NOTE: This is the first of ten articles in a new series I'm writing. We'll start with #10 and count down to the big one together. It'll be fun.
TOP 10 THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW
(But Probably Doesn't)
by Keith Giles
A few years ago I taught a workshop for High School students at an annual Summer Camp. We began by taking a simple "True/False" test together to determine our basic Bible Knowledge. Here's the test we took:
Test your Bible knowledge
Mark answers below “True” or “False”
1- Because Eve was tempted by Satan and ate the apple, sin entered the world.
2- According to Scripture, Samson was a super strong, physically muscular man that God used to judge the enemies of Israel.
3- Jonah the prophet was swallowed by a whale because he refused to go and preach to the people of Nineveh.
4- The city of Sodom was judged by God because of the sin of homosexuality.
It seems like a simple test that any elementary age child should be able to pass with flying colors. The sad thing was that every single kid in the room failed this test.
They all answered "True" to every question. Did you? Well, the answer for each is "False" and if you're not sure why then this series is for you.
My reason for having everyone take this little test was to illustrate how much we allow the popular Christian culture to influence what we think we know is true instead of studying things for ourselves.
Why don't we know what we believe? Why do we misunderstand even the most essential elements of our own faith? Have we allowed popular opinion or the Christian Subculture to blur the most crucial aspects of the Gospel?
Since most people fail my simple test, I'm tempted to guess that we have indeed allowed our faith to be compromised and polluted by the world around us.
So, let's start our series out with number 10:
#10- THE CHRISTIAN SUB-CULTURE
We begin this series by looking at ourselves. The Christian Subculture has provided a safe haven for us to escape the world around us. We have created our own version of Heaven here on Earth so that we can safely enjoy quality, sanctified entertainment that is free from the secular world.
We have Christian television stations, radio stations, books, videos, films, breath mints, t-shirts, cartoons, socks, neckties, wristwatches, bumper stickers, jewelry, candy bars, coffee, and yes, even Christian underwear. I kid you not. (Google it at your own risk).
The real problem with this is that Jesus never intended His disciples to escape the world by creating a special, Holy version of the world that they preferred to live in while they await His return.
In fact, Jesus said something quite the opposite. When he was praying for those who would come after him he said, “I pray not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the Evil One”. (John 17:15)
The reason Jesus prayed this prayer was the he knew human nature and he knew that, in a few short years, his followers would want to remove themselves from the world around them.
We’re not comfortable hanging out with those sinners. More often than not, we treat those outside the Church, as if they have some sort of “Social Leprosy”. We’re afraid we’ll catch what they’ve got, so we avoid contact with them. We create Christian versions of the world so that we never have to interact with these “Social Lepers”.
Paul the Apostle echoed the prayer of Jesus when he instructed the Christians in Corinth about their interactions with non-believers. “I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)
Have we removed ourselves from the world? If so, we’ve essentially decided to lay down and die. Of course, we've made sure to surround ourselves in a cocoon of safety, but that doesn't make us any less dead.
I've always wanted to host a "Burn Our Christian Crap" party to protest all the Christian Materialism we've bought into. There's something strangely beautiful about seeing swarms of Christian young people throwing their Carman Cd's and "Lord's Gymn" T-shirts into a giant bonfire behind the Church dumpster.
Whether or not we decide to box up our "Jesus Junk" and toss into the flames, the truth is that we still need to repent from taking ourselves out of the world we were intended to live in.
It’s time to awaken from our slumber and burst out of our Christian bubble. The world needs us to live out the transformational power of the Gospel right in front of their eyes.
We are not called to escape the World and its evil. We are supposed to be in the World, living open lives of faith before all Men so that they may see our good works and believe.
"Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." - (John 20:21)
"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." - JESUS (Matthew 5:16)
kg
Showing posts with label christian subculture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christian subculture. Show all posts
Friday, July 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Consumption, Expression, Identity.
As a society, we are conditioned to find our identity in what we own or purchase. As Christians, we are conditioned to express our faith through the sanctified products we purchase, own or consume. This is the perversion of Christ into Capitalism and an expression of faith through consumption of products. It is wrong.
A good friend sent me an article he found that provided an intriguing historical perspective on our evolution from artisans to consumers. I've pulled out the quotes I found most fascinating below:
A Short History of Consumption
With the rise of the Industrial Revolution, the relationship between people and the goods that they made was broken. No longer did peasants plant, tend, and harvest their crops; now agricultural workers labored over someone else’s crops in exchange for wages. No longer did artisans design, plan, craft, and sell; now factory workers repeatedly carried out a single step in the production of a product, again in exchange for wages.
In short, people were no longer producers, they were now consumers.
Our identities were no longer tied up with the work we did, but with the buying power our work left us with.
So people found their identities not in their work but in the things they could buy by working.
People became consumers, not just in the way they got what they needed but in who they felt themselves to be.
Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy
The entire article is mainly looking at consumption from an environmental impact perspective, but the points made about our lifelong indoctrination to consumerism as a society are very eye-opening to me.
Here's what I think we need to understand, as followers of Jesus, regarding the observations made in this article above.
CONSUMPTION IS SELF-EXPRESSION
We, as a society, have made consuming and purchasing products part of our identity structure. This is why people will fork out $30 for a t-shirt with some corporate logo and walk around as a billboard for them, not because they love that company or product, not because of their loyalty to the brand, but because they think that logo makes THEM look cool. It says something about them, and so they willingly become walking advertising...and they PAY for the privilege. Amazing.
CHRISTIAN IDENTITY
Honestly, this really does help me to formulate a clear picture of what's going on in the Christian subculture. We're finding our identity as "Christians" in the products we purchase. These products brand us and identify us as a subset of people. Instead of finding our identity in Christ by the way we relate to Him daily, obey His teachings, and emulate His example of service and unconditional love, we now identify ourselves as Christians by our t-shirts, bumper stickers, books and CD collections.
ARTISTS AND CONSUMPTION/IDENTITY/EXPRESSION
It's also fascinating how this shift in our society stems from the devaluing of artisans in our culture. People now express themselves by what they own or purchase more than by what they create with their hands or their imaginations. Artists within our society are influenced by this consumerist identity structure. Artists of faith are compelled to create art that can be sold, or that conforms to the acceptable Christian marketplace. Art in this context is devoid of pure self-expression, unless that expression conforms to the acceptable branding and messaging of the sacred market.
More from the article:
"The rise of consumption as our primary interaction with the rest of our society has had profound effects. For example, social status is obtained and marked by the things we buy and use. A car, for instance, is not just a way to get from one place to another but has to “say something” about who we are — and even the lack of a car says volumes. Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy: the t-shirt with the logo of our band or team, the bamboo towels that show our environmental commitments, the alternative album that shows off our indie cred, the designer shoes that place us as part of the trend-setting elite, the minivan that shows us to be part of the dependable, hard-working, family-oriented suburban middle class, and so on."
SUBCULTURE AND IDENTITY
The Christian Subculture has a market. That market embraces a brand. That brand has a message connected to it. That message serves the market and encourages ongoing participation in that market. It means providing reasons to continue purchasing these products day after day and week after week. The market serves itself. It exists to keep itself in business.
The Christian Subculture provides an oasis made of soothing products that help us escape from the Big Bad World that is "Out There". It's a sacred version of "Calgon-Take Me Away!" only our message is more pervasive. It's not just one soothing bath to calm our fears of being trapped in a world of sin, it’s our music and movies and clothing and books and toys and key chains and license plate frames and decals and candy and pens and pretty much every conceivable object and piece of product that can ever be branded with our message. It's nearly a complete world unto itself, and it's exactly what Jesus prayed to God would never happen to us. (see John 17:15)
THE CART THAT PULLS THE HORSE
I'm not against art or music or expressions of faith. Most of my favorite musicians are believers and their music contains references to our Lord and to faith in Him. Many of my friends are Artists who paint and sculpt and create art to communicate a Kingdom reality. The issue is not that creating art or any sincere expression of devotion to Christ is wrong. What is evil is the marketplace we've created to showcase product. In the beginning the market existed to serve the Art, now the Art exists to serve the marketplace. We have lost focus. Making money is now the main objective. Evangelism or edification or worship is secondary at best, if considered at all.
During my six years in the Christian Music Industry I slowly began to realize the sickness of it all. At first I saw the industry as a way to spread the Gospel and to provide a voice for talented musicians of faith. But soon I realized that it didn't matter if your music ministry was responsible for leading thousands to Christ each year. What mattered was record sales. If your CD's weren't selling at least 20,000 units per sales cycle you'd be dropped from the label in a heartbeat. It was, after all, a Record BUSINESS, and like every business making money and selling product is the very bottom line. Ministry is incidental, and sadly only useful in the context of marketing the product to your target audience, in order to drive more sales.
Like the money-changers in front of the Temple that Jesus chased away with a whip, the original idea was a good one; To provide animals for sacrifice so that people could enter the Temple and participate in the worship of God. However, when money got in the way the original vision was corrupted and the Temple became a marketplace which obscured access for the common man and made a mockery of real worship. The same is true today.
BACK TO JESUS
The tension still remains between the clear command of our Lord to "Go into all the world.." and a subculture that bears His Name, yet encourages a full retreat from the World and identifies membership based on purchasing the acceptable, branded product. The product carries a message that we should fear those outside of our group. It encourages non-involvement with the culture. It makes minimizing contact with those outside the subculture a preferable reality.
If Jesus modeled radical inclusion and commanded us to be known by our love for everyone, especially those who hate us, and a subculture emerges with His Name on it that encourages us to be radically exclusive and creates behavior by which we are known for our intolerance, hatred and condemnation of those outside our group, we must make a choice. Do we choose Jesus or do we choose the man-made subculture with his Name on it?
I choose Jesus.
If Jesus clearly teaches something, and another organization or person teaches the exact opposite we call that "Anti-Christ". To me it's plainly obvious that the Christian Subculture is "Anti-Christ" because it contradicts His message of inclusion, involvement and meaningful relationships with sinners.
I've said it before and I say it again; "Death to the Christian Subculture!"
BRINGING A CHANGE
Where can we fashion a whip and drive out the money-changers from the Temple? It's difficult because we now deal with this on a massive scale. Participation in this market-driven Christian Subculture is pervasive and intangible. There is no physical structure to kick over. There is no clear method for applying the whip necessary to drive them out.
All we can really do is to begin, one person at a time, to disassociate ourselves with this subculture. Stop participating. Stop identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus based on your purchases. Stop pandering to what the Christian Marketplace finds acceptable and palatable. Make Jesus your single source of Truth. Ask God to show you where you have replaced a Jesus way of life with a carefully branded subculture way of life. Escape the false notions of "Sacred" and "Secular" and just start living, as a disciple of Jesus, in this World (the only World), right now.
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Originally posted here Oct. 2007
Monday, October 25, 2010
Ark Syndrome: The Walter Kirn Interview
Back in 2003, Walter Kirn was the fiction editor for GQ Magazine. He wrote an article, "What Would Jesus Do?" an insightful commentary which chronicled his immersion into the Christian subculture.
After a friend shared this article with me, back in 2005, I re-posted this article to my blog. Five years later, it's still one of my top 3 most read pages every month. That says a lot.
Fast forward to 2010, and Walter Kirn is now an author whose books get made into films starring George Clooney (Up In The Air) and Tilda Swinton (Thumbsucker).
What's even more amazing (at least to me) is that Mr. Kirn would take the time to do a phone interview with me on a Sunday afternoon to talk about an article he wrote seven years ago and explore how the Christian subculture is still a bad idea.
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Walter Kirn: I’m happy to hear that my article is still drawing traffic to your site after all this time.
Keith Giles: It must resonate with people at some level, I’d say for people to still be searching for it online. Were you aware that this article had such an impact outside of that initial publication in GQ?
WK: No I didn’t. I didn’t even know that it had any impact even on its initial publication. I mean, you write a piece like that one and by the time it’s published you’ve moved on as a writer. In those days, when it first came out in GQ (2003), we didn’t have the ‘Net to measure the response. You’d get a few letters to the magazine or whatever, but it was really impossible to tell whether it had any impact.
I’ve heard a few people discussing it and I thought that it was interesting that the people who were discussing it were doing so as sort of self-critical Christians; questioning whether or not a certain kind of commercialization had gone too far, rather than people using it to criticize the Christian community. I didn’t want it to, but I always suspected that the article might provide an opportunity for people to make fun, but it turned out not to be the case. It turned out to cause a dialog of conscience on the part of believers.
KG: That’s certainly been the case in my experience. A friend of mine showed it to me back in 2005 and I had never heard it before and he let me borrow his copy of the magazine and it inspired some great dialog. I’m aware of a half dozen other groups of people who have leveraged your article to launch sweeping email-based dialogs with other people of faith on this issue of materialism in the Church and the pitfalls of the Christian subculture in general. As you said, most of those dialogs involved Christians asking themselves, “In what ways do we contribute to this mentality?” You called it an “Ark” mentality in your article, as I remember.
WK: Right. It’s one that I have a certain sympathy for. I understand the challenge. The attempt to challenge this mass media monster and of course one of the tactics is, “If you can’t beat’em, join’em.” So, I’m not surprised that this sort of parallel universe of Christian pop culture has arisen. At the same time, it seems so…and I said it in the piece, but not as strongly as I might’ve – the culture that’s come out of this seems to pale in comparison to the great Christian art that’s come out of the church in the past. You know, whether that be painting or real Gospel music, or other works of art that are really moved by the Spirit. The modern versions of Christian art seem to be pale imitations that attempt to just give people an alternative, but it’s not a superior alternative. And it saddened me to see artists who basically just copy cat the secular culture and do it in an inferior way and then labeling it “Christian”. I would think that “Christian Art” should be an excellent, provocative, interesting form of art that transcends all others, rather than a kind of “Me Too” subculture moving off the mainstream.
KG: Yes. I think what happens – and by the way I used to work for a large Christian record company, and I worked in a Baptist Bookstore when I was in college, so I’ve had a background being a part of that machine and I’ve seen it from the inside, and what I observed was, as you’ve already said, it was mainly intended as an alternative to the popular culture. We used to actually publish charts that would hang in the stores that would let every Soccer Mom know that if Johnny liked Pearl Jam she should buy him the new Petra Cd. Exactly as you’ve said, the idea is that we need a Christian product to replace the popular product and that’s really the main goal. It’s a very fear-based business model, really. Even to the degree of suggesting that people aren’t really following Jesus if they dare to freshen their breath with “secular mints”.
WK: (Laughter) Yeah!
KG: It’s the idea of getting your Christian Milk from a Christian Cow and it creates this division, this false version of the World, that’s safe for the whole family. We end up quarantining ourselves from the world by surrounding ourselves with Christian versions of everything so that we don’t catch what “they” have. Of course, that goes totally against what Jesus prayed for us in John when he said, “I don’t pray that they be taken out of the world but that they would be protected from the evil one.” So, we’ve taken ourselves out of the world by making a Christian version of it that keeps us safe and inoculated against “those people.” They should catch what we have. We shouldn’t be afraid that we’ll catch what they have.
WK: Exactly! I mean, if you look at Gospel music, I mean, wait a second. There’s an incredible argument to be made that a lot of Rock and Roll came out of faith-based music.
KG: Yes.
WK: There’s kind of a lack of self esteem in the whole thing, too. There’s this latent inferiority complex that somehow you’ve got to clone this popular culture in order to have a culture, when in fact there was a very vibrant – and still is- dimension of Christianity which might not lend itself to commercialism, but certainly stands as viable art and as culturally relevant as anything that Hollywood turns out.
