Tuesday, December 21, 2004
WORD ON THE STREET: I know you weren't expecting ruminations on modern Christianity from a blog that gets more hits from people (wrongly) looking for porn than anything, but 'tis the season...
We've been getting a lot of plugs around here for a local church's production of "Word on the Street", the ads on the local classic rock station calling it an "edgy, contemporary" version of the story of Mary and Joseph, with lots of singing, dancing, and "a powerful message" at the end.
Apart from the mind-bogglingly hard task of reconciling "edgy" with "the story of the Nativity" (the birth of any baby, even THE Baby, doesn't really have much of an "edge"), the bad thing about trying to make the church "trendy" is that you run the risk of making faith as disposable as a trend. The reason your standard church/synagogue/what have you is the cornerstone of a lot of communities is that in spite of the filigree, the base of it has remained unchanged for as long as anybody can remember. You go to the chapel on Sunday (and maybe a few other days if you're really involved), sing some hymns, and listen to the sermon in the company of other believers who help reinforce the idea that you're not alone.
It's very simple on the face of it, although like any endeavor run by people, it often ends up more complicated than it has to be. That's where the "trendiness" comes in, and that's where the trouble begins. In most churches, the "now" elements are an overlay, rather than the base, and when the cycle on the "now" runs its course (as it inevitably does when you dwell in the "now"), there's a distinct possibility these new people drawn in won't stick around when the focus goes back to the "eternal". Or even worse, they won't pay attention to your core at all.
An example ripped from real life: a guy I used to work with (let's call him Goofus) went to a youth revival event, with a Power Team-style martial arts group breaking boards and spreading the Good Word. This was inspirational enough to turn Goofus to the Lord...to a point. I asked him if he'd started going to church, too. "Nah, church is boring," he answered. I was--and am--a supreme backslider in that area, but that was the warning sign. Since he was as dedicated to his Lord as he was to his job (and that wasn't meant as a compliment), it was only a matter of time.
That summer, he took a trip to New York state and got his first lapdance, and that was the end of that.
We've been getting a lot of plugs around here for a local church's production of "Word on the Street", the ads on the local classic rock station calling it an "edgy, contemporary" version of the story of Mary and Joseph, with lots of singing, dancing, and "a powerful message" at the end.
Apart from the mind-bogglingly hard task of reconciling "edgy" with "the story of the Nativity" (the birth of any baby, even THE Baby, doesn't really have much of an "edge"), the bad thing about trying to make the church "trendy" is that you run the risk of making faith as disposable as a trend. The reason your standard church/synagogue/what have you is the cornerstone of a lot of communities is that in spite of the filigree, the base of it has remained unchanged for as long as anybody can remember. You go to the chapel on Sunday (and maybe a few other days if you're really involved), sing some hymns, and listen to the sermon in the company of other believers who help reinforce the idea that you're not alone.
It's very simple on the face of it, although like any endeavor run by people, it often ends up more complicated than it has to be. That's where the "trendiness" comes in, and that's where the trouble begins. In most churches, the "now" elements are an overlay, rather than the base, and when the cycle on the "now" runs its course (as it inevitably does when you dwell in the "now"), there's a distinct possibility these new people drawn in won't stick around when the focus goes back to the "eternal". Or even worse, they won't pay attention to your core at all.
An example ripped from real life: a guy I used to work with (let's call him Goofus) went to a youth revival event, with a Power Team-style martial arts group breaking boards and spreading the Good Word. This was inspirational enough to turn Goofus to the Lord...to a point. I asked him if he'd started going to church, too. "Nah, church is boring," he answered. I was--and am--a supreme backslider in that area, but that was the warning sign. Since he was as dedicated to his Lord as he was to his job (and that wasn't meant as a compliment), it was only a matter of time.
That summer, he took a trip to New York state and got his first lapdance, and that was the end of that.
|| Eric 9:40 AM#
