In Response 10/30/06

This blog is inspired, in part by the discussion on this blog, particularly the following comments:

“I’ve actually never been there, because I *don’t* get it. Is Christian coffee different than, say Muslim coffee? Must I be a Christian to enter? If I’m not a Christian, would I want to enter? I’m not much of a hanger-outer in coffee shops, so I probably won’t ever go anyway. Well, I might check out the art gallery, I didn’t know that was there. I just always wondered about the place. I don’t think “Christian coffee shop” as I have heard it termed is very self explanatory…. I guess that’s why I don’t get it. Maybe I’ll check it out sometime.”

And my favorite….

“I think that Christian coffee comes with a double shot of guilt, and a good frothy head of self-righteousness if you ask for it right…”

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One thing that really bugs me is the response I get from Christians when they notice I don’t wear Christian clothing, or display Christian art in my home, or listen to only Christian music or vote for only Christian candidates, or listen to Christian radio or have a goofy Christian bumper sticker on my car.

I mean, really what is Christian coffee?

For example, my mother-in-law, whom I love dearly, takes fantastic pictures of things like flowers and trees and birds and the like. But she insists that her art is Christian and names each one of them after a Bible verse. She can’t simply let nature speak for itself. She wants to make her faith a central part of sycamore trees.

She was terribly disappointed when we told her the music festival we were going to last summer wasn’t a Christian music festival. (Now, I must state for the record that we do have a history of attending the most awesome Christian music festival on the planet in Bushnell, IL. And it is Christian because they only invite bands who profess a faith in Jesus and have songs based on their faith, life experiences and the Bible. This is a particularly cool thing because most of the bands there don’t get air time on your average Hallelujah radio stations (WDLM etc) We’ve seen some really great bands there including Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Sixpence None the Richer and P.O.D….(Longest. Parenthetical. Statement. Ever.)) But we don’t want to limit ourselves to only Christian music. Other bands make good music too.

I don’t want to live in a Christian bubble, because Jesus lived His life with people outside of His beliefs. Jesus brought them good news. How can we bring other people that good news if we only wear, listen to, look at and vote for Christian things? We would have no grid for anything “worldly” and would be ineffective at communicating God’s love to those who need it.

I’m not afraid that I’m going to get dirty or unsaved because I hear an expletive (or even if I say one myself). I am afraid, however, that putting a little fish on my car may give Jesus some bad P.R., especially if I cut someone off on 6th street. Wearing cheesy Tshirts doesn’t help our culture “get it”; it makes them not want to have anything to do with it.

I’ve heard a lot of Christians claim to be persecuted for their faith. Then they tell their story and I want to say “Um, you weren’t being persecuted for your faith, you were being persecuted for being a dumb ass.” But I don’t say that, exactly.

I’m shocked by the numbers of people my age who think they know what Christianity is, but the comments they make about it are entirely to the contrary. That’s what produced a previous blog (which, by the way, netted no feedback at all??). However, maybe I shouldn’t be shocked since people think if they learn more they may have to wear T-shirts like this:

Tags: Christian, Christian culture, labels