Are You A Christian Hipster?

FROM TROYHAMBY.COM

I got this from mondaymorninginsight.com. I think I scored about a 70% that I am a Christian hipster.

Are you a ‘Christian Hipster’? Do you consider yourself a ‘cool’ Christian? See if you qualify…

Do you like?

Christian hipsters like music, movies, and books that are well-respected by their respective artistic communities—Christian or not.

They love books like Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas and Will Willimon, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider, God’s Politics by Jim Wallis, and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis.

They tend to be fans of any number of the following authors: Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, Wendell Berry, Thomas Merton, John Howard Yoder, Walter Brueggemann, N.T. Wright, Brennan Manning, Eugene Peterson, Anne Lamott, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Henri Nouwen, Soren Kierkegaard, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Annie Dillard, Marilynne Robison, Chuck Klosterman, David Sedaris, or anything ancient and/or philosophically important.

Christian hipsters love thinking and acting Catholic, even if they are thoroughly Protestant. They love the Pope, liturgy, incense, lectio divina, Lent, and timeless phrases like “Thanks be to God” or “Peace of Christ be with you.”

They enjoy Eastern Orthodox churches and mysterious iconography, and they love the elaborate cathedrals of Europe (even if they are too museum-like for hipster tastes).

Christian hipsters also love taking communion with real Port, and they don’t mind common cups.

They love poetry readings, worshipping with candles, and smoking pipes while talking about God. Some of them like smoking a lot of different things.

Christian hipsters love breaking the taboos that used to be taboo for Christians. They love piercings, dressing a little goth, getting lots of tattoos (the Christian Tattoo Association now lists more than 100 member shops), carrying flasks and smoking cloves.

A lot of them love skateboarding and surfing, and many of them play in bands.

They tend to get jobs working for churches, parachurch organizations, non-profits, or the government.

They are, on the whole, a little more sincere and idealistic than their secular hipster counterparts.

Do you dislike?

megachurches

altar calls

door-to-door evangelism.

They don’t really like John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart or youth pastors who talk too much about Braveheart.

In general, they tend not to like Mel Gibson and have come to really dislike The Passion for being overly bloody and maybe a little sadistic.

They don’t like people like Pat Robertson, who on The 700 Club famously said that America should “take Hugo Chavez out”; and they don’t particularly like The 700 Club either, except to make fun of it.

They don’t like evangelical leaders who get too involved in politics, such as James Dobson or Jerry Falwell, who once said of terrorists that America should “blow them all away in the name of the Lord.”

They don’t like TBN, PAX, or Joel Osteen. They do have a wry fondness for Benny Hinn, however.

Christian hipsters tend not to like contemporary Christian music (CCM), or Christian films (except ironically), or any non-book item sold at Family Christian Stores.

They hate warehouse churches or churches with American flags on stage, or churches with any flag on stage, really.

They prefer “Christ follower” to “Christian” and can’t stand the phrases “soul winning” or “non-denominational,” and they could do without weird and awkward evangelistic methods including (but not limited to): sock puppets, ventriloquism, mimes, sign language, “beach evangelism,” and modern dance.

Surprisingly, they don’t really have that big of a problem with old school evangelists like Billy Graham and Billy Sunday and kind of love the really wild ones like Aimee Semple McPherson.

Lutheran

FROM THE BLOG OF M.D. MCMULLIN

Talking to my friend Cameron via email today.

Me: Why is this guy so negative?

Friend: He’s a Lutheran… he gets all the guilt of Catholicism without the 3^rd party absolution. (rim shot)

This reminded me of a class I took at seminary where the local Lutheran pastor came in to speak to us.  Trying to appeal to us “low church” folks, he said the Lutheran liturgy was “streamlined”.  They didn’t have all of the “trappings” of Roman Catholic or Episcopal mass.  He quickly realized that much of what we all valued from liturgical churches, had pretty much been removed from his church in an effort to appeal to a broader base.   He tried to save himself by saying, “well…sometimes we still do that stuff.”

It was too late.

If you’re Lutheran, don’t get mad at me.  My church (small “c”) has its own problems.

I Like Jesus…and Bourbon.

FROM ROBALDERMAN.NET

“I Like Jesus…and Bourbon.”

For a long time now, my tag on the interwebs has read, “I like Jesus…and Bourbon.”

The phrase dates back to the beginning of Troubletown records and a conversation that I had with my friend and business partner at the time, Casey Tuggle.

While I don’t remember every detail of the conversation, I do remember the essence. We were talking about the things that made Troubletown unique, and the biggest thing was that our artists lived in that odd crossroads where faith and culture collide. Not just any culture, but a sort of, not-quite-ancient America. (Dustbowl, not Founding Fathers)

I pointed out that yes, I am a Christian, and yes, I do love a glass of fine alcohol from time to time. (Note: I’m not pro-drunkenness, which I shouldn’t even feel the need to say, except that I don’t feel like dealing with the angry emails should I forget to mention it.)

More than anything, the statement is simply true, which is to say that, yes, I do in fact love Jesus AND Bourbon.

As Fall gets into full swing, I find my love of both seem to intensify, and I revel in spending time reading my Bible and when I can, sipping a fine Bourbon.

I remember the fall that Davis and I, in a fit of superb manliness decided to become “Bourbon Men”. Looking back, it is interesting the little paths we take in life. I suppose we could have decided on anything that night…to drink Scotch perhaps, or maybe Irish Whiskey. We could have, I suppose, even chosen something entirely different, like playing horseshoes or backgammon.

We drove to Chattanooga and purchased our first bottle of bourbon, which was Elijah Craig. I remember that we chose it for the look of the bottle and not because we knew one darned thing about drinking bourbon. We sat on the farm that night and forced ourselves to drink it, as it burned our tongues and ripped into our throats like razor blades. It wasn’t until much later that we learned some bourbons are meant to be cut with water. (Note: Elijah Craig and Water is FANTASTIC)

Since that beautiful Fall night, there has always been something special about purchasing my first bottle of fine Kentucky Bourbon each season. I never really know what it will be. Last year it was Woodford Reserve, and the year before that was, if memory serves, a limited edition bottle of Makers Mark.

Well, last evening, I bought my bottle for this Fall, and it was really fantastic. It’s called Buffalo Trace, and I heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys an excellent whiskey.

It had brilliant caramel overtones and a musky-leather taste that was great straight, as well as when I mixed it with a bit of ginger ale. It was very smooth with the just the slightest bit of burn. It felt like the perfect companion for chilly Fall evenings.

Jesus, by the way, is also a great companion for Fall evenings. He is smooth…but without the burn.