After a long Easter week, I plopped down on the couch this evening and flipped on the TV. 60 Minutes happened to be showing a story about a 1,000+ year old Orthodox Christian monastic movement in Greece. They interviewed monks who eat twice a day, sleep three hours a day, and pray constantly to Christ. I was fascinated by the in-depth reporting... the first reporters to capture this movement in over thirty years. No women had ever visited the monks, and only Orthodox Christian men are permitted to make pilgrimages there. As I was watching, CBS cut to commercials and the first ad was for an erectile dysfunction drug. I couldn't believe it! The cultural contrast was almost too much to take. One second the show is highlighting men who have absolutely no interaction with women, and the next second I'm watching couples give intentional glances to one another during random life events that lead to them somehow watching the sunset together naked in side by side bath tubs. After the ED ad, CBS News cut in for a one minute overview of the day's national news. The lead story was "Easter Profits Up 12%," and the newscaster explained how great this good Easter season was for our recovering economy. I just had to laugh at this point! It was all just too much.
In a way, these cultural contrasts capture why it is so difficult for American Christians to live out an authentic, meaningful Christian faith. We read about the gospel message in our Bibles, and we hear about it at church. But, the second we leave church or end our quiet time in the morning, we enter a world that is dead set on distracting us from the real meaning of what it means to follow Christ whole-heartedly. The life of following Christ seems to come at us with a whisper, but then we live our lives and the world seems to scream at us that there is another way. The contrast in America is remarkable. We have it down to a science. That whole religion thing works out once a week on a Sunday when we might go to church, but the rest of the time it really doesn't impact our lives too much. Our faith doesn't cost us anything. Things just seem to go better in America if you are Christian. Hey, maybe God will bless our business efforts (remember, Easter was profitable this year)... and, maybe we might even overcome our struggles with ED if we follow Jesus. We'll get that bigger house, and that nicer car, and that promotion at work, and all the benefits of American society if we just check the Christian box with our lives.
Obviously, I'm being sarcastic... but I'm also curious. There are many Christians that separate their faith from their "real lives." There are many Christian leaders lined up to sell prosperity or self help doctrine. Christianity is often marketed to the masses. But, following Christ should cost us something. It should cost us everything. When we choose to follow Christ, we die to our selves and we gain Christ. And there is great life and joy in that decision! God does want us to find meaning in life through Him, but it often does cost us a lot. It is the narrow path. And, my point is, the American cultural version of Christianity and actually following Christ don't often sync well. However, our society still tries to figure it out. We like to talk about monks who sacrifice all for the sake of Christ, and then we like to talk about making a profit from Easter and marketing the next ED drugs in our next breath. We like to think we can have the best of both worlds. We can have it all. Life is all about us, and our individual happiness. But, we can't. Those are all lies. And that is why Christianity is shrinking in America at an alarming rate, and it is growing exponentially in other places around the world. We can't have it all, and life is not all about us... no matter how hard we try. In America, we must be careful that we do not get caught up in cultural Christianity. We need to focus on the real thing... and that is Christ.
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