Social Trends

I have grown up most of my life questioning things. I don't like to accept an answer because you say it is correct, but I want to analyze it and see if it is even logical. This has been a problem at times because I will defend a small point that doesn't matter. However, I think it is a good quality to have. I learned in school that there are four types of people: 1) The person that won't listen to new ideas and won't change his beliefs. 2) The person that listens to new ideas but won't change his beliefs. 3) The person that listens to new ideas and thinks critically before changing his beliefs. 4) The person that listens to new ideas and will change his beliefs without thinking.

I believe that the best one is #3. We are not always correct, and we don't know everything. It is so important to learn to listen to other people, but also not just accept it because they say so. There are so many rumors going around on the internet that people believe, and defend, without even knowing the facts. Many of them come out to be false! We need to learn to think critically. This has been a long introduction into the thing that I have been thinking about recently. I have been thinking critically about our culture, and why we do the things we do. What is it that excites the youth today?

If you look at twitter, Lebron James has 7.5 million followers, Justin Bieber has 35.5 million, and Ashton Kutcher has 13.8 million. That is a small example from secular sports, music, and movies (the first three names that came to my mind). If you look at famous Christian athletes, musicians, and pastors it is very different. Matt Redman has 171,000, Josh Hamilton has 217,424, Rick Warren has 908,000, and Doug Fields has 22,000. I understand that the whole world is looking at people like Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher, but only the Christians are following the pastors. That is why the numbers are lower, but it still makes me ask the question why? Why does the Gangnam style youtube video have over 1 billion views?? Why are there over 10,000 versions of the Harlem Shake?? This is all coming from a culture that wants to be unique and different. People get piercings, tattoos, clothes, and color their hair all different colors so that they are unique, but at the same time we are following trends like crazy!! We follow the fashion and the trending topics on the internet like there is no other option.

I have seen posts that criticize Christians for doing their own version of the harlem shake. I am not doing that, and that is not why I am writing this post. I don't want to sound like the critical Christian that thinks we should only focus on Jesus (no youtube, facebook, twitter, etc.) and have no part of this world, because that is not how I think. There is the scripture that says that we should not conform to the patterns of this world, and people take that to mean that Christians need to separate completely. I do not agree completely. I have a two facebook accounts, a blog, and two twitter accounts. That is the best way that I have to share about my ministry and what God is doing in this country. They allow me to show pictures, videos, and ask for prayer support. They can be used to do so much good! I even hashtag stuff!

My question and reason for writing this is; what can we do to make good things trend? Can the popular people and trending topics be Christian? Why do 300,000 people go to Carnival and 2,000 go to United for Him? It isn't just about the style of music or if your youth group has lights and smoke. It interests me that youth want to be unique, yet join every trend that comes along. We have a desire to be a part of something and to fit in. Can we make the church that place? Do we open up for the drunks and the drug addicts, or do we only hope for our Christian students to invite an unsaved friend? Are we going into the streets to minister, or just saying that we should? What are you doing? What are we as Christians doing? Am I crazy and out of my mind for thinking this way? Please comment respond. I would love to get your feedback. God bless!