Pop Goes The Church – #3

I have agreed to do a blog discussion of Pop Goes The Church by Tim Stevens (TS) with 3 other much wiser and better looking guys than me … Mike Demastus, Dan Hudson, and Kyle Phillips. We’re going to read a section, then post our thoughts and insights on our own blogs.

I like how TS approaches chapter 4 by giving different examples of churches reactions to a movie being shot in their town. I like word pictures and practicality, so this is easy for me to wrap my brain around. He says, “Every church makes a choice in how to respond to the pop culture, and the choice it makes determines how much of an impact it will have on its community.”

Response Choice: Condemn the Culture. TS raises the question of when did the church decide it should mandate the direction of our culture? Why are we focused on the fruit rather than the root (p71)?

I love this because I’ve always thought churches are treating the symptoms rather than the cause. We get mad and boycott McDonald’s because of their acceptance of homosexuality. I don’t agree with it, but shouldn’t we be more concerned with the lives and hearts of the execs that made the decision. Why not pour our boycott energies into praying/serving them?

Going right along with this, TS says Christians are using the Bible as a hammer against people trying to force reform. No wonder people are turned off! Who gets the warm fuzzies over something that just whacked ‘em up side the head?

He quotes the book “A Matrix of Meanings” (this is a fantastic quote): “In the New Testament, only the Gospels were written with the general public in mind. Yet many in the church read pop culture in light of Peter, Paul, and John’s letters. Books of the Bible intended as ‘inhouse’ documents, designed to purify God’s people, have been used inappropriately to correct the broader culture. So the warnings against sexual immorality in 1 Corinthians 7 get directed toward audiences Paul never intended.”

When we condemn the culture and use the Bible as a hammer, we’re just proving that we ARE judgmental and uncaring.

Response Choice: Separate From the Culture. When Jesus was on earth, he didn’t make a ton of list of don’ts; instead he focused on lists of character qualities we should have.

Response Choice: Embrace the Culture. Many mainline denominations have done just this, and as a result have become like the culture rather than a “light in the darkness.”

Response Choice: Ignore the Culture. Just because you ignore it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. And you’re missing out on a teachable moment. Jesus didn’t ignore the culture.

Response Choice: Leverage the Culture. This is obviously the best choice, and it is just that … a choice.

Chapter 5 goes right into leveraging the culture. TS talked about “sacred vs secular.” I agree with him that a lot of stuff in the Christian market is downright cheesy and embarrassing. When Paul was in Athens he was able to speak to the people there of their “unknown god” and point them in the direction of Jesus.

We are starting Freedom Ridge with the belief that everyone is on a spiritual journey whether they realize it or not; it is up to us to point them to Jesus. We need to meet people where they live, tap them on the shoulder, and begin walking with them as we steer them to Jesus.

I’m writing a post on the new generation initially called First Globals that will publish early Monday (August 18th). It’s got some interesting tidbits that I’d like to hear your comments and insight on. Please make sure you check it out.

Pop Goes The Church – #2

I have agreed to do a blog discussion of Pop Goes The Church by Tim Stevens (TS) with 3 other much wiser and better looking guys than me … Mike Demastus, Dan Hudson, and Kyle Phillips. We’re going to read a section, then post our thoughts and insights on our own blogs.

When I saw the title for chapter 2, “Lost In Translation,” I thought I’d be able to breeze right through it. I knew from the title what it was about, and I have tried and I think succeeded in removing most forms of Christianese from my vocabulary. I can speak it if I need to (although there are some words I don’t even understand), but most of the time I speak in the language of the “common man.” I’m multi-lingual.  (Update: see my comment to this post below.)

But TS went a little deeper than just Christianese and approached the topic of filters, which makes perfect sense. Because of our past, our upbringing, our different life experiences, we all see life through different filters. And this one can be a little trickier because as Christians we need to communicate knowing the hearers wear filters and WE wear filters.

“The Curse Of Knowledge” (p46) is a principle that says once you learn something it is hard for us to imagine life without knowing it. When you become familiar with the Bible it is easy to let that affect your word choices. TS says, “Speaking the right language is more than the words that are spoken. It is about context, timing, previous experiences, and culture.”

Check out John Voelz’s blog post about Christianese and taking things out of context.

