As a follower of Christ it can be difficult to articulate what it is that makes us one. Is it simply what one happens to believe in a certain Doctrine rather than another? Is it that one lives a certain way as an expression of being a Christian? On both of these routes one can lose their way. Many studies done in American tell the church a painful truth, there is very little difference in lifestyle or appearance between those who profess to be Christians and those who do not.

How can our identity be found in Christ when our day to day interactions, business dealings, appetites and words appear to have nothing in common with Christ? Jesus said that the way is narrow, that disciples will be known by the fruit they produce (Mt 7:16-20) love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22-25). Many churches in America by and large have been motivated by seeker sensitivity, the drive to get more people saved, so that they will have a personal relationship with Jesus, but one hears virtually nothing about the call to be like Jesus.

There are many problems, the primary problem, in my opinion, is that churches have attempted to make themselves culturally relevant at the expense of being honest to the call of the Gospel. We never get the chance to catch our breath and focus upon what it means to be disciples of Christ as we scramble to be relevant. Instead of focusing upon the call of Jesus, churches have become self-awareness and self-help centers where we empower individuals to become even less like Christ. However, they now have the right to place the label Christian upon their lifestyles because they attend services. Despite the drastic difference between taking the way of Jesus seriously and living as if the Gospel were merely a likable story.

Churches have been comodified and colonized by our culture. Instead of the body of Christ being the presence of Christ in the world, we have turned from an outwardly focused people of service to an inwardly focused people of privilege. How can churches who are seeker sensitive bring about the transition from the self-interested seeker to the other-interested disciple? It is no wonder that there is a crisis of faith in America, we have forgotten what it means to be a disciple as we are encouraged to have a faith in Christ that costs nothing. We have settled for cheap grace, or grace without the cross.

If the way is narrow, if our example is Jesus, what are we doing? We pursue careers so that we can be comfortable. We are blissfully ignorant that we are comfortable at the expense of others. Injustice is such a part of the American lifestyle that we cannot see the suffering we create. We have become a culture that cannot grieve or that is unwilling to grieve. Because of our privilege we can pretend that the suffering of the world isn’t real, that if it does exist it is not our problem. Many of us have lost the power and pathos of the early followers of Jesus, we have forgotten how to pray with our legs.

When we say Lord please be with the homeless tonight, keep them warm, feed them and bless them. But in our very own homes we have extra rooms that are warm, our cupboards are filled with our extra food, we possess the very blessings that they need. Yet it doesn’t occur to our American minds to be the answer to our prayers, that we could answer the prayers of many, and our own if we simply prayed with our feet and our own hands.

Jesus described his followers as people who were generous. People who clothed the naked, who befriended the stranger, who loved their enemies, who fed the hungry, who gave water to the thirsty, people who gave their time, their money and their resources to make this world a more beautiful place. With every simple action of kindness in the name of Christ we become the presence of Christ in the world. Yet with all the words and deeds of Christ that we recount over and over from the scriptures in our churches daily, we still find our identity primarily in our beliefs about Christ rather than in our imitation of Christ.

Christianity is infected by our culture. Much of what we have been told in Sunday schools and youth group services, Church services and pot-lucks, is infected by the ‘real’ world and the wrath of empire. Though it may look holy, our beliefs about God and country must be tested by the spirit and must be show to produce fruit. If tested and found wanting we must see that what we have been taught and told in many ways are not the Gospel nor the way of Jesus. Ideas about duel allegiances to God and something else, which are not found in the scriptures and far too closely associated with the American dream rather than with Christ must be rejected.

Over and over again in history the dominate culture infects the church. Some Christians go to the margins of society to re-think what it means to be a disciple of Christ. The new Monastic movement finds it obvious that something is terribly wrong with the institutional churches of our day. That we must be ever vigilant in whatever context we inhabit so that the truth of Christ is not fashioned into a lie by our hands. If we are not the salt of the earth, if we are not the light to the nations, then we are nothing. When Jesus spoke with the Pharisees the collision was not between theological opinions but focused upon theological actions. The kingdom agenda God had for Israel demanded that Israel leave its frantic and paranoid tradition of self defense and embrace instead the vocation to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth.

In our context we must remember that Christ is continually reclaiming and restoring the world, everything must change not for the sake of being relevant to the world but for the sake God’s reclamation project. It is not the reputation of the American Church that is on the line, but the reputation of Christ. So now what? Where do we go from here? That my friends is what needs to be thought out, how can we be faithful Christians, honest theologians and followers of Christ in this dark world? Our communities of faith must ask hard questions, experiment together and realize that another world is possible. We may yet share in the days of peace

About JoshuaDbauIII

Joshua David Bau is a Doctor of Ministry Student in social and economic innovation at Bethel Seminary in collusion with Trans4m University in Geneva, Switzerland. He lives in St. Paul with his beautiful wife Gracie. He enjoys long walks on the street, painting and cooking.