John Wesley once preached, "Christianity is essentially a social religion; and that to turn it into a solitary religion, is indeed to destroy it." We can't go it alone. We need community. Got it. The trouble is, people have stripped Wesley's perspective of its nuance. In the following paragraphs he explicitly acknowledges that no time alone is bad for the soul and says faithful … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Leaves Room for Introversion and Solitude
The Way of Jesus
Beatnik Christianity Discerns Technology’s Value through the Lens of Community
It’s commonly thought the Amish are anti-technology. This is false. What the Amish believe is new technology should be discerningly considered by the entire community over time before it is adopted. It's a slow and community-wide cost-benefit analysis. So, for example, because they value being self-sustaining, most Amish communities have chosen not to be on the electrical grid … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Discerns Technology’s Value through the Lens of Community
Beatnik Christianity Chooses Love Over Fear
Many American Christians feel their way of life is being threatened. It doesn't matter whether this perspective has a factual basis or not. The feeling is real. What's important to recognize, at least initially, is there's a palpable insecurity driving their opposition to a slew of contrary worldviews: the Far Left, secular humanism, socialism, feminism, globalism, relativism, … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Chooses Love Over Fear
Beatnik Christianity Reprioritizes Friendship As One of the Most Important Things in Life
My appreciation for the atheist contrarian Christopher Hitchens was cemented by a Vanity Fair article entitled "Unspoken Truths" that was written shortly before his death. The piece chronicled his experience losing the ability to speak as the cancer attacked his vocal chords. In it Hitchens expressed a core value that had been subconscious all my life: "For me, to remember … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Reprioritizes Friendship As One of the Most Important Things in Life
Beatnik Christianity Prefers Unforced Rhythms of Grace to Spiritual Disciplines
One reason many sincere Jesus followers spiritually peter out is that their lives resemble Sisyphus fighting gravity to roll the boulder up the hill. The Christian life, as it's been taught to them, is an unsustainable exercise of exhausting willpower. Is that The Way of Jesus, though? What if Jesus followers were instead mostly taught to put up their sails and channel the … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Prefers Unforced Rhythms of Grace to Spiritual Disciplines
