Conspicuous Christianity

I found myself the other day referring to C.S. Lewis as "aggressively Christian". I've been thinking about that, and I don't think the phrase was correct. He wasn't a particularly aggressive Christian--in that "aggressive" has pejorative connotations--but he was definitely a conspicuous Christian. And I don't mean he had a fish on the bumper of his car. (Come to think of it, I don't know that he even owned a car.) Is conspicuous Christianity desirable?

This brings up two kinds of conspicuous Christians: the bumper-fish kind, and the do-all-things kind. They are usually, though not always, mutually exclusive.

The Bumper-Fish conspicuous Christian has, as you might guess, a "Jesus fish" on the bumper of their car. Their radio at work (which they have been asked to turn down) is tuned to the local Christian radio station. Probably not the one with sermons on it-- the one with cheap evangelical knockoffs of the secular music that was popular five years ago. They end their emails, under their signature, with quotes like "Let go and Let God". Even their work emails. They regularly write inarticulate but outraged letters to networks and congressmen, can be counted on to give a flustered statement to the local news, and they wear buttons at Christmas that say "Jesus is the Reason for the Season."

Am I a snide jerk, that I think this kind of conspicuous Christianity is sometimes undesirable? I hope not; I don't wish to make anyone act against their convictions. Rather, I want to challenge people who think that a fish on the bumper is sufficient witness to examine the rest of their conduct.

For instance: it's cliche, but if you have a fish on the bumper you'd best not break any traffic rules and be polite to a fault in parking lots. If you're going to play Christian music at your desk, you'd better be extra careful that your radio doesn't annoy anyone. (And no, your boss asking you to turn it down ISN'T persecution. He's your boss. He gets to decide what you can have on your desk and how loud it is--he's paying you to sit at the desk. It's really his desk.) If you're going to sign your emails with a Christian quote, 1) be sure they're not representing someone else, like the company you work for, as Christian and 2) make sure it's a good quote. "Let go and Let God" is so cute and so elderly that it registers with about the potency of "We'll leave the light on for you."

Which leads me to the Do-All-Things (as in, For the Glory of God) folks, of which I think Lewis was one. These people do not go out of their way to partake of alternative Christian culture, though they don't avoid it either. They read secular books, watch secular movies, and work in secular jobs, but they bring with them a clearly Christian mindset. Thus, for instance, they are not tricked into thinking adultery is all right by the brilliance of the writing in Out of Africa, and they can even trace the personal havoc it wreaks. As well, they don't go out of their way to label their things "CHRISTIAN" at work, but when asked to give an opinion on which worldviews differ, they'll quietly give a Christian opinion. Some of them may have fish on their bumpers; but I think most find that if you truly attempt to take every action from a Christian perspective, your oddity becomes apparent without any identifiers on your car. ("But...why aren't you moving in together with your fiancee? But...if you just didn't mention it, no one would know! But...everyone pads their time sheet. But... I know the bartender and I could get you in. But...but...")

You see why the Bumper-fish folks are so much more common? It's much easier to identify ourselves with branding than it is with behavior--whether the brand is the WWJD bracelet or the Hannah Montana sweatshirt--and we're much more comfortable simply displaying something than we are taking a difficult action.

The Church is not a brand. When we treat it like one, we are treading very close to sacrilege.

Something to think about, eh?

Cheers,

Breanna