By Rachel Chiang | Assistant News Editor
I’m sure at some point when scrolling through TikTok or Instagram, you’ve come across a theological debate video or two. A talking point I sometimes see is that a certain race has become Christian because they have been forcibly converted by Europeans or that Jesus was not a bearded white man with a white robe and red sash.
The stereotypical modern-day Christian aesthetic is what many of us Gen Z’ers call “granola.” The worship leader or pastor is usually donning khaki pants and a dark T-shirt or a flannel top. Girls show up in overalls and striped tops or a long, flowy dress with poofy sleeves. And everyone. Always. Loves. Coffee.
There’s nothing wrong with any of this. It has become a cultural aspect and a comfortable, welcoming environment that feels like home for many. Church should be welcoming, and it should feel like home. But should it always feel comfortable?
Christians in America have turned Jesus and Christianity into a moral code. Going to church for many in America has become a beacon for families to be surrounded by good community, good people and good feelings.
Your time in church should be a time of reflection, conviction and fellowship. There are times to celebrate the good, but there are also times to support our brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling in their faith. If the message you hear makes you feel warm and bubbly inside every single week, that should be a red flag.
We are blessed to have the First Amendment in America to practice our faith freely. We practice our faith so freely that we have dozens of denominations stemming from Christianity splitting over different ways to practice the faith correctly. We have so much freedom that we have become accustomed to the idea of America being God’s country when the number of those who identify as Christians in America has been declining for the past few decades. The image and idea of Christianity feel so safe and familiar in America, but in other parts of the world, it is not the same.
I grew up in a relatively small Chinese Baptist church with my dad serving as the lead pastor for most of my life. In coming to Baylor, I realized I shared many of the same experiences as my peers, such as not being allowed to read “Harry Potter,” not celebrating Halloween and not playing in soccer games on Sunday mornings.
The stereotypical image of a Christian household was my family, but because our congregation was mostly from China and Taiwan, we had Chinese foreign exchange students or new Chinese families flowing in and out of church all the time. With connections to Asia, stories of friends and family being stopped by immigration for having religious-looking books or underground churches discovered by the authorities often circulated. These things served as a reminder that Christianity may be well known in America, but it isn’t safe and available to everyone around the world.
Christianity has been ingrained in many aspects of American culture. Many have grown weary of it or too familiar with its commodities while parts of the world are hungry for the faith. According to the Pew Research Center, from 1910 to 2010, Africa and Asia saw exponential growth in those who identify themselves as Christian. Global Christian Relief shows the countries that continue seeing rapid growth are in Asia, South America and Africa.
What’s beautiful is that you don’t need the aesthetic to be Christian. I have been to churches with beautiful stained-glass walls, and I’ve been to churches with no walls at all. I’ve experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in a small worship service with less than a dozen people singing in a dialect I barely understand, and I have experienced the Holy Spirit in a gathering of hundreds.
This notion that minorities are brainwashed individuals who can’t decipher what Christianity means to them is bogus. To tie the spread of the Gospel today to colonization doesn’t work because many of the regions that are hungry for the Word have governments that welcome commerce and trade but shut down any ties to faith. The Bible has dozens of English translations, making it readable for all types of ages to read and understand, but some languages only have one version or none at all.
But a lack of access does not equate to a lack of interest.
As Christians, when we spend time harping on which denomination is correct, we are wasting time and opportunities to simply be in community and share the Gospel. We can certainly spend time making our church space feel welcoming and put together cute outfits to wear on Sunday, but we also must remember the call to be in community and conviction, which isn’t always pretty.
We are fortunate to have great accessibility to practice Christianity and we often forget that despite having all these resources, Christianity in America is declining in numbers because we have grown too comfortable, or we are simply annoyed and tired of it.
And if you’re on the outside looking in, Christianity is more than a nuclear family dynamic and Sunday teatime. If you haven’t experienced the Holy Spirit, then you’re missing out. It will convict and heal you, but it will also reveal things to you that you never knew. It’s so powerful that people risk their lives every day to experience it, and that experience is not attained through a certain language, aesthetic or location.
