If I were to be completely honest and look at the way people generally view me I would think that most would say that I am a pretty cool guy. And considering modern cool standards, I think that I am actually doing pretty well. I enjoy a good coffee, I have a unique style, I'm a pretty chill guy, I can be funny, I'm generally confident, I am a musician and I am literally too cool for school. It might be a thing called irony that I was, to much surprise, not the cool kid growing up. In fact, I rocked the parent-combed comb-over and the turtle-shell shaped glasses. In elementary, I was a quiet, stand offish kind of kid, who would at many times, be picked on by my peers. It wasn't until our move to Lansing and I was the new kid in the seventh-grade that I started to break out of my shell a bit. Even then, it was a long journey to becoming the incredibly suave man I am today (please catch my sarcasm). All that being said, although I may have developed into a "cool" guy according to worldly or typical standards, an insecurity has lingered inside of me for years, namely, am I cool enough for my church?
I have gone to the same hip church for about ten years now, full of good music, cool pastors, hip building and free good coffee to top it off. The church, as a whole, is doing amazing things for Jesus on the campus of Michigan State University, in the city of Lansing and in their own church walls. I have met some incredible people at my church to whom I am extremely grateful. I have grown both physically and spiritually and am very appreciative of the opportunity to do so in the church that I had come to call home. However, I have to be honest, that question has been lingering in my case of insecurities for a while now and I do not believe that it is all because I am Mr. Sensitive. I have been made to feel "uncool" by members of the church for little things, such as by what I choose to wear and what beer I choose not to drink, all the way to bigger things, like my belief that those a part of a serious Bible study might want to think about bringing their Bibles. But in all seriousness, I am not worried about myself as much as I am about those who do not yet know Christ.
Now let me be clear, I do not believe that a cool church, in itself, is a bad thing, or that a cool person who claims the name of Christ is a sinner, but I do believe that it is a thing that needs to be considered by "cool" churches and the "cool" people that make up the church. If our apparent "coolness" is getting in the way of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His example of humility, love, grace and acceptance towards others then our "coolness" has to go.
Practically and bluntly, we need to get over ourselves. You are not that cool. I am not that cool. None of us are that cool. We all are disgusting, screwed up people, wallowing in the same crap as everyone else. We are all but sly, dirty beggars separated only by those who have found bread and drink and those who still hunger and thirst.
Do we have a false view of ourselves?
Did Jesus Christ conquer death to make nerds into cool Christians or dead people, alive to God?
Are we but self-unaware, dirty beggars walking proudly through the streets avoiding eye contact with all the others who are just like us only sitting on the curb?
We are not called to be cool. We are called to Christ and His community in His church where there are no kings, only beggars waiting for their crowns.
It is a sad, sad thing when a beggar comes to church and gets pushed aside by a crowd of beggars playing dress up. Likewise, it is a sad, sad thing when a Christian or non-Christian comes to church and gets pushed aside by a crowd of Christians pretending to be more or better than they are.
What if we all had the guts to say, "I am the foremost sinner" like Paul did in 1 Timothy in order to illuminate the love, grace and work of Jesus Christ? Or even crazier, what if we had the humility of our own Creator who willingly went to the lowliest depths of His creation in order to lift up His whore of a church and His worthless people? What if we "loved one another with a brotherly affection"? What if we tried our best to "out-do one another in showing honor"? What if we truly rejoiced in our salvation through the work of Jesus Christ as a church and as a family all adopted by the same Father full of truth and grace?
Romans 12 in it's in entirety is a relevant passage, I encourage you to read it right now.
2 comments:
Great thoughts Doug.
The christian hipster mentality of the church has bugged me for a while.
The sad thing is it is not the problem with a single church, it is an epidemic.
Theology aside, Rob Bell, Donald Miller, and an array of young church leaders are pushing the church towards Urban Outfitters Christianity.
We need to remember that Jesus hung out with the dirty, smelly fisherman, with the tax collector, with the former prostitutes.
Sadly, I have only been to a few churches where these people would feel welcome nowadays.
I grew up in churches where people were "noticed" if they weren't dressed up enough or if they had a beard or if they were known to frequent movie theaters or...... and were eliminated, most times, for consideration for leadership because of these perceived deficits. How ironic then that the tendency of today's "hip" churches, when trying to balance that extreme, are now moving to a very similar extreme, just different criteria. Thank God that His church survives all of it.
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