Also, I think you’re right, you can end up creating a bubble in which you’re sure not to see any disruptive messages, or be offended or be exposed to disconcerting images or ideas. Also it seems to me that retreating in that fashion makes it impossible to bring the light to the people who don’t have it. It’s complacent to sit back and lock your doors and enjoy your little safe zone. You know? When in fact, it’s only the awareness of what’s going on in the world that allows you to attract people in a way that acknowledges the real problems that people are dealing with. Creating a nice, pre-padded cell is not the way to bring the masses to Christ.
Didn’t Jesus seek out some of the most troubled and distressed people in his society? He walked into the very places most religious figures would avoid. He didn’t hole up in a cave and surround himself with reassuring images and “yes men” and let the world outside go to heck.
KG: I think that’s what concerns me. When I see the Church retreating from society and refusing to really engage the problems that people are dealing with in the actual world.
WK: It’s one thing to have to survive in the age of persecution, it’s one thing to have to retreat into a defensive position when the Romans are looking for you. But, it’s another now to be in this time when – how can I put it? – I used the term “Ark” in a dual sense. I do understand the impulse to preserve a zone of safety, especially for children.
Although the piece made fun of Christian culture, it’s not that I don’t understand the impulse to have a safe place and especially for young children. At the same time, there is no relevance to the message or any sense of the adventure of living with faith if you have eliminated all other sources of dissonance and contradiction.
Finally, how do you bring a message to people if you’ve insulated yourself from reality? There’s something frightened about the Christian commercial culture. It sends this subliminal message that says, “We’re not going to be able to make it out there” or “It’s too scary out there.” It’s like going down to the basement alone or something. It’s also just nakedly profit-based too, I imagine. I can’t believe a lot of it isn’t just outright exploitation by people who really don’t care and who are just looking to make some money in a different market.
KG: You’re exactly right, and that’s one of the most disheartening things I observed during my tenure in the Christian subculture was to realize that it really was just a business like any other business. I mean, on the outside the Christian record business says that they’re all about spreading the Gospel, but the reality is that if you’re not selling 20,000 units as an artist your label is going to drop you for another artist who can, and it won’t matter if hundreds of people are coming to Christ at your concerts either. Selling product is the only thing that counts.
I have to say, however, that most of the artists I’ve known are genuinely seeking to glorify God in what they do, they really do have a desire to use their gift to spread the gospel. But most of them discover pretty quickly that it’s not about ministry, it’s about money. That’s where it gets weird, to me, when you’ve made a business out of something that I’m not sure should be a business.
WK: Well, it certainly wasn’t intended to be in the first place. I don’t know how you mix those things successfully? I mean, how do you make faith and mammon mix?
I don’t really know. I’m sure Christian music is probably bigger than ever now isn’t it?
KG: I’ve been out of that loop so long, I don’t really even know to be honest.
WK: Probably much more organized, I have a feeling anyway. The Internet has allowed a lot of people to be more organized.
KG: Can I ask you why you wrote this article and published it in GQ of all places? I mean, you probably had an idea that the readers of that magazine were probably not Christians.
WK: Well, I mean I always think it’s more interesting to write things that the audience isn’t guaranteed to be familiar with already. You know what I mean? I knew that that my article wasn’t necessarily what GQ’s audience would identify with, but I wanted to bring it to them in a way that might cause them to think.
Of course, I know that this same audience had noticed the Christian subculture out of the corner of their eye. Whether or not they were living in it or not, they were certainly living around it. A lot of subjects I choose for essays and articles are phenomenon that everybody has been exposed to, perhaps only obliquely, but hasn’t had the chance to really think about it. Or had any reason to think about it.
Anybody who has ever turned a car radio dial has come across Christian radio. Anybody who had cable TV had come across Pat Robertson or whatever. So, I knew that no matter who you were – if you were just a GQ reader who bought the magazine to find out what hair gel to get or learn how to match your socks and your shirt, you had noticed this phenomenon and perhaps even formed some thoughts and opinions about it that you weren’t even aware of. So, I wanted to just bring it up into a level of consciousness.
I live in Montana and I grew up in the middle of the country, in Minnesota, and I’ve always enjoyed bringing subjects to national magazine that don’t have to deal with life in Los Angeles or New York, necessarily.
Of course, a lot of what I’m talking about is right there where you live, in Orange County, California.
KG: Yeah, it’s all over the place here. I mean, TBN is right down the street. Most of the nation’s largest mega-churches are out here, too. I could literally walk to the Crystal Cathedral if I wanted to, and Calvary Chapel is here, and Saddleback. I don’t know why, but God put me here and I’m living in this place. From here I can see how it warps people a bit. I mean, I’m from Tennessee and I grew up in Texas and I remember when I first moved out here about 16 years ago, I told my friends back in Texas that it was like living on another planet. The clothes were the same and they spoke the same language and watched the same TV shows, but other than that it was like living in a Twilight Zone episode.
WK: (laughs) That’s funny.
KG: In the time you have left do you mind talking a little about your personal faith journey? I think most people know you for your novels and your articles, but they probably also wonder who is this Walter Kirn guy and why is he talking to me about the Church?
WK: Well, it’s not something that I talk a lot about, number one. Nor is it something I’m asked a lot about. For one thing, I feel that not talking about it overtly gives me more flexibility to talk about it secretly in my writing, in both my fiction and non-fiction. In other words, for me to identify myself loudly and widely as a Christian would probably cause a lot of ears to close. Perhaps it would cause other ears to open, but the one’s that would open wouldn’t necessarily be the ones I’m addressing.
So, my faith is something I’m discreet about and quiet about, because I think of it simply as a point of view that can trickle through my writing and I don’t have to be strong about or announce as such, but it gives what I write a moral, ethical, spiritual framework that I hope will show through between the lines.
So, my faith isn’t something I discuss publicly, but I don’t mind it either. It’s nothing at all to be ashamed of or to be embarrassed about. It’s not something to be proud of either.
KG: (laughs)
WK: But it is something to witness to when asked. My history with organized religion is sort of checkered. I was baptized a Presbyterian in a very formal way. My family didn’t go to church much. When I was about 12, however, we converted to Mormonism and I was a member o f the Church of Latter Day Saints from about 12 to 17. Then, for social reasons as much as spiritual reasons, I made the most of it because it wasn’t something that I’d chosen necessarily. So, at 17 I decided not to go on a Mormon Mission and went to Princeton instead.
I don’t know that I thought much about my relationship with God for maybe about seven or eight years. But, around age 30 I stopped drinking and entered a 12 step program. As people may already know, the 12 step program urges the addict to reflect on their spiritual beliefs and to enter into a relationship with a higher power. So, that caused me to start looking at how I defined God and I could not really adequately or satisfactorily relate to any God but that which I knew from the New Testament. The Christian story at every level was all I needed to feel spiritually whole - at the literary level and as the real-life account of one man’s persecution and death, and as a large-scale description of our predicament here on Earth. I tried other things. I tried meditation. I tried all the various unfocused, fuzzy spiritual options. I could not dispense with Jesus Christ. I could not – either as a teacher, as a suffering, divine human being, as a contradiction, and a mystery.
So, that put me in a strange situation because I was a writer and a journalist who was addressing people of all kinds and didn’t want to limit myself to so-called Christian themes. That’s one of the problems I have with Christian culture. Christian culture is should be all culture. It should not think that it has to confine itself to certain kinds of themes or certain issues or certain characters. It’s a way of life. It’s a way of being in the world. If you believe it, it’s an account of what’s going on everywhere with everybody. When it starts backing up and taking only these small portions of reality rather than the whole society and the whole reality then it seems there’s something wrong with it.
So, I had to ask myself, “Do I announce myself as a Christian artist?” And I thought, “Why? No I don’t have to.” I don’t have to because it’s either part of myself and part of my work or it’s not. I wrote this piece (in GQ) out of this argument I was having with myself about whether or not you had to put that capital “C” or that fish symbol on your forehead. I thought, in some instances it’s what works and it’s what’s best, and in other instances it’s not.
To be honest with you, I just didn’t want certain employers of mine to discriminate against me. Not that they would, necessarily. There’s no reason to believe that they would, but it was possible that I might come out with a certain opinion on something and they would dismiss it as the opinion of someone who didn’t actually think; as someone who was simply proceeding blindly for the sake of certain religious principles rather than as someone who was thinking things through.
I never saw any conflict between thinking through every question that comes to you with the brain that God gave us and assessing it through Christian ethics and morality and tradition.
KG: The decision not to compartmentalize yourself, your art is a wise one, I think. It reminds me of a few years ago when a friend of mine said that he didn’t want to call himself a Christian anymore. When I asked why he said there were two reasons. First, because when most non-believers heard the term “Christian” they drew up a mental picture of those same faces on Christian television and they automatically assumed that he was like those people; always after money or always bashing this group or another. Secondly, when he read about the people called “Christian” in the New Testament he found a people who were radically giving their lives away and selling their property to anyone in need and he didn’t think he was worthy to be compared to people like that.
WK: (laughs) That’s interesting.
KG: When my friend said that to me I found I agreed with him, so whenever anyone asks me “Are you a Christian?” I respond by saying, “No, but I am very fascinated with the person of Jesus and I’m doing my best to follow him and to put his teachings into practice in my everyday life.” Which is more true than to simply say, “I’m a Christian”, I think, since that phrase conjures up a host of images and assumptions.
I’ve found that this response is so much more inviting and intriguing than to just say, “I’m a Christian.”
WK: It draws people in rather than to give people an excuse to draw back.
KG: There’s so much baggage associated with that term in our society.
WK: Hey listen, as far as I’m concerned, I don’t want to deny Jesus Christ. I don’t want to say, “I don’t know him.” But at the same time, I don’t want to do something more than say “I do know him” either. I mean, I admire him and I’m trying to understand him and to follow him as much as I can. I mean, that title is something that somebody else created actually. I don’t have to own all the implied political views, as you say, or the implied cultural narrowness and all the rest. I want people to think, I don’t want to use a title that causes people to stop thinking.
KG: I want to say thank you. I’m very blessed and honored that you would take the time to talk to me today, especially when you’ve got your kids with you this weekend and everything else.
WK: Likewise. I took a look at your blog and I like the feeling of it and I loved the sincerity of it. I like the honesty of it, and it’s got a tone that I’d love to see more of. So, I’m thrilled that I can take some time and do something that’s not just completely selfish.
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Walter Kirn is an American novelist, literary critic, and essayist. His novels include Up In the Air, Mission To America, and his latest book, Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever.
After a friend shared this article with me, back in 2005, I re-posted this article to my blog. Five years later, it's still one of my top 3 most read pages every month. That says a lot.
Fast forward to 2010, and Walter Kirn is now an author whose books get made into films starring George Clooney (Up In The Air) and Tilda Swinton (Thumbsucker).
What's even more amazing (at least to me) is that Mr. Kirn would take the time to do a phone interview with me on a Sunday afternoon to talk about an article he wrote seven years ago and explore how the Christian subculture is still a bad idea.
**
Walter Kirn: I’m happy to hear that my article is still drawing traffic to your site after all this time.
Keith Giles: It must resonate with people at some level, I’d say for people to still be searching for it online. Were you aware that this article had such an impact outside of that initial publication in GQ?
WK: No I didn’t. I didn’t even know that it had any impact even on its initial publication. I mean, you write a piece like that one and by the time it’s published you’ve moved on as a writer. In those days, when it first came out in GQ (2003), we didn’t have the ‘Net to measure the response. You’d get a few letters to the magazine or whatever, but it was really impossible to tell whether it had any impact.
I’ve heard a few people discussing it and I thought that it was interesting that the people who were discussing it were doing so as sort of self-critical Christians; questioning whether or not a certain kind of commercialization had gone too far, rather than people using it to criticize the Christian community. I didn’t want it to, but I always suspected that the article might provide an opportunity for people to make fun, but it turned out not to be the case. It turned out to cause a dialog of conscience on the part of believers.
KG: That’s certainly been the case in my experience. A friend of mine showed it to me back in 2005 and I had never heard it before and he let me borrow his copy of the magazine and it inspired some great dialog. I’m aware of a half dozen other groups of people who have leveraged your article to launch sweeping email-based dialogs with other people of faith on this issue of materialism in the Church and the pitfalls of the Christian subculture in general. As you said, most of those dialogs involved Christians asking themselves, “In what ways do we contribute to this mentality?” You called it an “Ark” mentality in your article, as I remember.
WK: Right. It’s one that I have a certain sympathy for. I understand the challenge. The attempt to challenge this mass media monster and of course one of the tactics is, “If you can’t beat’em, join’em.” So, I’m not surprised that this sort of parallel universe of Christian pop culture has arisen. At the same time, it seems so…and I said it in the piece, but not as strongly as I might’ve – the culture that’s come out of this seems to pale in comparison to the great Christian art that’s come out of the church in the past. You know, whether that be painting or real Gospel music, or other works of art that are really moved by the Spirit. The modern versions of Christian art seem to be pale imitations that attempt to just give people an alternative, but it’s not a superior alternative. And it saddened me to see artists who basically just copy cat the secular culture and do it in an inferior way and then labeling it “Christian”. I would think that “Christian Art” should be an excellent, provocative, interesting form of art that transcends all others, rather than a kind of “Me Too” subculture moving off the mainstream.
KG: Yes. I think what happens – and by the way I used to work for a large Christian record company, and I worked in a Baptist Bookstore when I was in college, so I’ve had a background being a part of that machine and I’ve seen it from the inside, and what I observed was, as you’ve already said, it was mainly intended as an alternative to the popular culture. We used to actually publish charts that would hang in the stores that would let every Soccer Mom know that if Johnny liked Pearl Jam she should buy him the new Petra Cd. Exactly as you’ve said, the idea is that we need a Christian product to replace the popular product and that’s really the main goal. It’s a very fear-based business model, really. Even to the degree of suggesting that people aren’t really following Jesus if they dare to freshen their breath with “secular mints”.
WK: (Laughter) Yeah!
KG: It’s the idea of getting your Christian Milk from a Christian Cow and it creates this division, this false version of the World, that’s safe for the whole family. We end up quarantining ourselves from the world by surrounding ourselves with Christian versions of everything so that we don’t catch what “they” have. Of course, that goes totally against what Jesus prayed for us in John when he said, “I don’t pray that they be taken out of the world but that they would be protected from the evil one.” So, we’ve taken ourselves out of the world by making a Christian version of it that keeps us safe and inoculated against “those people.” They should catch what we have. We shouldn’t be afraid that we’ll catch what they have.
WK: Exactly! I mean, if you look at Gospel music, I mean, wait a second. There’s an incredible argument to be made that a lot of Rock and Roll came out of faith-based music.
KG: Yes.
WK: There’s kind of a lack of self esteem in the whole thing, too. There’s this latent inferiority complex that somehow you’ve got to clone this popular culture in order to have a culture, when in fact there was a very vibrant – and still is- dimension of Christianity which might not lend itself to commercialism, but certainly stands as viable art and as culturally relevant as anything that Hollywood turns out.
Also, I think you’re right, you can end up creating a bubble in which you’re sure not to see any disruptive messages, or be offended or be exposed to disconcerting images or ideas. Also it seems to me that retreating in that fashion makes it impossible to bring the light to the people who don’t have it. It’s complacent to sit back and lock your doors and enjoy your little safe zone. You know? When in fact, it’s only the awareness of what’s going on in the world that allows you to attract people in a way that acknowledges the real problems that people are dealing with. Creating a nice, pre-padded cell is not the way to bring the masses to Christ.
