Christian Cultural Mediocrity
What benefit is there in Christians abandoning the popular culture? Why do "Christian businesses" have the perception of offering less than stellar service? What major innovations or cultural contributions have Christians, namely Evangelical Christians offered in recent years?
I examine these questions and others, in this new column you can read here.
What do you think? Am I being unfair or am I on to something?
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About Me
- Bill Barnwell
- I am a 27 year old pastor in mid-Michigan and hold Master's degrees in both Ministry and Theology. I'm also a freelance writer on religious and cultural issues. Amongst places I have been featured or cited are: The American Conservative, LewRockwell.com, Antiwar.com, Campus Report, EnterStageRight.com, The Washington Times, a high school textbook from Gale Publishing, and several college and university publications amongst other places. The views expressed on this page are solely my own. They do not reflect the views of any particular church, denomination or other entity.
In the News...
17 comments:
Good job Bill! I think that when the term "rapture" became popular, Christians stopped trying to improve the world we live in today, and just hang on for dear life until they vanished into heaven. Silly, because there is a big world out there with a lot of fun stuff that and Christians should be making a better effort to improve our world now. And you're absolutely right, most of those "Christian" movies and contemporary music are terrible, forcing yourself or your children to watch them because they are "Christian" is about on par with what the martyrs suffered during the dark/middle ages.
Andy
We watched George Lucas's original Star Wars trilogy when my oldest two kids were 7 and 5.5. We made sure they knew about the religous world-view behind the movies (occultic), and posed the question: if Lucas can do something so memorable for his deity, what should we aspire to accomplish for the true God?
Hi Andy: There are some contemporary Christian songs that I really do enjoy and I think such material is good and edifying for believers. My objection to most the rest is not the content, just the quality, as you point out. But perhaps we should indeed look consider punishing unruly 3rd graders in Sunday schools by making them repeatedly listen to some of the hokiest stuff!
Tom: Good point. I think the big thing we lack in both the music and film industries are obviously finances. But there have been some recent lower budget movies that have been really good the past couple of decades that brought in far more than they spent. People like quality and they will pay to listen/watch it.
This was an excellent article, thank you. As a Catholic, I find a similar cocooning tendency even among some very creative people. While I understand it, personally and as a parent, I always think of Frodo and the Shire--either we take an active role in the wider world beyond our hobbity borders, even in the perilous "Arts", or we will find Mordor on our doorstep notwithstanding.
Reminds me of Flannery O'Connor, who used to complain that too many Catholic readers, who thought her fiction tackled most inappropriate themes for a nice Catholic girl, were "militant morons." Ouch.
The Pastor is all over the map on this. There are many scriptures that call for believers to be separate from the world's culture. Nor do I find that he offers solutions other than to produce products of a quality that the world wants. The world at large does not want the gospel and that is the issue. I do agree that there is a stain on christians vis-a-vis this industrial strength christian industry. Some men and women have made huge fortunes over the misuse of scripture and they have no reason to alter course. Why should they, the money is good where they are. The Lord will sort all of that out in due time.
I think your thesis (that Christians should not settle for cultural mediocrity) is correct, but you didn't go into any depth as to why "Left Behind" theology precludes things like Handel's "Messiah" oratorio and Michelangelo's "Pieta" or frescoes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It's not just emphasis on eternity that affects our work; it's also the strain of iconoclasm in many Protestant confessions, where the white clapboard "church house" and Shaker silence are (wrongly) regarded as more authentically Christian than stained glass windows and plaster statues of saints.
There has always been tension between being "in the world, but not of it" and participating enough to be able to say with Paul that we have "run the good race" and "fought the good fight." Only an understanding of how Jesus reconciled matter and spirit for all time in His person can keep us from sneering at artists and craftsmen.
Modern Christian contributions to the culture tend to be social rather than artistic. It's Christians who are most opposed to abortion and to embryonic stem cell harvesting, for example.
