The Fellowship of Freedom(less) Selves in Pop Christianity

I'd like to follow up on the prior post and place it in the context of pop Christian culture.

Walmart, Home Depot, and Barnes and Noble are all examples of "Big Box" retail stores. They make money by high volume sales and count on a low cost of goods sold by purchasing obscene amounts of quantities. (And if you are Walmart, there is no such thing as "overpurchase"--just send the extras back to the manufacturer and make them eat it!) This essentially means that we all buy basically the same types of pens, tvs, and deodorant.

Pop Christianity is similar to this in their various approaches to the self. They are all trying to sell you a one-sized fits all answer to who you are. This may take the form of giving you the "true" propositional truths, or the right way of thinking, the right way to feel, a certain self-image, various steps to success, or a "good" mentality. This is the commercialized version of Christianity. This is Big Box Christianity; an approach to the self that has a distinctively Walmart smell to it.

Traditionally, one saw this in the form of denominations or similar religious affiliations. There was a Baptist way of perceiving the self, or a Reformed way of viewing the self, or the Roman Catholic self, etc. But in United States, denominations have fallen upon hard times, at least in regard to their ability to maintain a grip and control on how the self is interpreted.

The new Big Box Christian interpreters of the self sell books, distribute DVD's, CD's, mp3's, and hold conferences and speaking engagements across the country. The new Big Box Christianity is centered on personalities. Hence, we pick our favorites: Joel Osteen, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, D.A. Carson, Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, Scot McKnight, J.P. Moreland, and perhaps we could even throw Oprah in the mix. This list is very diverse, in that there are representatives of very very different approaches to the self. But they all have their commonality as Walmart-style Christianity in this: they are all selling basically one version of what a Christian self is. Whether that be a Piper/Sproul/Carson/Moreland version, where the self must hold certain "truths" in their briefcase, or whether it is an Oprah approach, where propositional truth is anathema. Oprah rejects that there is one particular "truth" that one should believe; however, the true "self" is found only (and exclusively) through a form of non-identity with anything propositional or even physical: we become who we are in the now by non-identity with who we are not; we are not form/ego/ideology/role and must strive to attain a linguistically indescribable consciousness of the now.

Let's look at Joel Osteen. Joel will say, "God has great things in store for you." If you attend his massive worship service, you will be encouraged to "hold up your Bibles and say it like you mean it: This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do." The rest of the service he will then explain what the Bible says you are.

Even the so-called emerging church types are in the process of bringing a Big Box version of the self to the market place.

In my view, all of these approaches beautifully illustrate the fallacy that Paul rejected some two thousand years ago in his letter to the Corinthians:

My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." (1 Corinthians 1, NIV)

It is interesting that unlike all of the aforementioned Big Box Christian preachers and teachers, Paul rejects himself as a central figure! Rather than self-promotion, Paul has in mind self-demotion and the unity of the community:

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Paul then goes on to expound on the foolishness of the cross. The cross is humiliation and death to the type of self-promotion that occurs in today's Christian marketplace, where personalities claim to have the answer to who you are and what "self" means. All of them, of course, claiming to have the "absolute" or "Christian" or "biblical" perspective.

Even local churches in the U.S. often cultivate a superiority complex similar to that of the Big Box Christian self-promoters, vying for their niche in the spiritual marketplace by promising a we-are-better-than-the-other-guys approach. "Come to us! We will tell you who you are!" It still smells of the same mentality that went on at Corinth, only instead of "I follow Paul," we say "I am follow [fill in church affiliation]!"

Rather than claiming to hold superior convictions about the self, Paul expounds in 1 Corinthians 1 about the foolishness of the cross. What a contrast! One will likely have a hard time finding a Big Box market for a product that announces to the world that it is defective!

Perhaps a more positive vision for the self is to cultivate a fellowship of freedom, where the self is free to explore. This is not a freedom from accountability, but neither is accountability of the type that forces the self to conform to a pre-defined model of what "self" means. A fellowship of freedom is one in which members truly love one another; and where there is love there exists a kind of obligation to each other that is combined with a self-less dying to one's own interests. The cross of Christ, in this case, becomes the motivation and inspiration for moving beyond a powerless self-help mantra and into a process of personal and community transformation.

I'm not suggesting that a believer cannot find some good ideas from the Big Box Christian preacher, leaders, and thinkers. Personally, I have found some good food for thought. So, please, by all means, keep buying the latest paperback. Really! I mean it!

What I am suggesting, however, is that the "I follow Rob Bell/Sproul/Piper/Osteen/[insert your church name]" type of mentality is harmful. Friends, it is time for bold leaders to step forward and create fellowships of freedom. Not static "movements" or "institutions," but dynamic and authentic contexts that cultivate the self and set it free to understand faith; freedom to understand what it means to take up your cross daily.