Didn’t Jesus seek out some of the most troubled and distressed people in his society? He walked into the very places most religious figures would avoid. He didn’t hole up in a cave and surround himself with reassuring images and “yes men” and let the world outside go to heck.
KG: I think that’s what concerns me. When I see the Church retreating from society and refusing to really engage the problems that people are dealing with in the actual world.
WK: It’s one thing to have to survive in the age of persecution, it’s one thing to have to retreat into a defensive position when the Romans are looking for you. But, it’s another now to be in this time when – how can I put it? – I used the term “Ark” in a dual sense. I do understand the impulse to preserve a zone of safety, especially for children.
Although the piece made fun of Christian culture, it’s not that I don’t understand the impulse to have a safe place and especially for young children. At the same time, there is no relevance to the message or any sense of the adventure of living with faith if you have eliminated all other sources of dissonance and contradiction.
Finally, how do you bring a message to people if you’ve insulated yourself from reality? There’s something frightened about the Christian commercial culture. It sends this subliminal message that says, “We’re not going to be able to make it out there” or “It’s too scary out there.” It’s like going down to the basement alone or something. It’s also just nakedly profit-based too, I imagine. I can’t believe a lot of it isn’t just outright exploitation by people who really don’t care and who are just looking to make some money in a different market.
KG: You’re exactly right, and that’s one of the most disheartening things I observed during my tenure in the Christian subculture was to realize that it really was just a business like any other business. I mean, on the outside the Christian record business says that they’re all about spreading the Gospel, but the reality is that if you’re not selling 20,000 units as an artist your label is going to drop you for another artist who can, and it won’t matter if hundreds of people are coming to Christ at your concerts either. Selling product is the only thing that counts.
I have to say, however, that most of the artists I’ve known are genuinely seeking to glorify God in what they do, they really do have a desire to use their gift to spread the gospel. But most of them discover pretty quickly that it’s not about ministry, it’s about money. That’s where it gets weird, to me, when you’ve made a business out of something that I’m not sure should be a business.
WK: Well, it certainly wasn’t intended to be in the first place. I don’t know how you mix those things successfully? I mean, how do you make faith and mammon mix?
I don’t really know. I’m sure Christian music is probably bigger than ever now isn’t it?
KG: I’ve been out of that loop so long, I don’t really even know to be honest.
WK: Probably much more organized, I have a feeling anyway. The Internet has allowed a lot of people to be more organized.
KG: Can I ask you why you wrote this article and published it in GQ of all places? I mean, you probably had an idea that the readers of that magazine were probably not Christians.
WK: Well, I mean I always think it’s more interesting to write things that the audience isn’t guaranteed to be familiar with already. You know what I mean? I knew that that my article wasn’t necessarily what GQ’s audience would identify with, but I wanted to bring it to them in a way that might cause them to think.
Of course, I know that this same audience had noticed the Christian subculture out of the corner of their eye. Whether or not they were living in it or not, they were certainly living around it. A lot of subjects I choose for essays and articles are phenomenon that everybody has been exposed to, perhaps only obliquely, but hasn’t had the chance to really think about it. Or had any reason to think about it.
Anybody who has ever turned a car radio dial has come across Christian radio. Anybody who had cable TV had come across Pat Robertson or whatever. So, I knew that no matter who you were – if you were just a GQ reader who bought the magazine to find out what hair gel to get or learn how to match your socks and your shirt, you had noticed this phenomenon and perhaps even formed some thoughts and opinions about it that you weren’t even aware of. So, I wanted to just bring it up into a level of consciousness.
I live in Montana and I grew up in the middle of the country, in Minnesota, and I’ve always enjoyed bringing subjects to national magazine that don’t have to deal with life in Los Angeles or New York, necessarily.
Of course, a lot of what I’m talking about is right there where you live, in Orange County, California.
KG: Yeah, it’s all over the place here. I mean, TBN is right down the street. Most of the nation’s largest mega-churches are out here, too. I could literally walk to the Crystal Cathedral if I wanted to, and Calvary Chapel is here, and Saddleback. I don’t know why, but God put me here and I’m living in this place. From here I can see how it warps people a bit. I mean, I’m from Tennessee and I grew up in Texas and I remember when I first moved out here about 16 years ago, I told my friends back in Texas that it was like living on another planet. The clothes were the same and they spoke the same language and watched the same TV shows, but other than that it was like living in a Twilight Zone episode.
WK: (laughs) That’s funny.
KG: In the time you have left do you mind talking a little about your personal faith journey? I think most people know you for your novels and your articles, but they probably also wonder who is this Walter Kirn guy and why is he talking to me about the Church?
WK: Well, it’s not something that I talk a lot about, number one. Nor is it something I’m asked a lot about. For one thing, I feel that not talking about it overtly gives me more flexibility to talk about it secretly in my writing, in both my fiction and non-fiction. In other words, for me to identify myself loudly and widely as a Christian would probably cause a lot of ears to close. Perhaps it would cause other ears to open, but the one’s that would open wouldn’t necessarily be the ones I’m addressing.
So, my faith is something I’m discreet about and quiet about, because I think of it simply as a point of view that can trickle through my writing and I don’t have to be strong about or announce as such, but it gives what I write a moral, ethical, spiritual framework that I hope will show through between the lines.
So, my faith isn’t something I discuss publicly, but I don’t mind it either. It’s nothing at all to be ashamed of or to be embarrassed about. It’s not something to be proud of either.
KG: (laughs)
WK: But it is something to witness to when asked. My history with organized religion is sort of checkered. I was baptized a Presbyterian in a very formal way. My family didn’t go to church much. When I was about 12, however, we converted to Mormonism and I was a member o f the Church of Latter Day Saints from about 12 to 17. Then, for social reasons as much as spiritual reasons, I made the most of it because it wasn’t something that I’d chosen necessarily. So, at 17 I decided not to go on a Mormon Mission and went to Princeton instead.
I don’t know that I thought much about my relationship with God for maybe about seven or eight years. But, around age 30 I stopped drinking and entered a 12 step program. As people may already know, the 12 step program urges the addict to reflect on their spiritual beliefs and to enter into a relationship with a higher power. So, that caused me to start looking at how I defined God and I could not really adequately or satisfactorily relate to any God but that which I knew from the New Testament. The Christian story at every level was all I needed to feel spiritually whole - at the literary level and as the real-life account of one man’s persecution and death, and as a large-scale description of our predicament here on Earth. I tried other things. I tried meditation. I tried all the various unfocused, fuzzy spiritual options. I could not dispense with Jesus Christ. I could not – either as a teacher, as a suffering, divine human being, as a contradiction, and a mystery.
So, that put me in a strange situation because I was a writer and a journalist who was addressing people of all kinds and didn’t want to limit myself to so-called Christian themes. That’s one of the problems I have with Christian culture. Christian culture is should be all culture. It should not think that it has to confine itself to certain kinds of themes or certain issues or certain characters. It’s a way of life. It’s a way of being in the world. If you believe it, it’s an account of what’s going on everywhere with everybody. When it starts backing up and taking only these small portions of reality rather than the whole society and the whole reality then it seems there’s something wrong with it.
So, I had to ask myself, “Do I announce myself as a Christian artist?” And I thought, “Why? No I don’t have to.” I don’t have to because it’s either part of myself and part of my work or it’s not. I wrote this piece (in GQ) out of this argument I was having with myself about whether or not you had to put that capital “C” or that fish symbol on your forehead. I thought, in some instances it’s what works and it’s what’s best, and in other instances it’s not.
To be honest with you, I just didn’t want certain employers of mine to discriminate against me. Not that they would, necessarily. There’s no reason to believe that they would, but it was possible that I might come out with a certain opinion on something and they would dismiss it as the opinion of someone who didn’t actually think; as someone who was simply proceeding blindly for the sake of certain religious principles rather than as someone who was thinking things through.
I never saw any conflict between thinking through every question that comes to you with the brain that God gave us and assessing it through Christian ethics and morality and tradition.
KG: The decision not to compartmentalize yourself, your art is a wise one, I think. It reminds me of a few years ago when a friend of mine said that he didn’t want to call himself a Christian anymore. When I asked why he said there were two reasons. First, because when most non-believers heard the term “Christian” they drew up a mental picture of those same faces on Christian television and they automatically assumed that he was like those people; always after money or always bashing this group or another. Secondly, when he read about the people called “Christian” in the New Testament he found a people who were radically giving their lives away and selling their property to anyone in need and he didn’t think he was worthy to be compared to people like that.
WK: (laughs) That’s interesting.
KG: When my friend said that to me I found I agreed with him, so whenever anyone asks me “Are you a Christian?” I respond by saying, “No, but I am very fascinated with the person of Jesus and I’m doing my best to follow him and to put his teachings into practice in my everyday life.” Which is more true than to simply say, “I’m a Christian”, I think, since that phrase conjures up a host of images and assumptions.
I’ve found that this response is so much more inviting and intriguing than to just say, “I’m a Christian.”
WK: It draws people in rather than to give people an excuse to draw back.
KG: There’s so much baggage associated with that term in our society.
WK: Hey listen, as far as I’m concerned, I don’t want to deny Jesus Christ. I don’t want to say, “I don’t know him.” But at the same time, I don’t want to do something more than say “I do know him” either. I mean, I admire him and I’m trying to understand him and to follow him as much as I can. I mean, that title is something that somebody else created actually. I don’t have to own all the implied political views, as you say, or the implied cultural narrowness and all the rest. I want people to think, I don’t want to use a title that causes people to stop thinking.
KG: I want to say thank you. I’m very blessed and honored that you would take the time to talk to me today, especially when you’ve got your kids with you this weekend and everything else.
WK: Likewise. I took a look at your blog and I like the feeling of it and I loved the sincerity of it. I like the honesty of it, and it’s got a tone that I’d love to see more of. So, I’m thrilled that I can take some time and do something that’s not just completely selfish.
**
Walter Kirn is an American novelist, literary critic, and essayist. His novels include Up In the Air, Mission To America, and his latest book, Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
SALVATION EXPERIENCE?
Lately I've been thinking quite a bit about the process of salvation. Partly because I'm in relationship right now with someone who is dying of bone cancer but who may - or may not - be saved.
In some ways I can see God working in my friend's heart. I can see my friend responding to my prayers. I hear my friend affirm that he knows that Jesus loves him, and that my love for him is reflective of that same love. But is this enough? Does that mean anything? If my friend died tonight, would he be welcomed into God's loving embrace?
I don't know.
But this conversation makes me wonder. What does salvation look like? Does someone need to pray a prayer or affirm certain doctrines in order to be saved? If so, what about the thief on the cross? He wasn't baptized. He wouldn't have been able to clearly explain to anyone what the Gospel was, but Jesus affirmed his simple act of faith was enough to ride shotgun with Jesus into paradise that very day.
For that matter, I started to wonder something else. When did the Disciples get saved? Can we pinpoint their conversion experiences? I mean, was Peter saved when he threw down his nets and followed Jesus on day one? Or was he saved when he affirmed that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God? Or was he saved when he denied Jesus three times? What about when Jesus asked him to feed his lambs? I mean, do we see any point in the New Testament that resembles a conversion experience for Peter that you and I would recognize? What about the other disciples? When did they get saved?
On one level, I know that this inability we have to pinpoint the moment of salvation is partly why Jesus commands us to not judge one another. Why? Because we're really not very good at it.
If you and I were next door neighbors to the Rich Young Ruler, we'd have sworn that guy was going to enter the Kingdom of God. But when Jesus makes him the offer, he walks away with sadness. He can't do it.
If we lived next door to the thief on the cross, we'd have sworn that criminal, low-life scum would never have any cheance at redemption. And we'd be wrong.
Only God knows our hearts. We can barely know our own hearts, much less the heart of someone else. So, if we're commanded not to judge one another's salvation, how can we really know either way?
In all of this I do admit that my frustration and anxiety about my friend is largely selfish. I want to know that he is saved so that I can rest easy. I want to know that my investment of time and energy with this friend wasn't for nothing.
Would I still have served and loved this man knowing his ultimate decision might not ever be known to me? I think so. Over time I've really, genuinely grown to love this gentleman. He's like a part of my family. He's a part of me. His death will affect me deeply, regardless of his eternal condition.
I may not ever really know whether or not my friend Robert is saved. For now, I will continue to serve him, and to show the love of Jesus to him, for as long as I can. I know that God is the one who ultimately deals with each of us individually. I can sow, another can water, but only Jesus gives the increase.
I trust my friend into the arms of Jesus, and I trust my Lord is faithful and true. He is a loving, kind, and giving Father who judges fairly. If nothing else, I can trust that God loves him more than I do, and that God is good.
Amen.
kg
In some ways I can see God working in my friend's heart. I can see my friend responding to my prayers. I hear my friend affirm that he knows that Jesus loves him, and that my love for him is reflective of that same love. But is this enough? Does that mean anything? If my friend died tonight, would he be welcomed into God's loving embrace?
I don't know.
But this conversation makes me wonder. What does salvation look like? Does someone need to pray a prayer or affirm certain doctrines in order to be saved? If so, what about the thief on the cross? He wasn't baptized. He wouldn't have been able to clearly explain to anyone what the Gospel was, but Jesus affirmed his simple act of faith was enough to ride shotgun with Jesus into paradise that very day.
For that matter, I started to wonder something else. When did the Disciples get saved? Can we pinpoint their conversion experiences? I mean, was Peter saved when he threw down his nets and followed Jesus on day one? Or was he saved when he affirmed that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God? Or was he saved when he denied Jesus three times? What about when Jesus asked him to feed his lambs? I mean, do we see any point in the New Testament that resembles a conversion experience for Peter that you and I would recognize? What about the other disciples? When did they get saved?
On one level, I know that this inability we have to pinpoint the moment of salvation is partly why Jesus commands us to not judge one another. Why? Because we're really not very good at it.
If you and I were next door neighbors to the Rich Young Ruler, we'd have sworn that guy was going to enter the Kingdom of God. But when Jesus makes him the offer, he walks away with sadness. He can't do it.
If we lived next door to the thief on the cross, we'd have sworn that criminal, low-life scum would never have any cheance at redemption. And we'd be wrong.
Only God knows our hearts. We can barely know our own hearts, much less the heart of someone else. So, if we're commanded not to judge one another's salvation, how can we really know either way?
In all of this I do admit that my frustration and anxiety about my friend is largely selfish. I want to know that he is saved so that I can rest easy. I want to know that my investment of time and energy with this friend wasn't for nothing.
Would I still have served and loved this man knowing his ultimate decision might not ever be known to me? I think so. Over time I've really, genuinely grown to love this gentleman. He's like a part of my family. He's a part of me. His death will affect me deeply, regardless of his eternal condition.
I may not ever really know whether or not my friend Robert is saved. For now, I will continue to serve him, and to show the love of Jesus to him, for as long as I can. I know that God is the one who ultimately deals with each of us individually. I can sow, another can water, but only Jesus gives the increase.
I trust my friend into the arms of Jesus, and I trust my Lord is faithful and true. He is a loving, kind, and giving Father who judges fairly. If nothing else, I can trust that God loves him more than I do, and that God is good.
Amen.
kg
Monday, November 23, 2009
RE-POST: CONSUMPTION, EXPRESSION, IDENTITY
By Keith Giles
As a society, we are conditioned to find our identity in what we own or purchase. As Christians, we are conditioned to express our faith through the sanctified products we purchase, own or consume. This is the perversion of Christ into Capitalism and an expression of faith through consumption of products. It is wrong.
