The way of the Christian leader is not the way of upward mobility in which our world has invested so much, but the way of downward mobility ending on the cross.
Henri Nouwen, In The Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership, 62.
Just yesterday I was in two conversations on topics related to discipleship, coolness and downward mobility.
Bottom line: We tend to live in a culture where we all want to be cool. So much so, that the Church often tries to find cool ways to bring people to Jesus and into the Church.
And let’s admit it, we all want to be cool, there are just sometimes varying degrees of it. People in Los Angeles really want to be cool, and try very, very hard at it….and yep I live in Los Angeles.
We try to wear cool clothes, hang out at cool places, attend cool churches and be in small groups with cool people.
But I’m left here scratching my head thinking to myself: “I can’t think of anything cool about following Jesus. Giving your life away, carrying your cross and following Jesus to the cross is just not cool.”
So what are we doing then by trying to make Jesus and Church cool? Takes us nowhere and leaves us empty.
