The Global Conversation

Great article Brett. Here are some of my own observations 1. Hipster Christianity is no doubt diverse. What is true of one group is not necessarily true of another. 2. I can't help but see it as a subculture. In either a spoken or non-spoken way there are expectations for those inside. What you wear, what music you listen to how you talk, what you read, your political affiliation ect. 3. Hipsters are too age oriented. What happens when you turn 40? 4. They seem too sectarian as a result of their rebellion against mainstream Evangelicalism. Can these churches work well with other non-hipster Christians? 5. The movement (If indeed it is a movement) has two possible futures. Either it grows and becomes institutionalized or it will dissolve since it will be unable to pass on its values to the next generation.

I don't like "church as entertainment" as a rule. I find that the depth of relationship with Christ isn't fostered so much as is the instant gratification needs of an increasingly impersonal techonolgy dependant society. That being said, I do at times attend a hipster church because I know the worship leader personally and know that his testimony is anything but hipster. The most important "ingredient" of any church is Jesus Christ. If He is truly alive and well in the congregation, nothing is impossible. And a relationship with Him is progressive, not instant. It's ofter difficult as we're clay in His potter's hands. It's not always "feel good" and it's not a smorgosboard of variety to entice us. It's about Him.

One of the powerful and, at the same time, irritating traits of evangelical Christianity is our need for and tendency towards critique. If the self examined life is worth more, then the life of evangelical Christianity is worth a fortune. This is good. But I found this article in the irritating category. McCraken tosses off sacastic criticism without giving any real credance to how or why these pracitces or ideas formed. He simply says those who participate in the hippster movement are wanting to be cool, that coolness is their driving motivation. And I am not convinced. He gives little credence to the real problems many in and out of the hippseter movement have with past cultrually bound expressions of Chrisianity. It's like he woke from a dream he did not like but is unwilling to look back to the meal he ate before bed that induced it. He never seems to recognize that a similar article could be written about what the church looked like in every other time in history.

Interesting... I can see John Pond's point. This article is a little inconsistent, despite some interesting points here and there. One thing that completely threw me off was the comment about gluten-free communion bread. What the heck does having an allergy have to do with being hipster? Some of the things mentioned in this article (like food allergies) are simply universally more common and not specific to any sort of hipster subculture. I did like the pro/con analysis, but there seemed to be an inconsistent voice over all, jumping back and forth between subjective and objective analysis and never acknowledging when either was being used. I think he is right when he says that hipster subculture is similar to suburban megachurch subculture in some ways because it is also trying to be "relevant" and sometimes taking it too far. On the other hand, some of these things are simply matters of taste. David is right to suggest that it doesn't matter as long as Christ is the focus.

I know very few "Christian hipsters" who would engage in vices simply for the motive of being missional. Seems to me that these questions are irrelevant. Christian hipster or not, Christianity is founded on the principle that Christ was sent by God, lived a perfect life, was crucified for our sins, and resurrected... all in historical reality on earth. In the end, Christian hipster or not, our focus should never be on whether or not we're hipsters or not hipsters, that's not the point. In Christ, there is no division. It's time to focus again on the cross of Christ, which is what makes us Christian. Oddly enough, however, at least in my experience, the Christian hipster seems to typically appear to the world as the "alternative" kids from five years ago, not modern and relevant. Our idea of what is and is not relevant is still defined by those who already claim to be Christians. Who are we trying to reach anyways?

How cool that young people are finding Jesus Christ and prophetically calling out us older Christians for our hypocrisies (even if they invent some of their own along the way). Let's rejoice with the angels in heaven! We can trust the Holy Spirit to work throughout their individual lives, just as he continually works like a sculptor painstakingly chipping away what is not needed to transform all of us Christians into the image of Christ.

Interesting article in a painfully self-conscious, "hip" sort of way. What it describes appears to be one big yawn. If anyone can help me with this, I once read that G.K. Chesterton said that "relevance is boring," though I am not sure of this. But the expression seems to have currency here. The "hipster" church seems to be but another expression of most all modern, market-driven churches, albeit with its own quaint nuances. To be sure, I do kind of enjoy the Theological Six Packs I have attended.

I think the author is just jealous because his church doesn't use Helvetica font. I don't go to a church like the one described. It's all ironic, it's all kitsch. But it's also all we (the kids) are. I'd much rather go to hipster church than most churches. But then, it's difficult because I'd RATHER rather just not go. It's funny, because any "hipster Christ-follower" you describe would read this article and agree with you. That's the pain of it all: everything is available for ridicule, including one's own way of doing things. Relevant to the discussion is this video: http://vimeo.com/11501569 It could be mocking the trend, except that the video was made by North Point Media, for a church that runs basically JUST like what you see in the video. Now that's what I call "growtivation." Mind you that video isn't hipster-church; it's white suburban mega-church in a semi-progressive area. But you get the point.

Very informative and very depressing. Let's be hip while our culture, our country and our world still burn. The race to be hip, rebellious, unconventional is in itself a way of conforming. Tattoos and cigars are a distraction. True radical Christians strive with every ounce of their being to get as close to Christ as possible. Christ then will be in you and control you and these distractions will fall away. You'll be radical and cool not because of something easy like a tattoo but because of something hard - exercising the spiritual disciplines til it hurts. Then you'll focus on a real faith that stands out and impacts those around you. How about being a great husband or wife and having a huge family that you can train to follow Christ with all their heart. Sounds like hipsters will be to busy tasting wine to die to self.