Christianity as Counter Culture

"The church exists today as resident aliens, an adventurous colony in a society of unbelief."¹ The western church is so quick to dig its heals in and fight the "barbarian" way of life. Yet it so easily accepts "civilized" culture which may indeed be every bit as un-Christian. To be more direct, there are many American principles and beliefs that are un-Christian. Similarly, there are many Christian principles that are truly un-American.

Specifically, there are an increased number of individuals who are approaching church from a consumerist perspective. I hear phrases like "What I need from a Church..." and "When I was Church shopping..." These phrases come from well intentioned people who love God, are devoted to service and to the church. They just don't realize what they are doing. The reality is they are comparing God's church to a pair of jeans. In my church individuals are also consumeristic with their attendance. If our senior pastor is on vacation then many congregants opt to miss church. So then, for these individuals worship is about hearing a phenomenal message from the pastor, instead of a mediocre message from that other person, which frequently just so happens to be me. It appears then, that when the church accepts western culture's consumerism, the church is in danger of being reduced to nothing more than a glorified support group or country club.

Another cultural practice that has infested the church, especially among youth is to ridicule those different from the "norm." I have seen Jr. High boys driven to tears during Sunday school because they were being verbally bullied by their peers. Once, a mother came to see me with concerns about her Jr. High daughter refusing to return to youth group because some girls, who she thought were her friends were texting mean comments to her during youth group. My father believes that a major reason for turning away from God during his early twenties was because of the way his church peers treated him while he was school aged.

I use these examples to illustrate the point that youth ministry may call young people to live counter culturally. For instance, sound teaching about Godly generosity and service will conflict with the consumeristic message young people are hearing from media, peers and perhaps even their parents. Additionally, the Christian call to love the "unlovable" is a very different message from what kids learn through the social complexities tied to fitting in at school. This call to live counter culturally may also allow young people to be a part of social reform.  I can't help but think that the American church and its youth could be a part of causing a drastic decline in abortion without any help from Capitol Hill.

Rodney Clapp states in his book A Peculiar People, that he believes the church's blind acceptance of cultural norms as "Christian" originated when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome.  He claims that to break away from this "Constantinian Christianity" the church must begin to see evangelism not as delivering a message but as an invitation into a world changing community. This means that Christians must begin to see evangelism as a corporate matter as opposed to an individualistic one.²

1. Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon, Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989) pp. 49.
2. Rodney Clapp, A Peculiar People (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1996) pp. 167-168.