Hipster Christianity–Just Another Emerging Deception

The following Christianity Today
article presents the facts as they are
and shows the absolute absurdity that
is impacting Christianity all over the
world. In an effort to reach the
postmodern generation with a
message there is a Christ, the church
that once was Bible-based has become
anti-christ.

What is even more absurd
is the fact there are still leaders who
people look up to as great Christian
teachers, pastors, or
evangelists, who refuse to take a
stand and warn the sheep that the
wolves are devouring the flock. Rather
than protect the sheep they are driving
them to be slaughtered. They compromise
the truth of God’s word with the  “lie”
and further confuse those who try
to remain on board with Jesus.

The Emerging Church should change
their term “Christ followers” to what is
really happening. They are not following
Jesus Christ. They have forsaken Jesus
Christ and are following church growth
gurus who are following Satan.

Christianity Today’s
article “Hipster Christianity”:

Here’s a riddle: A young man walks into a building. From the outside, it looks like a nondescript, run-down, abandoned warehouse. Inside he finds mood lighting, music with throbbing bass, and young people wearing skinny jeans and superfluous scarves. A bar off to the side offers drinks of some sort, and a frenetically lit stage is shrouded in fog. Jumbo screens display what appear to be music videos. Everywhere people text on their iPhones. A young woman with a nose ring and a vaguely Middle Eastern tattoo comes up and introduces herself. She makes awkward (but refreshingly earnest) small talk about her passion for community gardens and food co-ops. She asks him if he has heard Arcade Fire’s new album, and compliments him on his bushy beard and lumberjack look. Beards like that are cool, she says. Eventually she asks him for his contact information. Question: Is the man in a bar? Or is he in a church? It could go either way.

“Welcome to the world of hipster
Christianity. The latest incarnation
of a decades-long collision of
“cool” and “Christianity,” hipster
Christianity is in large part a
rebellion against the very
subculture that birthed it. It’s a
rebellion against old-school
evangelicalism and its fuddy-duddy
legalism, apathy about the arts, and
pitiful lack of concern for social
justice.

“They prefer to call themselves
“Christ-followers” rather than
“Christians.” They cringe at the
thought of an altar call, and the
prospect of passing out tracts gives
them nightmares.

“In order to remain relevant in
this new landscape, many evangelical
pastors and church leaders are
following the lead of the hipster
trendsetters, making sure their
churches can check off all the
important items on the hipster
checklist:

• Get
  the church involved in social
  justice and creation care.
  

• Show
  clips from R-rated Coen Brothers
  films (e.g., No Country for Old
  Men, Fargo) during services.
  

• 
  Sponsor church outings to
  microbreweries.

• Put
  a worship pastor onstage decked
  in clothes from American
  Apparel.

• 
  Be
  okay with cussing.

• 
  Print bulletins only on recycled
  cardstock.

• Use
  
  Helvetica fonts
  as
  much as possible

• 
  Leverage technologies like
  Twitter.

“Christian hipster. As the ’90s
gave way to the 2000s, young
evangelicals reared in the
ostentatious Jesus subculture began
to rebel. They sought a more
intellectual faith, one that didn’t
reject outright the culture, ideas,
and art of the secular world.

“They looked up to young Christian
authors and pastors like
Shane
Claiborne,
Rob Bell, and
Donald
Miller, read Relevant magazine,
adored indie-folk musician Sufjan
Stevens, and were fascinated by
ancient church liturgies and
prayers. They began to dress and act
like secular hipsters: drinking
beer, getting tattoos, riding
fixed-gear bikes, and eating raw and
organic foods. They took interest in
a broader range of issues (the
environment, HIV/AIDS,
globalization) than their parents’
generation, and voted for Barack
Obama….

“One thing we can fairly say of
hipster Christianity is that it
frequently strives for shock value.
During his sermon, Driscoll-looking
like a metrosexual jock in an Ed
Hardy-esque tight T-shirt, cross
necklace, and faux-hawk-talked about
how wives should be “visually
generous” with their husbands (e.g.,
they should keep the lights on when
undressing and during sex). I never
thought I’d hear a preacher talk
about these things from the pulpit.
And that’s exactly the point.

“Hipster Christianity’s attention
to shock value manifests in others
ways. Some churches hold their
services in bars and
nightclubs-Mosaic in L.A. meets in
the Mayan nightclub, and North
Brooklyn Vineyard in New York meets
at a place called the Trash Bar.
Other churches focus more on the
shock value of sermons, delving into
touchy subjects such as
homosexuality, child abuse, sex
trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and so on,
sometimes with an f-bomb or
two thrown in for good measure.” 

Click here
to continue reading the
Christianity Today article.

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