It’s a strange world we live in when one of the most infamous atheists, Richard Dawkins, is calling himself a “cultural Christian.” Of course, he’s still an atheist, but nevertheless, there has been a palpable shift in the West’s intellectual atmosphere for Dawkins (and others) to be willing to embrace such an identity.
And yet, there is a clarity in Dawkins’s unbelief that is still important. He understands that he is not a Christian in any kind of supernatural sense. Unfortunately, for many of our neighbors, (especially my neighbors in the American South), there is far less of this self-awareness.
A Familiar Faith
In the South (speaking very generally, of course), and even in the West when broadly considered, there is a familiarity with the very basics of the Christian story. So many people would identify as Christians, who are perhaps better classified as a Dawkins-like cultural Christian. That is, there is no real substance or life to their faith beyond what they have inherited from their culture. They rarely go to church, they hardly ever pray, they don’t read the Scriptures, they don’t give to charity, they do not raise their children to fear the Lord, they are not bearing any fruit of the Spirit, but they also don’t hesitate to call themselves Christians.
The key difference between these people and Dawkins is religious self-awareness. Dawkins has thought out his unbelief, they have not thought through their so-called belief. Sure, they may know a few words. Sure, they may own a Bible. Sure, they may show up for Christmas or Easter. They are familiar with Christianity in a shallow sense, but they simply do not know Christ. Fatally, they are too familiar, too comfortable with Him, to understand their wretched state.
A Tame Lion
Rhythms, rituals, and rites, these cultural Christians are trained just enough to look the part. But what a barrier to belief familiarity can be. Why respond to the Good News, when we have heard it all before? Why repent and believe, when we already check the Christian census box? What more is their to know? What more is there to do?
C.S. Lewis recognized this dangerous state of being familiar with the faith while not having a true commitment to it. Summarizing his thoughts, Russel Moore states:
Lewis recognized that a major obstacle to his generation receiving the gospel wasn’t that the gospel was too mysterious to them, but that it was too familiar. The Lion of Judah seemed tame; the biblical narrative was confused with a respectable cultural script. And people can’t hear as good news that which they no longer hear as news at all.1
Awake, O Sleeper!
Sometimes, especially in cultural contexts that are saturated with a long Christian history, we need to let the Lion off the leash. Recognizing how familiar the words of Jesus, God, and the Gospel can be, we need to fill in their depth and challenge our friends and neighbors to see the glory of Christ, the plight of their sin, the majesty of the Cross, and the beauty of the Gospel in a fresh light. The message is unchangeable. The means and methods in which we deliver it ought to be varied and contextualized. And many a cultural Christian needs to hear the words, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14).
Notes
- Russel Moore, “The Chronicles of Narnia Still Grips Our Imagination, 70 Years Later,” The Gospel Coalition, October 12, 2020, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/chronicles-narnia-70-years-later/
Photo by Jorge Coromina on Unsplash
Further Reading:
Moore Thinking 
Such an important topic! I believe the following quote really sums it up simply. “They are familiar with Christianity in a shallow sense, but they simply do not know Christ.”
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