A Note from a Friend Part 3...
(ok this is the last part of my friends note to me.)

Culture vs. Christianity.
I now live in a place that is remarkably liberal. There is the assumption that G.W. is a lying asshole and should not be another minute as the leader. Homosexuality is common and generally accepted and embraced as a valid lifestyle. Vegetarianism and organic whole foods are not dirty words, but rather encouraged as healthy proper lifestyles. You get my point, and while these things are excepted and very visible in the culture, it is opposite in the ‘faith community’ here. You would think that there would be an abundance of places like ‘The Village’ church in Ohio or Solomon’s porch, but what has happened is that the church has created something of an extreme counter culture. On the streets and in the cities, people seem to reflect and create the culture that is the Pacific Northwest, but in the church community there are very strict conservative mindset. I do not understand. Especially since the church here is so focused on missions. It is the creed of churches out here; just about everyone I’ve met close to my age involved in the church is somehow involved in missions and traveling. I cannot reconcile how we can be so counterculture here, but so willing to accept the culture of a foreign place.
So I guess my next questions are these; how do I get involved in the community, but also the church? How do I be all things to all people while still being one person?
Not that I expect anyone to have the answers to any of these questions. I am just looking for some intelligent, open conversation on these topics. And I think I needed to write some of these things down for my own sake.



posted by riddle at 6:00 AM | |