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The 19th century Holiness Movement has been largely forgotten outside of Wesleyan circles, but its permeating influence upon global Christianity continues. The movement called for the “consecration” of a Christian’s whole life and the pursuit of “entire sanctification” that purged sin from one’s soul through a “second work of grace.” The ultimate goal being not only intimacy with God via ideological purity and a sinless lifestyle, but this sanctimonious social barrier so everyone knows you’re getting nowhere near sin. This they called “being above reproach.”
Beatnik Christianity represents a denunciation of the Holiness Movement and its puritanical “Christian perfectionism.” Three centuries prior, Martin Luther observed said that Christians are “simultaneously saint and sinner,” which has become an integral part of the Lutheran tradition. I’m not Lutheran but recognize this paradox as the inevitable lived reality of our lives. I’m not “holier than thou” nor do I have any desire to be perceived as perfectly sinless. I simply don’t play those pietistic games anymore. This is why I’m getting a saint-sinner ambigram tattoo.
Here I can imagine certain indignant readers wanting to lob Romans 6:1-2 like a theological hand grenade. In Eugene Peterson‘s, The Message, he translates, “So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not!” The trouble is, too many Christians read Paul through a dualistic lens where it’s pleasure-minimizing Stoicism vs. pleasure-maximizing Epicureanism. They genuinely believe those are the only options, but that perspective is squarely premised upon a logical fallacy: false dichotomy. Let’s try again with nondualism, shall we?
Whether one uses the Western conception of sanctification or the Eastern idea of theosis, most all Christians recognize the importance of some kind of metamorphosis toward more fully reflecting God’s image. This is a spiritual movement toward human flourishing that I affirm wholeheartedly. What I reject is the obsession with trying to appear sinless. Beatnik Christianity subscribes to a yin and yang dynamic of genuine deep transformation coupled together with a complete disregard for the outward appearances. In other words, piety is never the priority.
The original beatniks were known for their transgressive behavior. They reveled in pushing the envelope and some of that conduct was no doubt incompatible with The Way of Jesus. I readily acknowledge that caveat. At the same time, I’m being neither a shock jock nor a contrarian in saying I’m convinced that the countercultural ethos of the Beat Generation has way more in common with the radical Jesus described in the New Testament scriptures than does most of Christian culture through the centuries. The Piety Police and The Way of Jesus are incompatible.
