* Counter Cultural Church

Over the past few days I have been thinking about the church today, and what sort of future it has. While dwelling on this theme I thought back to what we know about the earlier church and the beginnings of Christianity; what we know about how early Christians in many ways worked counter-cultural to the world in which they lived. A world that did not empower the weak: women, children, widows, slaves and how in many ways the inequality in the church today is among it’s great shortcomings. This is particularly notable today when the culture is seeking to empower women, youth, LGBTQ, and other minorities. In some areas of the Christian Church (although thankfully not all) and other religions this empowerment is an issue, a hard change to accept. As a result religion, and in particular Christianity continues to be counter-cultural. Unfortunately, in many ways our culture has and continues to adapt to embrace change and empower equality, while the church continues to run counter-balance to culture. As a result I wonder what the politics, or policies of religions are? When they are aligned with the culture to which they belong there is no significance or need for justice. Is this why it is easier to pull together towards a front, any front, than to accept perhaps the goal of religion in some ways may have been achieved? I am not sure that religion or religious followers have thought about things so consciously… but it does make me wonder…