When it comes to church-state dynamics, Paul showed us the way by appealing to his citizenship in the Roman Empire while reserving his allegiance for Christ and His Kingdom. Sadly, Christian culture in the U.S. has taken another path. We suffer from a chronic condition of adjective-noun confusion. An adjective is a description. A noun is a source of identity. That distinction … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Laments the Existence of American Civil Religion
idolatry
Beatnik Christianity Pledges Allegiance to Christ and His Kingdom Alone
A biblical motif running from Genesis to Revelation is that of God’s covenant people. It’s a sweeping story of God healing the world through an alternative kinship structure. According to 1 Peter 2, we are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” and “aliens and strangers in the world.” Our superseding citizenship is not found in any … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Pledges Allegiance to Christ and His Kingdom Alone
Beatnik Christianity Believes the Bible Is Ancient, Ambiguous, And Diverse
The Bible is not the "Word of God." That language trains Jesus followers to implicitly worship the Bible almost as the fourth member of the Trinity. Let's not pretend that confusing the two doesn't reek of idolatry. The Bible is not God nor is it a part of the Godhead. No, that designation--the Word of God--belongs to Jesus alone as the incarnate Word who, along with the Father … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Believes the Bible Is Ancient, Ambiguous, And Diverse
Beatnik Christianity Recognizes Scripture’s Awkwardness and Fuzziness on Marriage
The more one deep-dives the evolving relational contract of marriage within the Bible the more it becomes clear it's as awkward as it is fuzzy. Almost none of our modern marital ideals like love, trust, equality, communication, and reciprocity are anywhere near as apparent as we'd like. Instead what we find throughout the Old Testament are practices like arranged marriages, … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Recognizes Scripture’s Awkwardness and Fuzziness on Marriage
Beatnik Christianity Habitually Questions the Unquestionable
Living in Christian culture is like walking through an unmarked minefield. You might blissfully stroll through just fine, but if you do encounter a problem you'll never know about it until after the explosion. You see, Christians are supposed to anticipate the idiosyncratic and tribalist expectations of what's off-limits, especially regarding what questions are and aren't … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Habitually Questions the Unquestionable