I recently visited a church that is from a denomination I am not real familiar with and had a style of service that was foreign to me. I felt like a fish out of water. I didn’t know when to stand, when to sit, when to read, when to do anything (except look at my watch, which I did quite often). Everyone else was fine, because they were used to it. I was weirded out because I didn’t know what in the world was going on. I’m glad I was there, though, because it helped me be more sensitive to those “out of the loop.”

Chapter 3 is called “Why Pop Culture Is So Popular.” Pop culture is popular because it is all around us. Personally, I don’t put celebrities up on a pedestal just because they are celebrities. I didn’t watch the OJ trial; when Brittany or Lindsay or Paris are on the TV, I turn the channel. Tom Cruise is probably a nice guy. Oprah drives me nuts.

TS recently expanded on this chapter on his blog. You can read his thoughts here.

I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the book. Chapter 4 looks like it has some good stuff in it that I can’t wait to comment on.

Pop Goes The Church – #1

I have agreed to do a blog discussion of Pop Goes The Church with 3 other much wiser and better looking guys than me … Mike Demastus, Dan Hudson, and Kyle Phillips. We’re going to read a section, then post our thoughts and insights on our own blogs.

And we’re off … The author, Tim Stevens (henceforth known as TS), asks a couple good questions in the introduction that really stuck out to me. “Where is the church known more by what they do than by what they say?” (p16) and “Would your community be any different if your church ceased to exist?” (p17). I think if most churches are honest, they would have to say the community would not miss them if they disappeared. This is what scares me about launching Freedom Ridge … my decisions now and the DNA that is implanted into Freedom Ridge will have a direct effect on our personality and community involvement for years. I have said even before arriving in Ames that I want us to be doers and not just talkers, so this book already has me hooked by page 16.

I love the title of chapter 1: “Molly, your church sucks!” I think I’ve been to Molly’s church. TS quotes U2’s Bono (p24) who said in 2006, “I never had a problem with Christ. But, uh, Christians were a bit of a problem for me.” I know exactly what he means. The reason for this is because there is really no discernible difference between Christians and those who aren’t Christians. To help make the point, TS quotes a survey from the book unChristian that says “Christians are known as hypocritical, too focused on getting converts, homophobic, sheltered, too political, and judgmental” (p24). OUCH … but sooo true.

Don’t you think if we (Christians) put our money where our mouth is, or lined our life up by what we say we believe, that it would help others (those who aren’t Christians) see the difference Jesus makes in your life?? We’ve got a long way to go, and you can’t really blame those who aren’t Christians, because we Christians screw things up so much and get in the way. I’m a pastor, and there are a lot of Christians I don’t like (but that is a post for another day.)

TS makes the point that people are becoming more spiritual but are less apt to attend church. That is because “thousands of churches have made boring an art form” (p30) so most people see church as irrelevant. As a result, we need to engage the culture and remember that the church is supposed to reach out. We need to show how the Bible is relevant and can make a difference in people’s lives, but we need to do so in an honest, sincere way. Respect the fact that everyone is on a spiritual journey … we’re all at different places … and don’t be judgmental because someone isn’t as far along as you are.

TS ends the chapter saying, “If we keep doing what we have always done, we will keep getting what we have always gotten – and I am not satisfied with that” (p40). Ditto, my friend.

Pop Goes The Church

I bought this book a little while ago, but I haven’t even cracked it yet because there were other books in my reading queue. I have a feeling that I’m really going to like it and I’m hoping it will help put some feet to the things I want to do at Freedom Ridge.

I have agreed to do a blog discussion of this book with 3 other guys … Mike Demastus, Dan Hudson, and Kyle Phillips. We’re going to read a section, then post our thoughts and insights on our own blogs. The first post will be up no later than July 15, which is good because since we just moved I have to find where I put my book.

UPDATE: I found my book! I walked into the room that is going to be my temporary office, and a bright ray of light was shining down on a box in the corner of the room. I think I even heard angels singing. So I marched over to the box, took off the lid, and there was my book sitting right inside!

Truthfully, I remembered I drew stars all over a certain box that I wanted to locate easily (it has some books and important stuff in it.) I just looked for that box. It didn’t take that long to find it, although I like the “ray of light” story much better.