Individualism and Seclusion

We are in a culture that now more than ever seems to emphasize individualism above all things. A look back at our history reveals how much we have changed and this has crept into the church.

Flipping on Leave it to Beaver or even It’s a Wonderful Life, it is very visible the differences between then and now. In past generations, Americans were proud to be a part of America. There were no individual interest groups or emphasis on differences (minus racial issues). If we were at war, people rallied to help the country win the war through sacrifice. Families were a part of neighborhoods and most everyone on the block knew each other and would socialize together. They were a community. Church came in a “one size fits all” model instead of the customized models today. People genuinely cared about their neighbor and would go out to the movies together and do things as a community. Andy Griffith is a great example of the level of small town USA dynamics that once were just a part of being American.

Today is a different story. Americans aren’t Americans. They are African-Americans, Irish-Americans or Native-Americans. You aren’t a sexual being. You are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. You are conservative Republican, moderate Republican, moderate Democrat, progressive Democrat, Socialist or Libertarian. Our habits are no longer about community. Instead of going to the movies, we have to have a home theater. We don’t have to shop at the store because we can log onto Ebay or Amazon and have it delivered. We don’t even have to go to college anymore because we can do it online! The Ipod and Itunes are based on the idea of individuality. One can now select their own personal mix or music without having to listen to pop stations or buy entire albums. We’re defined by where we shop, the teams we align with and the religion we follow. Everything is centering on personal convenience and individuality.

The church has taken on this role some. The church has emphasized the customized service. There are contemporary services, traditional services, Gen-X services, youth services, recovery ministry services, seeker-services, etc. A believer doesn’t have to set foot in a church anymore because we have online video streaming of services. We encourage family unity while we split them up for services. In the more liberal denominations, an individual can customize their beliefs in God to fit their preference. They can borrow from all different faiths even if they don’t line up and make sense.

Now this isn’t a critique of what the church is doing wrong. This is simply a view of what is happening and a commentary that if we are going to encourage family unity and community outreach, we need to make sure we our allowing opportunities to do so. If we are centralized on the individual experience of the believer, we can easily forget about the corporate and community of believers. Though there is a level of individuality that isn’t bad, we cannot throw out the baby with the bath water. Our culture is starved for companionship as we see with the boom of Facebook. Twitter shows our genuine care that people know what is going on in our every day life. The church must learn how to balance individuality and fellowship.

Best Bonhoeffer Chapter Yet! Quote-mania!

Below is a repost from earlier this year. The more the past year has passed, the more this burns in my soul to wake up the church, especially in light of the Innovate Church conference that is going on at TRBC. When was the gospel ever easy? Wake up America. We are in a post-Christian society.

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WOW I read the chapter Discipleship and the Cross. BAM! Great stuff. Below are some of the best quotes from this chapter. The modern church needs to heed to the words this man as they are speaking to us from his grave. Powerful thoughts here:

"Jesus must therefore make it clear beyond all doubt that the must of suffering applies to his disciples no less than to himself...discipleship means adherence to the person of Jesus, and therefore submission to the law of Christ which is the law of the Cross."

"To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us."

"If in the end we know only him, if we have ceased to notice the pain of our own cross, we are indeed looking only to him."

"If our Christianity has ceased to be serious about discipleship, if we have watered down the gospel into emotional uplift which makes no costly demands and which fails to distinguish between natural and Christian existence, then we cannot help regarding the cross as an ordinary calamity, as one of the trials and tribulations of life. We have then forgotten that the cross means rejection and shame as well as suffering."

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die."

"The call of Christ, his baptism, sets the Christian in the middle of the daily arena against sin and the devil. Every day he encounters new temptations, and every day he must suffer anew for Jesus Christ's sake."

"Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship."

The Post Spring Semester Update

• I managed to pull 4 A's and 1 B on my final grades. I was bummed about the B, but who's complaining? I pulled highest grade in my Hebrew final- 98!
• I started my summer semester with an intensive Theology and Ethics. I learned nothing. I am also taking History of Baptists (snore), Hermeneutics and American Christianity. Fall is still up in the air, but I'm at least taking Hebrew Exegesis. I love it!
• I am a breath away from my concealed carry license and will be purchasing a Glock 23 .40 cal in the next week : )
• The 26th-28th of May, I will be traveling to New Hampshire to interview at Trinity Baptist Church in Nashua. It is a student pastor position and I'm pretty excited for the chance. As my burden for the Boston area has grown, I now have a chance to possibly minister in a spiritually dark part of our country. I can use prayer!
• June 4-6 I will be going with the brother in law to Raleigh NC for the Advance '09 conference. John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler and Ed Stetzer will be speaking. Major Calvinists so it should be interesting : )
  
• Music has been at a lull. I've been revisiting some older albums such as Digital Underground, Velvet Revolver, Jawbone Hill, and the like. I need new music! Gaslight Anthem has been worn out by me. Recently my new songs of interest have been: Cold War Kids "Rubidoux", Coldplay "Life in Technicolor II", Coldplay "42", and Gaslight Anthem "Miles Davis and the Cool." I also did pick up the newest Diana Krall album.