Here is an article that I found on another blog recently. This is only the introduction, but I think it brings out some good questions and thoughts about how we live our faith, and whether we’ve allowed other extra-biblical things into our faith, that we sometimes expect of other believers of different cultural backgrounds or in different countries. I haven’t completely read the article, and so I can’t say I agree or disagree with the conclusions drawn, but the introduction is enough to get my mind thinking. I hope it does the same for you.

Becoming De-Westernized

By Don Toshach

Now that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein’s oppressive dictatorship in Iraq have fallen like so many political/military/ cultural/spiritual dominos, the the quest to bring democracy to these peoples. After years of Islamic extremism, a transitional government structure is now in place in Afghanistan under the watchful eye of the U.S. and its allies. Iraq’s future is still being debated at roundtables both inside and outside the country.

Change is occurring on the streets of both countries. Beards are disappearing. Women’s veils are being removed. Movie houses and bookstores are again open. With positive shifts that come with these developments, there is a danger of a people losing its distinctiveness and becoming wedded to another system of bondage as it embraces the values and mores of the West in the name of freedom and enterprise. As the Who’s classic song “Won’t Get Fooled Again” says: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

The new/old boss is westernization. It might be defined as the “we’re right-you’re wrong” mentality. Have it our way. Be linked to the global economy and community. Use our technology, watch our television shows and movies. The influence of America and the West is infused into our political systems, music, higher learning, sports, and fashion. Look like us. Dress like us. Think like us. Be like us. Buy our stuff. Be hip, be cool. If you don’t, you’ll be behind, not with it. For those of us in the West, we don’t even recognize how westernized we’ve become because it’s so deeply ingrained within. Only when having to light a candle during a power outage or using an outhouse while camping do we catch a glimpse of how utter dependent we are upon the system and how sharply that contrasts with the rest of the world.

Westernization has permeated the church. The organic, apostolic, communal gatherings featured in the book of Acts have been replaced by ones run by suited professionals with stopwatches. Highly structured. Highly cerebral. Highly sanitized. Featuring a God who’s understandable and safe. Everything org-charted. A congregant knows what’s going to go on in this kind of church this week, next week, next month, and next year. Predictable and comfortable. What’s wrong with this picture? Welcome to the machine, Stepford children of God! Whatever happened to the Holy Spirit? The Western church bares little resemblance to anything in the Bible, but everything in our faster, better, cheaper business world. The consequence? It is largely devoid of life and power of the Spirit kind. It is as westernized as a Carl’s Jr. Western Bacon Cheeseburger.

via drewsams.com