Facebook, preachers' kids, and my kids...oh my!

More fallout from the Facebook realm; Wonder Woman recently stumbled upon the blog of a friend from her past (actually the blog of the wife of a friend from her past, but close enough). This friend was a preacher kid as was his wife. I'm not going to link the blog because quite frankly it crossed a line of respect in my opinion, nor do I want to call attention to that friend; if they want to do so, they can do it on their own ad dime. However, in summary, the theme of the blog is mocking Christian culture. I think it's up to #25 of a series of points (and growing); things like acting happy, youth pastors, worship teams, homeschooling, and other stereotypical themes/actions. Now the best critics of anything are typically people who come from the inside, so she's got a lot right. I don't know her well enough to know how far her mockery goes, whether the mockery ends at the culture or continues through to the message.

But my thoughts are on "What happened?" To her, and to others. What's evident and/or missing in "Christian culture" that repeatedly drives away some so close to it?

For the sake of this blog, I'll throw out a few examples of who I'm talking about. One one hand, there's the preacher kids (PKs) mentioned above. It's not too much of a stretch to label myself as a "preacher kid" to some extent, maybe some more details on that later. But my step-siblings, PKs through and through, have staunchly rejected Christianity in practice though I'll certainly leave it to God to judge their hearts. They like to talk of the hypocrisy thing, either of their own families, or equally as likely of the sheep in the flock. Unfortunately, not an uncommon tale.

Then there's the some other folks we've known. Maybe not PKs, but grown up in church, came to the church in their youth, or even worked in the church, who, if they haven't turned their backs on Christianity now, are skeptical and in the shadows if they even come to church at all. The adult who says, "Everyone is a hypocrite", or the former youth leader who says, "Parents were looking to me to parent their kids, and if I asked them to step up, they simply took their kids elsewhere. How is that a good thing?" These people may or may not still have zeal for Christ, more than often not. Unfortunately there's many we know in this category too.

Then there's some I know who still have the zeal for the message and passion for Christ but too have become so disillusioned with the culture that they avoid the church. The subtle difference between those above would be that they are still living a life with the fruit of a Christian. They are not disillusioned with the core, message, but question the cultural workings out. He/she might say something like "I'm looking for an environment where it's not a spectator sport."

So what is the deal? Without a deep dive into theology...predestination, foreknowledge, etc, I ask these questions... Would Jesus be pleased with my Christian culture or would he turn over my tables? Do we spend to much time amongst ourselves and not enough time outside "the club"? Are we living like we believe the message or living according to some written/unwritten "Christian" rules? Will my kids see a true yearning to please God or a religiousity to an organization? Have we created an institution where people can be comfortable with the organization as well as an active participate but not a passionate follower?

In the end, God draws people to Him. I don't necessarily completely understand it, but the Word is clear on this. But with that said, I want to influence my environments, church, home, and other, such that it's the real deal. Time to reread Matthew 13. If someone said it would be easy, they were wrong.