Smitty City

It's strange how American culture has tainted Christianity, but it hasn't tainted Islam or even Judaism. I'm sure in small ways all of them have been tainted, but not in the severe ways you described about Christianity. It's almost as if the church has started to look at Christianity as a marketing strategy based in theology. Where as other religions have left theology as theology, and relied on the human spirit to market itself.

I would suggest that this is because Christianity is the religion of the wealthy, who would be more inclined to treat theology as a business, but if this were true it should also be true of Judaism. And it may be, I'm not as familiar with Judaism.

Perhaps there's a thinness to Christianity because it has become so segmented and watered down in comparison to other religions. That thinness may be seen only on the basis of it's marketing aspects by non-believers as well as followers, and just like all forms of advertising it falls into the background because of the clutter. For some people choosing to go to church or not may be made in the same way they chose Coke over Pepsi. Price, brand loyalty, or just spur of the moment...the real reasons, the human spirit reasons are not as visible as they need to be on the surface of Christianity.

great insight, rick.

As someone from the outside looking in (as you have described yourself in the past), do you find Christianity unappealing because of these type issues. Basically...Has Jesus been devalued because of contemporary capitalist thinking?

Because...when I talk to you about issues of faith, it seems that we discuss the current state of Christianity more than we discuss the character of Christ.

What do you think?

I think in terms of how Christianity is portrayed from a marketing perspective Christ is almost separate from faith. You either see T-shirts like God's gym, or you hear the reoccurring moral side to faith minus Christ's place in that story (or if it's mentioned it's downplayed).

With the exception of "WWJD," which is a perfect mix of using Jesus to inspire moral behavior....I think a lot of what the capitalist geared Christianity portrays is a version of Jesus as a product, much like a soap, that can cleanse you, and in turn redeem you in the eyes of God. While this is true that parable has been overused in all areas of the media, so in effect, yes I think Jesus is devalued by Christians when he's "pitched" in this light.

But it's the pitch, not the story that is the problem in my opinion. A lot of the time it sounds too scripted, too familiar, and too generic. There's a gap between a Christian's passion, and the average non Christian who mistakes the passion for a persuasive pitch laden with emotion. But it's not Christianity that's the problem as much as it is Christianity's place within a society bombarded by capitalist thinking.

I asked the question on my blog a couple weeks ago, why aren't poor people and sinners attracted to us modern, American, Christians as they were to Jesus. I think in these comments you've touched a little on that.

But, let's be honest, the reverence for Islam you saw from Kia isn't the Islam practiced by 90% of Muslims, either. 90% of "Islam" is folk or synchretized Islam, that was built on pre-existing culture. Where people fear the "evil eye" or sacrifice in high places.

The integrity of Kia's beliefs cannot be determined by conversations on the subject, but rather observing his life day in and day out. Is he really submissive to God, or does he just say he is? It's the same with professing followers of Christ.

The only way we're going to win people to Jesus is if we act like Jesus, day in and day out, and not just when we're out visiting for our church, or having a conversation with someone who asks. "Passion" and "zeal" is not "persuasive pitches," but about being transparent and authentic about your faith every single day.

(What "capitalistic thinking" has anything to do with this discussion is beyond me). Either you're personally genuinely living your faith (in a socialist, capitalistic, anarchic culture, it doesn't matter) or you're not.

Tapp...let me help you understand what's going on with these conversations.

There is a history that Kia and I possess with one another. This history has allowed us to discuss each others faith in these ways. This history is also the reason that I am able to deem his faith legitimate. I have seen it in action....though you are right to infer that a mere conversation is not enough to judge a person's faithfulness.

Also, Rick (the imaginary visionary) and I have been talking about these issues for a long time outside of the blog. So, it naturally came up here. Sorry for the confusion. But...I don't think I fully agree with your assessment. It is not black and white as you have suggessted. The culture in which you exist heavily influences the way your Christianity is manifested. And it is my opinion that America has tainted "Christianity" because of consumerism/capitalism. It very much matters what type of society we are a part of.

So, what I am saying is that you can be completely geniune about your faith and still be misguided and blinded to the external forces that wrongly define what you believe.

Smitty
I love the way your write and the very real and relational aspects of how you share your faith. It's just how Jesus did it! You're onto something great. Your Muslim friends sounds like a great guy; I hope I get the chance to meet him someday.

Smitty,
Thanks for the explanation. And it is all well-written.

I'm not sure that Christianity is tainted by consumerism as much as it just lacks a reliance on the Spirit for leadership. It's tainted by human nature.

The data says that we separate ourselves by income and ethnicity. Some people justify that by saying "it's better to be divided by Truth than united by error," but if you step back and look at churches they're not divided by theology as much as by income and ethnicity. And your theological construct is correlated to your race and income level.

The only way to overcome that and really be one and like Jesus is to repent and be Spirit-led. To die to human nature. When the Church does that, then people won't go around asking "Is there a God? Where is He?" because they'll see it in the Church.

I couldn't agree more.

In fact, I have a series of posts that i will put up soon that discuss these very issues. I look forward to your response.

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