"I'll take a couple spoonfuls of Christianity, with a few pieces of Islam, a little bit of Judaism on the side, a dressing of Buddhism, and don't forget to sprinkle a bit of Hinduism over the top."
What am I talking about? In the words of a leader of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on my college campus, this is called "salad bar" spirituality. This form of spirituality, common among college students, entails combining elements of different belief systems to form a custom-made, comfortable "religion" that suits people's personal desires.
The leader told me about "salad bar spirituality" as I was interviewing him for an article for my journalism class. My chosen topic was "spirituality in college." It came to me as no surprise that many college students choose this form of spirituality. After all, college years a are a time of searching for oneself, defining oneself. So it seems to make sense that college students would choose a religion that fits into their concept of themselves.
But come to think of it, it's not only college students that seek "salad bar spirituality." As much as the human race seeks truth, sometimes our desire to be comfortable, stable and burdenless overweighs that search.
I'll share an excerpt of a sermon entitled
"The Jesus We Want and the Jesus We Don't" that expresses how the concept of salad-bar spirituality permeates our lives (even if we define ourselves as Christians) whether we acknowledge it or not:
"Before E. B. White moved to his farm to become the barnyard chronicler we know from
Charlotte's Web, he lived and wrote in New York City. He wrote observations of life in the city, including one episode that occurred during the frantic shopping days before Christmas. 'Shopping in Woolworth's, in the turbulent days, we saw a little boy put his hand inquiringly on a ten-cent Christ child, part of a creche. 'What is this?' he asked his mother, who had him by the hand. 'C'mon, c'mon,'
replied the harassed woman. 'You don't want that!' She dragged him grimly away--a Woolworth Madonna, her mind ark with gift-thoughts, following a star of her own devising.
'You don't want that!,' she said, meaning Jesus. Well, do we? Do we want Jesus?
...What
do people want, though? Who do you say that Jesus
is? Who do you
want Jesus to be
? What Jesus is it that you want? A big question in American religious life right now is, What do people want? What are people looking for in a religion? In a church? In a Savior?"
This mentality is unhealthy and has severe ramifications for Christianity. People who seek their own form of salad-bar spirituality may warp the message of Christianity and just see God as a genie who responds to their every prayer in the way that they desire.
In salad bar spirituality, the aspects that most people choose to leave out of their "salad" are the rough stuff, the bitter, sour stuff -- things that entail pain and suffering.
It becomes habitual and natural to deny this fundamental part of Christianity:
"If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves
and take up their cross
and follow me." Do you think that salad bar spirituality is a significant problem today? Do you think it cripples the message of Christianity? Do you/ have you struggled with this mentality, or do you know people who do?
Comments (35)
Salad bar spirituality is an example of how incoherence has been woven into our cultural fabric. Incoherence is intrinsic to the modern philosophies that are taught in almost all of our educational institutions.
Incoherence comes from the rejection of God and the absolute principles that traditionally governed the use of reason.
I enjoyed your thoughts on this. I do think this is becoming a problem today as more people believe that Christianity is a matter of picking and choosing what you want to believe. People pick what verses in the Bible to believe and what ones to ignore. Eventually people, myself included, have to determine to have it all or none when it comes to Christianity.
Hmmm...the food analogy doesn't just stop at the mixing of different traits from different religions, but also applies to how people practice christianity itself. My area staff from IVCF (who used to be the campus staff) likened it to more like an all you can eat buffet (or something of that type). Within the church, it is easy to overemphasize certain aspects like prayer, scholoarly biblical knowledge, and worship and ignore other areas like evangelism, serving the community, and living under the sovereignity of God. If we don't have a balanced meal/diet, our physical health declines. Likewise, if we don't have a "balanced" practice of Christianity, our spiritual health suffers.
Interesting how the food analogy can be used at multiple levels (different elements of different faiths used to form a new faith, different elements of a single faith within the faith). It could also be used to describe the multiethnicity of the church and how in our ethnic contexts we express our faiths differently, bringing new flavors to the whole meal that we all enjoy together (potluck!).....
Food and faith mix well, don't you think?
Isn't this sort of what Bahai is? But then I only know what my Bahai-priest friend has told me.
The aim is not for Christianity being victorious or healthy. The aim is to obediently and faithfully follow Jesus Christ.
Pluralism definitely makes life difficult for those who want to abandon all idols and follow only Love and The Truth. There is a Way and his name is Jesus Christ the Lord. It's easy to only take what you want from G-D since we do it in every area of life all ready. We have been conditioned to do this. Society says truth is relative and it's all about you. With enticing lies like this it becomes clear that pluralism is an enemy of the Church. Compromise is a lack of faith. But there is hope.
