{"id":705,"date":"2007-10-08T15:18:19","date_gmt":"2007-10-08T15:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jwalking\/2007\/10\/the-heresy-of-cool.html"},"modified":"2007-10-08T15:18:19","modified_gmt":"2007-10-08T15:18:19","slug":"the-heresy-of-cool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jwalking\/2007\/10\/the-heresy-of-cool.html","title":{"rendered":"The heresy of cool?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can you be “cool” and be into Jesus? At least one person thinks not<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Coolness is heretical. Or at least the pursuit of it is. This is because an inverse relationship exists between our attempts at being cool and our faith in Jesus Christ. The one struts, confident in his ability to do and say all the right things. The other limps, just as confident in his ineptitude, his missed cues and bad timing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A little later:<\/p>\n

We continually face a choice: will we seek to establish ourselves by being cool, or we trust that God has established us in Christ? It really is that simple. In John 12, we learn that there are a group of synagogue leaders who were believing Jesus, but they stayed quiet, as they loved the approval of people rather than that of God. Again, not a question of degrees. It\u2019s an either-or. In Christ, God has revealed his death-defying love for sinners. When I prefer to be cool, I nonchalantly let him know that I\u2019d prefer the love of a fickle mass of opinion jockeys instead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

it is a terrific and utterly thought-provoking essay. There is so much with which I disagree. But in the interest of being argumentative, I want to pick on one thing.
\nIf I’m reading it correctly, coolness “struts” while our faith “limps, just as confident in his ineptitude….” I’m not sure I’m with the author here. I understand, I think, what he is getting at… faith has humility. But I also think that one of the problems many (like me) have (among the many problems) with following Jesus (or letting him be with us) is the lack of confidence in Jesus’<\/em> coolness.
\nJesus wasn’t lame. Jesus wasn’t a nerd. Jesus partied with hookers and tax collectors and lots of unsavory folks. Are we to believe they would have wanted to hang with him if they thought him a thorough dork?<\/p>\n


\nThe argument against me – and perhaps the more compelling argument – is that Jesus’ love was so powerful, so magnetic, that it crashed through everyone’s heart. That he didn’t have to be cool because his depth and his love destroyed the need for such things.
\nThat is certainly true.
\nBut I can’t help but think that part of what people saw in Jesus was<\/em> a certain coolness. I can’t help but wonder if there were those at the time who copied how he walked or how he groomed or his slang sayings in hopes of possessing his coolness?
\nThis is the mark of a great essay – it makes you think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can you be “cool” and be into Jesus? At least one person thinks not: Coolness is heretical. Or at least the pursuit of it is. This is because an inverse relationship exists between our attempts at being cool and our faith in Jesus Christ. The one struts, confident in his ability to do and say…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\nThe heresy of cool? - J Walking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jwalking\/2007\/10\/the-heresy-of-cool.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The heresy of cool? - J Walking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can you be “cool” and be into Jesus? At least one person thinks not: Coolness is heretical. 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