If we hope to see our culture take Christianity seriously, we\u2019ve got to take it seriously ourselves. In other words, our faith has to be more than just a pastime.<\/p>\n
Maybe you\u2019ve seen that recent viral video from internet news and humor site Buzzfeed. In it, a half a dozen young actors take up the mantra, \u201cI\u2019m a Christian, but I\u2019m not…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c… I\u2019m not homophobic,\u201d says one. “… I\u2019m not judgmental,\u201d and \u201c… I don\u2019t place myself on a pedestal,\u201d boast others. Most self-identified as gay, queer, feminist, or some other trendy label. Most striking to me in all these videos was how free their version of Christianity seemed to be from any external authority. There was nothing revealed in Scripture or history that seemed to matter in their understanding of Christianity. They made up a version of Christianity in which they were in charge. They felt fully up to determining the beliefs and behaviors they could accommodate to their faith. And they alone were the authority of their lives and loves.<\/p>\n
In other words, their Christianity isn\u2019t so much a worldview as it is a hobby \u2014 something fun and meaningful to practice in the privacy of their lives and churches, to bring meaning and purpose to themselves. But in public, their Christianity must be subject to the prevailing winds on sexual orientation and gender identity.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not just those Buzzfeed voices who treat comprehensive faith as a diversion rather than a worldview. In a recent \u201cQuestion Everything\u201d issue of TIME magazine, editors asked dozens of celebrities, activists, and writers for their thoughts on 21 questions people today are asking. Among the questions? \u201cIs monogamy over?\u201d \u201cDo robots have rights?\u201d and \u201cWhat would you change if you could travel back in time?\u201d<\/p>\n
Now most of the questions touched on important worldview issues, like human identity, moral priorities, and individual morality. But as Ed Stetzer and I discussed recently on BreakPoint This Week, it\u2019s strange that it didn\u2019t occur to TIME to ask for a theologian\u2019s perspective. Christians were hardly even at the table to discuss what TIME considered our culture\u2019s most pressing questions. Why? Because faith is seen as a private hobby, not as a public source of truth.<\/p>\n
Way back in 1987, Yale law professor Stephen Carter saw this \u201chobbyfication\u201d of faith unfolding. Secular educators had, Carter said, essentially told those with religious beliefs, \u201cYes, we cherish you \u2014 now go away and leave us alone.\u201d And 28 years ago, Carter foresaw a time when \u201creligion, far from being cherished, will be diminished, and … religious belief will ultimately become a kind of hobby: something so private that it is as irrelevant to public life as the building of model airplanes.\u201d<\/p>\n
And in 2015, it\u2019s obvious his prediction has come true. But most alarming is how often Christians self-segregate their own faith, treating it like a hobby instead of an all-encompassing worldview. During Pope Francis\u2019s recent visit to the United States, for example, one conservative journalist asked why the pope couldn\u2019t stick with spiritual issues instead of talking about economics, the environment, and social justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Gospel isn\u2019t directly aimed at helping the poor or averting supposed environmental disasters,\u201d she wrote, but \u201cis centrally about saving our eternal souls, about addressing spiritual \u2014 not material \u2014 poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n
No! No! A thousand times no! Now whatever you think of Pope Francis\u2019s policy stances, I can hardly think of a less Christian way of looking at our culture than what this journalist described. We believe that Jesus took on humanity, lived, died, and rose again to save us from our sins \u2014 yes. But Jesus described His own mission in Matthew as \u201cThy kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven,\u201d and in Revelation as \u201cmaking all things new.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christ is over all. His rule affects and informs everything \u2014 not just the spiritual, the personal, and moral. There\u2019s no divide between the secular and the sacred. It\u2019s all His.<\/p>\n
If we want the Buzzfeeds and TIME magazines of our culture to start taking our faith seriously, we need to put away the modeling glue and start taking it seriously ourselves.<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
RESOURCES<\/p>\n
Evolutionism, Creationism, and Treating Religion as a Hobby
\nStephen Carter | Yale Law School | January 1, 1987
\n< http:\/\/digitalcommons.law.yale.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=3257&context=fss_papers ><\/p>\n
Question Everything
\nTime Magazine | 2015
\n< http:\/\/time.com\/collection\/question-everything\/ ><\/p>\n
5 Most Cringeworthy Problems With BuzzFeed\u2019s Viral \u2018I\u2019m Christian, But I\u2019m Not\u2019 Video
\nMollie Hemingway | The Federalist | September 8, 2015
\n< http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2015\/09\/08\/5-most-cringeworthy-problems-with-buzzfeeds-viral-im-christian-but-im-not-video\/ ><\/p>\n
TIME, Burning Man, and The Right Questions
\nJohn Stonestreet, Ed Stetzer | BreakPoint.org | September 18, 2015
\n< https:\/\/www.breakpoint.org\/features-columns\/discourse\/entry\/15\/28183?spMailingID=12594400&spUserID=OTQ0MjI1MzA0S0&spJobID=640387308&spReportId=NjQwMzg3MzA4S0 ><\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
Copyright (c) 2015 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. “BreakPoint” is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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