Wednesday, October 19, 2005

The Christian Ghetto

One of the worst ways we American Evangelicals have missed the stimulating message of Jesus is the creation of the Christian ghetto. We have developed our own subculture, complete with dress codes, artistic expressions, appropriate (and maybe more importantly, inappropriate) etiquette, political processes, educational institutions and more. For Evangelicals, the only legitimate reason one might venture outside the ghetto is evangelism. Outside the ghetto is too dangerous for us weak-moraled Christians and our children, unless you're going out to "save the lost."

Are there things in the world at large, outside the ghetto, that are valuable to God for reasons other than evangelism? Can those who follow Jesus be friends with those who don't, and value those relationships for what they are, for what they can be, without "using" them only for new souls in the kingdom?