Christian music is on the rise, Christian apparel is matching with the times, and the Christian faith just seems like a fun, trendy, hipster group to be a part of nowadays right? Doesn't everyone just want to be a part of it?
Every other cute and trendy person on Instagram seems to be Christian right?
Right. And that's concerning. More and more people are flocking to mega churches for that fun Sunday experience with people of similar lifestyles to them. It's attractive. It pulls you in. It makes you want to be a part of the "in crowd." It's fun and hip and exciting and moving. It makes you feel good and it makes you feel important. It's becoming worldly. Just like Coachella and Hangout are fun and attractive and part of a "lifestyle," the Christian faith is slowly falling into that category too and it's not okay.
Faith is not meant to be trendy. It's meant to be timeless. It doesn't change with the times and it doesn't form to the times. It's constant, every time. Or that's what it should be. Because in a world that changes trends consistently, we need something to remain the same. To call us beyond the world of trends. And to challenge us to stand apart from the rest.
When we try to make faith trendy and attractive to the masses, we degrade its sheer beauty and worth. We try to shove it into a box that the millennials will relate and react the most to and we begin to base faith off of its target audience - as if we need a marketing strategy to build the faith community.
Faith is not meant to be trendy. It's meant to be real, truthful, bold, and something that's set apart from the rest of the world. It's not just something fun and attractive on social media. It demands of your heart, soul, and mind to be attractive to. So much so, that your entire self and every word you speak and action you carry out is what builds the faith community our world so desperately needs.