Something that drives me bonkers about Christian culture is the default preoccupation with its institutional reputation. Have you noticed this? It seems like Jesus followers have been socially conditioned in such a way that their instinctual response to troubling news is consideration of the institutional ramifications rather than concern for the well-being of the person or … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Focuses on People’s Well-Being Rather Than Institutional Reputation
Archives for November 2022
Beatnik Christianity Subverts Constantine, Christendom, and Christian Culture
It’s helpful to begin with a definition. I would tentatively define Christendom as the era in which institutional Christianity exercised a profound degree of cultural hegemony, geo-political power, socio-economic control, and even military might. At the risk of oversimplifying a supremely complicated historical story, it largely began in the 4th century with Emperor Constantine … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Subverts Constantine, Christendom, and Christian Culture
Beatnik Christianity Follows Jesus As the Counterculture Incarnate
Wikipedia defines counterculture as "a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores." It means consciously pursuing a fundamentally different vision for one's life and community. It can be fueled by many motives--traumatic experiences, youthful rebellion, principled … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Follows Jesus As the Counterculture Incarnate
Beatnik Christianity Centers Around the Beaten Down and the Beatitudes
The term "beat" had a layered meaning for the Beat Generation. For Jack Kerouac it referenced underworld slang and meant feeling beat down and downtrodden. The beat movement also had deep influence from jazz music, so others tied it to that genre's creativity, unconventionality, and improvisation with musical beat. Others joked that they marched to the beat of a different … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Centers Around the Beaten Down and the Beatitudes
Introducing Beatnik Christianity: A Countercultural Vision for Following Jesus
This piece is intended as a direct follow-up to "Wrong from the Start: How Christian Culture Keeps Pulling Us Away from Jesus" and is the first in a series introducing Beatnik Christianity. The more I try to follow Jesus, the more I trigger the wrath of Christian culture. Last year a back-up priest freaked out at me over the phone. The issue was that my wife kept … [Read more...] about Introducing Beatnik Christianity: A Countercultural Vision for Following Jesus
