Should it matter if the Christian faith isn’t ‘cool’?

Cultural narratives can influence how one’s Christian faith is perceived. Sometimes, they even speak of love, peace, mercy, and justice with more exciting appeal than Christian faith.

A classic example in the history of cultural thought was when the late John Lennon went on tour, singing, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” He also personally funded signs in 10 major cities around the world that read, “War is over! If you want it.” At the time, these appeals captured the imagination of people everywhere. Many noteworthy causes have entered cultural consciousness while influencing people to “imagine there’s no Heaven … and no religion too.”

Public intellectuals have also been effective at glorifying humanism, and thereby encouraging an identity with the so-called “brights.” Altogether, in today’s world, a believer is constantly challenged in overt and subtle ways to overcome a cultural perception that Christian faith lacks a “cool factor.” Although this cannot be ignored, I believe it shouldn’t cause Christians to negotiate their beliefs in order to improve their image.

What is a perception of being cool? It’s about something or someone commanding attention, admiration, and acceptance. It’s also about being perceived as contemporary and progressive. Human beings are sensitive to their image, and everyone appreciates positive attention. Contrary to the children’s teaching that “names will never hurt me,” everyone quickly learns that names do hurt. So being labeled as irrelevant, regressive, or fundamentalist can influence a Christian to negotiate beliefs in order to gain a perception of admiration in society.

There is one incontrovertible fact that the sooner it’s realized the better for Christians: the world will never, ever, perceive the Gospel as cool. By definition, Christian faith cannot be admired by the world, because it “convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8-9). We shouldn’t marvel that cultural thought consistently ridicules Christian faith. After all, it’s a pain point to be reminded of one’s sins. Even so, Jesus knew that following Him would entail perennial undermining from the world. “If you were of the world,” He said, “the world would love you as its own ... but I chose you out of the world” (John 15:19). So if we truly possess “the Spirit” that “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16), then we should preoccupy ourselves with exploring the depths of what that means.

When celebrities appeal to a societal cause, their star power projects an optical “cool factor” that draws people to identify. The Christian voice often engages the conversation, but by default, it’s not deemed as exciting. So whenever you have a panel discussion on a societal matter with a celebrity, a professor, and a Christian leader, guess whose view is boring? The Christian perspective is stigmatized by a lack of forward thinking. So cultural thought will always favor what contradicts Christianity. I cannot stress enough that the local church must teach believers to think and learn how to engage intelligently with these cultural realities.

We are in a battle for the Gospel to go forward and address comprehensively the needs of humanity. There is much to be confident about in this calling. Intellectually, the Christian faith has survived centuries of scathing criticisms. Philosophically, it has competed and engaged well with the myriad ideas throughout history. Scientifically, Christian faith continues to provide a solid worldview of reality. Altogether, the Gospel remains steadfast in its promises of grace, forgiveness, and an unmistakable experience of personal redemption. Every Christian should be encouraged to grow in the knowledge of these realities.

It begins with a profound inner conviction that the Gospel is indispensable. Jesus taught that it’s paramount to grasp the inestimable value of what we possess in the Gospel. He spoke in a parable that the Kingdom of God is like a jewelry dealer who comes across the find of a lifetime, and then the other inventory becomes incomparable (Matt. 13:45f). Knowing the spiritual wealth of Christian faith is not merely a mystical notion, but a source of strength and wisdom in the very real battle of spiritual warfare.

In culture, the bias against Christian faith is beyond our control. However, our relationships with unbelieving friends, colleagues, and neighbors can garner respect as we become “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19). We should never project a “know-it-all” attitude. As just noted, it’s biblical to listen more and speak less. Proper tone and politeness in conversation are what will leverage the credibility of our Christian faith among our individual communities.

Being deemed as not cool by cultural thought should never offend us, because makers of culture haven’t experienced or known “the truth in Jesus” (Eph. 4:21). So, as John Wesley said, “I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world, than stand with the world and be judged by God.” When we accepted Christ, we also signed up to be counter-cultural. So let’s be confident as we follow the One who said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Now that’s really cool!