Two weeks ago my family and I ventured out to the great unknown: New York. I imagined that there would be obvious differences between my hometown in Alabama and the Big Apple, but as soon as I stepped out of the taxi and onto New York soil I was, at the very least, culture shocked.
Throughout the trip, my eyes hopelessly skimmed the restaurant menus for fried chicken. And if all of the south was to go to New York and discover there was no sweet tea, there would be a potential war.
In the midst of all the edible differences and peculiar buildings, the diversity of the population captured my attention. I was surrounded by a multitude of tongues, the dialect wrapping around myself like a blanket. Aside from the occasional foreign exchange student in high school, the only cultured thing my hometown has to offer is a little Mexican restaurant and Italian herbs and cheese bread at Subway.
Along with that, my town, and even state is in the heart of the “Bible Belt”. If you are not familiar with the term, it simply means that practically anyone and everyone, even if they have never attended a single church service, is a Christian, unless they have identified as an atheist or other religion.
Because everyone and their fifth cousin is a “Christian” in the south, relationships with Jesus in the southern culture have begun to diminish. Although many have not “asked Jesus into their hearts” or have a true relationship with Him, the majority of those people are considered Christians because they do not drink much, are kind to waitresses, and even attend church a couple of Sundays out of the month. At one point in time, many things like that heavily applied to my life. As a young child, my Christian Morales and religion seemed to be hereditary; because my parents and grandparents and practically my whole family believed, I did as well. I understood that to be the "right" thing to do. It would be later on down the road in my life that I would eventually realize what my family chose to follow did not give me the opportunity to be a Christian without having a real relationship with Jesus. I had to make the decision on whether or not I would sit back and feel content with my luke warm faith, or carry my cross to follow Jesus.
We have stereotyped what a Believer should and should not do, and have turned an extraordinary relationship with an even more extraordinary God into a set of rules that must be followed. And not a single person, with their sinful and rebellious nature, desires to consistently follow the rules.
I think back to my time spent on New York City and remain in awe at how differently they treat Christianity. Although every native of the city is not a Christian, you can tell when they are by their actions and what they say.
Their lives are not devoted to checking off a box that says “I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior.” For many of them, including those people who do not live in the south, it is a heart change they go through that signifies their new “religion.” Not only do they know of Jesus, they know Him as their Savior. May we, as southerners, be more inclined to do the same.
