The Christian Ghetto

Several years ago Elvis Presley sang a song that seemed a bit out of his normal style at the time. The song was entitled “In the Ghetto.” The song chronicled the story of a young woman living in an inner city Ghetto, having a child, only to see that child grow up and die as a result of living in an environment that views the outside world as the enemy or totally irrelevant to what took place in the Ghetto. In today’s vernacular they would not say Ghetto, they would say “in the hood.” (I actually know the issues are much deeper than that, but for the sake of illustration, please humor me.)

I fear that for the most part, this is where Evangelical Christianity lives. I think many Christians not only live in a Christian Ghetto, they like it there and fight all attempts to lead them out. Some may like it only because it is, quite simply, the only way they know. After all isn’t this the way Christians should live? Are we not supposed to be “separate from the world?” Are we not supposed to be in the world but not of it? Are we not called to be a “peculiar people” to use the old King James language?

No. No. Yes. And you’ve got to be kidding.

Before taking a few sentences to share my view, let me share some outcomes of Christian Ghetto thinking.

First Holy Righteous Church has a youth group. The kids like it. It is fun. But the youth pastor wants to do outreach. He/She wants to reach out to kids who are not in the church, or any church. The teens think this is a great idea. Have concerts, invite in bands, and open a skate park. The parents rise up en masse to protest. We do no want our kids to be around those kids. Will these be Christian Bands? What if they lead them into sin? What is these other kids lead to smoking or other activities? The parents in reality want their kids to live in a Christian Hot House or a Christian Green House. They can grow in an artificial environment and be safe around other Christian kids but totally separate from the real world.

Faithful Bible Church would not think of listening to non-Christian music. I mean that stuff really is of the Devil. They do not want to burn records, after all that would look stupid. But their radio is always set to the Christian station . . . except when no one knows then they can occasionally “partake.”

Redeemer Church is not that radical. After all that is just plain stupid. All non-Christian music is not of the devil. Some non-Christian artists are actually very good. So they go to concerts, listen to their favorite form of music and listen to Christian music in church. After all let’s keep this separate.

I could share similar stories about politics (both the left AND the right), pastimes, hobbies, movies, reading materials, or any other number of things that really are good illustrations of living in the Christian Ghetto. The Christian Ghetto is as prolific on the Internet as pornography and almost as damaging. It is in every Christian Book Store. (Hm-m-m-m. Another Christian Ghetto symptom.)

The Christian Ghetto comes from a dualistic mindset. This mindset traces its roots back centuries to the distinction between the sacred and the profane. This mindset says that there is a real distinction between the God world and the regular sinner world. And the two should never intersect.

Now, do not read into my words that I believe “anything goes” as far as your lifestyle. I actually believe just the opposite. But the real issue is why? That will be a topic of a future blog.

The Scriptures are usually quoted in Ghetto mentality. But real exegesis is usually lacking, or it is so tainted with their Ghetto presuppositions that it has lost all integrity. Phrases like “in the world but not of the world” are often quoted – never mind it is not in even the Bible. This mentality misses the many variations in the language in the usage of the word “world.” It also creates an us/them mentality.

I believe I am called to be a missional Christian in all walks of my life. That means that in the every day living of my life I need to be in the world . . . on a lot of levels. That means I will rub shoulders with those of other viewpoints and lifestyles at every turn. Who am I to sit and take pot shots at them? Let’s see, if I am with the folks who are not Christians and I reach out to them where they are, I may look to my side and see Jesus. After all wasn’t he accused of hanging out with sinners? Didn’t He say something like when you visit those who are in prison (physical or spiritual) you have visited me?

I know full well the outcome of a post like this. I have been attacked on Christian talk radio for my views before. It will happen again. Probably very soon. My worst attacks, when I talk like this, come from my so called Christian brothers and sisters. There are some who will read this and begin to post all the logical misgivings to my comments on their own web page. They have the holy calling of pointing out other peoples errors. They can show you 23 reasons why what you say is not Biblical and not Reformed or not Christ honoring, or any number of other descriptors. But that in itself is a symptom of living in the Christian Ghetto.

(I must confess, as I will detail in a future post, I am a recovering legalist. And to this day legalism is a stench in my nostrils.)

I would surely hate to stand before my Lord and have to tell him “Well, Lord I really did not impact my community in a positive manner. But I pointed out the evils I saw in it with great regularity. And I was really good at pointing out other Christians errors to them too.”

“Really?”

Frown.