2008-10-27 20:13:02

REBRANDING FAITH: Christians are _______.

Filed under: Books,Faith,Justice,Politics
Posted by: Craig

I’m currently teaching a class on Theology and Pop Culture at Fuller Seminary. We’re reading my first book, A Matrix of Meanings, which I wrote with Barry Taylor. Before we study movies, music and TV, Barry and I cover the pervasive nature of advertising and the triumph of celebrity culture in the marketplace. So as my class reflected upon the power of advertising, I challenged them to ‘rebrand Christianity.’ Some resisted the idea of packaging faith. They wonder if a book like Branding Faith by Phil Cooke reduced Jesus to a commodity. Surely, nobody wants to see more Jesus Junk sold at Christian bookstores.  But that’s not what Cooke’s book or the assignment was all about. The question remains, “What is the story we are living and telling?”

We must recognize that we’ve sent extremely conflicting signals to people about who we are and what we value.   We have plenty of signs that brand us as a people—from the cross of Christ to the ubiquitous fish symbol.   Jesus offered us bread and wine as a tangible reminder of his sacrificial life.   Unfortunately, Christians have come to define themselves by what they’re against rather than how or what they are for.      We have adopted an attitude of correcting and perfecting others rather than ourselves.   According to the survey results found in the important book, UnChristian, Jesus’ followers are perceived as judgmental, hypocritical, anti-homosexual and too political.  So how do we dig out of this hole of our own creation?

The students who expressed the most disdain for the assignment took to the streets in an effort to get past it. They asked people in Pasadena to complete the sentence, “Christians are…” By allowing others to have a say, they gave power to the people. While they still came up with a new “fill in the blank” slogan, their efforts came closest to approximating what many expressed—the need for “authentic faith.” Too often, we’re left to define ourselves as “not that kind of loveless, judgmental, gay-bashing Christian.” So when others shout, “God hates fags,” we respond by saying “I’m sorry.” While absolutely appropriate, I wonder, “Is that sufficient?” How can we present a proactive Christianity that blesses (rather than curses) the world? Dressing our faith up as a more impressive or authentic object will not suffice. So how do we get to the other side, actually putting our loving faith into practice? 

One key way is listening. Imagine giving people an opportunity to talk about how they’ve been hurt, damaged, or confused by Christians. We could encourage our colleagues to recount their painful experiences of God’s people. So perhaps the first way out of the mess is to let people vent. Listen to our friends’ complaints, critiques, and very valid fears. And perhaps, we will both discover our proximity to each other–how much we have in common. We’ve all been disappointed and injured by Christians.  We all have questions about the Bible. We all long for a place to belong. Some chose to stay involved in the Christian community as a means of finding God. But we understand why the Christian community was often a toxic place for others.

Perhaps those outside the walls of the church are essential to deepening the faith of those choosing to remain within the Christian community.   Hopefully, we can become a gift to each other, a source of mutual benefit.   Lord knows, we all need a shoulder to cry on in times like this.   Whether those tears arise from anger, frustration and resentment or reflection, repentance, and defeat, we desperately need each other in order to move on.   Some of us need an apology.  Others of us need to apologize. But none of us can truly experience transformation until we’ve faced our deepest fears and regrets.

Perhaps we will discover that the enormous gap we’ve created can collapse in a moment of simple, human solidarity. That’s the kind of website and campaign I’m eager to join. Surely out of our common need arises the possibility of a divine encounter. So fill in the blank: Christians are _____ ?

Comments (0)

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website