When Cool Gets in the Way of Obedience: Part 1

Note: I would try to be as coherent as possible since I have been usually writing over at 750Words. I have been accustomed for a few days to writing my thoughts as I go along. Pardon me.

This is something I have observed mostly in other people, and also in myself. The following are some observations. Would it be judgmental of me to mention other people? It would be improper for me to point what God prescribes, right? Those two things are not cool. Not cool at all.

It is not something new in this present generation. I must not aggravate the indictment to my own generation, for this seems to be a perennial problem of the human heart: the struggle to joyfully serve God, or slavishly serve one's own appetites. Nothing special about the problem. It's just that we have a much more glaring and obvious view of the situation with the massive use of social networking and social media.

Some people would rather be cool than obedient. Not that the two things are polar opposites, but well it is. Obedience is not cool. It's interesting that the word "cool" was once associated as an attitude nurtured among social and political rebels, whose open rebellion was mixed with detachment. Rebellious detachment, that's cool. Then again, the state of rebellion against God is deeply embedded in the human heart. The account of Genesis 3 and 6 show us that it has become the taint in the once-innocent human nature. It is what defines our world today. No matter what statistics say regarding the religious atmosphere of the world, whether Christian or no, whether fervent or cold, in our inmost beings we are rebels against God. No nation is truly a "Christian" nation.

While some people are more prone to open rebellion and its manifestation than others, this does not negate the fact that it is the most basic human problem. It is the universal, basic human problem. For this reason Christ became obedient to the point of death. Indeed, even death on a cross, to atone for sinners who would repent and believe in Him. The most basic human problem is met with the only satisfying, divine solution, for there is no other way we can ever be saved.

A digression-- I am in deep consideration of deleting all my social networking accounts. I am keen in keeping my Facebook, after cleaning my contacts list. Having an account has nearly become a requirement with all the contacts I made with people I never see regularly. Also, most of the ministry work I'm involved with rely on Facebook groups for communication. Twitter, on the other hand, has to go. I liked it when I started using it. I had the perverse joy of being profound in 140 characters or less. It was cool. I tried to sound smart almost all the time. Little did I know that it was affecting how I think, of what I was teaching myself: I would rather be cool. A cool, Internet Christian.

777 Tweets before leaving? How cool is that?! #missingmyownpoint

To connect my digression to the observation, Twitter had a depressing effect on me. Reading the feeds subtly had myself compare myself to others. Either I think am better than others, or that I am worse than my contemporaries with the accompanying question: "What am I doing with my life?" No one wins against the sinful heart, you know.

I began to think in more fragmented ways. 140 characters is not enough to flesh out a thought. If I ever did, I credited it to my overall coolness and smarts. Yikes.

I beg my pardon to any Twitter contact or user who reads this. Do take it in a general and sweeping manner. I am not talking about you specifically, unless, you feel that you fit some of the descriptions. This is a personal observation and commitment. I am not against Twitter. Yet I deem it better not to have an account. It does not make me cool not having an account, yet the same goes for having one. I like reading, and feel a compulsion to read through the feeds, FB or Twitter, even if I know I am going to read some things I'd rather not know. The compulsion, however, is not beneficial. So, goodbye Twitter. Except for the humorous and sensible sentiments (which I can find in real real life), time is better spent elsewhere. #Quitting

Even without the use of social media, I have found myself in the position of constantly trying to decide whether to do something that looks cool or do what is right. What is right is usually not a cool thing nowadays. Standing for one's convictions however unpopular is, well, unpopular. But obedience is God's prescription, not only because He says so, however sufficient reason that is in itself, but it is for good. It is for our own good. Biblical prescriptions, of moral principles and of skillful living (which is what wisdom means anyway) and many others, are geared for our own good and God's glory and pleasure. It is a golden truth: that all things work together for good to those who love God; those circumstances which are out of our control and most commonly disregarded, even our own obedience to Him in every single day. Our obedience to Him in daily living is almost never the sensational or novel way we want it to be. Daily following Him and taking Him at His Word is most definitely for our good, no matter how you feel about it.

