The Easter Sunday edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette featured an article on the proliferation of iPod and other "specialty" Bibles. They come in many formats, even a fold-out type that you can buy for someone in any branch of the U.S. military.
One group targeted by specialty Bible publishers is young people. Great, right? We want our teens to be reading the Bible. Things aren't always what they seem, though — one comment in the article caught my attention. It was made in reference to a Bible for teenagers put out like a "glossy lifestyle magazine".1
"The sidebars … help teenagers think through and apply what they are reading," (said a Mr. Chris White.) "The bad thing is that there's a culture of cool, and I think this ends up reinforcing it. There are a lot of things in life that don't look cool, but are incredibly good. This may be reinforcing style over substance."1
Mr. White's comment is worth thinking about. It's not about whether teens should have Bibles designed to look cool, maybe they should! It's about the persistent pattern in our culture and even in our churches of re-packaging things so they are palatable.
Children raised with their hearts, minds and souls aligned to the Culture of Cool will find it difficult to live faithfully. God's ways are not always palatable; sometimes they make us feel downright uncomfortable.
Christians are not to be anti-social, but the degree and form of one's participation in society's cultural "norms" should be shaped by what we believe and not the other way around.
As parents, are we reinforcing our children's allegiance to the Culture of Cool or the Culture of Christ?
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