Jesus asks us to drop all the crutons, lettuce leaves, tomatoes, and carrots in our bowl that are not of him. He promises us that he is all we need to eat and drink and in him we will be satisfied. When we believe him, and when we partake of him, we will see how bad salad is.
Good Books:
UnChristian by Kinaman and Lyons
The Gospel In A Pluralist Society by Leslie Newbigin
Christianity is a salad bar religion. You've got a bit of Judaism, a bit of paganism, a bit of Egyptian religion... there you go. Christianity.
So I don't really see how salad bar spirituality can cripple Christianity, since it was a salad bar religion to begin with. If it's crippled by picking and choosing now, then it's always been crippled by that.
If anything, Christianity is crippled by its unwillingness to let people choose their own toppings. It doesn't care if you're fatally allergic to peanuts; you're gonna eat them, and like it!
I recently wrote a post about syncretism (which is what that's called). Many people these days are lazy about what they put together, and it ends up being completely insane.
@LadyLibellule@xanga - Don't forget about Zoroastrianism and Greek mythology!
this post is painfully ironic. Christianity gets its sense of dualism from Zoroastrianism... the idea of resurrection from Egyptian religion... and its authority from Judaism. i fail to see how it's not a salad bar religion, too.
This post is ridiculous on so many levels. I am a Christian mystic that has learned a lot from the other faiths and I have not compromised Christ at all and neither have thousands of monks and mystics that have actually walked the path you seem to know nothing about. Instead of it weakening our Christian witness it has actually grown it. We can and do go into places you and others that think like you won't.
In the end the other brand of spirituality you offer will continue to strangle true spiritual development, deeper intimacy w/ Jesus and will only promote a spirit of hostility, gracelessness and fear. I don't think humanity can live like that for another 1000 years. I am grateful that I have learned about Sufi dancing and it's contemplative dimension because it has only developed my reverence and intimacy w/ God when I worship through dance. From my Jewish brother and sisters I have learned about loving God through writing and letting that be a worship form. From Buddhism I have learned inner silence and further submission, from Yoga, I have learned about union between mind, body, heart and soul.
All these philosophies have only strengthened my commitment to Christ and revealed him as Lord of all because I see strands, deep truth in the other religions. These strands and truths/principles are universal in scope and only one God can create that and that God is Jesus. Is it in someway lesser? Yes, maybe, I don't really know, I know that Christ is in all and loves all and learning about that has made loving my neighbor reality instead of lip service. I can encourage the good and show the Christ Paul preached when he went into all those polytheistic centers.
p
@too_pretty_to_die@xanga -
In
Christianity's earliest forms there was no sense of dualism for true
spiritual masters. It was all one. We are all one. This is one of
Christianity's, Judaism, Sufi Islam, Buddhism... central tenants. I am
my brother's keeper, I am responsible for another person because they
are my own flesh. The idea is to share not hoard and this incarnation
of Christianity is a gross distortion from the early church. The only
reason the Church has become this way is because many interest groups
wanted to exert power over others.
p
I actually think it's important for people to learn about many different religions and choose for themselves. Christianity has changed many of its rules throughout the years, as have other religions, so what one person may see as a crippling of Christianity (or Islam, Judaism, etc.), another person may see as an improvement.
@LadyLibellule@xanga - You've made an excellent point!
You know, I really appreciated the good ol' days, when people were looking for a little concept called the truth.
Now, my theory is this: all (or at least most) "religions" have at least a little bit of the truth, unless they are a made-up religion. What Christianity has that no other "religion" has is the solution.
@LadyLibellule@xanga - haha, very good point.
Actually, this has always been a problem, see, e.g., Galatians. Even Israel in the OT had problems with other religions intermingling and the people diluting the religion of God. If you read any basic history book on Christianity, you'd be amazed at how diverse positions could be through time. Left to ourselves, and our own reasoning, we depart from God or invent a 'god'; instead we ought to look at Him through His revealed Word and Sacraments.
The "salad bar" analogy exists in Christianity as well, as others have pointed out, but for a different reason. The number of Christians I know who seem to think that the OT is irrelevant is staggering. I don't suggest that every Christian today start separating their meat from dairy, forbid the use of electricity on the Sabbath, etc, but since Christianity was born out of Judaism I think every Christian should, at some point, take the time to learn about the Jewish roots of their faith.
