That is a truly excellent question. I see it as pressing not just for "Christians," but for all counterculturalists. Are countercultures tragic because they either fail to realize their ideals or they become corrupt as soon as they succeed? What's an authentic counterculturalist to do? To die as an icon before the failure can take effect? That's what Jesus did, and Cobain saw the problem too. Or is there an honourable way of compromising with mainstream social obligations?

I don't have the answers, but it's something I think and write about. Here are some of my other articles on this conflict between dominant cultures and countercultures. And I have an upcoming one on the difference between cults and cultures.

https://medium.com/interfaith-now/christendoms-betrayal-of-the-perennial-counterculture-27dd62b7ecf1?sk=cac1fc3ceb589b3a6a24164811848187

https://medium.com/grim-tidings/the-ancient-cold-war-between-intellectuals-and-the-unreflective-masses-d0a85e0e9cda?sk=9228151d6257df2ee31ab91cd361c014

https://medium.com/grim-tidings/mass-societys-triumph-over-intellectuals-6272ad9a56aa?sk=291ca2095e380cc886551debd1c0cd48