Christian hipster or a Godly square?

Do you want to be ‘hip’ or Godly?

Christian’s today, specifically the younger generations, can be classed into two categories: ‘hip’ or ‘godly’.

These ‘hip’ Christians are cool cats. They are so cool that if you put them in the street next to the rest of society you couldn’t tell the difference. They follow fashions, get tattoos and speak the language. The hipster’s claim they do this to be culturally relevant. They bring Jesus to the streets in a way that people can relate. By portraying Jesus as a hip, fashionable and loving ‘party-animal’, Jesus all of a sudden becomes a very attractive option to today’s society. Praise the Lord, right!? ... Wrong.

First and foremost, this is blasphemy. Jesus was not a hip fashionable party animal. He was a Godly man who fulfilled the Old Testament laws and kept every single one of them – He lived a perfect life. To even claim that Jesus was interested in things such as fashion and parties is blasphemy. Christ had much more important things on his mind.

The hipster’s ‘culturally relevant’ argument is complete tosh. There are two words that hold great importance: ‘justification’ and ‘sanctification’. What a wonderful thing it is to be justified. It means that Jesus Christ has covered your sin through His death upon the cross. It means that you are justified before God and appear perfect in Christ. To be justified is just the beginning. You see if you are truly justified, then there is more to follow; sanctification is what is to follow. Sanctification is the most important thing after justification; it means to be set apart from the ways of the world. When we are saved Jesus tells us to Repent. Repentance means to change, to turn away from everything that is against Jesus and to follow Christ. Doing this means to turn away from the way you once lived and the things you once stood for and to possess a hatred for sin, not because you have to but because you want to. Introducing Christ to others in a way that is culturally relevant is allowing others to accept Christ without the repentance part. It is allowing them to accept Christ and carry on living the same sinful way as before, it allows them to take the justification without the sanctification, or so it may seem. Without repentance, you are not saved. By promoting Jesus in a ‘culturally relevant’ way the hip Christians are in fact deceiving people into thinking that they are saved. I am happy to say that there will be some individuals who are introduced to the church through the outreach programmes and may come to know Christ subsequently. However, the majority of those 'converted' will be adding to the number to be 'spewed out' of the mouth of the Lord and told that He never knew them. Woe to them.

Not only are these Hip Christians promoting the wrong Jesus to the streetwise masses, but they are also living in outward rebellion. They are like fools standing on a cliff edge, seeing how far they can peer over without falling off. They desire to be ‘in the world, but not of the world’ (i.e sanctified), but they want to be ‘in the world’ as much as they can! They find the ways of the world attractive. They see the heroes of the world worshipped on MTV and want to imitate them through the way they look, act and talk.

This is compared to the Godly squares. The folk who follow Jesus and what He commands. The folk who seek to keep the moral law of God, even though it is impossible to do so, because they have been truly justified and have renewed their minds to a better way of living. They see what the way of living portrayed on MTV really is – empty and shallow. They obey the Bible and take on board that in 1 Peter 1:16 “Be holy, for I am holy!” Like everyone they struggle with sin which is natural, but they seperate themselves from the worlds way and from temptation to follow God.

What is funny is that it is these Godly squares who live what they preach and preach nothing but the grace of God that are the most relevant to today’s culture, because the message of grace is completely against all that the world stands for. Getting something for nothing is completely foreign in today’s world. But that is what makes Christianity attractive. The fact that it is different to the world and the fact that the Godly square who is preaching grace has found complete joy and happiness without getting tattoos or following fashions or taking part in things that others see as cool.

Kids who likes rap music may be attracted to a Christian rap concert held downtown, but that is exactly what they are attracted to – the rap music, not Christ. They may even go to church and accept what Jesus has done for them, but they will soon grow tired. They will soon realise that whilst the rap music Christians offer is okay, the rap music Eminem offers is far superior. However kids who likes rap music will always be attracted by the pure message of the gospel, given to them straight, not wrapped up in sin or associated with something of the world that they like. They will always be attracted by the fact that they are sinners and that Jesus has died for them. That is something you don’t grow tired of.

As Christians, especially amongst the youth, we must stop dicing with sin. Flee from it! As Christians we are dead to sin. Hallelujah! But, why then do we make ourselves look like we are full of it by covering ourselves in tattoos and imitating those who are unsaved!? Fools.

So who would you rather be, the hip Christian who deceives many and rebels against the direct commands of God, or the Godly square, who sees the world for what it really is – empty and shallow. They don’t need to partake in the ways of the world to be accepted and appear cool, because they find their joy in something far greater than anything MTV has to offer.

I’d be a Godly square any day.

-BACChristian