I recently picked up Nation of Rebels a book arguing that the American counter-culture is dead.  Our counter cultures have been embraced by the consumer culture.

So much of my generation’s re-envisioning of church is wrapped up in embracing the counter-cultural nature of the Gospel.  That’s cool.  Unfortunately, many churches do counter cultural things in the conventional sense–they embrace an edgier style and challenge the status quo with no clear reason for doing so.  This is a sort of rebellion of externals. "We reject the status quo because it doesn’t seem to fit.  So we’ll do things that seem counter-cultural–like get tatoos and play edgy music, and hang out at bars." I’ve known many Christians who revel in drinking beer because it is against the evangelical culture.   I’ve known Christians who tatoo themselves or get pierced because they perceive it to be an act of liberty.  These sort of things are counter-cultural in a sense…but they aren’t counter cultural in the Christian sense.  Most of what Christians consider to be counter cultural are no longer counter culutral.

Let me be clear–it isn’t that drinking or tatooing are wrong.  They just aren’t exactly world shaking.  But the Gospel is.  And sometimes we let externals shape our sense of being a counter culture, rather than embracing what it means to be a Gospel community.  Truly embracing the Gospel is counter cultural and will always be so–for the Gospel runs counter to human nature.  The kingdom cannot be seen naturally.  When we embrace the Kingdom, it will always be a counter cultural act.  And when we do this, our sense of being counter cultural will flow from within.  When we understand that, then we can quibble over elements of style.

About Mark Van Steenwyk

Mark Van Steenwyk is a member of Missio Dei. He is a speaker, writer, educator, and grassroots organizer. With the support of the Central Plains Mennonite Conference, he travels to radical and intentional communities around the country to help network and offer support.