A good friend sent me an article he found that provided an intriguing historical perspective on our evolution from artisans to consumers. I've pulled out the quotes I found most fascinating below:
"A Short History of Consumption
With the rise of the Industrial Revolution, the relationship between people and the goods that they made was broken. No longer did peasants plant, tend, and harvest their crops; now agricultural workers labored over someone else’s crops in exchange for wages. No longer did artisans design, plan, craft, and sell; now factory workers repeatedly carried out a single step in the production of a product, again in exchange for wages."
"In short, people were no longer producers, they were now consumers."
"Our identities were no longer tied up with the work we did, but with the buying power our work left us with."
"So people found their identities not in their work but in the things they could buy by working."
"People became consumers, not just in the way they got what they needed but in who they felt themselves to be."
"Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy"
*Full article HERE
**
The entire article is mainly looking at consumption from an environmental impact perspective, but the points made about our lifelong indoctrination to consumerism as a society are very eye-opening to me. Especially in light of the ongoing series of articles I've been writing lately regarding the evils of the Christian Subculture over on my weekly e-newsletter [Subversive Underground].
Here's what I think we need to understand, as followers of Jesus, regarding the observations made in this article above.
CONSUMPTION IS SELF-EXPRESSION
We, as a society, have made consuming and purchasing products part of our identity structure. This is why people will fork out $30 for a t-shirt with some corporate logo and walk around as a billboard for them, not because they love that company or product, not because of their loyalty to the brand, but because they think that logo makes THEM look cool. It says something about them, and so they willingly become walking advertising...and they PAY for the privilege. Amazing.
CHRISTIAN IDENTITY
Honestly, this really does help me to formulate a clear picture of what's going on in the Christian subculture. We're finding our identity as "Christians" in the products we purchase. These products brand us and identify us as a subset of people. Instead of finding our identity in Christ by the way we relate to Him daily, obey His teachings, and emulate His example of service and unconditional love, we now identify ourselves as Christians by our t-shirts, bumper stickers, books and CD collections.
ARTISTS AND CONSUMPTION/IDENTITY/EXPRESSION
It's also fascinating how this shift in our society stems from the devaluing of artisans in our culture. People now express themselves by what they own or purchase more than by what they create with their hands or their imaginations. Artists within our society are influenced by this consumerist identity structure. Artists of faith are compelled to create art that can be sold, or that conforms to the acceptable Christian marketplace. Art in this context is devoid of pure self-expression, unless that expression conforms to the acceptable branding and messaging of the sacred market.
More from the article:
"The rise of consumption as our primary interaction with the rest of our society has had profound effects. For example, social status is obtained and marked by the things we buy and use. A car, for instance, is not just a way to get from one place to another but has to “say something” about who we are — and even the lack of a car says volumes. Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy: the t-shirt with the logo of our band or team, the bamboo towels that show our environmental commitments, the alternative album that shows off our indie cred, the designer shoes that place us as part of the trend-setting elite, the minivan that shows us to be part of the dependable, hard-working, family-oriented suburban middle class, and so on."
SUBCULTURE AND IDENTITY
The Christian Subculture has a market. That market embraces a brand. That brand has a message connected to it. That message serves the market and encourages ongoing participation in that market. It means providing reasons to continue purchasing these products day after day and week after week. The market serves itself. It exists to keep itself in business.
The Christian Subculture provides an oasis made of soothing products that help us escape from the Big Bad World that is "Out There". It's a sacred version of "Calgon-Take Me Away!" only our message is more pervasive. It's not just one soothing bath to calm our fears of being trapped in a world of sin, it's music and movies and clothing and books and toys and key chains and license plate frames and decals and candy and pens and pretty much every conceivable object and piece of product that can ever be branded with our message. It's nearly a complete world unto itself, and it's exactly what Jesus prayed to God would never happen to us. (see John 17:15)
THE CART THAT PULLS THE HORSE
I'm not against art or music or expressions of faith. Most of my favorite musicians are believers and their music contains references to our Lord and to faith in Him. Many of my friends are Artists who paint and sculpt and create art to communicate a Kingdom reality. The issue is not that creating art or any sincere expression of devotion to Christ is wrong. What is evil is the marketplace we've created to showcase product. In the beginning the market existed to serve the Art, now the Art exists to serve the marketplace. We have lost focus. Making money is now the main objective. Evangelism or edification or worship is secondary at best, if considered at all.
During my six years in the Christian Music Industry I slowly began to realize the sickness of it all. At first I saw the industry as a way to spread the Gospel and to provide a voice for talented musicians of faith. But soon I realized that it didn't matter if your music ministry was responsible for leading thousands to Christ each year. What mattered was record sales. If your CD's weren't selling at least 20,000 units per sales cycle you'd be dropped from the label in a heartbeat. It was, after all, a Record BUSINESS, and like every business making money and selling product is the very bottom line. Ministry is incidental, and sadly only useful in the context of marketing the product to your target audience, in order to drive more sales.
Like the money-changers in front of the Temple that Jesus chased away with a whip, the original idea was a good one; To provide animals for sacrifice so that people could enter the Temple and participate in the worship of God. However, when money got in the way the original vision was corrupted and the Temple became a marketplace which obscured access for the common man and made a mockery of real worship. The same is true today.
BACK TO JESUS
The tension still remains between the clear command of our Lord to "Go into all the world.." and a subculture that bears His Name, yet encourages a full retreat from the World and identifies membership based on purchasing the acceptable, branded product. The product carries a message that we should fear those outside of our group. It encourages non-involvement with the culture. It makes minimizing contact with those outside the subculture a preferable reality.
If Jesus modeled radical inclusion and commanded us to be known by our love for everyone, especially those who hate us, and a subculture emerges with His Name on it that encourages us to be radically exclusive and creates behavior by which we are known for our intolerance, hatred and condemnation of those outside our group, we must make a choice. Do we choose Jesus or do we choose the man-made subculture with his Name on it?
I choose Jesus.
If Jesus clearly teaches something, and another organization or person teaches the exact opposite we call that "Anti-Christ". To me it's plainly obvious that the Christian Subculture is "Anti-Christ" because it contradicts His message of inclusion, involvement and meaningful relationships with sinners.
I've said it before and I say it again; "Death to the Christian Subculture!"
BRINGING A CHANGE
Where can we fashion a whip and drive out the money-changers from the Temple? It's difficult because we now deal with this on a massive scale. Participation in this market-driven Christian Subculture is pervasive and intangible. There is no physical structure to kick over. There is no clear method for applying the whip necessary to drive them out.
All we can really do is to begin, one person at a time, to disassociate ourselves with this subculture. Stop participating. Stop identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus based on your purchases. Stop pandering to what the Christian Marketplace finds acceptable and palatable. Make Jesus your single source of Truth. Ask God to show you where you have replaced a Jesus way of life with a carefully branded subculture way of life. Escape the false notions of "Sacred" and "Secular" and just start living, as a disciple of Jesus, in this World (the only World), right now.
I declare a personal War against the Christian Subculture.
kg
**
NOTE: Originally published here in October, 2007 and republished here for your edification.
As a society, we are conditioned to find our identity in what we own or purchase. As Christians, we are conditioned to express our faith through the sanctified products we purchase, own or consume. This is the perversion of Christ into Capitalism and an expression of faith through consumption of products. It is wrong.
A good friend sent me an article he found that provided an intriguing historical perspective on our evolution from artisans to consumers. I've pulled out the quotes I found most fascinating below:
"A Short History of Consumption
With the rise of the Industrial Revolution, the relationship between people and the goods that they made was broken. No longer did peasants plant, tend, and harvest their crops; now agricultural workers labored over someone else’s crops in exchange for wages. No longer did artisans design, plan, craft, and sell; now factory workers repeatedly carried out a single step in the production of a product, again in exchange for wages."
"In short, people were no longer producers, they were now consumers."
"Our identities were no longer tied up with the work we did, but with the buying power our work left us with."
"So people found their identities not in their work but in the things they could buy by working."
"People became consumers, not just in the way they got what they needed but in who they felt themselves to be."
"Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy"
*Full article HERE
**
The entire article is mainly looking at consumption from an environmental impact perspective, but the points made about our lifelong indoctrination to consumerism as a society are very eye-opening to me. Especially in light of the ongoing series of articles I've been writing lately regarding the evils of the Christian Subculture over on my weekly e-newsletter [Subversive Underground].
Here's what I think we need to understand, as followers of Jesus, regarding the observations made in this article above.
CONSUMPTION IS SELF-EXPRESSION
We, as a society, have made consuming and purchasing products part of our identity structure. This is why people will fork out $30 for a t-shirt with some corporate logo and walk around as a billboard for them, not because they love that company or product, not because of their loyalty to the brand, but because they think that logo makes THEM look cool. It says something about them, and so they willingly become walking advertising...and they PAY for the privilege. Amazing.
CHRISTIAN IDENTITY
Honestly, this really does help me to formulate a clear picture of what's going on in the Christian subculture. We're finding our identity as "Christians" in the products we purchase. These products brand us and identify us as a subset of people. Instead of finding our identity in Christ by the way we relate to Him daily, obey His teachings, and emulate His example of service and unconditional love, we now identify ourselves as Christians by our t-shirts, bumper stickers, books and CD collections.
ARTISTS AND CONSUMPTION/IDENTITY/EXPRESSION
It's also fascinating how this shift in our society stems from the devaluing of artisans in our culture. People now express themselves by what they own or purchase more than by what they create with their hands or their imaginations. Artists within our society are influenced by this consumerist identity structure. Artists of faith are compelled to create art that can be sold, or that conforms to the acceptable Christian marketplace. Art in this context is devoid of pure self-expression, unless that expression conforms to the acceptable branding and messaging of the sacred market.
More from the article:
"The rise of consumption as our primary interaction with the rest of our society has had profound effects. For example, social status is obtained and marked by the things we buy and use. A car, for instance, is not just a way to get from one place to another but has to “say something” about who we are — and even the lack of a car says volumes. Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy: the t-shirt with the logo of our band or team, the bamboo towels that show our environmental commitments, the alternative album that shows off our indie cred, the designer shoes that place us as part of the trend-setting elite, the minivan that shows us to be part of the dependable, hard-working, family-oriented suburban middle class, and so on."
SUBCULTURE AND IDENTITY
The Christian Subculture has a market. That market embraces a brand. That brand has a message connected to it. That message serves the market and encourages ongoing participation in that market. It means providing reasons to continue purchasing these products day after day and week after week. The market serves itself. It exists to keep itself in business.
The Christian Subculture provides an oasis made of soothing products that help us escape from the Big Bad World that is "Out There". It's a sacred version of "Calgon-Take Me Away!" only our message is more pervasive. It's not just one soothing bath to calm our fears of being trapped in a world of sin, it's music and movies and clothing and books and toys and key chains and license plate frames and decals and candy and pens and pretty much every conceivable object and piece of product that can ever be branded with our message. It's nearly a complete world unto itself, and it's exactly what Jesus prayed to God would never happen to us. (see John 17:15)
THE CART THAT PULLS THE HORSE
I'm not against art or music or expressions of faith. Most of my favorite musicians are believers and their music contains references to our Lord and to faith in Him. Many of my friends are Artists who paint and sculpt and create art to communicate a Kingdom reality. The issue is not that creating art or any sincere expression of devotion to Christ is wrong. What is evil is the marketplace we've created to showcase product. In the beginning the market existed to serve the Art, now the Art exists to serve the marketplace. We have lost focus. Making money is now the main objective. Evangelism or edification or worship is secondary at best, if considered at all.
During my six years in the Christian Music Industry I slowly began to realize the sickness of it all. At first I saw the industry as a way to spread the Gospel and to provide a voice for talented musicians of faith. But soon I realized that it didn't matter if your music ministry was responsible for leading thousands to Christ each year. What mattered was record sales. If your CD's weren't selling at least 20,000 units per sales cycle you'd be dropped from the label in a heartbeat. It was, after all, a Record BUSINESS, and like every business making money and selling product is the very bottom line. Ministry is incidental, and sadly only useful in the context of marketing the product to your target audience, in order to drive more sales.
Like the money-changers in front of the Temple that Jesus chased away with a whip, the original idea was a good one; To provide animals for sacrifice so that people could enter the Temple and participate in the worship of God. However, when money got in the way the original vision was corrupted and the Temple became a marketplace which obscured access for the common man and made a mockery of real worship. The same is true today.
BACK TO JESUS
The tension still remains between the clear command of our Lord to "Go into all the world.." and a subculture that bears His Name, yet encourages a full retreat from the World and identifies membership based on purchasing the acceptable, branded product. The product carries a message that we should fear those outside of our group. It encourages non-involvement with the culture. It makes minimizing contact with those outside the subculture a preferable reality.
If Jesus modeled radical inclusion and commanded us to be known by our love for everyone, especially those who hate us, and a subculture emerges with His Name on it that encourages us to be radically exclusive and creates behavior by which we are known for our intolerance, hatred and condemnation of those outside our group, we must make a choice. Do we choose Jesus or do we choose the man-made subculture with his Name on it?
I choose Jesus.
If Jesus clearly teaches something, and another organization or person teaches the exact opposite we call that "Anti-Christ". To me it's plainly obvious that the Christian Subculture is "Anti-Christ" because it contradicts His message of inclusion, involvement and meaningful relationships with sinners.
I've said it before and I say it again; "Death to the Christian Subculture!"
BRINGING A CHANGE
Where can we fashion a whip and drive out the money-changers from the Temple? It's difficult because we now deal with this on a massive scale. Participation in this market-driven Christian Subculture is pervasive and intangible. There is no physical structure to kick over. There is no clear method for applying the whip necessary to drive them out.
All we can really do is to begin, one person at a time, to disassociate ourselves with this subculture. Stop participating. Stop identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus based on your purchases. Stop pandering to what the Christian Marketplace finds acceptable and palatable. Make Jesus your single source of Truth. Ask God to show you where you have replaced a Jesus way of life with a carefully branded subculture way of life. Escape the false notions of "Sacred" and "Secular" and just start living, as a disciple of Jesus, in this World (the only World), right now.
I declare a personal War against the Christian Subculture.
kg
**
NOTE: Originally published here in October, 2007 and republished here for your edification.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Undercover Christian
Fascinating story on NPR about a young Brown University student who went undercover at Liberty University in order to better understand Evangelical Christians.
The article is full of amazing insight and irony. One of my favorite observations by the author was this:
"Roose, the product of the "ultimate, secular, liberal upbringing," got the idea to go undercover after meeting a group of Liberty students while a freshman at Brown. "I had never really come into contact with conservative Christian culture," he says. "It became clear very quickly that we had almost no way to communicate with each other."
How can it be that we have no way to communicate with other human beings? Why do they have to learn our Christianese and participate in our brand of Christian consumerism before they can understand us?
Can you imagine a first century pagan having to do all of this just to find a way to communicate with followers of Jesus in Jerusalem?
This is part of why I want to destroy the Christian Subculture. It puts us on an island away from the people we are commanded to love and serve.
Read the full article (and the insightful comments below it)
HERE
The article is full of amazing insight and irony. One of my favorite observations by the author was this:
"Roose, the product of the "ultimate, secular, liberal upbringing," got the idea to go undercover after meeting a group of Liberty students while a freshman at Brown. "I had never really come into contact with conservative Christian culture," he says. "It became clear very quickly that we had almost no way to communicate with each other."
How can it be that we have no way to communicate with other human beings? Why do they have to learn our Christianese and participate in our brand of Christian consumerism before they can understand us?
Can you imagine a first century pagan having to do all of this just to find a way to communicate with followers of Jesus in Jerusalem?
