A little wierd and more kitsch

Confession: I haven't been to church in a while. We decided to go to a "bible" church this last weekend to get back into the whole swing of it. The service was in English, which was great, and the church was ful of expats who live in Panama, yet the whole experience was just a little wierd (and not becuase it wasnt lutheran enough, or if they didnt have a liturgy, or we didnt follow the lectionary series A, B, or C, or any other ridiculous LCMS thing) but more just becuase it was like a step into American Evangelicalism: like stepping into a little bubble, safe from the tucans and the rampant catholisicm that run amuck outside those church walls; like what we were doing (singing in English and raising hands and praying to the Lord Almighty) just ran in contrary of everything that seems normal (silently whispering the rosary, and fumbling through the liturgy) in this culture.

Yet it is not the wierdness of the situation that I want to write about. Its about the world outside that bubble that the sermon was about and what I want to write about. We had the priveldge to hear a sermon on Romans 16: not really a privledge. Like I said earlier, its not "faith" that I have a problem with, its "kitsch" (remember that kitsch is a philosophy that excludes, let us say, all the crap that we experience in reality), and this sermon was kitsch-y. First, we were told that we must greet each other with Christian love, and that there is no reason that people should not welcome others to church. (Side note: when the pastor said this, I felt all eyes hone in on the back of my head, being a visitor to the church. I just found myself wanting to slip down the pew and out the aisle, avoiding any "welcome" that was being formulated for after the service.) Here in lays Kitsch Number 1: Being a Christian means being happy and kissing in brotherly love all who pass through those doors. The truth behind this kitsch is: Even if you arent happy, dont want to greet people, that doesn't matter: be false, and that gives a good impression of Christian love.

He also said, that realtionships are important to the Gospel. Agreed. He went on to claim that you can tell if relationships are important to you if you spend time with people. Not quite as stong, but agreed. Finally, you are a good Christian when you are around other people, when you help other people. The lapse in logic is just a little to much for me. Being around people makes you a "good Christian" as much as being in a pharmacy makes you a pharmacist. This kitsch: Help those around you, even if you dont know why or dont feel like it, and of course, with a smile, becuase within the Christian community, it all works out for the best. Oh Smile and Joy! The truth behind this kitsch: Be insincere in your actions, just so others keep their high image of you and your Chrisitanity.

The pastor then went on to say, that we are encouraged not to let an evil into the community, staying away from those who are divisive, and for those who might teach "wrong doctrines". Not a bad teaching, but here was the kitsch number 3: Not letting in wrong teachings means that you are not supposed to look at billboards with girls in bikinis on them, and other "pornographic" things. Not letting the outside world "betray" our pure lives. And that, and I qoute: "Curiosity is not acceptable." The truth behind this kitsch: Thinking is not acceptable, and reconciling the world we live in to the subcultured world of Christianity we are encouraged to live in is impossible: they are mutaully exclusive.

This was the kitsch where I lost it. As a friend of mine says "Faith does not exclude thought", but in our world they are placed at too ends of the spectrum. How do we reconcile them? If, coming from the pulpit we are told to "go with the flow" and just "do as you are told", "avoid evil, and evil according to the gospel of Peter So and So, or John Whats his face is such and such thing and thought", but the intellectual side of me says "Where is the logic in that?", "Make a wise decision about this", "thinking it through is the only way to make a sound decision", how do we reconcile that? How do we answer the question "you think abortion is okay?" and "you mean, you think evoulotion might be a possibility?" without compromising what we believe into some cafeteria theology that looks like we just picked and chose? Can a serious Christian be a truly independently thinking Christian? How do we answer these questions?

I think the answer lies in Kitsch, and deconstructing it. That a Christian can be a part of the world, can even think about the world, and still be a Christian. That a Christian can be politcally active and not just with Focus on the Family. That a Christian can read works of literature, admire works of art, and learn phiosophy without bringing wrath upon themselves. That a Christian can still be a human and not be a part of the Christian sub-culture, dedicating themselves to the evanglelical zealotism and fundamentalism that runs rampant in mainstream beleif. That a Christian can still have a life that doesn't revolve around the intrepretation of the word "it", or when someone is "best suited" to be baptized, and can make their own decisions with out being pushed out if the community of beleivers. That a Christian can just show up on Sunday and not have anything else to do with the church for the rest of the week. That a Christian doesnt have to live up to the kitsch that we place upon all beleivers and still be considered a Christian.

Its not faith I have a problem with, its kitsch.