Today, I found the legendary Christian bookstore in Sapporo. In all of Hokkaido, I think there's one Christian bookstore... and that's the one. It's strange. I got hit with a little culture shock there. I went in expecting to see Bibles, devotional books, commentaries, and maybe sermon tapes. In addition, to all those things, there were music CDs, necklaces, jewelry, wooden plaques, inspirational photographs in pretty looking frames... basically, most everything. Seeing all that stuff didn't bring a "kid in a candy store" kind of feeling. Instead, I was a bit weirded out.
Living in Japan for the past year and a half has changed my perspective on a lot of different things... but especially in regards to American Christianity. Specifically, how American Christianity has interpreted the prayer Jesus had for us as believers to "not [be] of the world", as meaning "create a mini-Christian world." We have our own language, famous personalities, music, clothing wear, literature, even cermanic toilet plaques and doormats that somehow have the word "God" or "Jesus" in them so as to deem them "Christian."
Japanese Christianity (outside of the actual church building), is pretty much void of all this Christian stuff. There are a few famous Japanese Christians, but that's just it, there are few. Music-wise, well, imagine singing only hymns every Sunday... except that those words you do understand in that hymnal, you don't, because it's in another language. Needless to say, contemporary Christian music is close to non-existant. Even if there was Christian clothing, there'd be no place to buy it from... and the same could be said about many of the other trinkets.
Put in such a situation, with the stark contrast, I can't help but wonder, "Is all that stuff really necessary?" And I think even deeper, "Why do we even buy that stuff?" Is it because "all the other Christians are doing it"? Is it because by joining in on the American Christian economy, we feel included into the Christian circle? Or is there more to it? Is it because it increases our spiritual status among other Christians and even ourselves? By buying a WWJD Bible cover (which mysterously has found its way into the hands of many church members in the church I'm at), do we feel that we're deemed more spiritual by our Christian peers... or even the great deception, by ourselves? This of course, goes beyond Bible covers... this goes on to other things that are a part of American Christian culture. By saying the "right" words (that is, speaking the language), by knowing the "right" people, by listening to the "right" kind of music, by wearing the "right" clothes (preferrably with the letters WWJD emblazened on them), by reading the "right" books, by having the "right" decorations around the house, or eating the "right" breath mints, are we more accepted... or feel more accepted?
If so, we are accepting a cheap imitation of the life Jesus envisioned for us. John 17:15-19