost.....ALMOST succeeding. But not quite. I have no problem with Christians playing Christian alternative music on their own time, but for me I was always so distracted in church by it that I wasn't getting anything out of it. There are others like me; those who are distracted by the instruments themselves thinking "I wish I could play guitar like that" or there are those who are distracted by the cute drum player in the back. Me, I was always distracted by my internal voice screaming, " I love God and I want to worship Him, but this just feels unnatural and forced!" It bothered me that musicians were placed in front of the church and onto a stage that only an elite group could join. To me, that just re-enforced that the purpose of the service was not necessarily to humble ourselves before the Great I Am, but to put on a show. But, of course we were always humble about it. It wasn't intentional. That is the culture we have been brought up in. I am here to say that the world would be more interested in Christ if they saw people simply emulating him and his church. Following His commands and living a Sacramental life are much more of a breath of fresh air to the truly weary and searching soul than the tired "we are trying so hard to stay cool" routine. Because trends come and go, leaving much of the Christian community exhausted from having to re-invent their image all over again. But Christ remains. Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
I have seen several Facebook posts lately of people commenting on their "depravity" and casually throwing Calvinistic phrases into social networks posts. "Hey my Calvinism came in handy today when..." or "My child is already displaying early signs of depravity lol". I know a few Calvinists. My brother falls somewhere in that crowd and I truly respect the work he is allowing God to do in his life and his desire to dig deeper and deeper into God's truth. I have had many wonderful God-filled conversations with him. So please don't think I'm out to trash this culture, because that isn't my intent. I simply take issue when to me (an outsider), all I see is a bunch of people reveling in their depravity and letting that be their driving point. OK, we get it. You sin. I sin too. But God absolutely did not create us as depraved beings. He only makes what is good and pure. In fact, we were created in his image. What happened was that we exercised our free will to sin and because of that we were deprived of this original holy state. Thank God for his grace and mercy! Without his forgiveness and grace none of us would obtain salvation! However, as an outsider I can state that what I observe about the new Calvinist community is what I can only imagine "the world" observes about them as well. ( there are other communities doing this too, but I am using Calvinists as an example because that is the one I am most familiar with) I am really bothered when a Christian of any denomination focuses their efforts so much on convincing other Christians (here is a problem- why are we focused on "converting" other Christians in the first place?) that their apologetics are superior, when in fact what is happening is that the basic truth of Christianity and the spreading of its message to those who need it is all but being ignored?) If they would take time to commune with one another they would realize that we are all in the same boat. Saved by grace. When the world sees a group of people, many trying so hard to be socially relevant and loving every minute of their depravity or lack of it and arguing bitterly over semantics, where is the draw to Christ in that scenario? No one needs to be told how screwed up they are. I think we are all very aware of that. I would much rather be in a community of believers that doesn't continually let the shame of their sin dictate how much they grow in their faith. Yes, sin has consequences, sometimes emotional, physical, spiritual. But for me the true leap of faith isn't adhering to John Doe's interpretation of scripture. The true leap of faith is when I begin to allow Christ to occupy my life in such a way that I begin to live in ways that are countercultural, ways that "shock" the world and cause them to take notice. It isn't a popular or fun notion to humble yourself before God in front of a priest for confession. It isn't popular to take on the task of learning and teaching Natural Family Planning to a generation who demands contraceptives as a right, even Christians do this not realizing the effect contraceptives can have on a woman's body, and yes, even a marriage. It isn't popular to go to Mass every Sunday and not attend a concert like many of my friends do, but to sit solemnly and receive the beautiful sacrament of the Eucharist. But I feel more filled with the Spirit after these things than I have ever before. And I am so excited because I realize how much I don't know, and that my whole life can be spent learning new and wonderful things about my Lord and Savior. I feel more prepared to share my faith and finally feel like I have a tangible way to live it out for others. I am not going to put God in a box. I am not going to say that He only works through certain churches or through certain types of people. Another Twitter post I saw the other day relates to this and it bothered me when I saw it. I'm sure my brother will have words with me after today because most of my content is coming from things I have seen on his Twitter. Ha. Regardless.
The post was saying something like "When a church becomes a country club in disguise, it isn't really a church." I know what this person was trying to say. But who are we to say where and how God works. I attend a church in Nichols Hills. There are many well-to-do parishioners and I felt very out of place for a very long time. Sometimes I felt like I was attending a country club. But "country club members" need Christ too, and to be fair I wasn't going out of my way to really try to get to know the hearts of the people there. All I know is that I have received the most powerful experience with Christ as a result of that church. When we begin telling Christ where and how He can work, He usually proves us wrong. I would just hate to wake up one day, realize that His Spirit has been moving all along, then realize that I wasn't a part of that movement because of my own hang-ups. Ask yourself, when will the debates about semantics end and the living of the Christ-filled life begin?
Peace & Love
Tavi