This is part of why I want to destroy the Christian Subculture. It puts us on an island away from the people we are commanded to love and serve.
Read the full article (and the insightful comments below it)
HERE
Thursday, May 28, 2009
RE-POST: Destroy The (Christian) Subculture!
I've come to the conclusion that the Christian Subculture is evil. I want to destroy it. I want to choke the life out of it and watch it die. I want to strip the skin from its bones, shake the life out of it and break it into tiny pieces.
In the past I've written articles that express the dangers of the Christian Subculture, and it's no secret that I cannot stand Christian Radio, and have zero tolerance for "Jesus Junk" such as sanctified breath mints or t-shirts that christianize popular logos and advertising (see "Bud Wise Up" or "Lord's Gymn" for example).
A lot of my passion for this is connected to my desire to see this world changed from within. My blog name, "Subversive", is a metaphor for the coming of the Kingdom of God here and now. The Christian Subculture hinders the breaking in of the Kingdom. It inhibits the Gospel message. It paralyzes the followers of Christ by isolating them from the people they are supposed to love and interact with on a deeply intimate level.
I now realize that my passion for deconstructing the popular "Churchianity System" extends far beyond mere dislike. As I begin to fully understand how insidious it really is, I have resolved to dedicate myself to its demise. I am now fully convinced that someway, somehow, the entire thing needs to be knocked down with a very large hammer and burned into oblivion.
I have always wanted to host a "Burn Our Christian Crap" session where attendees could bring the symbols of their involvement with the Christian Consumerist Monster and we could all stand around and sing "Kumbaya" together while we tosssed our "Lord's Gymn" tees and "Carman" Cd's and other idols to materialistic spiritualilty into a giant bonfire (an obvious homage to those horrible youth group parties where teens were forced to burn their Van Halen records and Rush albums, because they were "secular").
I've come to the radical conclusion that there is nothing secular. There is only the world we live in. This one, right here (look around you...yeah, that world), and nothing more. God created the entire world, and it's a fallen world I agree, but there is no "Sacred" or "Secular" division to this world, other than the artificially constructed one we've created to keep ourselves safe and comfortable and far away from "those evil sinners over there".
Another big revelation for you? We're all sinners. You. Me. That guy over there. Yeah, we're all evil. We all need Jesus. Not just those who don't attend your church or who vote Democrat or who read Harry Potter. All of us. Look it up, it's in the Bible.
So, at the moment, all I have is the fire in my gut, the passionate resolution in my belly, that I hate all things "Christianese" and I long to assist in the complete demolition of this man-made evil.
I'm not exaxtly sure how this all actually works out to in the real world, but let me be clear; I am NOT advocating the wanton destruction of Christian bookstores; I am NOT organizing petitions to shut down Christian Television (although I'd probably sign a petition if someone sent me one); I'm not calling for people to light torches or assemble in protest...but maybe it would be good idea if we just simply tried to escape the pseudo-reality of Christian Subculture? Maybe we could just start living in the real world, as followers of Jesus, without seeing those imaginary boundary lines between "Us" and "Them"? Maybe we could talk to people and befriend them, and love them, regardless of whether or not they were Christians? Maybe we could stop seeking comfort and shelter within the invisible walls of our own safety zones and start realizing that we live in this world, the real world...the ONLY world, and begin living as Salt and Light to those around us?
Jesus prayed for us, those who would follow after Him, in this way:
"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."(John 17:15)
See, it was never God's intention to take us out of the world we live in. Why have we decided that it's ok to take ourselves out of the world?
Paul the Apostle also agreed on this point when he wrote,
"I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world." (1 Cor 5:9-10)
Have we left this world for some virtual, "Clean World" where everything is Christian? Do we have to get our Christian Milk from a Christian Cow? Do we have to freshen our breath with Christian Mints? Do we have to drink Christian Soda and bowl at a Christian Bowling Alley?
This idea of withdrawl from the culture is evil. It is not God's plan for us. It is the fruit of our own sinful, selfish desires to be safe and comfortable, and in some cases to make money and perpetuate an industry. It is demonic, and it hinders the Gospel message by isolating the agents of change (you and I) from those who need "the hope that lies within", and I want nothing more than to see it die a horrible, agonizing death so that God's people can begin to learn what it means to be human and start relating to other human beings who are sinful and hopeless without Christ, just like everyone else.
The Christian Subculture is essentially a wall that we build to keep ourselves from the world. Like the Berlin Wall, or the Great Wall of China, or Hadrian's Wall, or the wall between Palestine and Israel, it is an artificial border designed by us, the supposed followers of Jesus, in order to isolate us from the ones we are commanded to love.
Jesus would want us to smash down that wall. It's the same wall built by the money changers in the Temple at Jerusalem which kept the common people from entering the house of God. Those systems were also man-made. Those systems also invovled making a buck on the sale of faith and the commercialization of God's name.
I'm not sure where to find the hammer big enough to knock down this wall we've built, but I long to find one, and when I do I will let it swing.
Keith
[Article originally appeared on the Subversive Underground E-Newsletter-August 13, 2007]
In the past I've written articles that express the dangers of the Christian Subculture, and it's no secret that I cannot stand Christian Radio, and have zero tolerance for "Jesus Junk" such as sanctified breath mints or t-shirts that christianize popular logos and advertising (see "Bud Wise Up" or "Lord's Gymn" for example).
A lot of my passion for this is connected to my desire to see this world changed from within. My blog name, "Subversive", is a metaphor for the coming of the Kingdom of God here and now. The Christian Subculture hinders the breaking in of the Kingdom. It inhibits the Gospel message. It paralyzes the followers of Christ by isolating them from the people they are supposed to love and interact with on a deeply intimate level.
I now realize that my passion for deconstructing the popular "Churchianity System" extends far beyond mere dislike. As I begin to fully understand how insidious it really is, I have resolved to dedicate myself to its demise. I am now fully convinced that someway, somehow, the entire thing needs to be knocked down with a very large hammer and burned into oblivion.
I have always wanted to host a "Burn Our Christian Crap" session where attendees could bring the symbols of their involvement with the Christian Consumerist Monster and we could all stand around and sing "Kumbaya" together while we tosssed our "Lord's Gymn" tees and "Carman" Cd's and other idols to materialistic spiritualilty into a giant bonfire (an obvious homage to those horrible youth group parties where teens were forced to burn their Van Halen records and Rush albums, because they were "secular").
I've come to the radical conclusion that there is nothing secular. There is only the world we live in. This one, right here (look around you...yeah, that world), and nothing more. God created the entire world, and it's a fallen world I agree, but there is no "Sacred" or "Secular" division to this world, other than the artificially constructed one we've created to keep ourselves safe and comfortable and far away from "those evil sinners over there".
Another big revelation for you? We're all sinners. You. Me. That guy over there. Yeah, we're all evil. We all need Jesus. Not just those who don't attend your church or who vote Democrat or who read Harry Potter. All of us. Look it up, it's in the Bible.
So, at the moment, all I have is the fire in my gut, the passionate resolution in my belly, that I hate all things "Christianese" and I long to assist in the complete demolition of this man-made evil.
I'm not exaxtly sure how this all actually works out to in the real world, but let me be clear; I am NOT advocating the wanton destruction of Christian bookstores; I am NOT organizing petitions to shut down Christian Television (although I'd probably sign a petition if someone sent me one); I'm not calling for people to light torches or assemble in protest...but maybe it would be good idea if we just simply tried to escape the pseudo-reality of Christian Subculture? Maybe we could just start living in the real world, as followers of Jesus, without seeing those imaginary boundary lines between "Us" and "Them"? Maybe we could talk to people and befriend them, and love them, regardless of whether or not they were Christians? Maybe we could stop seeking comfort and shelter within the invisible walls of our own safety zones and start realizing that we live in this world, the real world...the ONLY world, and begin living as Salt and Light to those around us?
Jesus prayed for us, those who would follow after Him, in this way:
"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."(John 17:15)
See, it was never God's intention to take us out of the world we live in. Why have we decided that it's ok to take ourselves out of the world?
Paul the Apostle also agreed on this point when he wrote,
"I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world." (1 Cor 5:9-10)
Have we left this world for some virtual, "Clean World" where everything is Christian? Do we have to get our Christian Milk from a Christian Cow? Do we have to freshen our breath with Christian Mints? Do we have to drink Christian Soda and bowl at a Christian Bowling Alley?
This idea of withdrawl from the culture is evil. It is not God's plan for us. It is the fruit of our own sinful, selfish desires to be safe and comfortable, and in some cases to make money and perpetuate an industry. It is demonic, and it hinders the Gospel message by isolating the agents of change (you and I) from those who need "the hope that lies within", and I want nothing more than to see it die a horrible, agonizing death so that God's people can begin to learn what it means to be human and start relating to other human beings who are sinful and hopeless without Christ, just like everyone else.
The Christian Subculture is essentially a wall that we build to keep ourselves from the world. Like the Berlin Wall, or the Great Wall of China, or Hadrian's Wall, or the wall between Palestine and Israel, it is an artificial border designed by us, the supposed followers of Jesus, in order to isolate us from the ones we are commanded to love.
Jesus would want us to smash down that wall. It's the same wall built by the money changers in the Temple at Jerusalem which kept the common people from entering the house of God. Those systems were also man-made. Those systems also invovled making a buck on the sale of faith and the commercialization of God's name.
I'm not sure where to find the hammer big enough to knock down this wall we've built, but I long to find one, and when I do I will let it swing.
Keith
[Article originally appeared on the Subversive Underground E-Newsletter-August 13, 2007]
Monday, May 25, 2009
CHRISTIANITY VERSION O.O
By Keith Giles
From the book, "Nobody Follows Jesus (So Why Should You?)"
A friend recently brought an article in the September 2002 issue of GQ magazine to my attention. (posted HERE). The author, Walter Kirn, an unbeliever himself, wrote a blistering yet painfully honest article called “What Would Jesus Do?” that explored the little Christian ghetto that many of us live in. His morbid curiosity compelled him to explore this world that was almost exactly like the one he lived in, but without any substance. He described how he discovered product after product that essentially cloned the mainstream culture and leached it of sinfulness, and, as a byproduct, all relevance and meaning.
He noted, "What makes the stuff so half-assed, so thin, so weak and cumulatively so demoralizing … has nothing to do with faith. The problem is lack of faith. [The Christian subculture] is a bad Xerox of the mainstream, not a truly distinctive or separate achievement. Without the courage to lead, it numbly follows, picking up the major media’s scraps and gluing them back together with a cross on top."
What would happen if, instead of trying to create our own sanitized version of the world, we simply set ourselves apart from it? I can't help thinking that the most radical thing that a modern Christian could ever do is simply to act out the things that Jesus told us to do—things like loving our enemies, giving freely to anyone who asks us, forgiving everyone no matter what and being gracious with everyone around us would have a much more powerful impact on the culture than Christian breath mints ever could.
Isn't it more important to be set apart from the culture and to be known by how we are "unlike" the world? I feel like its time for Christianity Version 0.0 to be launched. It's time to make a difference by being different.
Ever wonder why Christianity isn’t taken very seriously in today's society? Why "Christian" has become synonymous with "cheesy"? Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims seem to command much more respect from the average person than do Christians. Maybe it's because Buddhists and Hindus don't create their own little versions of the world we live in for their own benefit and consumption.
Our attempts to copy the culture, albeit in a sanitized version, have failed to impress the world. We have everything from Christian radio and television to Christian coffee and candy. We have the Dove Awards, the Christian version of The Grammy Awards. We have Christian music, a subculture that creates the same music, but with a "message." We've become a faith that emulates rather than impacts.
We've tried so hard to show the world around us that "Christians can rock too" and that "Christians can be just as funny and cool" as they are...just a little more "holy". The end result seems to be that the world sees no intrinsic difference between them and us, except maybe for the packaging and the lack of quality.
Where did we get this idea from? Certainly not from Jesus. Jesus was relevant to His culture. He spoke their language. He told stories that they could relate to in order to illustrate truth. He didn’t create a sanitized version of the popular culture. He didn't instruct us to do so, either. If anything, Jesus created a movement that was intended to be counter to the culture, not a sanitized version of the same. He was more interested in creating a people that were known for all the ways they were different, not the ways they were the same as the world...only better.
Ask yourself something. Can you name the top five most effective, culturally relevant ministries to come out of the body of Christ in the last 10 years? You know, the one's that have had a profound, lasting impact on the culture by modelling the character of Jesus?
No? For the life of me, I can't either.
Time to create a version of Christianity that isn't a version of anything at all. It's time for Christianity version zero point zero.
Someone hit the reset button...
***
NOTE: I spoke to Walter Kirn soon after writing this, about 4 years ago, and it turns out he does profess faith in Christ, but he wrote his article while he was the fiction editor at GQ in order to provoke the Body of Christ to change its tune. I had always intended to interview Mr. Kirn, and he consented to one, but I never got around to doing so.
Love to hear your thoughts...
kg
PS-- You can download the entire book for free at the link on the left nav.
From the book, "Nobody Follows Jesus (So Why Should You?)"
A friend recently brought an article in the September 2002 issue of GQ magazine to my attention. (posted HERE). The author, Walter Kirn, an unbeliever himself, wrote a blistering yet painfully honest article called “What Would Jesus Do?” that explored the little Christian ghetto that many of us live in. His morbid curiosity compelled him to explore this world that was almost exactly like the one he lived in, but without any substance. He described how he discovered product after product that essentially cloned the mainstream culture and leached it of sinfulness, and, as a byproduct, all relevance and meaning.
He noted, "What makes the stuff so half-assed, so thin, so weak and cumulatively so demoralizing … has nothing to do with faith. The problem is lack of faith. [The Christian subculture] is a bad Xerox of the mainstream, not a truly distinctive or separate achievement. Without the courage to lead, it numbly follows, picking up the major media’s scraps and gluing them back together with a cross on top."
What would happen if, instead of trying to create our own sanitized version of the world, we simply set ourselves apart from it? I can't help thinking that the most radical thing that a modern Christian could ever do is simply to act out the things that Jesus told us to do—things like loving our enemies, giving freely to anyone who asks us, forgiving everyone no matter what and being gracious with everyone around us would have a much more powerful impact on the culture than Christian breath mints ever could.
Isn't it more important to be set apart from the culture and to be known by how we are "unlike" the world? I feel like its time for Christianity Version 0.0 to be launched. It's time to make a difference by being different.
Ever wonder why Christianity isn’t taken very seriously in today's society? Why "Christian" has become synonymous with "cheesy"? Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims seem to command much more respect from the average person than do Christians. Maybe it's because Buddhists and Hindus don't create their own little versions of the world we live in for their own benefit and consumption.
Our attempts to copy the culture, albeit in a sanitized version, have failed to impress the world. We have everything from Christian radio and television to Christian coffee and candy. We have the Dove Awards, the Christian version of The Grammy Awards. We have Christian music, a subculture that creates the same music, but with a "message." We've become a faith that emulates rather than impacts.
We've tried so hard to show the world around us that "Christians can rock too" and that "Christians can be just as funny and cool" as they are...just a little more "holy". The end result seems to be that the world sees no intrinsic difference between them and us, except maybe for the packaging and the lack of quality.
Where did we get this idea from? Certainly not from Jesus. Jesus was relevant to His culture. He spoke their language. He told stories that they could relate to in order to illustrate truth. He didn’t create a sanitized version of the popular culture. He didn't instruct us to do so, either. If anything, Jesus created a movement that was intended to be counter to the culture, not a sanitized version of the same. He was more interested in creating a people that were known for all the ways they were different, not the ways they were the same as the world...only better.