My definition of cool might differ with others. It's a word that I believe has lost its meaning. Anybody can use it to mean anything. It can be a quality, and also be expressed in quantity. (I think my facial hair constitutes to either plus 20% or minus 20% cool depending on who's being asked.) Best use I found is mentioning it thrice in quick succession, "cool, cool, cool", by Community's Abed. It is an aesthetic: how one projects him- or herself. Cool has become the opposite of old-fashioned.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to obey God with all the novel and varied notions of cool. I think that many believers, mostly the younger ones, have this notion of living in a cool way of being a christian. Christianity should not boring; it should be cool. It should not bring us down; it should help us be... cool. Or "radical", or "counter-cultural", or "missional". Even, relevant. Being radical, counter-cultural, missional, even relevant are good things...if we know what they mean. Most of the time their meaning has been swept under the rug in exchange for a cool aesthetic. Form has trumped substance. We'd rather have our labels than live the actual Christian life. Take it from me, I have been there. I am still battling with it to this very day.

Some go for disturbingly fantastical ways of self-promotion, being more occupied with clothing, with social standing, with personal interests. For the "spiritual" kind of cool, there's this venomous problem of picking and siding with our favorite pastor-teachers (see 1 Corinthians 1). All in all, this fixation for coolness is merely proving its usual and secular meaning: rebellious detachment.  The ordinary aesthetics of the Christian life in the Bible is not deemed cool by today's standards. However one desires to live out Acts 2:42-47, one will come to the conclusion that it fizzles compared to how Christianity is projected and marketed these days.

The early church was a very hinged people: they were connected to one another, not by social media, but by actual, intimate and regular fellowship in their local gatherings. Our present dilemma is that most Christians are detached from this beautiful and seemingly ordinary provision of God. It is not only a detachment from God Himself, that alone being an infinite crime; but we detach ourselves of the reality and beauty of belonging and being in fellowship with the body of Christ, the church. There is a strong delusion for everyone to adhere to the sort-of lone-wolf Christian lifestyle. I once was like that, I'd rather perform my Christianity by myself, not needing anyone but God alone. Amazing as that may sound, it is deplorable to think that God only saved me for me. Being this lone-wolf directs us to be self-sufficient: being a Bible scholar, being a secret prayer warrior extraordinaire, all without the application of what these means of grace are for: service within the Body (1 Cor. 12-14). The independent lone-wolf aesthetic is cool, but it is not obedience. It neglects the fact that God provides salvation to acquire a people, a family, not detached individuals who think they do not need anyone, even the church. You know, the church for which Christ died and is currently sanctifying (Eph. 5:25-33).

Wishful Praying

I have heard countless “prayers” uttered casually. By casual, I mean that these “prayers” sound like wishful thinking. “Lord, ganito/ganyan sana…” It has come to a point that I thought that Christians use such statements as mere expressions that don’t actually mean anything. They use it in conversation to prove a point or elaborate some emotion that will incite more impact than actually saying how they feel. It denotes, as I’ve observed, some feeling of dejection at why the universe is not conspiring to deliver a desired result. If other sorts of people have their expressions, we seem to have Christian-sounding ones. It looks like prayer, but then again it’s not. But then again, it might actually be a prayer. People say them to mean what the words mean, that they want God to do something for them, but it does not sound like the prayer that we see in the Bible.

Now, what is prayer? Prayer is such a basic reality in any religion, not just Christianity, and people know what it is for. It is the means of communication to God. However, the difference lies in how we pray. How should a Christian pray? The main concern with the wishful thinking prayer is that it is not Christian. I might be a little harsh with the judgment but I believe it is spot on. Christian prayers differ since Christians believe that they are praying to the only true and living God. It is not merely the manner of praying that is at stake. Real Christian prayer realizes who God is, not only what He can do.

