SECULARIST CHRISTIANITY:
Tonight, April 18 2001, the Paul Colman Trio performs at Burwood girls highschool. They are an awesome band, and one of the best live performances going around. Interestingly, however, they were advertised with the following line,
"Bring your non-christian friends to the PCT so that they'll be able to see that Christian music is cool, and Christians can have a great time too."
I'd like to point out some basic errors in thought in such an ad. Thoughts which I think are the basis of a philosophical fallacy I call Secularist Christianity.
1) Are we to think that one of the major factors preventing young people from becoming Christians is that the feel that they can't be cool and Christian? If so, I challenge you with the biblical notion of spriritual blindness. Young people fundamentally aren't Christian because they can not see their need for salvation as sinners under the wrath of God. May we thus confront them with the truth of their dire situation.
2) If we simply show them that they can be cool as a Christian, are we not putting Christianity on the same level as any other group of people? Do we not just assure them that they will not be different from everyone else, so not to worry? If so, is that not fundamentally opposed to the bible which calls us to be 'Aliens' in this world?
3) Is it not logical to conclude that by advertising in this way we are showing that as young Christians we are ourselves afraid of being rejected by the world? Is this not, however, what we are told the world will do to followers of Christ?
Many more thoughts could follow, but that will do... Responses?
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5 comments:
Wow... I remember that concert! I also remember really liking their music, but not wanting to really admit it, or join in because they were so 'cool' and everyone loved them.
We can make things as cool as we can, but nothing will ever compare to our praying, and God moving to open the eyes and hearts. Keeps us humble and on our knees:) And giving God the ultimate Glory:) every time!
Fire-up Phil!!! Good one.
It's interesting that you would write on this at this time. I have been very angered lately by what I see as 'truth' giving way for 'cool'. Especially in the area of the emergent church.
I read Rob Bell's book 'Velvet Elvis - Repainting the Christian Faith' on Sunday. Rarely do I read a book from cover to cover in a sitting. This got me thinking and fired-up! Rob Bell has become well known for his 'Nooma' DVD series - short cool films about a 'christian' theme/idea/concept. I wanted to find out more about Bell - so I read his opening book.
As Bell goes about his artistic impression of the Christian faith he comes to a point where he discusses the Christian faith as a wall.
Essentially he says, if you imagine the Christian as a brick wall - each brick representing a doctrine or theological idea - all held together with mortar etc you get a solid structure. So solid he goes on to say that should you remove one, two, three etc of the bricks the wall would still stand.
Really??!!! Would it?
He considers that the virgin birth and substitutionary atonement can be removed as examples!!! Hello!
No virgin birth = no Jesus!
No substitutionaryt atonement = no forgiveness!!!
I could not believe what I was reading. It angered me. Here is a man (Bell) with great influence in the USA and now internationally with the Nooma DVD collection repainting the Christian faith - making it 'cool' - whilst simultaneously tearing apart the very fabric with which the faith holds together - TRUTH!!!! Biblical TRUTH!!!
I agree - get back to the TRUTH - stuff the cool! What matters is that we uphold the truth - we must ask God to help us in this. It is easy to think cool at the expense of truth - I think this is the trap that Rob Bell has been snared by.
Responses ...
I do agree with your qualm Phil, it's not doing justice to what Christians are all about... but:
Say a non-chrisso did come to a PCT gig, and was surprised at how enjoyable it was. While it wasn't the best advertisement for Christianity, it got them there, didn't it? And (I've never seen PCT live although I hope to one day!) they'd probably hear words of faith from the guys that might provoke some spiritual thinking...
God has used internet msn conversations to reach his lost children. He's used the notion that 'church may help you find a wife' for the lonely male or two (silly egs, yes, but)... basically, I think as long as you don't speak heresy, but display a true fact about Christians and take it with a grain of salt, God can use that.
I think as Christians we should want to be seen as real, and engaged and relevant.. but 'cool' is rather a shallow and unbecoming aspiration, perhaps PCT's heart was right but their choice of words poor, perhaps they were a little blinded about their identity. I agree with Jess that God in his glory works through our weaknesses, but we should think carefully through who we are and how that should impact our witnesses in this world.
Maria - nice to hear from you. Keeping God central in our evangelism is vital.
Jacko, Laura, jessica - The fire-up probably represents a certain time and context (it was 6 years ago!). The Emergent church offers a good challenge to us in that it demands we place Jesus centrally, acknowledge the process of conversion and the 'journey' of faith and speak intelligibly in our context.
It also reminds us of the way in which seeking to be relevant can (and often does) mean that we stop speaking clearly about what makes Jesus Christ and thus christianity distinctive.
The irony of course is that the loss of distintiveness not only renders our message spiritually powerless, but usually undermines our relevance as we morph into the background of prevailing cultural norms.
We need gain a hearing for the gospel through blameless lives, contextualised language, a listening ear and joyful perseverance. We need to speak the good news of Jesus uncompromisingly, for the power that saves in contained within that news.
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