Will A Crunchy Lifestyle Make You More Christian

Recently I got this comment:

Hello Sanne. This morning I was recalling several blog posts you wrote about ( some) Christians thinking they must wear "Prairie Clothes, homestead, etc." in order to be a proper Christian. They were along these lines, anyway .
Would you be willing to write more on this?

...Part of what I've come through is just that type of thinking , that in order to do it "right" I must look a certain way or do certain things within my family.
I see more clearly now, Glory to God, but online I still see so much of this.
I would love to hear more of your thoughts

You see, it's difficult to write on this topic because if you go into too much detail as by giving examples of what you mean, you are sure to offend both those to the left and to the right of you:) But I will try.

First of all, one should keep in mind that most anyone with some presence online such as a blog/twitter/facebook account etc is an influencer (that includes me as I'm trying to influence people to question feminism and other things). There is nothing wrong with it, of course, but most influencers will try to earn either by selling you a product or by trying to influence your politics which they are often paid for, or in some other way. 

A lot of them are good, sincere people who believe in what they say, but some are more nefarious or downright grifters.

People say that social media is like a town square where you can exchange your opinions, but it's not entirely true because when I'm exchanging opinions with my neighbours in real life, they aren't trying to constantly sell me something, or telling me for which candidate to vote.

That is something to keep in mind when dealing with internet personalities, especially famous ones with a lot of followers.

What does it have to do with Christianity, you ask. Well, it's true for the Christian influencers as well. Except that they often will try not only to influence your politics, but your theology as well. Simply put, they'll often try to persuade you that their brand of Christianity is the only correct one and you have to do things exactly their way, otherwise you are a bad Christian or even not saved at all.

The most important division in the Christian world is between Roman Catholics/Eastern Orthodox (these churches are quite similar in doctrine though their adherents will often fight with each other online) and Protestants. Theological division between these two traditions is very wide and both sides consider each other heretics (though most will be too polite to admit it).

Protestants in theory all have similar beliefs, and yet they fight even more between themselves that Catholics and Orthodox. 

Now I'm not talking about liberals over here, those who believe in ordination of women, or deny the inerrancy of the Scriptures. This is quite another can of worms, and I hope that my readers are all Bible believing Christians. 

However, even among more right wing denominations there is a lot of division over doctrinal issues, and, of course, you'll see it online. For instance, some churches believe that vaccination is not Biblical. While others don't have any teaching about this. Personally I believe that this issue falls under Christian freedom. 

There are things in the Bible which are quite clear, like the 10 Commandments. And there are some things which aren't addressed at all, like what TV show it's OK to watch. I believe God gave us brains and the capability to discern Good and Evil so that we would use it for these "grey areas" of life. 

If you belong to a certain church it appears natural to me that you will follow it's doctrine, but you'll use your discernment capabilities to see if this church isn't falling into open heresy (which happens much too often nowadays). Also, women have men in their life (husbands, fathers, brothers) to ask questions about these things, however, I do believe in the freedom of conscience. A woman can have very strong convictions about some things being sinful which her husband doesn't share (like wearing short skirts). If it's absolutely against your conscience to do something, I believe it overrides earthy authorities. 

So while Christians are supposed to live in a certain way as the Bible teaches (or their understanding of it) they have a considerable freedom to choose their politics, their diet, medical treatment for their families, whether to live in a city or in the country, how to educate their children etc, using their discernment, of course, and not compromising their faith.

That's the way I see it personally.