Is it Trendy or is it Conviction?

Yesterday as some of you might know I was in Cincinnati for Warped tour, now I've been going to Warped tour for about three years now and it's always one of the highlights of my summer.  First of all you get to see over 40 amazing bands for less than 40 bucks, you get to be a part of a community that at least as a pastor you don't really get to meet otherwise it's absolutely great.  Every year there is a huge area of booths most of them are to sell band merch but others are there too for instance, invisible children was there, there is always an Environmental awarness booth as well and TWLOHA is always there making a difference in students lives.  If that weren't enough there is always the cause that a Band is behind that they preach from the stage, some might talk about the War others will support some sort of orphanage, and still others a group like TWLOHA.  Now here is what I love and what I'm concerned about when it comes to this wave that I'm seeing.

When I found out about 9 years ago about what Bono was doing for AIDS relief in Africa and world poverty I thought it was great, I said now here's a guy who truly gets what being a Christian is all about for he his a brother in Christ to me.  He takes the passage of the least of these to heart he notices the fact that Jesus spends more time talking about the poor than almost anything else in scripture, you would think that this is an important and very central part of the Biblical narrative.  What you began to see after Bono and Mother Teresa was this, every celebrity and in turn many members of a young generation begin to get behind cause after cause after cause.  I love seeing this, I love seeing people get passionate about wanting a greener earth, I love seeing the fact that God does not want war and murder in any context is not human, I love seeing them get behind helping out girls who have been trafficked in other country's, I love seeing them help girls who have become addicted to self injury, I love them being concerned for the poor, the widow, the Orphan just like Christ called us too.  But here's what has begun to concern me about this and it's one word Genuine.

Are they genuinely concerned or is it popular, let's say that Bono never took a stance on world poverty that there was no oprah or any other celebrity saying that this is wrong and we must do something about it?  Would we still be bothered by these social issues?  I hope so but I don't know if we would, this concerns me cause the Gospel without conviction is heresy!  I believe that Bono is convicted, I believe a lot of the people I saw yesterday are convicted, I believe my friend Tyler with Love can't be BAHT is convicted, I believe my uncle Rick with IDES is convicted in fact I know those people are convicted but what about you?  Are you convicted, this is what I want to know cause this is important, if you think that Christianity is all about going to Church and Bible study and Small group but you have no concern for the poor, the Widow, or the Orphan then I question if you got the message in the first place.  All I want to address here is a bringing back to the drawing page, where we begin to be concerned about the things of Christ not because of Bono, not because of some other band but because Christ commands and invites us into a life that can change the World.  GOD BELIEVES WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!

So may God convict you out of his word to look after the Widow, the Poor, and the Orphan and may we embrace a Life that changes this world through the Gospel that we claim.

Grace and Peace,

C-DUB