Modern Day Menonites

Did you know they sell (or used to sell) Christian breath mints at Christian Bookstores. I don’t know about you, but this is a great relief to me. I’ve always had this sneaky suspicion that those “secular” mints have something in them that make me sin more. And besides, imagine being in a crowd and busting out your Christian mints, I’m sure the whole crowd would accept Christ right there on the spot!
When I take a close look at culture, it seems to me that as Christians we spend too much time trying to copy culture and too little time trying to influence it. Think about it, we have Christian clothes (take your pick), Christian dating services (Equally Yoked), Christian awards programs (Dove Awards) amongst others. Now, I don’t have a problem with any of these, I think all of these have value (except maybe the Dove awards. I mean can you imagine back in the day, “And the winner for best song of the year is…….Psalm 37” and “The song writer of the year is ………King David.”). The real danger of this Christian subculture is when it extends to our activities. We're at the point where not only can we wear and hear everything Christian, but we can now “do” everything Christian. It is possible, especially for teenagers and those of us who work for Christian ministries, to have little or no interaction with the world. Our kids go to church on Sunday, Christian school on Monday through Friday, and Six Flags (Christian music weekend of course) on Saturdays. For all practical purposes, we have turned into modern day Mennonites. (You know, the guys who wear funny clothes and drive horse drawn carriages).
I know what I have described is real, because it’s my family. I work for a Christian organization and my wife works for the Christian school my son attends. I can remember our pastor asking us to make a list of all the people we knew who did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I did not have a single person that lived within 100 miles on my list! It’s pretty hard to be salt and light to a world that we don’t interact with. Many people who put their kids in Christian schools have them there to keep them away from the world. My big fear about having my son in a Christian school is that it will do just the opposite. That he will become so comfortable in this Christian subculture that we have created and that he will lose his burden for the world. It’s pretty hard to be salt and light to a world you don’t interact with.
So here’s my question. When was the last time you had a “God conversation” with someone far from God? Been awhile? Maybe you should do something about that and start building some relationships with some lost people.