Young people turn against their parents' 'church lite'

For evidence of generational upheaval these days, you might skip over the usual suspects -- sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll -- and consider instead Christianity.

Two decades after baby boomers invented the suburban megachurch, which removed crosses or stained-glass images of Jesus in favor of neutral environments, their children are now wearing "Jesus Is My Homeboy" T-shirts.

As mainline churches scramble to retain young people, these worshippers have gained attention by-creating alternative churches in coffee bars and warehouses and publishing new magazines and Bibles that come on as anything but church.

But does a T-shirt really serve the faith? And if religion is our link to the timeless, what does it mean that young Christians replace their parents' practices?

The movement "has a noble side," said Michael Novak, the conservative theologian at the American Enterprise Institute. He remembers how much he enjoyed the Christian comic books of his youth. He compared the alt-evangelicals to missionaries, who "feel they've learned something valuable from their faith and want to share it" using the native language.

For many in this generation, the worship style of their parents feels impersonal: not bigger than their daily, media-intensified lives, but smaller. Their search is for unfiltered religious ex-perience.

"My generation is discontented with dead religion," said Cameron Strang, 28, founder of Relevant Media, which produces Christian books, a Web site and Relevant magazine, a stylish 70,000-circulation bimonthly that addresses topics like body piercing, celibacy, extreme prayer, punk rock and God.

Strang, a graduate of Oral Roberts University, is in some ways a model alt-evangelical, with two earrings, a shaved head and beard. He left a megachurch, he said, because he felt no community at the slick services. Now he attends an alternative church in a school gym, with intimate groups and basketball after services.

This stylistic shift is critical, said Lee Rabe, pastor at Threads, an alternative, or "emerging," church in Kalamazoo, Mich. Where megachurches reached out to baby boomers turned off by church, the younger generation often has no experience with religion. They need to be beguiled, not assuaged, Rabe said.

"The deity-free 'church lite' of the megachurches, that's the last thing these people want," he said. "They want to talk about God. It's hard-core, not in a fire and brimstone way, but it has to be raw, real."

The changes are often more stylistic than doctrinal. Many alt-evangelicals espouse conservative theology, but reject the censure of some churches. Strang sees this as a blueprint for an evangelical left.

"We're all sinners," he said. "Your sin isn't any worse than my sin. We don't say, 'Stop the horrible gays.' You want to reach them, you don't want to protest them. If we looked like goody-two-shoes, clean cut, we couldn't have a conversation with our lesbian friend at the coffee shop, because she couldn't relate."

Increasingly, this conversation borrows from pop culture, in the same way that hip secular culture borrows the cabala and the cross.

Critics say this engagement comes at a price. Timothy Williams, 48, a pastor at Sound Doctrine Ministries, a non-denominational church in Enumclaw, Wash., sees flirtation with pop culture as a capitulation to sin. "More and more, the church is seeking to be like the world around it," said Williams, who has written a pamphlet denouncing Christian rock. "But the Bible says that anyone who becomes a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. If we're going to be relevant or on the world's level to draw people, we might as well give free beer in the parking lot."

But evangelicals have long used pop culture and new technology to spread their gospel, said Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University.

Christian tracts handed out in the 19th century were one of the first mass media. In the 1930s, the evangelist Charles Fuller used the new medium of radio to broadcast his sermons. Four decades later, the Jesus movement of the 1970s adopted the vibe of the 1960s counterculture.

The actor Stephen Baldwin, a born-again Christian, has just directed a DVD called Livin' It, pairing extreme sports with faith testimony, from which he hopes to spin skate Bibles, clothing, CDs and Bible-study guides, all tied to a non-profit youth ministry.

"This could be the first get-down rock 'n' roll, cool Christian brand," he said.

The underlying romance is familiar from any Nirvana video: the Christian as rebel or outsider, misunderstood, struggling against a world of conformity, commercialism and manufactured pleasures.