Ask yourself something. Can you name the top five most effective, culturally relevant ministries to come out of the body of Christ in the last 10 years? You know, the one's that have had a profound, lasting impact on the culture by modelling the character of Jesus?
No? For the life of me, I can't either.
Time to create a version of Christianity that isn't a version of anything at all. It's time for Christianity version zero point zero.
Someone hit the reset button...
***
NOTE: I spoke to Walter Kirn soon after writing this, about 4 years ago, and it turns out he does profess faith in Christ, but he wrote his article while he was the fiction editor at GQ in order to provoke the Body of Christ to change its tune. I had always intended to interview Mr. Kirn, and he consented to one, but I never got around to doing so.
Love to hear your thoughts...
kg
PS-- You can download the entire book for free at the link on the left nav.
Friday, May 01, 2009
WHO WOULD JESUS TORTURE?
I've been saying for a long time now that being a Christian in today's culture does not equate with being a "follower of Jesus" and once again we have more proof of this sad fact.
Today's top story on most internet news pages is that a majority of regular, church-going Christians are more likely to support torture.
Read the full story
HERE
What really saddens me is that we live in a world where those who claim to follow Jesus are completely divorced from what it actually means to love and live as Jesus would.
Instead, we have Christians in America who believe that if they vote the right way and belong to the right political groups and read the right books and watch the right TV shows and listen to the right kinds of music that they are "Christians".
How can someone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus turn around and say that it's alright to torture another human being? For any reason?
More and more I find that there is a blurred line in American Christianity between "The American Way" and "The Kingdom of God".
The Kingdom of God and the American Dream are not the same thing, and in fact, they are two opposing viewpoints which are in conflict on many levels.
The American Dream is founded on the concept of every person's right to the pursuit of happiness. Whatever you can imagine would make you happy you are free to pursue it with all your heart. That's your right.
The Kingdom of God is founded on the concept of laying down your life, your idea of what will make you happy, in favor of receiving what Jesus knows will really make you happy.
Following Jesus involves laying down your life and giving up your rights. It means full and complete submission to God because you recognize that His perfect will for your life is a million times better than anything you could ever dream up, or pursue, on your own.
Jesus didn't ever instruct any of his disciples to fight for their God-given, "Inalienable Rights", and neither did Paul the Apostle. In fact, they both encouraged their disciples to live humble lives, serving others and not demanding more because they deserved more. Paul even specifically told those followers of Christ who were slaves to remain slaves, even if they were being mistreated.
Historically, the early Christians didn't fight for their rights as citizens, they took it on the chin, and in the Lion's den, and in the arena. They literally would rather die than to take another person's life.
Simply put, they followed their Lord and Savior, Jesus and they followed His example of non-violence and submissive service to those who hated and mistreated them. Does that sound like the American Dream to you?
STAY FOCUSED
We cannot afford to become distracted by nationalism or led astray by politics.
As followers of Jesus, He must be our one and only priority and influence. This is what it means to make Jesus our Lord.
As Christian pastor and activist Jim Wallis has said, "God is not a Republican or a Democrat. God is not partisan. God is not ideologically committed to our Left or Right. God's politics challenges all of our politics. It includes the people our politics regularly leave out; the poor and the vulnerable. That's God's politics."
OUR WITNESS
It would have been virtually impossible for an unbeliever living in those first three hundred years of Church History to ever reject Christianity on the grounds that it lacked compassionate people or failed to teach loving kindness.
In fact, we have testimony from many of the most hostile pagans who lived during the first three hundred years of Christianity who were put to shame because of the overwhelming generosity of the Church. Julian, the Apostate wrote of this frustrating situation when he said, "..The godless Galileans feed not only their poor, but ours also."
Christian philosopher Aristides (125 AD) wrote about the radical charity of the early Church also, recording the fact that, "…if there is among them a man that is poor and needy and they have not an abundance of necessities, they fast for three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food."
For a Christian, killing our enemies is not acceptable. If being a good American citizen means you need to cheer on a war that kills innocent people then you must lay aside your Christianity.
If being a faithful member of a political party trumps over 2,000 verses in the word of God about caring for the poor, then you need to make a choice.
A few years ago I had an opportunity to speak to Jim Wallis on this very subject and his response has stayed with me ever since. He said, "The Church today is more American than Christian. The Kingdom of God is not the same as the American Empire. When we are more American than Christian we confuse the meaning of the Body of Christ with any nation state. This notion of the Church as a counter-cultural movement is Biblically obvious. There's no doubt about that. We're in the world to transform the world for the sake of this new order that has come in Jesus Christ. If Jesus' vision of the Kingdom was so threatening, why is our vision of the Kingdom so safe?"
The Gospel of the Kingdom is not the American Dream.
It saddens me to see Christians more passionate about their political party than they are about the Kingdom of God.
-kg
**
(some of the above post was taken from a previous [Subversive Underground] article)
Today's top story on most internet news pages is that a majority of regular, church-going Christians are more likely to support torture.
Read the full story
HERE
What really saddens me is that we live in a world where those who claim to follow Jesus are completely divorced from what it actually means to love and live as Jesus would.
Instead, we have Christians in America who believe that if they vote the right way and belong to the right political groups and read the right books and watch the right TV shows and listen to the right kinds of music that they are "Christians".
How can someone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus turn around and say that it's alright to torture another human being? For any reason?
More and more I find that there is a blurred line in American Christianity between "The American Way" and "The Kingdom of God".
The Kingdom of God and the American Dream are not the same thing, and in fact, they are two opposing viewpoints which are in conflict on many levels.
The American Dream is founded on the concept of every person's right to the pursuit of happiness. Whatever you can imagine would make you happy you are free to pursue it with all your heart. That's your right.
The Kingdom of God is founded on the concept of laying down your life, your idea of what will make you happy, in favor of receiving what Jesus knows will really make you happy.
Following Jesus involves laying down your life and giving up your rights. It means full and complete submission to God because you recognize that His perfect will for your life is a million times better than anything you could ever dream up, or pursue, on your own.
Jesus didn't ever instruct any of his disciples to fight for their God-given, "Inalienable Rights", and neither did Paul the Apostle. In fact, they both encouraged their disciples to live humble lives, serving others and not demanding more because they deserved more. Paul even specifically told those followers of Christ who were slaves to remain slaves, even if they were being mistreated.
Historically, the early Christians didn't fight for their rights as citizens, they took it on the chin, and in the Lion's den, and in the arena. They literally would rather die than to take another person's life.
Simply put, they followed their Lord and Savior, Jesus and they followed His example of non-violence and submissive service to those who hated and mistreated them. Does that sound like the American Dream to you?
STAY FOCUSED
We cannot afford to become distracted by nationalism or led astray by politics.
As followers of Jesus, He must be our one and only priority and influence. This is what it means to make Jesus our Lord.
As Christian pastor and activist Jim Wallis has said, "God is not a Republican or a Democrat. God is not partisan. God is not ideologically committed to our Left or Right. God's politics challenges all of our politics. It includes the people our politics regularly leave out; the poor and the vulnerable. That's God's politics."
OUR WITNESS
It would have been virtually impossible for an unbeliever living in those first three hundred years of Church History to ever reject Christianity on the grounds that it lacked compassionate people or failed to teach loving kindness.
In fact, we have testimony from many of the most hostile pagans who lived during the first three hundred years of Christianity who were put to shame because of the overwhelming generosity of the Church. Julian, the Apostate wrote of this frustrating situation when he said, "..The godless Galileans feed not only their poor, but ours also."
Christian philosopher Aristides (125 AD) wrote about the radical charity of the early Church also, recording the fact that, "…if there is among them a man that is poor and needy and they have not an abundance of necessities, they fast for three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food."
For a Christian, killing our enemies is not acceptable. If being a good American citizen means you need to cheer on a war that kills innocent people then you must lay aside your Christianity.
If being a faithful member of a political party trumps over 2,000 verses in the word of God about caring for the poor, then you need to make a choice.
A few years ago I had an opportunity to speak to Jim Wallis on this very subject and his response has stayed with me ever since. He said, "The Church today is more American than Christian. The Kingdom of God is not the same as the American Empire. When we are more American than Christian we confuse the meaning of the Body of Christ with any nation state. This notion of the Church as a counter-cultural movement is Biblically obvious. There's no doubt about that. We're in the world to transform the world for the sake of this new order that has come in Jesus Christ. If Jesus' vision of the Kingdom was so threatening, why is our vision of the Kingdom so safe?"
The Gospel of the Kingdom is not the American Dream.
It saddens me to see Christians more passionate about their political party than they are about the Kingdom of God.
-kg
**
(some of the above post was taken from a previous [Subversive Underground] article)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
DANGER: This Will Make You Smile
Special thanks to Brant Hansen for sharing this with the world.
My friend Scott Laumann and I used to talk about creating a series of Kinkaid-style paintings of the homeless and heroin-addicts passed out on the sidewalk with this Disney-esque hue all around.
This is full of awesome.
kg
Monday, February 23, 2009
LAST NIGHT'S OSCARS & MORE
A few random thoughts to share...
WATCHING THE OSCARS: ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER
Watching the Oscars last night and I loved how the nominees for best actor and actress were each honored individually by past Oscar winners. It brought most of them to tears as they were singled out and honored for their talents and gifts. Even those who didn't win were given a moment in the spotlight and were encouraged and affirmed in their art, their ability and their talent.
I suppose it doesn't matter if you're Brad Pitt or Meryl Streep, or Joe Nobody - When someone publicly affirms you and values you and points out your unique qualities, your heart is filled and you feel loved.
Can't help thinking that this is what our churches should be like. We should take the time to stand in front of everyone and point out the best in one another and value each other as equals within a special family and revel in the exclusive club we are all blessed to be a part of.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" - 1 John 3:1
**
CREATIVE FORCES
Over the weekend some friends got together and shared poetry, stories, artwork, and songs together. I was overwhelmed to discover the intense creativity within each person who shared. Most of it was breath-taking and excellent. None of it was cheesy or half-hearted.
We laughed, we wiped away tears, we applauded, and we were genuinely amazed at the amount of talent embodied in that room.
Everyone agreed that it was better than church, but that it was, in essence, "Church".
I also loved that no one asked me to lead in prayer, or to get things started, or to facilitate anything. It was refreshing to "be the Church" and not be the guy in charge at all.
We're looking forward to doing it again soon.
**
FULL CIRCLE?
About six years ago I was at Ingram Micro, hating my technical spreadsheet job and writing sci-fi stories and creating comics to fulfill my creative side. I eventually left that job to enter "full-time ministry" and go on-staff at a church-plant and a local non-profit. About the same time, I also stepped away from my sci-fi/creative stuff and started writing for the Kingdom, which is where this whole Subversive blog and weekly [SU] e-newsletter thing started.
After 3 years of working for non-profit and churches, I realized that what I wanted was to get a real job in the real world, start a house church where 100% of the offering could go to the poor, and let my "full-time ministry" be my life.
So, I started that house church and went to work again for Ingram Micro again, this time as a copywriter in their marketing department. Now I love my job working with regular, everyday people. I have also felt recently that I need to lay down my [SU] e-newsletter (which have produced 2 books and hundreds of articles), in order to start pursuing more creative writing like poetry, fiction and yes, even sci-fi.
Is my life going full circle or am I simply going in circles?
**
WATCHING THE OSCARS: ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER
Watching the Oscars last night and I loved how the nominees for best actor and actress were each honored individually by past Oscar winners. It brought most of them to tears as they were singled out and honored for their talents and gifts. Even those who didn't win were given a moment in the spotlight and were encouraged and affirmed in their art, their ability and their talent.
I suppose it doesn't matter if you're Brad Pitt or Meryl Streep, or Joe Nobody - When someone publicly affirms you and values you and points out your unique qualities, your heart is filled and you feel loved.
Can't help thinking that this is what our churches should be like. We should take the time to stand in front of everyone and point out the best in one another and value each other as equals within a special family and revel in the exclusive club we are all blessed to be a part of.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" - 1 John 3:1
**
CREATIVE FORCES
Over the weekend some friends got together and shared poetry, stories, artwork, and songs together. I was overwhelmed to discover the intense creativity within each person who shared. Most of it was breath-taking and excellent. None of it was cheesy or half-hearted.
We laughed, we wiped away tears, we applauded, and we were genuinely amazed at the amount of talent embodied in that room.
Everyone agreed that it was better than church, but that it was, in essence, "Church".
I also loved that no one asked me to lead in prayer, or to get things started, or to facilitate anything. It was refreshing to "be the Church" and not be the guy in charge at all.
We're looking forward to doing it again soon.
**
FULL CIRCLE?
About six years ago I was at Ingram Micro, hating my technical spreadsheet job and writing sci-fi stories and creating comics to fulfill my creative side. I eventually left that job to enter "full-time ministry" and go on-staff at a church-plant and a local non-profit. About the same time, I also stepped away from my sci-fi/creative stuff and started writing for the Kingdom, which is where this whole Subversive blog and weekly [SU] e-newsletter thing started.
After 3 years of working for non-profit and churches, I realized that what I wanted was to get a real job in the real world, start a house church where 100% of the offering could go to the poor, and let my "full-time ministry" be my life.
So, I started that house church and went to work again for Ingram Micro again, this time as a copywriter in their marketing department. Now I love my job working with regular, everyday people. I have also felt recently that I need to lay down my [SU] e-newsletter (which have produced 2 books and hundreds of articles), in order to start pursuing more creative writing like poetry, fiction and yes, even sci-fi.
Is my life going full circle or am I simply going in circles?
**
Friday, February 20, 2009
RE-POST: CONSUMPTION, EXPRESSION, IDENTITY
CONSUMPTION, EXPRESSION, IDENTITY
By Keith Giles
As a society, we are conditioned to find our identity in what we own or purchase. As Christians, we are conditioned to express our faith through the sanctified products we purchase, own or consume. This is the perversion of Christ into Capitalism and an expression of faith through consumption of products. It is wrong.
A good friend sent me an article he found that provided an intriguing historical perspective on our evolution from artisans to consumers. I've pulled out the quotes I found most fascinating below:
"A Short History of Consumption
With the rise of the Industrial Revolution, the relationship between people and the goods that they made was broken. No longer did peasants plant, tend, and harvest their crops; now agricultural workers labored over someone else’s crops in exchange for wages. No longer did artisans design, plan, craft, and sell; now factory workers repeatedly carried out a single step in the production of a product, again in exchange for wages."
"In short, people were no longer producers, they were now consumers."
"Our identities were no longer tied up with the work we did, but with the buying power our work left us with."
"So people found their identities not in their work but in the things they could buy by working."
"People became consumers, not just in the way they got what they needed but in who they felt themselves to be."
"Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy"
*Full article HERE
**
The entire article is mainly looking at consumption from an environmental impact perspective, but the points made about our lifelong indoctrination to consumerism as a society are very eye-opening to me. Especially in light of the ongoing series of articles I've been writing lately regarding the evils of the Christian Subculture over on my weekly e-newsletter [Subversive Underground].
Here's what I think we need to understand, as followers of Jesus, regarding the observations made in this article above.
CONSUMPTION IS SELF-EXPRESSION
We, as a society, have made consuming and purchasing products part of our identity structure. This is why people will fork out $30 for a t-shirt with some corporate logo and walk around as a billboard for them, not because they love that company or product, not because of their loyalty to the brand, but because they think that logo makes THEM look cool. It says something about them, and so they willingly become walking advertising...and they PAY for the privilege. Amazing.