The heart of wishful thinking is getting something for the sake of getting and having. Wishful thinking prayers focus only on what God can do and should do since He can do it. Here’s another problem: just because God can, does not mean God should and God will. It is as if God is big vending machine with all the things we want and think we need. We just need to insert the right amount of coins, or reasons, and *poof*! We get what we asked for. “Ask and you shall receive”, right? However, God is not a machine. God is a Person. You know that, Christian. God is a Person, and He is the only Free and Sovereign Person. That means that He acts in accordance to His will, not on anyone’s whim. It is true, that we are to ask. Why? For He alone can give, and the fact is that we really don’t have anything. We ask in humility, not in haste, not in irreverent insistence. Most of the times, we don't have since we ask for wrong motives for misguided pleasures (James 4:3)

This kind of irreverent “praying” might be a joke or a mere expression to some, but it incriminates those who use them. It displays how they view God. The frequency of such wishful praying betrays how these people really think of God. What’s alarming here is that this is all too common among the youth. Either I hear of it in person or I see it in my social media feeds. It is that common. It is as if expressions like these are acceptable Christian practice. Now, this is not to be dogmatic or legalistic or old-fashioned, but there is a reverence for God that is totally absent in this practice. I hear these mostly outside the church, but reverence for God and His name is not only delegated in the confines of a church building. There is no reason why outside of it God’s name can be casually mentioned along a conversation, or used as a mere expression to suit one’s needs. Prayer is not a technique or a combination of “God + my concerns”. Prayer is a submission. It is to mirror this: “not my will, but Your will be done.”

Good Vibes

This post is about the recent vocabulary fascination: "good vibes". Its opposite, "bad vibes", is also prominently used. If I am using this term right, this post will be filled with bad vibes.

I must admit that during my early drafts I tried to abandon the post altogether since I can let this go. It's just a fad, right? Then I received a text from a close friend saying that their fellowship will be doing a series entitled: "Good Vibes". His reaction: "Where in the Bible will he get the exposition?!!?"

Where indeed...

I sense that this fascination is not only vocabulary. It is a manifestation of a bigger issue. This is primarily connected with the misguided pursuit of happiness by means of feeling good. It is as if feeling good is the greatest achievement of everyday or life itself. A subtle redefinition is at stake: the idea of good mean "good vibes", entertainment, lighthearted feelings, while the idea of evil has become "bad vibes", affliction, suffering, and the like. What feels good is Good, what bores or hurts is Evil. Feeling is elevated as the measure of a life pursuit. It is experience that determines truth.

To be sure, nothing's wrong about having a good day. We want a comfortable day wherever we are and whatever we might be doing. However, feeling good displaces achievement or success or truth. Success turns bitter if there are no "good vibes" along with it. That is just my observation. Since I don't understand much, my reflections are in form of questions:

What if the day is more "bad vibes" rather than good? Does it ruin your day completely? More importantly, does it ruin your Christianity? Is your Christianity directly dependent upon the vibes of the day?

Is "good vibes" a religious good feeling? Does it define a Christian? Is the Christian life all "good vibes"? If it's not will you leave?

If good vibes go against the Bible, which will you drop? If your pastor or your church does not provide good vibes, will you leave?

This term has unhealthy repercussions all over it. Is it a symptom of greater sickness? I think it is. It is telling of a more dire condition: God is not enough. If God is enough, good or bad vibes will not alter the Christian's disposition. For the Christian, Truth should be the gauge of feelings and not the other way around. Good vibes is not a Christian commodity. You can have it outside of Christianity. If we'll rely on the senses, there is a more abundant supply of good vibes in the world than in Christianity. It could be found in doing things clearly against the Bible. Good vibes is primarily prioritizing what feels good for you no matter what.

Consider the following reponses:

1. Some will say that good vibes is just a desire/longing to experience God in a different way. What do they mean a "different way"? Is that different way outside His appointed means? The Psalm exclaims that in God's presence is "fullness of joy" and at His right hand "are pleasures forevermore." (Ps. 16:11) There is no true joy, no true good outside the presence of God.

Or,

2. But, but doesn't Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for good for those who love God?

My answer to that is to read verses 26-30. The Spirit, if He is dwelling in you, helps you as you have become a child of God. All things that you have experienced and will experience will work together for good, and that good is this: becoming Christ-like. That is what is good. That is the ultimate good.

I don't understand it completely. I don't understand why Christians are even drawn to using these terms. I am not familiar with the fad, and all I have are questions. But I share my friend's sadness over this fascination. This fascination and many like it are making their way to pulpits and church fellowships. It displaces the Word of God that, if properly preached, is sufficient for the strengthening and healthy living of His people. If this fad is any indication, it is the world's trends that are getting more air-time by young Christians than what they (should) believe in.

Told you, bad vibes.