[ohio]

The Christian Hipster

That's right. It's Christian. And it's Hipster. We were warned about crossing these opposing streams of quietly arrogant superiority because "it would be bad." And it is.

If this smug, self-righteous, quaintly existential blog post (written without even a whiff of irony) doesn't ignite Silver's hatred like the fire of a thousand godless suns, then... well, kidwoo is next in line.

 

[jonKranked]

never cross the streams...

 

[Pesqueeb]

Christian......Hipster

Wait, isn't the universe supposed to collapse in on itself if these two ever meet?

 

[boostindoubles]

that was more painful to read than I could have imagined.

 

[Andyman_1970]

Now while I agree that the article was more than a bit self serving and boastful, the concept itself of a culturally relevant, tolerant, socially active follower of Jesus seems like a good thing. I would NEVER consider myself a "hipster" (where the hell did that come from), but I'm closer to what that author describes than a frothing far right pulpit pounding Baptist.

 

[stevew]

christian hipster.....what happens when two bi-curious jeebus freaks cross swords.

 

[Silver]

I had to stop reading at this paragraph:

They are Christians who seek to cultivate a strong aesthetic sensibility and intellectual rigor, things that were largely put on the back burner in the church of their youth. They are sooner found at Radiohead or Arcade Fire concerts than at Christian music shows, prefer contemporary art galleries to Thomas Kinkade showrooms, and exercise Christian “fellowship” through conversations about Sartre over fair-trade coffee or a round of craft beers.

That **** isn't good for my blood pressure. And, looking at the headshot, I'm pretty sure I yelled at this douchebag on Saturday on the San Gabriel river bike path. Asshole stopped his fixie in the middle of the ****ing trail (sideways) and was slowly removing his shirt. It looked like he could have used the instruction manual, frankly.

 

[ohio]

the concept itself of a culturally relevant, tolerant, socially active follower of Jesus seems like a good thing

You'd think, right? Then you read the article.


Andy, you're cool because you're no hipster. This guy wasn't writing about the need to take back Christianity from anti-intellectuals and revisit Jesus's message of empathy. He wrote exclusively about image and appearance. What bands do you listen to, which art do you like, what pseudo intellectual conversations can you be seen having? It's the same self-righteous and self-conscious bull**** that the old guard uses to judge a Christian by how much he shows up at Church... this guy wants to judge a Christian by how much he looks like a cool kid.

 

[Andyman_1970]

That's what suprises me. I was thinking "wow this might be refreshing".....but alas it was fluff once I dug in.

This is alot like the "sister" church our church started about 2 years ago. It was started by our young (mid 20's) associate pastor, in a "trendy" part of down and meets in a coffee shop on Sunday nights. It started with about 15 members and today it consists of those same 15 members. Our family visited a few times and were in on the planning for it's formation, but found ourselves our of sync so to speak. It turns out, the church is entirely made up of this pastors snooty hipster friends. It is all about appearance, looking cool, trendy, and "relevant".

I would argue there is a "need" for a "cool and relevant" voice to the Christian faith, as long as it's about breaking out of the mold of the uptight conservative "Baptist" model and a genuine desire to live as Jesus calls His followers to live........not to be just a cool and trendy version of the uptight country club that those conservative evangelical churches tend to morph into.

 

[Andyman_1970]

Got to love Jesus in some Ray Ban's going door to door seeing if they want to head down to Starbucks with Him for a non white mocha.

 

[DaveW]

I had to stop reading at this paragraph:

They are Christians who seek to cultivate a strong aesthetic sensibility and intellectual rigor,

If they really believe in intellectual rigor they won't be Christians for long.
That or they have no idea what that is and just stuck it in cos it sounded cool??

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

I had to stop reading at this paragraph:

They are Christians who seek to cultivate a strong aesthetic sensibility and intellectual rigor, things that were largely put on the back burner in the church of their youth. They are sooner found at Radiohead or Arcade Fire concerts than at Christian music shows, prefer contemporary art galleries to Thomas Kinkade showrooms, and exercise Christian “fellowship” through conversations about Sartre over fair-trade coffee or a round of craft beers.

That **** isn't good for my blood pressure. And, looking at the headshot, I'm pretty sure I yelled at this douchebag on Saturday on the San Gabriel river bike path. Asshole stopped his fixie in the middle of the ****ing trail (sideways) and was slowly removing his shirt. It looked like he could have used the instruction manual, frankly.

That statement gives me flashbacks from my Art School days when I was taking a lot of philosophy classes (un-official minor ). The whole concept of Christian Existentialism made my head implode. Not saying Sartre was, but reading Kierkegaard was like reading a Baptist sermon, about as much fun as trimming one's beard with a cheese grater.

 

[jimmydean]

I would argue there is a "need" for a "cool and relevant" voice to the Christian faith, as long as it's about breaking out of the mold of the uptight conservative "Baptist" model and a genuine desire to live as Jesus calls His followers to live........not to be just a cool and trendy version of the uptight country club that those conservative evangelical churches tend to morph into.

When I was a freshman in high school, a young priest from my church started a smaller "cool" church on Sunday nights. He rented out the Assyrian church on the newer side of town. For a Catholic mass, it was very laid back and he always gave a great mass. I was just getting into the funner phase (if there is such a thing) of my catechism and actually enjoyed it.

Unfortunately he was killed a year after he started the church when he tried to stop a robbery (why do people break into churches?). That was the closets I ever got the a cool church.

 

[MikeD]

The knife wound in my face is your fault.