Life in the iCulture

Today when we left the Adam’s Mark hotel, there was a man standing on the streetcorner, handing out little tracts for the Twelve Tribes cult.

All week we’d been warned to watch out for these people… These brainwashed cult members. And, sure enough, they were a little on the wierd side.

But if you know me, you’ll know that I’m never just going to take someone’s word for something. I’m going to check it out for myself. One of the papers they were handing out was called “iCulture”, a paper about how our culture is increasingly becoming more and more obsessed with ourselves.

The funny thing is that while what they’re selling is a little on the weird side, their sales pitch hit on an important point: Every person in our modern world has become obsessed with themselves. I think we all see it and we all have developed a love – hate relationship with it, which explains our fascination with people like the Twelve Tribes: Hippies living out in the woods in their little communes surrounded by peace and love.

But at the same time it seems strangely hellish: Life seperate from the iCulture means life seperate from being challenged spiritually. Life outside the iCulture is just running away from the problem.

I think people like the Twelve Tribes are ultimately asking the right question but giving the wrong answer. The iCulture is something that needs to be challenged. We, as a culture, need to stop trying to seperate ourselves from those around us and start trying to love each other. We have to do that within the context of society. Within the iCulture, we need to challenge that iCulture.

The iCulture has special meaning in an emerging context. Brian McLaren talks about how the modern church has become very self – focused; everyone is focused on their own salvation rather than on being mission – focused. I think realistically the modern church has become more of a problem than a solution: they continue to preach a gospel that is focused entirely on believing the right things theologically rather than on living the right way. And when it comes down to it, the best way to challenge the iCulture is not to focus inwardly – that’s how we got here. It’s to focus outwardly – to focus on living Christlike lives and on showing Christ to the world, instead of focusing inwardly and on ourselves.

Ultimately, that’s what the evangelicals preach, but it’s not how they live. Emerging Christians need to make this a point.