Officially cool

A few years back my brother won a competition with a plan to set up a business where coolness can be bought for £5.99 with a certificate and badge to prove it in case anyone is in any doubt! The concept behind this is really taking the mick out of how people buy approval in the form of Converse shoes, an iPhone, or by subscribing to the newest social networking site. People are so desperate to be considered ‘cool’ that they will chase the latest label in order to prove it to those around them.

I was recently at a gig of a band who need not be mentioned but who are definitely one of the ‘it’ groups to be following these days. On this particular evening I was feeling quite unwell and therefore perched at the back of the bar away from my friends. It was amazing what a change of perspective I got from simply stepping outside of what I would normally be in the middle of. If you will allow me to digress, I want to turn my focus onto an image I saw today. Having been inspired by a previous article on ‘The Collective’ I was at the Ulster Museum and amongst many stones and bits of jewellery I saw a photo which evoked quite a strong emotion in me. There was a photo of a skeleton in its burial ground and all over and around this pile of bones were items of gold; symbols of wealth and prestige in this person’s life. It seemed such a sad image, that this person’s most prized possessions were to be left amongst a heap of dirt and decay. I couldn’t help wondering how many people had gone without so that this person could accumulate such wealth. What sacrifices may have been made for this person to leave behind such an ornate corpse?

Sitting at the back of the bar at this gig I was aware of such a need to be accepted simply by wearing the right clothes, talking to the right people and saying the right things. I grew up in this scene, I know this scene, and to be brutally honest I’m quite good at this scene when I can be bothered, but that evening I was struck by the futility of it all. Surely by definition in order for something or someone to be cool, they must be placed above those that are not. Does this not work against the message of Jesus when He says “But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then” (Matt 19:29). What right do we have then, as followers of Christ, to find our identities so strongly rooted in putting other’s down by building ourselves up to be seen as ‘cool’?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not condemning All-star high tops and having ridiculous numbers of friends on facebook, it’d be blatantly hypocritical of me to do so. What I am saying however is that we live in a city and a culture where people scramble to be seen as acceptable, popular and ‘cool’ and it is important to be aware of how we are impacting this culture. Are we spending a substantial amount of our time, energy and income in re-enforcing the lie that these things are important? Are we simply spending time with those who will help us up the ladder of popularity? Or are we reaching out to those that others pass by, to those who might damage our street cred and can offer us nothing in return?

It was Jesus who said “when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you” (Luke 14:13-14). Next time I am at that gig, or where ever it is, I hope I’ll look around me and not only see those musicians who are in the next hottest band, but I’ll see the girl perched at the back of the bar who could do with a friendly face.

I want to leave you with a question; If it is your skeleton that is found in a couple of thousand years, what symbols will you have around you of the life you have lived? What sacrifices will you have made to get them?

I think C S Lewis gives us an amazing insight into how to make sure we are chasing the right things in this world when he said “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”

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