Christian cults

Just throwing this out there— I really don't think God intended for us to have this Christian subculture. Because I've grown up in it, it's easy for me to forget about it and mistake this subculture for the Christian faith. But they are not the same. There are parts of it that are not biblical. And the very fact that we have insulated ourselves from the world in our happy little bubble of culture is not the life Christ intended for us.

Attending a Catholic university has opened my eyes to this. I've met people who are Catholics (who are Christians, by the way) and love Christ and seek to follow His commandments that don't come from my "culture." They have never been to Spirit West Coast. They don't sing about sloppy wet kisses in their liturgy (OK, I had to include that one). They haven't been to Hume. The girls don't wear cute knee-length dresses with a cross necklace and flats to match (not to say they dress immodestly— they just wear jeans or something like that). They're not big on the Great Christian Dating Debate. They don't read Dobson or Beth Moore.

Not to say that these things are inherently wrong. Kids have learned life-changing lessons and developed strong friendships at Hume. There is great wisdom to be gleaned from Bringing Up Boys. Yes, He does love us like a hurricane...well that one's open for debate. But my point is that being a part of the Christian culture does not make a Christian. It seems obvious, but it's shocking (or at least it was for me) to meet a follower of Christ that had never heard of Chris Tomlin. But she follows hard after God. In fact, she is more involved in community service and social justice programs that the majority of Christians I know. She loves God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Our unity is in Christ and His cross. We are one body because 2,000 years ago a Man named Jesus lived a perfect life, died a criminal's death, and rose again to reconcile us back to God. Cultural, ethnic, political, or denominational differences should not divide us. We are to be one as Christ and the Father are one. That's some pretty close intimacy!

At Wildwood this summer, there was a guy who came with our church named Dillon. He grew up in "the hood" around gangs and violence. His dad was abusive and gone physically and relationally most of the time. Drugs and alcohol were common at home and at school. He also raps freestyle, which is awesome! Jesus saved him in his late teen years. Anyway, he came to camp and became close friends with one of the counselors, Josh Cofey, who grew up in the subculture I described. Now, without Christ, these two men would have absolutely no reason to be friends. They have nothing else in common: interests, neighborhood, music taste, nothing. Yet they both know Jesus, and they became like brothers. It was a beautiful picture of the unity we have in Christ's cross.