The Perils of 'Wannabe Cool' Christianity

This article by Brett McCraken from the Wall Street Journal, has been making the rounds, and I missed it. On hipster Christianity, that is to say, the responses being made to try to keep young people in the churches. How can you keep Christianity relevant if it has to look like what's in fashion in a given year, when fashions changes and are not the same from age group to age group within a congregation? That's a idea that can't work. It's been proven. What hides the evidence is the constant rescrambling of church shoppers--start up something new and you'll get numbers (maybe)--but they all just left someplace else, mostly. It's like restaurants downtown. Try that new Asian biker-punk fusion diner, eh? Jesus is so not cool......

Comments

[Robert Espe]

Course the problem could be with young people, it's not like liturgical churches have had any more luck retaining young people.

[Bob Srigley]

Remember the comment from Kevin Costner's baseball movie some years back? "Build it and they will come." Seems that a good plan for building solidly is to find the foundation first, that's the one that's already built. Some groups assume the foundation is under there somewhere even though it's covered up by the sands of non-Biblical accretion. No matter, just start building on the sand, no need to dig down and connect with the actual foundation. Others think they can indulge in architectural absurdities, gravity defying cantilevers with only the most tenuous connection to the foundation.

And then use good materials, the kind that cost more. In my trade as a cabinet maker we have a term, "curb furniture" for stuff made of vinyl covered particle board, because that's where it eventually ends up--on the curb waiting for the trash man. The Bible cites gold and precious gems as fitting images for materials worthy of the true foundation. A growing number of young people are actually rather keen on doctrine, that is sound Biblical doctrine. They've been exposed to everything else. Sacrificial love is the other essential component; however off-putting loveless doctrine may be, love without truth tends to degenerate into Jim Jones' Guyana style cultism.

As to why young people are leaving the church I am in agreement with Ken Ham that accommodation to a millions of years chronology gives the lie to scripture and forces faith into the two storied structure that Francis Schaeffer discerned some decades ago. Young people are impatient with this kind of schizophrenic witness and since it confronts them at the time in their lives when the inducements to follow the flesh are most keenly felt many will use it as the pretext to cut loose the moorings of faith and launch out heedless into the world.

Pardon my rant; this issue burns strongly with me. I question no one's salvation who disagrees with me on this matter. There will be other opportunities for dialogue.

One last word: the referenced article took a cheap shot at Mark Driscoll for having frank talks on sexuality, seemingly linking him with those who pander the issue in a vain quest for relevance. That's about 180 degrees off the mark. In his quest for deepening discipleship in the Seattle Starbucks culture where he ministers he is willing to bring Biblical light to the questions people are asking.

[A Mere Observer]

There's a previous discussion of Mark Driscoll on this site -- see the posting of June 29, 2009:

"The Gospel of Mark (Driscoll) & His Critics"

http://merecomments.typepad.com/merecomments/2009/06/the-gospel-of-mark-driscoll-his-critics.html

[Aleksei]

It's funny, but for me, at the height of my atheism and indulgence in the ways of the flesh, somehow I was the most open to reasonable arguments for the truth of the Gospel. There was no lightning bolt, no car accident, no alcohol problem--no particular "come to Jesus" moment, at least not in the beginning.

The older I get, the more convinced I am that it was a rare thing, and so I feel like I can't rely on my experience in my encounters. Which is not to say that I'd change anything.

[Bob Srigley]

Mere Observer--Thanks for referencing the thread from 09. I read through most of the comments and share many of the concerns about Driscoll's endorsement of certain practises. My knowledge of Marc Driscoll was limited to having listened to his book, RELIGION SAVES & 9 OTHER MISCONCEPTIONS, which is strongly orthodox and contains powerful refutation of the "emergent" church movement. I stand by my comment that "linking him with those who pander the issue [sex] in a vain quest for relevance" is a cheap shot, but to get back on topic--I think that Driscoll is building on the one true foundation but he might be using questionable materials in some areas. This at least sets him apart from those who are clueless about the foundation.

Aleksei, I didn't immediately see the relevance of your post, but it made me think about my own journey toward faith and how similar it was to yours. The gospel net is likely larger than any of us imagine and in our gratitude for being "caught" we should perhaps be tolerant of the fishers of men even if their hands are rough.

[.J. Miller MEd, LPC, LCSW]

Brett, it looks to me like you nailed it! I could not agree more, what people need is to encounter the real deal. Such attempts to give Christianity a "makeover" are really reflections of insecurity and fear among church leaders. When church leaders and councils use hip cultural gimmicks to attract crowds that may be a clear indication that they are stepping away from the timeless truths of scripture. These churches may attract crowds for a season but what kind of crowds. Counterfeit money is recognized by the trained eye and God certainly knows those who have really come to Christ. The parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1-23 ,Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:1-15) illustrates quite graphically what will happen to many who don’t get rooted in the faith.

Too many decision makers in evangelical circles have bought into this distortion that young people need something that looks like the surrounding culture. Many young adults may be articulating “post modern values” but human nature and human needs have not changed. You can try to violate the laws of physics but eventually you will slam into something hard, the same will happen to the post modern thinkers. Only genuine spiritual truth can satisfy the hunger in the human soul.

M. J. Miller Med, LPC, LCSW
Christian Family Guidance Center