What Are We Chasing?

According to Pastor Brett Rickey from FamilyChurch.tv in Tulsa...we're chasing 'cool.'

Although this is obviously a pastor-type trying his hand at authorship in very mediocre fashion, he does make some good points. I came across this book as I'm preparing to speak to a group of students at a youth camp next week in central Ohio and probably wouldn't have read it otherwise.

I think the logo for the camp I'm going to is much better than the cover design of the book as you can see.

The author suggests that most people are chasing some kind of 'it' factor...a notion of 'cool' which the surrounding culture exhibits as desirable yet constantly changes. The tendency towards consumerism and materialism is very closely linked to this misguided pursuit.

Here are a few good points made in the book:
--God cares much more about your character than your cool-ness
--The Christian life should be marked by passion
--Christians need to live in connected community and see each other as teammates rather than competitors
-- "Competition isolates but Community insulates"
--Sin is the kryptonite to our souls and we need to deal with it accordingly

I don't mean to be too hard on Brett and his cover artist. You can tell that he is probably an exceptional communicator there at FamilyChurch in Tulsa and has a great focus on chasing after Christ and God's simple mission for the church. I think we do have to be careful of trying to redefine 'cool' in a way that we create another false chasing after certain experiences or styles rather than chasing Christ himself.