Authenticity
"Admit it, you want to be cool." That's the first line of a book I recently read by Paul Grant. He hit on something that has become my new soapbox. I meet more and more people who are trying to project an image in an effort to make being a Christian "cool". For the record, I think being a Christian is cool. But, a lot of people think it's lame, and so it's easy to feel the need to justify our coolness to them. The thing about wanting to be cool is that we all want to be accepted. However, "cool" is about being exclusive. You can't be "cool" if you don't "get it." Now, a recent trend that I've noticed is to de-value someone else's relationship with Christ, because they are just "out of touch." While it seems innocent enough, instead of recognizing that we are all on the same team with the same purpose, it seems to divide us and make us less effective. Let me give you an example. My friend Russell likes to send me links to youtube videos that parody the Mac v. PC commercials. (You can read my thoughts on the mac vs. pc issue here). One series of videos was produced by a church, and is actually really funny.
While the intended point of these videos is that some Christians really emphasize the wrong stuff, I think it can easily move to a place where those of us who are more in the "Christ-follower" world can actually be just as judgmental towards our "Christian" counterparts as we have felt over the years. Here's what I'm wrestling with...In our effort to be cool and relevant, are we willing to say to non-believers, "Oh, those Christians really don't get it, but we do, and if you hang with us, we'll show you how to really be a Christ-follower." I really think it's important to realize that God created all of us in unique ways, and even though we may have different styles of worship, we are all in the same family. My friend Amy is a Catholic and wrote a post recently about the power of both/and instead of either/or. I don't know all the answers to these things, but I do believe that God wants us to be authentic. He doesn't want us to try to be something that we're not, for someone else's benefit or just to fit in. He created us and loves us. It's His acceptance that we need to seek. And for each other, we need to be reminded of Ephesians 4:32-5:2. "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." I'm interested to hear what you think about this subject. Leave a comment and let me know.