The Grateful Dead may be as well known for their “deadheads”—fans who follow them from venue to venue, year after year—as for any of their music. I’ve spent several hours listening to their best-loved songs, at times attended by devout deadhead friends most eager to secure my endorsement. I love my friends, and I hate disappointing them, but I don’t “get” the Dead.  

Likewise, I like some Bruce Springsteen songs. He has penned some excellent lyrics and artfully phrased them, and I like a lot of what I hear, but when Springsteen fanatics urge me to agree that his music is genuinely great, I don’t get it. I admit that the problem may be me; I may suffer a fails-to-fully-appreciate-the-Boss gene. 

At the same time, I deeply love lots of other music, and I would stand by the greatness of that music whether or not others share my appreciation. But here’s the thing: there is a kind of love that has little to do with the medium itself and everything to do with the tribe that celebrates it. 

Deadheads love and relish their community, which may translate into such phrases as “Isn’t their music [Grateful Dead] absolutely the best?” Springsteen fans claim, “If you ever see him live, you’ll be sold!” Certainly not all—but some—of the appeal is the community surrounding the music. That’s the love of one’s tribe, which one can conflate with one’s feelings about the music itself. 

This long set-up has nothing to do with music and everything to do with the gospel’s truth. In short, there is a kind of Christianity that is more in love with the tribe of Christendom than of Jesus Himself. When “being a Christian” is more about one’s own identity than the truth claims about Christ, it has become tribal. Fill in the blank: “I am a Catholic/Orthodox/Reformed/Evangelical/Independent/Presbyterian”—all of these are statements merely about oneself and one’s chosen tribe. Even to say, “I am a Christian!” is all about oneself. A group of Christians can quickly become a tribe and suffer a fall from true faith to tribal self-interest. Whenever a group of Christians becomes more interested in tribal self-preservation than the mission of the gospel, it has ceased to be the Body of Christ. When a church fails to think theologically—that is, when it no longer cares for the particularities of its beliefs—it quickly becomes little more than a self-preserving tribe. At that low point, there is no difference between a congregation deliberating over which hymns to sing and a group of Deadheads picking out which tie-dyes to wear to Coachella. 

When Christians celebrate their tribe—be it by denomination, congregation, or the lure of good ol’ church nostalgia—they practice tribal Christianity, which has nothing to do with the gospel. We would do much better to embrace tribeless Christianity, total devotion to Christ without regard to a tribe. 

Tribeless Christianity sloughs off whatever is not critical to the gospel mission. Tribeless Christianity insists, “It’s not about us—what we want or like does not matter—all that matters is God’s glory and the pursuit of the gospel mission.”  

We may form great communities (local congregations) and have some ideological affiliations (denominations), but we are not interested in developing an identity based on those things. Our identity is in Christ alone, and the degree to which we embrace any tribalism affects the integrity of our faith. We lose touch with the quality of the music and merely celebrate our own in-groups. We think what we believe is good and true only because everyone else in the tribe thinks it’s good and true. We don’t really know, and we don’t do our homework. That is a failure. 

Becoming a group of tribeless Christians means we will not allow our group identity (be it denominational, ideological, or otherwise) to determine the gospel. We will find our gospel in Scripture alone, and we will make sure our hearts’ deepest affections and devotions hold focus there. 

We are in this for God’s glory, not our own. We are devoted and committed to Christ, not the groupthink of our beloved communities and church family. We will study God’s Word and shape our beliefs accordingly, whether the rest of our tribe “gets it” or not. 

The cheerful irony is this: when we go tribeless, our faith finds its proper focus, and the members of our community connect more richly and more deeply than before. So let us abandon tribalism—including Christian tribalism—and embrace Christ. Without a doubt, our life and its music will grow more wondrous than ever.  †