"It's a countercultural thing," said Tim Lucas, 33, pastor of an emerging ministry called Liquid in Basking Ridge, N.J. On a recent Sunday, Lucas wore a Hawaiian shirt and used images from The Lord of the Rings movies and a clip from Amadeus in a sermon about the book of First Samuel.

"They identify with being an underground movement, which is what Christianity was in the beginning," Lucas said of his congregation. "Living out a life with Christ at the center draws a lot of flak. Not a lot of people will celebrate that."

The movement away from middle-of-the-road theology and worship mirrors a trend on college campuses, where growing numbers of students claim either no religion or strong religious affiliation, with the middle ground shrinking, said Alexander Astin, director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, which last year completed a national study of students' beliefs.

In the survey, more than 70 percent of students said they prayed, discussed religion or spirituality with friends, found religion personally helpful and gained spiritual strength by trusting in a higher power.

Well I'm still there because I've been there since 1968 when I was 9 years old, and I have a lot of relationships with friends there. People I grew up with, etc. Changing churches is a difficult thing to do for me. It's not that we haven't talked about it.

See, we don't even have true call to repentance times anymore. We half hartedly have a "commitment time". But really, they invite everybody that might want to join the church to show up once a quarter for a luncheon where they talk about it. Seriously.

Have you been to Willow Creek Church in Chicago? This is the pattern that we're chasing now.

And really, just because a church is growing does not mean it is spritually sound, in my opinion. Some are and some aren't.

And in a way I have moved on. I mean, I'm not serving on staff or participating in the worship ministry anymore. I'm not talking badly about our church or anybody in it to it's members. And I haven't even mentioned the name to you guys. I guess I'm hoping this time will pass. Is that bad?

Yeah.. old translation is the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom. You'll never hear that verse quoted in a contemporary church. I mean NOT EVER.

Well then I guess with all our Rock & Roll Sunday night services, our church is not one of those "contemporary chruches". So that is the key, huh? If a pastor reads Proverbs 1:7 in the KJV, then they are not contemporary. Thanks. I had always thought our Church was something of a cutting edge contemporary church. I guess I was wrong.

So if you quote that verse in your church to the guy sitting next to you, then does that bring your whole church out of the category of "contemporary?" Or does it have to be quoted from the pulpit?

These darn rules get complicated sometimes.

Rarely will you hear anyone talk about the "fear of the Lord". Yet it is used predominately throughout the scriptures including the New Testament. Mostly today it all this "God is Love" stuff with no mention of the Hell that is awaiting individuals. Understanding God's wrath to come makes us better appreciate our salvation.

And, you know... I've been in the meetings where the staff complains about the old people there. Because you know, they aren't on board with what we want to do here. We've got 1200 people over the age of 55. Many of them have been there for 20+ years. It is our job to continue to edify them and support them, and minister to them.

I don't think it's those old peoples job or calling of the Lord to accept any whim that the church decides to follow. I just don't. But most staffs in most churches in this day and age do. And most will tell you that the thing that really keeps their church from "breaking out" whatever that means, is because of all the senior adults in the church.

I'm not opposed to rock n roll. I'm a contemporary christian artist with a cd soon to be available. But I am opposed to the philosophy that is in a lot of big churches. Yep. It's not the music, and it's not the instrumentation. It's the intent.

You said: If you listen to a sermon and don't hear the words "sin", "Jesus", "salvation", or "blood of Christ" you are in the wrong church.

I checked the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. It only only includes one of the words you mentioned, sin. In one instance it emphasizes cutting of body parts if they offend you, and in the others it always emphasizes the importance of forgiving sin. Does my belief in this sermon mean I am not part of the true church?

It kinda makes sense that the sermon on the mount wouldn't mention "blood of Christ" or "Jesus".... don't ya think?

It does talk a lot about salvation though, even without using the exact word.

Thanks. I had always thought our Church was something of a cutting edge contemporary church. I guess I was wrong.