CHRISTIAN IDENTITY
Honestly, this really does help me to formulate a clear picture of what's going on in the Christian subculture. We're finding our identity as "Christians" in the products we purchase. These products brand us and identify us as a subset of people. Instead of finding our identity in Christ by the way we relate to Him daily, obey His teachings, and emulate His example of service and unconditional love, we now identify ourselves as Christians by our t-shirts, bumper stickers, books and CD collections.
ARTISTS AND CONSUMPTION/IDENTITY/EXPRESSION
It's also fascinating how this shift in our society stems from the devaluing of artisans in our culture. People now express themselves by what they own or purchase more than by what they create with their hands or their imaginations. Artists within our society are influenced by this consumerist identity structure. Artists of faith are compelled to create art that can be sold, or that conforms to the acceptable Christian marketplace. Art in this context is devoid of pure self-expression, unless that expression conforms to the acceptable branding and messaging of the sacred market.
More from the article:
"The rise of consumption as our primary interaction with the rest of our society has had profound effects. For example, social status is obtained and marked by the things we buy and use. A car, for instance, is not just a way to get from one place to another but has to “say something” about who we are — and even the lack of a car says volumes. Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy: the t-shirt with the logo of our band or team, the bamboo towels that show our environmental commitments, the alternative album that shows off our indie cred, the designer shoes that place us as part of the trend-setting elite, the minivan that shows us to be part of the dependable, hard-working, family-oriented suburban middle class, and so on."
SUBCULTURE AND IDENTITY
The Christian Subculture has a market. That market embraces a brand. That brand has a message connected to it. That message serves the market and encourages ongoing participation in that market. It means providing reasons to continue purchasing these products day after day and week after week. The market serves itself. It exists to keep itself in business.
The Christian Subculture provides an oasis made of soothing products that help us escape from the Big Bad World that is "Out There". It's a sacred version of "Calgon-Take Me Away!" only our message is more pervasive. It's not just one soothing bath to calm our fears of being trapped in a world of sin, it's music and movies and clothing and books and toys and key chains and license plate frames and decals and candy and pens and pretty much every conceivable object and piece of product that can ever be branded with our message. It's nearly a complete world unto itself, and it's exactly what Jesus prayed to God would never happen to us. (see John 17:15)
THE CART THAT PULLS THE HORSE
I'm not against art or music or expressions of faith. Most of my favorite musicians are believers and their music contains references to our Lord and to faith in Him. Many of my friends are Artists who paint and sculpt and create art to communicate a Kingdom reality. The issue is not that creating art or any sincere expression of devotion to Christ is wrong. What is evil is the marketplace we've created to showcase product. In the beginning the market existed to serve the Art, now the Art exists to serve the marketplace. We have lost focus. Making money is now the main objective. Evangelism or edification or worship is secondary at best, if considered at all.
During my six years in the Christian Music Industry I slowly began to realize the sickness of it all. At first I saw the industry as a way to spread the Gospel and to provide a voice for talented musicians of faith. But soon I realized that it didn't matter if your music ministry was responsible for leading thousands to Christ each year. What mattered was record sales. If your CD's weren't selling at least 20,000 units per sales cycle you'd be dropped from the label in a heartbeat. It was, after all, a Record BUSINESS, and like every business making money and selling product is the very bottom line. Ministry is incidental, and sadly only useful in the context of marketing the product to your target audience, in order to drive more sales.
Like the money-changers in front of the Temple that Jesus chased away with a whip, the original idea was a good one; To provide animals for sacrifice so that people could enter the Temple and participate in the worship of God. However, when money got in the way the original vision was corrupted and the Temple became a marketplace which obscured access for the common man and made a mockery of real worship. The same is true today.
BACK TO JESUS
The tension still remains between the clear command of our Lord to "Go into all the world.." and a subculture that bears His Name, yet encourages a full retreat from the World and identifies membership based on purchasing the acceptable, branded product. The product carries a message that we should fear those outside of our group. It encourages non-involvement with the culture. It makes minimizing contact with those outside the subculture a preferable reality.
If Jesus modeled radical inclusion and commanded us to be known by our love for everyone, especially those who hate us, and a subculture emerges with His Name on it that encourages us to be radically exclusive and creates behavior by which we are known for our intolerance, hatred and condemnation of those outside our group, we must make a choice. Do we choose Jesus or do we choose the man-made subculture with his Name on it?
I choose Jesus.
If Jesus clearly teaches something, and another organization or person teaches the exact opposite we call that "Anti-Christ". To me it's plainly obvious that the Christian Subculture is "Anti-Christ" because it contradicts His message of inclusion, involvement and meaningful relationships with sinners.
I've said it before and I say it again; "Death to the Christian Subculture!"
BRINGING A CHANGE
Where can we fashion a whip and drive out the money-changers from the Temple? It's difficult because we now deal with this on a massive scale. Participation in this market-driven Christian Subculture is pervasive and intangible. There is no physical structure to kick over. There is no clear method for applying the whip necessary to drive them out.
All we can really do is to begin, one person at a time, to disassociate ourselves with this subculture. Stop participating. Stop identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus based on your purchases. Stop pandering to what the Christian Marketplace finds acceptable and palatable. Make Jesus your single source of Truth. Ask God to show you where you have replaced a Jesus way of life with a carefully branded subculture way of life. Escape the false notions of "Sacred" and "Secular" and just start living, as a disciple of Jesus, in this World (the only World), right now.
I declare a personal War against the Christian Subculture.
kg
**
NOTE: Originally published here in October, 2007 and republished here for your edification.
By Keith Giles
As a society, we are conditioned to find our identity in what we own or purchase. As Christians, we are conditioned to express our faith through the sanctified products we purchase, own or consume. This is the perversion of Christ into Capitalism and an expression of faith through consumption of products. It is wrong.
A good friend sent me an article he found that provided an intriguing historical perspective on our evolution from artisans to consumers. I've pulled out the quotes I found most fascinating below:
"A Short History of Consumption
With the rise of the Industrial Revolution, the relationship between people and the goods that they made was broken. No longer did peasants plant, tend, and harvest their crops; now agricultural workers labored over someone else’s crops in exchange for wages. No longer did artisans design, plan, craft, and sell; now factory workers repeatedly carried out a single step in the production of a product, again in exchange for wages."
"In short, people were no longer producers, they were now consumers."
"Our identities were no longer tied up with the work we did, but with the buying power our work left us with."
"So people found their identities not in their work but in the things they could buy by working."
"People became consumers, not just in the way they got what they needed but in who they felt themselves to be."
"Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy"
*Full article HERE
**
The entire article is mainly looking at consumption from an environmental impact perspective, but the points made about our lifelong indoctrination to consumerism as a society are very eye-opening to me. Especially in light of the ongoing series of articles I've been writing lately regarding the evils of the Christian Subculture over on my weekly e-newsletter [Subversive Underground].
Here's what I think we need to understand, as followers of Jesus, regarding the observations made in this article above.
CONSUMPTION IS SELF-EXPRESSION
We, as a society, have made consuming and purchasing products part of our identity structure. This is why people will fork out $30 for a t-shirt with some corporate logo and walk around as a billboard for them, not because they love that company or product, not because of their loyalty to the brand, but because they think that logo makes THEM look cool. It says something about them, and so they willingly become walking advertising...and they PAY for the privilege. Amazing.
CHRISTIAN IDENTITY
Honestly, this really does help me to formulate a clear picture of what's going on in the Christian subculture. We're finding our identity as "Christians" in the products we purchase. These products brand us and identify us as a subset of people. Instead of finding our identity in Christ by the way we relate to Him daily, obey His teachings, and emulate His example of service and unconditional love, we now identify ourselves as Christians by our t-shirts, bumper stickers, books and CD collections.
ARTISTS AND CONSUMPTION/IDENTITY/EXPRESSION
It's also fascinating how this shift in our society stems from the devaluing of artisans in our culture. People now express themselves by what they own or purchase more than by what they create with their hands or their imaginations. Artists within our society are influenced by this consumerist identity structure. Artists of faith are compelled to create art that can be sold, or that conforms to the acceptable Christian marketplace. Art in this context is devoid of pure self-expression, unless that expression conforms to the acceptable branding and messaging of the sacred market.
More from the article:
"The rise of consumption as our primary interaction with the rest of our society has had profound effects. For example, social status is obtained and marked by the things we buy and use. A car, for instance, is not just a way to get from one place to another but has to “say something” about who we are — and even the lack of a car says volumes. Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy: the t-shirt with the logo of our band or team, the bamboo towels that show our environmental commitments, the alternative album that shows off our indie cred, the designer shoes that place us as part of the trend-setting elite, the minivan that shows us to be part of the dependable, hard-working, family-oriented suburban middle class, and so on."
SUBCULTURE AND IDENTITY
The Christian Subculture has a market. That market embraces a brand. That brand has a message connected to it. That message serves the market and encourages ongoing participation in that market. It means providing reasons to continue purchasing these products day after day and week after week. The market serves itself. It exists to keep itself in business.
The Christian Subculture provides an oasis made of soothing products that help us escape from the Big Bad World that is "Out There". It's a sacred version of "Calgon-Take Me Away!" only our message is more pervasive. It's not just one soothing bath to calm our fears of being trapped in a world of sin, it's music and movies and clothing and books and toys and key chains and license plate frames and decals and candy and pens and pretty much every conceivable object and piece of product that can ever be branded with our message. It's nearly a complete world unto itself, and it's exactly what Jesus prayed to God would never happen to us. (see John 17:15)
THE CART THAT PULLS THE HORSE
I'm not against art or music or expressions of faith. Most of my favorite musicians are believers and their music contains references to our Lord and to faith in Him. Many of my friends are Artists who paint and sculpt and create art to communicate a Kingdom reality. The issue is not that creating art or any sincere expression of devotion to Christ is wrong. What is evil is the marketplace we've created to showcase product. In the beginning the market existed to serve the Art, now the Art exists to serve the marketplace. We have lost focus. Making money is now the main objective. Evangelism or edification or worship is secondary at best, if considered at all.
During my six years in the Christian Music Industry I slowly began to realize the sickness of it all. At first I saw the industry as a way to spread the Gospel and to provide a voice for talented musicians of faith. But soon I realized that it didn't matter if your music ministry was responsible for leading thousands to Christ each year. What mattered was record sales. If your CD's weren't selling at least 20,000 units per sales cycle you'd be dropped from the label in a heartbeat. It was, after all, a Record BUSINESS, and like every business making money and selling product is the very bottom line. Ministry is incidental, and sadly only useful in the context of marketing the product to your target audience, in order to drive more sales.
Like the money-changers in front of the Temple that Jesus chased away with a whip, the original idea was a good one; To provide animals for sacrifice so that people could enter the Temple and participate in the worship of God. However, when money got in the way the original vision was corrupted and the Temple became a marketplace which obscured access for the common man and made a mockery of real worship. The same is true today.
BACK TO JESUS
The tension still remains between the clear command of our Lord to "Go into all the world.." and a subculture that bears His Name, yet encourages a full retreat from the World and identifies membership based on purchasing the acceptable, branded product. The product carries a message that we should fear those outside of our group. It encourages non-involvement with the culture. It makes minimizing contact with those outside the subculture a preferable reality.
If Jesus modeled radical inclusion and commanded us to be known by our love for everyone, especially those who hate us, and a subculture emerges with His Name on it that encourages us to be radically exclusive and creates behavior by which we are known for our intolerance, hatred and condemnation of those outside our group, we must make a choice. Do we choose Jesus or do we choose the man-made subculture with his Name on it?
I choose Jesus.
If Jesus clearly teaches something, and another organization or person teaches the exact opposite we call that "Anti-Christ". To me it's plainly obvious that the Christian Subculture is "Anti-Christ" because it contradicts His message of inclusion, involvement and meaningful relationships with sinners.
I've said it before and I say it again; "Death to the Christian Subculture!"
BRINGING A CHANGE
Where can we fashion a whip and drive out the money-changers from the Temple? It's difficult because we now deal with this on a massive scale. Participation in this market-driven Christian Subculture is pervasive and intangible. There is no physical structure to kick over. There is no clear method for applying the whip necessary to drive them out.
All we can really do is to begin, one person at a time, to disassociate ourselves with this subculture. Stop participating. Stop identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus based on your purchases. Stop pandering to what the Christian Marketplace finds acceptable and palatable. Make Jesus your single source of Truth. Ask God to show you where you have replaced a Jesus way of life with a carefully branded subculture way of life. Escape the false notions of "Sacred" and "Secular" and just start living, as a disciple of Jesus, in this World (the only World), right now.
I declare a personal War against the Christian Subculture.
kg
**
NOTE: Originally published here in October, 2007 and republished here for your edification.
Monday, February 16, 2009
DESTROY THE (CHRISTIAN) SUBCULTURE
by Keith Giles
I've come to the conclusion that the Christian Subculture is evil. I want to destroy it. I want to choke the life out of it and watch it die. I want to strip the skin from its bones, shake the life out of it and break it into tiny pieces.
In the past I've written articles that express the dangers of the Christian Subculture, and it's no secret that I cannot stand Christian Radio, and have zero tolerance for "Jesus Junk" such as sanctified breath mints or t-shirts that christianize popular logos and advertising (see "Bud Wise Up" or "Lord's Gymn" for example).
The Christian Subculture prevents the breaking in of the Kingdom. It inhibits the Gospel message. It paralyzes the followers of Christ by isolating them from the people they are supposed to love and interact with on a deeply intimate level.
About a year ago I realized that my passion for deconstructing the popular "Churchianity System" extended beyond mere dislike. As I began to fully understand how insidious it really is, I resolved to dedicate myself to its demise. I am now fully convinced that someway, somehow, the entire thing needs to be knocked down with a very large hammer and burned into oblivion.
I have always wanted to have a "Burn Our Christian Crap" session where christians could bring the symbols of their involvement with the Christian Consumerist Monster and we could all stand around and sing "Kumbaya" together while we tosssed our "Lord's Gymn" tees and "Carman" Cd's and other idols to materialistic spiritualilty into a giant bonfire, in homage to those horrible youth group parties where teens were forced to burn their Van Halen records and Rush albums (because they were "secular").
I've come to the radical conclusion that there is nothing secular. There is only the world we live in. This one, right here (look around you...yeah, that world), and nothing more. God created the entire world, and it's a fallen world I agree, but there is no "Sacred" or "Secular" division to this world, other than the artificially constructed one we've created to keep ourselves safe and comfortable and far away from "those evil sinners over there".
Another big revelation for you? We're all sinners. You. Me. That guy over there. Yeah, we're all evil. We all need Jesus. Not just those who don't attend your church or who vote Democrat or who read Harry Potter. All of us. Look it up, it's in the Bible.
So, at the moment, all I have is the fire in my gut, the passionate resolution in my belly, that I hate all things "Christianese" and I long to assist in the complete demolition of this man-made evil.
Now, to be honest I have no real idea what that actually works out to in the real world. Let me be clear; I am NOT advocating the wanton destruction of Christian bookstores; I am NOT organizing petitions to shut down Christian Television (although I'd probably sign a petition if someone sent me one); I'm not calling for people to light torches or assemble in protest...but maybe it would be good idea if we just simply tried to escape the pseudo-reality of Christian Subculture? Maybe we could just start living in the real world, as followers of Jesus, without seeing those imaginary boundary lines between "Us" and "Them"? Maybe we could talk to people and befriend them, and love them, regardless of whether or not they were Christians? Maybe we could stop seeking comfort and shelter within the invisible walls of our own safety zones and start realizing that we live in this world, the real world...the ONLY world, and begin living as Salt and Light to those around us?
