Continuing our series Look Normal, Smell Different, which examines the different ways Christians and the church typically relate to the world, I want to talk today about one of the ways we present ourselves as followers of Jesus which is causing a huge rift in the church and alienating the populace in two different but equally destructive ways.

Typically when you hear criticism of how the church relates to the world, you hear it in the context of liberal vs. conservative. The conservatives are the “fundies” who want to spoil everyone’s fun and rule the world from the pulpit with a Bible-thumping fist (and who probably want to stone gays and steal candy from little children), and the liberals are the “dead” cultural religious folk who have compromised with every position imaginable for so long that so that they stand for nothing at all (except that they don’t like fundies, and the feeling is mutual).

Now of course I’m exaggerating for effect, and I don’t necessarily agree with any of these allegations. Personally, I have what would probably be considered by most to be a decidedly conservative theological bent. But I’m not here to defend Biblical literalism, creationism, Calvinism, or any other “ism”. My viewpoint is clear: in a certain sense, I think they’re both wrong, and here’s why.

We have a serious perception problem in the world of the church today, and it is that the Christian religion is old, outdated, uninformed, out of touch, and no longer necessary in this modern (or I should say post-modern) era. To coin an overused but useful term, the church is no longer relevant. There are a huge variety of complex factors at work here, so it’s difficult to pinpoint any particular reason for the decline of healthy respect the culture has for Christianity these days. One thing is for certain: neither the conservatives nor the liberals are exempt from this phenomenon. In fact, liberal mainline denominations are shrinking fast, with most congregations comprised mainly of aging baby-boomers and senior citizens. Many churches are now more cultural relics of a bygone age than actual, healthy, functioning members of the body of Christ. And on the conservative side, there may be plenty of strong and even growing churches dotting the landscape, but they’re basically living in a bizarre Christian subculture (some would say ghetto) of evangelicalism that is perceived with increasing hostility by the unchurched. A recent Barna poll shows that evangelicals are seen very poorly by many Americans, especially when it comes to young people. Look, you can feel proud to stand fast on all the correct doctrine in the heavens and the earth, but if you’re essentially part of a cultural movement that people intensely dislike, you may want to ask yourself if this is really the persecution that Jesus warned of or if instead you have blown it in the “love thy neighbor” part of the Great Commandment.

The real issue at stake here is that in the Christian arena, both liberals and conservatives look different and smell old. When the average 18 year old looks at the Pope, he sees a weird old dude in a funny hat talking about theological issues he doesn’t have a clue about. Boring, man, let’s go back to fragging that SOB in Halo 3. When the average 25 year old looks at the Second XYZ Church of the Incarnation of the Blessed Tabernacle of God with that wacky dude in the suit wearing the rings and talking about the “glorraay” of “Jeeeeeesus”, she thinks OK, whatever, and goes back to watching the latest episode of Top Model. And the more the twin Christian subcultures of dusty, ritualized, centuries-old, institutionalized, compromised mainline denominationalism or the squeaky-clean, holier-than-thou, suit-and-tie, leave your sin at the door, moralism of the fundamentalist churches continue to wreck havoc in the public arena and distort the message of Jesus and the precious gift of the Holy Spirit, the more the people who are really on fire for the Lord and want to reach out in love and in truth to all who would draw near to the heart of the Father have a difficult time getting past that nasty filter of failed expectations that the church actually has anything meaningful to offer anymore.

I think the bottom line is that we’ve got to stop looking like we’re pathetically disconnected from the culture, and we’ve got to stop smelling old and out of touch. I believe that the explosive creative power of the God Who created the universe is radically new and fresh everyday, and our lives must echo His abundant blessings and passions every day that we walk this earth. I know there are certain directives we have as Christians to distance ourselves from the world in the areas of sexual immorality, greed, pride, selfishness, etc. Sometimes, we’ll need to take a stand and fight the sad degeneration we see around us. But at the end of the day, to quote a wise man, the church should be known for what it’s for more than what it’s against. We should be the purveyors of a positive, optimistic outlook on life that says that things really will get better. We serve an awesome God Who we can delight in and rejoice in, Who fills our lives with joy and meaning, Who empowers us to rise above stifling mundanity and hot temptation and find eternal peace and fulfillment. This is a great message! Let stop focusing so much on the garbage out there and start focusing on the breathtaking beauty of our Heavenly Father!

I encourage you to find or start a church that has a grand vision, a huge cause, and a massive love for God and for people. That is a church worthy of its calling, and that is a church that will redeem the culture and be a part of the next Great Awakening that I believe is soon to come to the shores of America.

Next week’s post is titled “Look Alike, Smell the Same” and is a critique of the viewpoint that in order to reach the unchurched, the church should look just like the world. I’m looking forward to seeing you then!