Yup, that’s what I said and I mean it. Christianity cannot survive or have any useful function until Church Culture dies. Church Culture is something that is the direct result of sin. Man quickly replaces and twists the gifts and instruction of God and turns them into something corrupt and evil. Sex, for example, is a gift that man has turned into something filthy. Humans like the filth, so we just legalize it to ease our conscience and force people to accept our particular degradation.
The Church was such a gift, and as usual, we’ve corrupted it into uselessness and vagueness to distance ourselves from Gods will. Modern Church Culture has no discernable difference between its teaching and moral relativism . Its people behave no differently, they tell the same raunchy jokes, cheat on their spouses, and lust for every person or product they can’t afford, often acquiring them anyway. While walking with an attitude of piousness (because after all, they gave God a whole hour and all the change in their pocket), they have become functionally impotent in the modern world. Most do more harm than good and earn the “Hypocrite” title. Believers have become what the unbelieving world can’t believe. Church Culture is not what God intended.
Lets consider the Amish Culture. Forget about the horse and buggy stuff for a minute, lets look at the culture that they gladly adhere to. They are dedicated to each other. If someone’s house or barn burns down, or someone becomes hurt or ill, their neighbors will drop everything and build them a new place or takeover the workload on the farm. It’s second nature to them and they are glad to do it. They save their money and don’t idolize material goods (which is why they have plenty of money). Living simply has provided them with financial security and an ability to keep focus on what’s important to them. No shipping kids off to daycare so the parents can buy more crap than they can afford. No sending them off to a college, that corrupts their little minds, so they may be able to afford more material goods. That’s idolatry and selling your kids into idolatry. It’s financial and moral slavery. Amish kids are with mom and dad till they get married. Most are educated at home and learn real world skills. Most important is that they learn unswerving integrity and non-adjustable morality. The parents take responsibility for the children instead of passing them off to a government institution to indoctrinate them with the latest morality. Being humble and kind are priorities, as are the value of hard work. Amish divorce doesn’t exist and the communities rally around couples with marital discord. Disease and sickness is rare because they eat what they raise and are physically active.They sure know their Bible. Its probably easier without all that other worldly crap taking up their time like TV or the internet. I’m very fortunate to live with the Amish as neighbors, and I can tell you that they are far kinder and far more intelligent than you can imagine. The Amish will survive. Amish Culture works!
When you read Paul’s letters to the church’s of that day, its seems like he is warning them against the same things that the Amish are guarding against. Idolatry, church division, immorality, straying from Scripture, becoming like the world of that day. Paul was warning them and us about Church Culture. Church Culture winks at all those sins as long as you show up for an hour and throw some change in the pot. Church Culture doesn’t actually “Do” anything. Again, Church Culture must die!
So am I saying that to be a true Christian you have to sell you car and buy a horse and buggy? Do you have to have the power company unhook the juice? While I may think that would be pretty fun for a while, its not really the answer, nor does it address the problem. Church Culture must die and be replaced by something, I say we need Jesus Culture. Now to be clear, Jesus Culture won’t save you, it’s the result of being saved. Don’t get that out of order. Imagine if your Church community adopted Jesus Culture. We would take care of one another (no government programs needed), not just physically, but spiritually. We wouldn’t allow idolatry into any of our homes. We would raise, truly raise our children and teach them Scripture and morality. They would have far more value than those spoiled little me-monsters that we see in grocery stores (who grow up into big me-monsters). Most importantly, we would know Gods message, our Bibles. The outcome would be the kindness and humility that our Amish brothers and sisters have mastered.
Oh friends, Church Culture must die and we have to get back to Jesus Culture. That’s how the gift was designed. We weren’t made to live the way we are, God had a better plan that we corrupted. We cannot survive without Jesus Culture. To a post Christian America, we don’t really look any different from them. We aren’t showing them that our God is a good god and a kind god that loves them. Only Jesus Culture can do that, by transforming us back to the purity of His gift. The saved need to live together as a tight community, not mega church where people can be lost and non-functional. We also can’t continue to compete in the world of buying useless products, just to keep up with people that we don’t even like. Its made most of us broke or barely hanging on and we really can’t afford to help anyone or miss a day of work. Idolatry is a consuming fire. We need to stop being marketing sheep!
Well friends there you have it, I hope I was able to give you something to think about. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to make some changes or at least some adjustments. I would sure love to hear some Jesus Culture stories from you. If you decide to sell your car and buy a buggy, well I think that would be kinda cool too!
Pray hard friends!
humbleshoeshineboy 