The Cool Factor:
I’ve often wondered what makes someone cool... or what makes someone uncool... or can uncool really be cool? At one time the word “cool” was a word for those who didn’t fit in and those who were not part of the norm. However when put with the word “Crowd” the “Cool Crowd” is the group that everyone wants to be a part of.
What makes for a cool crowd. Maybe to get away from this kind of language we could ask what makes someone “Socially acceptable”, we have to essentially ask the question “Who do we want to be seen with?” and “Why, them?”
Most often we pick those we want to spend time with based on the image we want to potrey or on the identity we give ourselves. If we are a cowboy we gravitate towards “Cowboys”, if we are a hipster we gravitate towards the “hipsters”, and if we are a good Church going Christian we gravitate towards “good Church going Christians”. Essentially it is a safety thing. We know that if we are around people who are like us, and who foster the image and identity we want to potray, we will avoid any challenges to our way of doing things and our way of thinking. We can also use this as a means to raise ourselves or lower ourselves in social status for our own benefit. For instance it is common practice among professions that if you want to attain a certain level of success in business you have to maintain a social network made up of those who are successful in business. It is the old adage “It’s all about who you know”.
What is the danger of trying to be cool, or trying to fit into a certain group of people? Well the danger is that we will always be and do as that group is and does. Because no one will be there to correct us or challenge our way of thinking. It’s easy to surround yourself with people who are just like you, from the same town, interested in the same things, who know the same people, who have the same experiences. Of course this is easier, and to step outside such a group means risking the friends you already have. So it is easier and less risky to stay within the bounds of “Cool”. But if you stay within the “cool factor” you never grow, because you will always be encouraged to be just like you already are. If you are wrong you will never be challenged. If you are still you will never be moved. If you are ignorant of the experiences of others you will never learn. Growth means change but if you surround yourselves with sameness you will never be changed.
I think of the original followers of Jesus. I think especially of Matthew and Simon. Those two would have been on total opposite ends of the spectrum. Matthew was a Hellenized Jew who worked for the Roman government collecting taxes from the Jews. Matthews friends would have included other very liberal jews like himself and a handful of Greek socially upward folk. Contrast this with Simon the zealot. Simon (as were Simon Peter, Jude, Thomas, and others)was a zealot. A fundamentalist Pharisee who often committed terrorist acts against Romans. They would often refuse to associate with Hellenized more liberal Jews like Matthew. Yet Jesus thrust these kind of people together to illustrate what it is to be part of the body of Christ. See Jesus doesn’t just ask those who are socially acceptable into the body of Christ, because in our sin none of us are acceptable. No Jesus offered the free gift of salvation to anyone who would accept, therefore the body of Christ is to be made up of people who are all very very very different. In these differences, differences in skin color, differences in attitudes towards work, differences in background, differences in personality, in these differences we can grow together and glorify God.
So the challenge before us is to do as James commanded and to not show favouritism, but to surround ourselves not with those we are most comfortable with, but those who need us and those who we need. Often times the very people we need the most to help us grow are those who are most different from us. Age is an obvious area where this is the case. If we are younger we need people around us who are older and more experienced and if we are older we need the care and encouragement of those who are younger. So the challenge is to leave “cool” behind and embrace the “uncool”. To spend time with those who are so different from yourselves that they challenge you to see the world through their eyes, and that you might do the same for them. That you might build a connection, one that will exist to glorify God and to be a witness to the love of Jesus Christ who himself showed no partiality.
I’ve often wondered what makes someone cool... or what makes someone uncool... or can uncool really be cool? At one time the word “cool” was a word for those who didn’t fit in and those who were not part of the norm. However when put with the word “Crowd” the “Cool Crowd” is the group that everyone wants to be a part of.
What makes for a cool crowd. Maybe to get away from this kind of language we could ask what makes someone “Socially acceptable”, we have to essentially ask the question “Who do we want to be seen with?” and “Why, them?”
Most often we pick those we want to spend time with based on the image we want to potrey or on the identity we give ourselves. If we are a cowboy we gravitate towards “Cowboys”, if we are a hipster we gravitate towards the “hipsters”, and if we are a good Church going Christian we gravitate towards “good Church going Christians”. Essentially it is a safety thing. We know that if we are around people who are like us, and who foster the image and identity we want to potray, we will avoid any challenges to our way of doing things and our way of thinking. We can also use this as a means to raise ourselves or lower ourselves in social status for our own benefit. For instance it is common practice among professions that if you want to attain a certain level of success in business you have to maintain a social network made up of those who are successful in business. It is the old adage “It’s all about who you know”.
What is the danger of trying to be cool, or trying to fit into a certain group of people? Well the danger is that we will always be and do as that group is and does. Because no one will be there to correct us or challenge our way of thinking. It’s easy to surround yourself with people who are just like you, from the same town, interested in the same things, who know the same people, who have the same experiences. Of course this is easier, and to step outside such a group means risking the friends you already have. So it is easier and less risky to stay within the bounds of “Cool”. But if you stay within the “cool factor” you never grow, because you will always be encouraged to be just like you already are. If you are wrong you will never be challenged. If you are still you will never be moved. If you are ignorant of the experiences of others you will never learn. Growth means change but if you surround yourselves with sameness you will never be changed.
I think of the original followers of Jesus. I think especially of Matthew and Simon. Those two would have been on total opposite ends of the spectrum. Matthew was a Hellenized Jew who worked for the Roman government collecting taxes from the Jews. Matthews friends would have included other very liberal jews like himself and a handful of Greek socially upward folk. Contrast this with Simon the zealot. Simon (as were Simon Peter, Jude, Thomas, and others)was a zealot. A fundamentalist Pharisee who often committed terrorist acts against Romans. They would often refuse to associate with Hellenized more liberal Jews like Matthew. Yet Jesus thrust these kind of people together to illustrate what it is to be part of the body of Christ. See Jesus doesn’t just ask those who are socially acceptable into the body of Christ, because in our sin none of us are acceptable. No Jesus offered the free gift of salvation to anyone who would accept, therefore the body of Christ is to be made up of people who are all very very very different. In these differences, differences in skin color, differences in attitudes towards work, differences in background, differences in personality, in these differences we can grow together and glorify God.
So the challenge before us is to do as James commanded and to not show favouritism, but to surround ourselves not with those we are most comfortable with, but those who need us and those who we need. Often times the very people we need the most to help us grow are those who are most different from us. Age is an obvious area where this is the case. If we are younger we need people around us who are older and more experienced and if we are older we need the care and encouragement of those who are younger. So the challenge is to leave “cool” behind and embrace the “uncool”. To spend time with those who are so different from yourselves that they challenge you to see the world through their eyes, and that you might do the same for them. That you might build a connection, one that will exist to glorify God and to be a witness to the love of Jesus Christ who himself showed no partiality.