A viscous circle

And yes, I do mean sticky. But I guess it's not so much a circle, as maybe a downward spiral. What I'm talking about is pietism as an entertainment culture. Many pixels have been illuminated over the idea that individualism is a/the bane of human existence. Agreed. Further, one very particular activity that people undertake exacerbates the problem.

I've heard it said a number of times: It's just me and Jesus. Or sung many times: It's just you and me here now, Lord (or some variation). This type of attitude is a direct descendant of pietism, that thing that started out of camp meetings and encouraged folks in their personal relationship with Jesus. (Admission: this is a strong response; maybe like using a blowtorch to light farts. And it's probably going to burn my off.) A very strong aspect of pietism is the Modernist myth of continual progress. So I do my devotions, I get more holy, and naturally sin goes bye-bye. So now it's personal holiness; all that matters is Jesus and how he's making me holy. It feeds individualism.

Now if you're stuck inside your own head, and your main goal is progress of some sort, it starts to look a lot like entertainment. So while our secular culture is looking for the next awesome cinematographic experience, and amazing blood-splattering graphics on their video games, the Christians are looking for the next spiritual high. Retreats. Devotionals. Guest speakers. Lights. Flat screens. Smoke. Loud music. Entertain me! I'm not sure if I would have sat at a camp meeting and predicted our individualistic entertainment culture. (Okay I wouldn't have.) But it seems like all the curses of said American dream culture were brought on ourselves within religious practice 150 years ago. Maybe the whole thing doesn't need to be chucked. But most of it does.

Back to community. Holiness as the body of Christ, not as individual bodies within the "body" of Christ. (Dan Merchant's "Lord, Save Us from Your Followers" shows a brilliant metaphor for this "body." Just watch it.) Accountability in the communal setting where we are lovingly intolerant of that which perverts the image of God. This involves individual spiritual disciplines, obviously. But it involves much more engagement with God's image around us.