It seems to me that the majority of salad-makers just don't feel like giving up what they know are sinful behaviors. I don't think there's anything wrong with *learning* about other faiths, but combining them all into one (like karma with the message of salvation) then that would be like putting maple syrup in your salad...or something equally nasty. I don't really know what I'm talking about.
The bible tells us to 'work out our own salvation with fear and trembling' - if someone confuses that point with the type of 'salad-bar christianity' that you've described. They're the losers because they've sold out to a denominational viewpoint.
I also agree with the above posters comment that the majority of 'salad-makers' just don't feel like giving up what they know are sinful behaviours. That would be my overall take on the term. Like the new age. It's basically a choose your own religion that you can edit and change at will. Christianity isn't, but people can still treat it that way.
We're living in a world where we can get almost anything we want...almost everything is customizable now..
I guess this applies to God too, we want Him to be the way we customize Him to be........
We want to love Him the way we want, instead of the way He wants
Christianity in it self is a salad bar. It grew out of jewish thought, morphed pagan practices into sanctified holy days and split from catholic to protestant.
Why is that?
Because In order for religion/spirituality to be meaningful for a culture it must evolve as the culture evolves otherwise it becomes stagnate and dies. That is why you don't meet to many tradional believers in Zesus, Mars, Venus- because our culture has changed so radically that western civilization no longer needs traditional (high priestess, orgies sacrifices) temple religions. The chaos once attributed to the gods by greek and roman minds are now explained by science.
I am also a Christian Mystic (meaning I believe in the revalation of God in a personal way) and I mesh other parts of religion with my beliefs. Tai chi teaches me inner peace, quiet strength. lighting the Sabbath candles reminds me of the light of the world. Meditation is a form of prayer. Heck I have even "invented" some of my own meaningful rituals. (Imersing myself in water every full moon, annointing every room in my house when i first move in ect.)
My whole point is Christianity has to be a salad bar to survive
@kipahni@xanga - Christianity in it self is a salad bar.
Christianity is not a salad bar. Christianity is very specific. Its doctrines and teachings are exact. Western culture which resulted from Christianity is distinct from any other culture. That various cultures were absorbed into Christianity is a tribute to its power as a cultural dynamo.
People like you are the salad bar, for Christianity is what it has always been: the final and complete Revelation of God to mankind. And it has been the Catholic Church that has guarded, maintained and taught Christianity to the world since the time of Jesus. According to Catholic doctrine, Protestantism is heresy. So the notion that Christianity somehow morphed into Protestantism is erroneous.
Catholicism pre-dates Protestantism by 1500 years and is still going strong today. And the original differences between Catholicism and Protestantism were not cultural but doctrinal and philosophical. Also, it is Protestantism that continues to break into pieces (different sects) not Catholicism which has always been one, as Jesus commanded.
@LoBornlite@xanga - Whether you believe protestant is illegitamate is a matter of debate or personal belief. But even in catholicism you have a salad bar. Are you Roman Catholic or Orthadox. And from Orthadox you can choose Eastern, Russian, Coptic, Greek. From Roman catholic, are you american or south american (for your churches will look vastly different because of culture) Benedictine or Carmalite?
And while in the beg.of Western christianity spreading did engulf many cultures, now a days missionaries change christianity to fit the needs of the culture. So when you come to my egyptian village you will see the christians here refer to God as Allah, Have church on friday, Not eat pork products, All which are muslim influences on the culture but in order for christianity to survive it is what works
Christianity is what it has always been: the final and complete Revelation of God to mankind.
You are welcome to view God that way and that is fine but to me saying God only revealed himself to mankind once through the flesh in Jesus is like saying God is stagnate. or to put it another way
You have a father that gives you rules as a toddler, but then he disappears... are you expected to grow up as an adult still holding on to those same rules that you had as a child?
I agree that Jesus is a central tenant to being a Christian- but it is not the only way that God reveals himself-to say so is arrogant and putting God in a box.
one of my favorite scriptures of the bible in fact state "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature-- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."Romans 1:18-20
So even in nature we see God.
May I also encourage you to read some history books on Christianity and you will see Christianity evolved to a more Hellenistic way of thinking then the origional (jewish sect) started out. So I will have to humblely disagree with you that the Catholic church is the only sect that has preserved Christianity
A few books
Our father Abraham-Marvin Wilson
The Misunderstood Jew-The church and the scandle of the Jewish Jesus-Amy Jill-Levine
@kipahni@xanga - But even in catholicism you have a salad bar.