Can I be honest with you? I've read many of your posts and I have a lot of respect for you. I really do. Not ever being in your church, I would say that if you like it as you say you do, that your church is not a "cutting edge" contemporary church. That would be my guess.

"So if you quote that verse in your church to the guy sitting next to you, then does that bring your whole church out of the category of "contemporary?" Or does it have to be quoted from the pulpit?"

I don't know what the term "contemporary" means. How many old hymns of the faith need to be sung to make it "traditional"?

I tend to think of churches in terms of conservative and liberal. A liberal church you will not find "fear of the Lord" mentioned either by the person in the pew next to you or from the pulpit (if they mention our Lord Jesus at all). They're also the ones where you'll find people wearing "Jesus is my Homeboy" t-shirts and excuse homosexuality as another sin and we all sin.

You wrote: I agree, but beware of crossing lines you never meant to cross. That's my point. God is holy and He is not pleased with sinful worship.

You might be careful about crossing another line, as God seems also not to be pleased with this kind of judgment of another's worship. Notice Michal was offended with the very same thing you point out, the lack of modesty.

2 Samuel 6:20-23
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal, daughter of Saul, came out to meet him and said, "How the King of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of slave girls and of his servants as any vulgar fellow would." David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his household when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel. I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this and I will be humiliated in my own eyes, but in these slaves girls you spoke of I will be held in honor." And Michel daughter of Saul had no children till the day of her death.

I could go on about this topic for hours. Try this one... they asked me to write a new "invitation song". So I wrote this nice little song. Problem is that it said (among other things that were rejected) ... it said .. Thank You Lord For Saving Me. See... we can't use the word SAVE or any conjuction of it. Because people hear SAVE and think of the Jerry Falwell type christian. You know the old fire and brimstone deal. Instead of SAVING, we have to use maybe "rescuing".

Seriously, I can make you a pretty surprising list of words that are not acceptable in "cutting edge" contemporary church today.

You said: If you listen to a sermon and don't hear the words "sin", "Jesus", "salvation", or "blood of Christ" you are in the wrong church. I checked the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. It only only includes one of the words you mentioned, sin. In one instance it emphasizes cutting of body parts if they offend you, and in the others it always emphasizes the importance of forgiving sin. Does my belief in this sermon mean I am not part of the true church?

Well, since as far as I can tell Jesus never spoke of himself in the third person. Salvation and the blood of Christ were obtained by Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our sins. The Sermon on the Mount took place before we were redeemed, therefore making it not something to preach about.

You said: The Sermon on the Mount took place before we were redeemed, therefore making it not something to preach about.

Really? You believe this? Jesus Christ, the Way to salvation, starts his ministry with a sermon that should be ignored? Perhaps all preachers should only start with the last few chapters of the Gospels and all the books written after that? I don't get how people can claim to believe in Jesus, but carefully take a knife and cut out most of what he said.

You wrote: It does talk a lot about salvation though, even without using the exact word.

Which is why I was pointing out how ludicrous it was to come up with a list of words that are required to be in every sermon.

Come on Mongrel... be serious... You don't really expect Jesus in the sermon on the mount to talk about him self in third person do you? You don't really think he was going to say the words "jesus"... and "blood of Christ" do you?

What he ment when he said "not something to preach about" was not something that JESUS would have preached about during that sermon.

Clearly we were not redemed until after the crucifixation. Most would argue that mankind was not redeemed until the day of Pentacost since the bible says that unless we have the Holy Spirit living inside us that we are lost. And the Spirit didn't come in that manner until Pentacost.

Which is why I was pointing out how ludicrous it was to come up with a list of words that are required to be in every sermon. What is really ludicrous is to make up a list of words that can't be used in sermons because they are to old fashioned. And that has happened in many "cutting edge" churches.

They're also the ones where you'll find people wearing "Jesus is my Homeboy" t-shirts and excuse homosexuality as another sin and we all sin.

It wouldn't be a real Free Republic thread without dragging in the Catholics:

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