Today we continue with more excerpts from the book, Beautiful Outlaw, by John Eldredge.
"So let's start with this point of clarity -- there is Christianity, and then there is Christian culture. They are not the same. Folks develop a taste for organ music and fog machines in the same way they develop a taste for public radio or NASCAR. Then they insist that organ music or fog machines are the way to know Jesus. From here, it just gets weird. Big hair. Reverent tones. Shouting. Robes. Funny hats. Smells and bells. Golden altars. Broadway-style services choreographed down to the second.
"And an entire language to go with it."
"Loving the culture of church is not anywhere close to the same thing as loving Jesus. The Pharisees loved their religious culture -- the long prayers, the solemn garments, the honor bestowed upon them for being members of the clergy. But they hated Jesus."
"Here's the test -- if you can't take your church culture and language and drop it in the middle of a bar or a bus, and have it make winsome sense to the people there, then it's not from Jesus. Because that is exactly what he could do. That's what made him the real deal."
"So let's start with this point of clarity -- there is Christianity, and then there is Christian culture. They are not the same. Folks develop a taste for organ music and fog machines in the same way they develop a taste for public radio or NASCAR. Then they insist that organ music or fog machines are the way to know Jesus. From here, it just gets weird. Big hair. Reverent tones. Shouting. Robes. Funny hats. Smells and bells. Golden altars. Broadway-style services choreographed down to the second.
"And an entire language to go with it."
"Loving the culture of church is not anywhere close to the same thing as loving Jesus. The Pharisees loved their religious culture -- the long prayers, the solemn garments, the honor bestowed upon them for being members of the clergy. But they hated Jesus."
"Here's the test -- if you can't take your church culture and language and drop it in the middle of a bar or a bus, and have it make winsome sense to the people there, then it's not from Jesus. Because that is exactly what he could do. That's what made him the real deal."