Jesus prayed for us, those who would follow after Him, in this way: "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."(John 17:15) It was never God's intention to take us out of the world we live in. Why have we decided that it's ok to take ourselves out of the world?
Paul the Apostle also agreed on this point when he wrote, "I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world." (1 Cor 5:9-10)
Have we left this world for some virtual, "Clean World" where everything is Christian? Do we have to get our Christian Milk from a Christian Cow? Do we have to freshen our breath with Christian Mints? Do we have to drink Christian Soda and bowl at a Christian Bowling Alley?
This idea of withdrawl from the culture is evil. It is not God's plan for us. It is the fruit of our own sinful, selfish desires to be safe and comfortable, and in some cases to make money and perpetuate an industry. It is demonic, and it hinders the Gospel message by isolating the agents of change (you and I) from those who need "the hope that lies within", and I want nothing more than to see it die a horrible, agonizing death so that God's people can begin to learn what it means to be human and start relating to other human beings who are sinful and hopeless without Christ, just like everyone else.
The Christian Subculture is essentially a wall that we build to keep ourselves from the world. Like the Berlin Wall, or the Great Wall of China, or Hadrian's Wall, or the wall between Palestine and Israel, it is an artificial border designed by us, the supposed followers of Jesus, in order to isolate us from the ones we are commanded to love.
Jesus would want us to smash down that wall. It's the same wall built by the money changers in the Temple at Jerusalem which kept the common people from entering the house of God. Those systems were also man-made. Those systems also invovled making a buck on the sale of faith and the commercialization of God's name.
I'm not sure where to find the hammer big enough to knock down this wall we've built, but I long to find one, and when I do I will let it swing.
Keith
***
NOTE: THIS IS A BLAST FROM THE PAST WHICH I'VE UPDATED AND REPRINTED HERE FOR YOUR EDIFICATION.
I've come to the conclusion that the Christian Subculture is evil. I want to destroy it. I want to choke the life out of it and watch it die. I want to strip the skin from its bones, shake the life out of it and break it into tiny pieces.
In the past I've written articles that express the dangers of the Christian Subculture, and it's no secret that I cannot stand Christian Radio, and have zero tolerance for "Jesus Junk" such as sanctified breath mints or t-shirts that christianize popular logos and advertising (see "Bud Wise Up" or "Lord's Gymn" for example).
The Christian Subculture prevents the breaking in of the Kingdom. It inhibits the Gospel message. It paralyzes the followers of Christ by isolating them from the people they are supposed to love and interact with on a deeply intimate level.
About a year ago I realized that my passion for deconstructing the popular "Churchianity System" extended beyond mere dislike. As I began to fully understand how insidious it really is, I resolved to dedicate myself to its demise. I am now fully convinced that someway, somehow, the entire thing needs to be knocked down with a very large hammer and burned into oblivion.
I have always wanted to have a "Burn Our Christian Crap" session where christians could bring the symbols of their involvement with the Christian Consumerist Monster and we could all stand around and sing "Kumbaya" together while we tosssed our "Lord's Gymn" tees and "Carman" Cd's and other idols to materialistic spiritualilty into a giant bonfire, in homage to those horrible youth group parties where teens were forced to burn their Van Halen records and Rush albums (because they were "secular").
I've come to the radical conclusion that there is nothing secular. There is only the world we live in. This one, right here (look around you...yeah, that world), and nothing more. God created the entire world, and it's a fallen world I agree, but there is no "Sacred" or "Secular" division to this world, other than the artificially constructed one we've created to keep ourselves safe and comfortable and far away from "those evil sinners over there".
Another big revelation for you? We're all sinners. You. Me. That guy over there. Yeah, we're all evil. We all need Jesus. Not just those who don't attend your church or who vote Democrat or who read Harry Potter. All of us. Look it up, it's in the Bible.
So, at the moment, all I have is the fire in my gut, the passionate resolution in my belly, that I hate all things "Christianese" and I long to assist in the complete demolition of this man-made evil.
Now, to be honest I have no real idea what that actually works out to in the real world. Let me be clear; I am NOT advocating the wanton destruction of Christian bookstores; I am NOT organizing petitions to shut down Christian Television (although I'd probably sign a petition if someone sent me one); I'm not calling for people to light torches or assemble in protest...but maybe it would be good idea if we just simply tried to escape the pseudo-reality of Christian Subculture? Maybe we could just start living in the real world, as followers of Jesus, without seeing those imaginary boundary lines between "Us" and "Them"? Maybe we could talk to people and befriend them, and love them, regardless of whether or not they were Christians? Maybe we could stop seeking comfort and shelter within the invisible walls of our own safety zones and start realizing that we live in this world, the real world...the ONLY world, and begin living as Salt and Light to those around us?
Jesus prayed for us, those who would follow after Him, in this way: "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."(John 17:15) It was never God's intention to take us out of the world we live in. Why have we decided that it's ok to take ourselves out of the world?
Paul the Apostle also agreed on this point when he wrote, "I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world." (1 Cor 5:9-10)
Have we left this world for some virtual, "Clean World" where everything is Christian? Do we have to get our Christian Milk from a Christian Cow? Do we have to freshen our breath with Christian Mints? Do we have to drink Christian Soda and bowl at a Christian Bowling Alley?
This idea of withdrawl from the culture is evil. It is not God's plan for us. It is the fruit of our own sinful, selfish desires to be safe and comfortable, and in some cases to make money and perpetuate an industry. It is demonic, and it hinders the Gospel message by isolating the agents of change (you and I) from those who need "the hope that lies within", and I want nothing more than to see it die a horrible, agonizing death so that God's people can begin to learn what it means to be human and start relating to other human beings who are sinful and hopeless without Christ, just like everyone else.
The Christian Subculture is essentially a wall that we build to keep ourselves from the world. Like the Berlin Wall, or the Great Wall of China, or Hadrian's Wall, or the wall between Palestine and Israel, it is an artificial border designed by us, the supposed followers of Jesus, in order to isolate us from the ones we are commanded to love.
Jesus would want us to smash down that wall. It's the same wall built by the money changers in the Temple at Jerusalem which kept the common people from entering the house of God. Those systems were also man-made. Those systems also invovled making a buck on the sale of faith and the commercialization of God's name.
I'm not sure where to find the hammer big enough to knock down this wall we've built, but I long to find one, and when I do I will let it swing.
Keith
***
NOTE: THIS IS A BLAST FROM THE PAST WHICH I'VE UPDATED AND REPRINTED HERE FOR YOUR EDIFICATION.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
CONSISTENCY
For many years I was involved in christian music. First as a performer and songwriter, and then for about seven years as an employee for a christian music distribution company and then a director of distribution and sales for a christian record company.
Many of my favorite artists are specifically christian artists, but I do greatly enjoy music from what many would call "secular" artists also.
Several of my friends feel that listening to any music other than christian music isn't acceptable for a follower of Christ. That is their personal conviction and I am not here to argue against that if this is a decision that they feel compelled to make.
However, I have also observed that nearly every single person I know who feels compelled to listen only to christian music, usually on the grounds that it doesn't honor God and that it contains messages that are contrary to scripture, etc., are also very much interested in watching secular films and secular television shows and reading secular novels - all of which contain just as much unchristian language, violence, sex, innuendo and other secular material as any secular song one might (or might not) be listening to.
Again, I'm not trying to point any fingers here. I'm just pointing out an inconsistency that I haven't yet figured out.
I would certainly not encourage people to go against their personal convictions, or to listen to music that was blasphemous or offensive or hindered their walk with Christ. I guess I'm just confused about why we draw these lines when it comes to music and we don't feel compelled to draw these same lines when it comes to all other forms of entertainment.
Some might suggest that it's because the quality of christian film, television and fiction isn't anywhere near equal to the secular realm, and I would agree with that assessment, however the reason provided as to why one should not listen to secular music usually have little to do with the quality of the christian version and everything to do with the inherent evil-ness of the secular version. In which case, the quality, or the lack of quality, in the christian version isn't very relevant.
Anyone else have a perspective on this phenomenon? I'd be happy to hear it.
This question has always bugged me and most recently, when I mentioned on my Facebook page that I love "Rage Against The Machine", someone commented that they were "demonic" and I wasn't sure what to do with that statement...which is why I guess I felt the need to pose this question to everyone.
Thoughts? Comments? Rebuttals?
I'm all ears...
kg
Many of my favorite artists are specifically christian artists, but I do greatly enjoy music from what many would call "secular" artists also.
Several of my friends feel that listening to any music other than christian music isn't acceptable for a follower of Christ. That is their personal conviction and I am not here to argue against that if this is a decision that they feel compelled to make.
However, I have also observed that nearly every single person I know who feels compelled to listen only to christian music, usually on the grounds that it doesn't honor God and that it contains messages that are contrary to scripture, etc., are also very much interested in watching secular films and secular television shows and reading secular novels - all of which contain just as much unchristian language, violence, sex, innuendo and other secular material as any secular song one might (or might not) be listening to.
Again, I'm not trying to point any fingers here. I'm just pointing out an inconsistency that I haven't yet figured out.
I would certainly not encourage people to go against their personal convictions, or to listen to music that was blasphemous or offensive or hindered their walk with Christ. I guess I'm just confused about why we draw these lines when it comes to music and we don't feel compelled to draw these same lines when it comes to all other forms of entertainment.
Some might suggest that it's because the quality of christian film, television and fiction isn't anywhere near equal to the secular realm, and I would agree with that assessment, however the reason provided as to why one should not listen to secular music usually have little to do with the quality of the christian version and everything to do with the inherent evil-ness of the secular version. In which case, the quality, or the lack of quality, in the christian version isn't very relevant.
Anyone else have a perspective on this phenomenon? I'd be happy to hear it.
This question has always bugged me and most recently, when I mentioned on my Facebook page that I love "Rage Against The Machine", someone commented that they were "demonic" and I wasn't sure what to do with that statement...which is why I guess I felt the need to pose this question to everyone.
Thoughts? Comments? Rebuttals?
I'm all ears...
kg
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
More Love, Less Politics
American Christians will always be frustrated by a desire to see our laws correspond with the Bible. The truth is, it never will. Why? Because our laws are built around a document called the Constitution, not the scriptures.
So, for example, if our courts have to determine whether or not it is legal to enforce a law that gives one set of rights to some people and a different set of rights to others, they will look at the Constitution and see that everyone is considered equal under the law and rule against that law.
Under the law of our land people have the right to enter into marriage with one another. Any law that gives this right to some people and takes it away for others will be considered unconstitutional.
Christians will always want those laws to be interpreted primarily by the Bible and secondarily by the Constitution, but since these two documents have different authors, and different purposes, they will not agree on most issues, including homosexual marriage.
When our nation was founded and our Constitution was written, they did not feel any need to write down laws which reinforced the morality and the common practice of society around them. It was a given. Therefore they wrote laws which, in tandem with their existing morality and observable societal norms, combined to create a harmonious nation of free people.
What has changed? Our Constitution is fundamentally the same, but the morality and practice of our society has changed. The laws we write cannot hope to touch our inner person. Laws do not change hearts.
If you hope to write and create laws to govern society you look to politicians and lawyers and presidents. However, if you hope to influence behaviors and change the heart of a person you look to clerics, priests, teachers and parents.
Our society has failed to live up to the ideals of our past because our churches have failed to pass on the morality and the practice of hospitality and brotherly love. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We have not been known for our love. Our laws have stayed the same, but our Churches have gotten off track and lost focus.
American Christians have become so disillusioned with the world around them, and yet they have no one to blame but themselves. For the last several decades the Church in America has been embracing a mentality of retreat. We have created a neat and comfortable little version of the world with a cross on top where our interaction with "those unbelievers out there" is minimized as much as possible.
Because we have refused to be salt and light as Jesus commanded us, the society around us has slowly become more and more "un-Christian" and really, what else should we expect it to become like? If we have reduced our interactions with others, focused all of our time and energy on ourselves, built larger and more expensive buildings to hide in, and invested millions of dollars building empires of entertainment, fashion and communication to occupy our time and tell us what we want to hear, how else should our world have developed in our absence?
In our frustration we have now turned to politics to create the change we have failed to create by avoiding contact with unbelievers. Now we hope to dominate these people politically and have our way, regardless of whether or not they agree.
In some ways, I wonder if it's too late for any of this. Too late for us to get back to our original calling to love and serve and live out the selfless beauty of the Gospel. Too late to attempt any sort of dialog with people we have avoided for so very long. Too late to be the Church that Jesus intended for us to be.
The solution to the problems facing American society is not found in changing our laws, and even if it were that would be a job for a lawyer or a politician, not a follower of Jesus.
Our only job is to love and to serve and to model a society where all people are equally important in the eyes of God.
Let's do our best to obey our Lord and Savior when he commands us to be known for our love.
If it's not too late....
-kg
So, for example, if our courts have to determine whether or not it is legal to enforce a law that gives one set of rights to some people and a different set of rights to others, they will look at the Constitution and see that everyone is considered equal under the law and rule against that law.
Under the law of our land people have the right to enter into marriage with one another. Any law that gives this right to some people and takes it away for others will be considered unconstitutional.
Christians will always want those laws to be interpreted primarily by the Bible and secondarily by the Constitution, but since these two documents have different authors, and different purposes, they will not agree on most issues, including homosexual marriage.
When our nation was founded and our Constitution was written, they did not feel any need to write down laws which reinforced the morality and the common practice of society around them. It was a given. Therefore they wrote laws which, in tandem with their existing morality and observable societal norms, combined to create a harmonious nation of free people.
What has changed? Our Constitution is fundamentally the same, but the morality and practice of our society has changed. The laws we write cannot hope to touch our inner person. Laws do not change hearts.
If you hope to write and create laws to govern society you look to politicians and lawyers and presidents. However, if you hope to influence behaviors and change the heart of a person you look to clerics, priests, teachers and parents.
Our society has failed to live up to the ideals of our past because our churches have failed to pass on the morality and the practice of hospitality and brotherly love. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We have not been known for our love. Our laws have stayed the same, but our Churches have gotten off track and lost focus.
American Christians have become so disillusioned with the world around them, and yet they have no one to blame but themselves. For the last several decades the Church in America has been embracing a mentality of retreat. We have created a neat and comfortable little version of the world with a cross on top where our interaction with "those unbelievers out there" is minimized as much as possible.
Because we have refused to be salt and light as Jesus commanded us, the society around us has slowly become more and more "un-Christian" and really, what else should we expect it to become like? If we have reduced our interactions with others, focused all of our time and energy on ourselves, built larger and more expensive buildings to hide in, and invested millions of dollars building empires of entertainment, fashion and communication to occupy our time and tell us what we want to hear, how else should our world have developed in our absence?
In our frustration we have now turned to politics to create the change we have failed to create by avoiding contact with unbelievers. Now we hope to dominate these people politically and have our way, regardless of whether or not they agree.
In some ways, I wonder if it's too late for any of this. Too late for us to get back to our original calling to love and serve and live out the selfless beauty of the Gospel. Too late to attempt any sort of dialog with people we have avoided for so very long. Too late to be the Church that Jesus intended for us to be.
The solution to the problems facing American society is not found in changing our laws, and even if it were that would be a job for a lawyer or a politician, not a follower of Jesus.
Our only job is to love and to serve and to model a society where all people are equally important in the eyes of God.
Let's do our best to obey our Lord and Savior when he commands us to be known for our love.
If it's not too late....
-kg
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