Emerging into Hipsters

I just read an interesting article in Christianity Today on Christian Hipsters. It seems as if the emerging church movement has not just faded away but has morphed into an even more anti-establishment version of itself. The author of the article, Brett McCracken, says it this way:

"The latest incarnation of a decades-long collision of "cool" and "Christianity," hipster Christianity is in large part a rebellion against the very subculture that birthed it. It's a rebellion against old-school evangelicalism and its fuddy-duddy legalism, apathy about the arts, and pitiful lack of concern for social justice. It's also a rebellion against George W. Bush—style Christianity: American flags in churches, the Ten Commandments in courtrooms, and evangelical leaders who get too involved in conservative politics."

First the positives: Hipster Christianity is more committed to social action and real involvement in community than most churches. They challenge the shallowness of some of the mainstream Evangelicalism that is more committed to conservative values than in following Jesus. They long "for a simpler, back-to-basics faith that was more about serving the poor than serving Starbucks in the church vestibule." They are embracing ancient liturgies and incorporating hymns into their worship. They strive for authenticity and mobilize their members to live out their faith.

From the article:
"One of hipsterdom's positive values is its concern for justice—whether it be sweatshops or sex trafficking, water wells or finance reform. Hipsters almost always champion the cause of the underdog (immigrants, the poor, minorities) over those with power and privilege. Christians would be hard-pressed to find any Scripture passages that suggest Jesus didn't do the same. Many Christians, sadly, have moved away from social justice and fighting for the well-being of the downtrodden, but Christian hipsters are leading the way back."

But on the other hand hipsters living out their faith doesn't always include some of the more traditional commitments to holiness and righteousness that accompanied those who followed the ancient liturgies. As such "Some hipster Christianity is as indistinguishable from its secular hipster counterpart as yesterday's megachurch Christianity was indistinguishable from secular soccer-mom suburbia." Hipster culture is defined in some ways by its countercultural ethos: ie we are against anything currently embraced by mainstream culture. It constantly strives to follow and embrace that which is new and not yet discovered by the mainstream and once this new thing is embraced by too many people they move on to the next thing after that. You only discover these things virally - by being deeply connected to cultural influences by cultural social networking media. So if your mother begins wearing the style of jeans that were cool last week something else needs to become cool this week. The current stylistic trademarks are: skinny jeans, cotton spandex leggings, fixed-gear bikes, vintage flannel, fake eyeglasses, a keffiyeh, an American Apparel V-neck shirt, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Parliament cigarettes - but those things might already be out of style.

As one writer puts it:
Hipsterdom is the first "counterculture" to be born under the advertising industry’s microscope, leaving it open to constant manipulation but also forcing its participants to continually shift their interests and affiliations. Less a subculture, the hipster is a consumer group – using their capital to purchase empty authenticity and rebellion. But the moment a trend, band, sound, style or feeling gains too much exposure, it is suddenly looked upon with disdain. Hipsters cannot afford to maintain any cultural loyalties or affiliations for fear they will lose relevance.

"In order to be a hipster, one must be a rebel. Despite the fact that (ironically) hipster culture usually operates within and is sustained by the very structures it opposes, hipsterdom's raison d'être is countercultural, boundary-pushing rebellion. As such, hipster existence is frequently rife with vices. If hipsters cannot completely overthrow the structures that bind them, they can at least destabilize them by engaging in hedonistic behavior: smoking, drinking, cursing, sexual experimentation, and so on. It's about freedom, partying, and transgression—not in the Jersey Shore, frat-party sense (unless ironically), but in the "bourbon cask ales taste good and I don't care if I get drunk" sense. Hipsters ridicule bourgeois concerns such as "cigarettes cause cancer" and "drinking should be done in moderation," opting instead to recklessly embrace such vices with "why not?" abandon. If you aren't willing to engage in at least some of this "subversive hedonism," you will have a hard time maintaining any hipster credibility."

Adbusters website is a key communication vehicle for hipster culture. A recent article by describes the hipster culture as one without a whole lot of redeeming values.

"An artificial appropriation of different styles from different eras, the hipster represents the end of Western civilization – a culture lost in the superficiality of its past and unable to create any new meaning. Not only is it unsustainable, it is suicidal. While previous youth movements have challenged the dysfunction and decadence of their elders, today we have the "hipster" – a youth subculture that mirrors the doomed shallowness of mainstream society."

But what does this mean for Christian hipsters? When, in the name of rebellion and "freedom in Christ," Christian hipsters begin to look and act just like their secular hipster counterparts, drinking and smoking all the same things, shouldn't we raise a red flag?

Good Question.