Yes, intellectual pride is a real and serious spiritual problem for Jesus followers. It's detrimental to human flourishing and, like all sins, impairs our connection with God. Having spent a lot of time on the campus of Christian college and universities, I can assure you that I'm well-aware of the problem and have little patience for this particular vice. I tend to confront … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Suggests Anti-Intellectual Bullies Go Forward for the Children’s Sermon
Christian culture
Beatnik Christianity Embraces Nonviolence
The process of discipleship is supposed to be about being remade in the likeness of our rabbi, but that's a tall order. Instead Christians tend to recast Jesus in their own image and declare Him good. That's exactly what happened with the Christianization of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, and even more so as the empire's western half disintegrated in Augustine's lifetime. … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Embraces Nonviolence
Beatnik Christianity Doesn’t Judge A Book By Its Cover
The insistence upon people wearing their "Sunday best" to church has never sat well with me. On a theoretical level, I understand the purpose of a church dress code. The idea is that people are entering into a reverential headspace of worship that's set apart. They're wanting to look and feel distinct from the rest of the week, so they're coming before God with … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Doesn’t Judge A Book By Its Cover
Beatnik Christianity Expects Jesus Followers to Grow and Develop
Show me a person who's virtually unchanged over a 20-year period and I'll show you someone who's terribly boring and likely suffering from trauma-induced stagnation. It's an entirely natural psychological process of human growth and development for people to have experiences that influence their worldviews, personalities, relationships, interests, and values. Therein lies a lot … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Expects Jesus Followers to Grow and Develop
Beatnik Christianity Savors the Overlooked Role of “Valley Experiences”
Contemporary Christian culture loves its "mountaintop experiences." Harkening back to the biblical stories of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, this figure of speech refers to profound encounters with the divine where the wall between heaven and earth is seemingly thinned. God is present. Theologically speaking, most Jesus followers recognize that God is everywhere, of course, but in … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Savors the Overlooked Role of “Valley Experiences”
