While listening to The Church of Laslo on 96.5 The Buzz, I heard an interview with the author of the blog Stuff Christian Culture Likes. The author is a former preacher's kid, who just like me, grew up thoroughly immersed in evangelical subculture and who also like me, has found much of that subculture coming up short of the Jesus' teachings. The observations are dead-on and hilarious. But what I love about the blog is that the humor is mean to call evangelical Christians to a higher standard. To stop trying to be cool, to leave behind pretense and posturing, to quit chasing relevancy and success, to stop ignoring inconsistencies and to live a more authentic life.
A powerful example is Purity Balls. She's not blasting them she admits they're not a bad idea but she calls out dads who will get all dressed up to take their daughter to the purity ball but won't put forth the effort it takes for an honest and day-to-day relationship. The author challenges Christian dads to focus more on having an open, honest and consistent relationship with their daughters than settling for a high-emotion event in which a black-and-white line is drawn.
Of course, the author also struggles with something I also strugle with, the temptation to yield to cynicism. So much of Christian subculture leaves me cynical. But the point isn't Christian subculture or even Christianity in general, the point is Jesus.
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