Again, not true. Eastern and Roman are virtually the same. We can receive the Sacraments in either rite. The other faiths are the results of heresies long past. There are no doctrinal differences in any Catholic church whether in North or South America, Europe or where ever.
Again the heretics, not the Church comprise the salad bar and your assertions about the Catholic Churches in the various countries having differences is just plain wrong. I've been to Mass in Latin America. Very little difference from my neighborhood Catholic church.
You are welcome to view God that way and that is fine but to me saying God only revealed himself to mankind once through the flesh in Jesus is like saying God is stagnate.
Sorry but if you believe that then you are not Christian. I don't state my own view on this. I state basic Christian doctrine. God is not stagnant. The people who comprise the salad go stagant and go off in search of the next new fad.
If as you say the truth is one, than how can each individual be the authority on what is truth? If each individual determines his own truth than there are literally billions of possibilities as to what the truth is. Jesus established the Church and gave it his authority. The Church determines what is correct doctrine and what is truth.
You have a father that gives you rules as a toddler, but then he disappears... are you expected to grow up as an adult still holding on to those same rules that you had as a child?
God did not disappear. He left us the Church. The Church is the continued presense of Christ on earth. Jesus also left us the Holy Spirit and the grace that is received through the Sacraments.
I agree that Jesus is a central tenant to being a Christian- but it is not the only way that God reveals himself-to say so is arrogant and putting God in a box.
This statement also indicates that you are not Christian. For if Christianity is a box than it is God who put himself there since he is the one who created it. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. PERIOD! No ifs ands or buts. That is also basic Christian doctrine. Your quoting of Scripture and your rejection of basic Christian doctrine makes you the quintessential salad mix.
Anything you think you are is simply self-proclaimed. And as we all know, anyone can proclaim anything but that doesn't make it true.
@LoBornlite@xanga - Your experiences are vastly different then mine so I don't mean to disqualify or devalue your experiences. But
I have also attended Mass in South America, America (both various orthadox and roman catholic) and coptic orthadox here in egypt and it has been my experience that they are vastly different. Most orthadox priest here marry, celebrate christmas jan 7th your roman catholic epiphany even the saints are different. again because christianity has to be RELEVANT to the culture.
I in no way am trying to discredit what you believe. It sounds like you have a very firm foundation in Christ as God and a strong love of Traditional Liturgical Services. Which is awesome I celebrate with you that you find something so meaningful. And that i think we can agree on that it is important for christians to find something meaningful from christianty, whether it is in the Euchrist or Glossolalia
In regards to what is truth. Partly it is baised on perception- if i jump off a building i will not float but plumit to the ground because of gravity- it is truth whether i believe it or not. But because I know that when i jump i come back down i know it to be fact.However perception can be deceiveing (hence the reason we thought the world was flat and the sun revolved around us for ions)
Truth is baised on God, however I am not so pompous or arrogant to say I have cornered the truth, Because I can read Gods mind. That ONLY I know what the Almighty is thinking. No, truth is found when one seeks. The Bible says "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free" and until the glorious day when all will be united in Him who is truth, then all I can claim is what God has revealed to me, through life, worldview, culture.
As far as God not leaving, he did. that is why we have the holy spirit- again though it is through the spirit that we find meaningful communion with God through the ever evolveing church.
You are intitled to what you believe but I will not change my mind baised on the experiencial truth I have found in God's nature, in life (assisting babies being born) in death (watching patients die) in science, in the eyes of my husband, in the laughter of children, in the power of forgiveness, music, books, fellowship- all these places I have seen or felt God beause the kingdom of God is here and now.
@kipahni@xanga - Your experiences are vastly different then mine so I don't mean to disqualify or devalue your experiences.
Truth cannot be based on experience. Again, if truth is based on each person's experience then that means there are potentially an infinite number of truths. This cannot be the case since there is only one truth.
Also, I have not conveyed my experience to you in this set of comments. I have conveyed Church doctrine. You have stated clearly that you disagree with Church doctrine. And from that I concluded that you are not Christian. For to be Christian you must believe in and practice Christian doctrine.
Again, it is not the Church who is the salad bowl, but people who pick and choose what they wish to believe.
@kipahni@xanga - As far as God not leaving, he did. that is why we have the holy spirit- again though it is through the spirit that we find meaningful communion with God through the ever evolveing church.
Christian doctrine holds that God is three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So if Jesus left us the Holy Spirit, he left us God. Therefore, God did not leave.
Which "evolving" Church are you referring to?