Escaping the Christian Ghetto
Posted On Tuesday, 15 May 2007 at at 10:28:00 am by LisaA couple of weeks ago my I found this little gem and showed it to my non christian sister. She was in fits of laughter as it (unfortuanately) described me perfectly. My I pod was full of Christian music and nothing but christian music. This stemmed from my first becoming a christian a few years ago when I changed from listening to Channel Z and ZM and some rather unhealthy stuff and decided that so as to cut out some rather destructive thought life I would go for a 100% Christian diet. Anyway since viewing this track my sister keeps calling my I pod a J pod so I have been diversifying.
Related to this is an article by Jan Johnson about how many Christians need to escape the Christian Ghetto, i.e they live in such a Christianized world with little to no interaction with non christians that they don't know how to interact with the rest of the world properly.
I for example always find it funny when people who have been raised in Christian families all of their lives feel that they have some intimate knowledge of what it is like to live as a non christian or be raised in a non christian household... but anyway...
just like yesterday I am going to be practical here are the things Johnson suggests to get out of the Ghetto.... :)
- Renew former acquaintances (with those that have dropped out of church)
- Befriend neighbours ( this includes those at uni, school, and in the community)
- Join a community group - (this does not mean a Christian ministry group)
- Be hospitable (to people from outside your christian circle)
- Employ nonbelievers
Nice work there Lisa. I actually find that I'm the opposite... I have lower tolerance for sheltered Christians nowadays. I'm not particularly proud of it but I get frustrated (internally) when the smallest thing as bad language can have such a negative effect on Christians.
I'm not at all one that gets it right all the time but I think the first step in understanding people is through embracing one another in spite of our corrupt nature. This is something that gets talked about so often among Christians yet so many of them don't have the slightest idea how to carry it out in their own lives.
I'm sick of Christians that segregate the un-believers as "them" and "us". It is time we realised that there is only "we" in this world. The non-believers are not "poor wee lost souls", they have just not yet witnessed a good and honest demonstration of what it means to follow Jesus. Also we must not forget that it is not because of who we are that we are saved but who He is. Thank God that we were broken enough to realise that we needed God.
Note: I was by no means meaning that Christians should therefore go around swearing and doing things to “stoop down to their level” so they can “relate” or make the non-believers feel "comfortable" cos believe me it won't, it will just make matters worse.
Anyway that's my 2 (or 3 or more) sense.
pmxjnt - the depressing exhaustion that comes upon you in the evening when the joint has lost its effect
I agree totally Andy,
I've been thinking lately what a difference their is between modern christian culture and the 'them and us' thing and Jesus' ministry where he was so inclusive of outsiders (see gospel of Luke) its a striking contrast to how we live and interact today I think.