My thirty-year-old son came over for dinner the other night. He shared a conversation he had with his co-worker. They were commuting to work together when they passed someone on the sidewalk who was dressed in grunge attire. I asked what “grunge” looked like. He rolled his eyes at me. He said, “What do you think the word depicts? They were grungy looking.” I allowed my imagination to run - long dirty hair, ripped up clothes, tight jeans, on the messy side – like a 70’s hippy but more this generation. I have to be a bit careful because I somewhat resembled that at one point in my life.
He remarked to his work mate, “I just don’t get the grunge lifestyle. I mean, why? What are they trying to say?”
The co-worker replied, “Hey, I’ll take these people any day over a Christian.”
My son said to me, “Your peeps are not held in very high esteem by the rest of the world.” I sighed and had to agree with him.
What is with us? It’s like the bumper sticker, “I like Jesus, but his fan club scares me.”
Have we become so fanatical, bombastic, judgmental, and narcissistic, that people in the general population can’t stand us?
To be honest, I have to agree with them. When I step outside myself and look at what passes as popular Christianity I’m embarrassed. I see white, conservative, nationalistic evangelical Christians pushing their theological and ideological agendas on everything from Supreme Court decisions to what the local school board should be doing and I’m repulsed.
At times I’m embarrassed to tell people I’m a Christian. When people ask me what I do for a living and I say I’m a Christian minister, I always feel like saying, “But I’m not one of those Christians.” I don’t want to be classified as a fundamentalist.
It’s not that I apologize for being a Christian. I’m proud of my faith and what I believe in. However, I want to tell people I’m a progressive Christian. I believe in God, Christ, and accept all religions as legitimate paths to God. I believe in science, climate change, and advanced criticisms. I believe in healthy ethics, politics, and education. I don’t want to impose my beliefs on anyone. But I’m willing to share with anyone what I find meaningful in life.
My Son knows these things about me, but he’s not quite sure about other people who claim to be Christians. He sees the damage that fundamentalists do, and he wonders why I would ever - even loosely, even by using the name Christian - want to identify with them.
It’s the challenge of being a Christian in these times of white evangelical fundamentalism. Those of us on the progressive side need to stand tall in our beliefs and be vocal about our vision of God. If not, then we’re allowing fundamentalists to define for the popular culture what it means to be Christian.
I hate the thought that people would drive down Platte Canyon, look at our church and roll their eyes thinking, “These people are blight on our society.”
I can only live and teach in such a way to give people another vision of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Hopefully, they will look at me, and us, and see a group of people that are defined by the Masters two great commandments – love.
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