P.J. O'Rourke once wrote of his trip to Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's "Heritage USA" that the music section in one store should have had a sign reading "I found God and lost my talent," but he wasn't thinking of U2, or Vince Gill, or Emmylou Harris, or Dolly Parton. In spite of those examples, my guess is that most Christian influence starts at the grassroots level, with folk musicians, rather than with bands on major labels. And while the new movie "The Nativity Story" doesn't break ground not already visited by Mel Gibson a few years back, it's well done and not at all kitchsy. So there's hope yet.
Bill, your article seems Providentially timed. I've been mulling the problem of Christian cultural mediocrity for the last several days.
What concerns me particularly is the effect of our cultural insularity on the churches themselves. The insistence on second-rate thinking and producing seems to breed a corresponding sloppiness in preaching and teaching. Most pastors I've heard in Baptist and Charismatic/Pentecostal churches subtly or overtly denigrate intellectual competence as a sign of selfishness or pomposity. They will even take ordinary English words like "justification" and pronounce them "fifty dollar" or "fancy theological" terms, essentially helping the state schools to dumb down the population.
I've also noticed a tendency of teachers and preachers to address Christian audiences in a patronizing tone, as if they are talking to children. Sometimes it's so bad that you know these guys would be mocked (or punched in the face) if they dared to talk to people in the street this way.
In church drama the attacks on the mind are even worse, with skits presenting some or all of the characters as clueless dolts. The nadir was Redwood Chapel in Castro Valley, CA: the drama department staged an exhibition (to call it a "play" devalues the word) wherein grown men and women donned garbage bags and ran in circles, gobbling like turkeys. They represented "sin." Another play at the same church showed angels condemning a successful entrepreneur to eternal hell because he refused to give up his business and become an impoverished janitor.
I don't know how to counter this mass mental suicide except by feeding my brethren samples of high culture (in the context of sound Christian doctrine) through teaching, or any other ministry God calls me to. My experience in teaching adult Sunday school has been that Christians find history, philosophy, and the fine arts fascinating, if you will just give it to them without apologies or condescension.
Anonymous, the calls to be separate from the world mean that Christians are not to adopt a "worldly" or sinful ethic and not to have attachments to things that are not of God. Balance this with the fact that we are also to be a light to the world. Note Paul in the book of Acts was not afraid to interact with the culture around him. Adapt things that could be useful for his purposes, while discarding things that would have no value. Why cannot we do something similar today? This isn't about Christians lowering their standards and making money dishonestly or by catering to sinful whims. Of course, Christians will always face some rejection to a degree, but there's no reason we can't be more culturally involved in a positive way and bringing other people up rather than people bringing you down.
There is a certain irony perhaps in that the greatest cultural gift Christianity gave the world this year was forgiveness, and it was presented by one of the least worldly of all the Christian sects.
Hi Rev. Bill,
I agree so much with your article! I am an artist and have often being the subject of frowns of disapproval and a "you need to do something practical" kind of attitude by many christians. I often feel like I do not fit in in the church and have keep my talents to myself, resulting in a lot of frustration. In many ways, the rapture doctrine has become cult-like, instilling a lot of fear in people. I believe that we are all given different gifts to be used. I just wish more christians would embrace and promote the creative ones.
Lots of interesting ideas being kicked around here. I'd like to respond to a few:
Anonymous writes:
"The world at large does not want the gospel and that is the issue."
It's true that most people will reject the gospel, but treating the arts as a mission field allows Christians to reach people like me.
I was raised in an atheist home, and my parents taught me that Christians were anti-intellectual fools who had no facts or philosophy to back up their spiritual claims. I stopped believing this claptrap only after I read the works of Christian authors presenting the Biblical case for philosophical clarity, political liberty and the free market. Intrigued by this, I gladly accepted C.S. Lewis books from Christian friends I met in college (thus making the transition to theology).
My friends also gave me my first Bible. By this time I wanted to read the Word of God because culturally involved Christians had already demonstrated their proficiency in discussing politics and philosophy. I reasoned, correctly, that if their thinking about worldly matters was sound, it must rest on an equally sound spiritual foundation. The Bible presented me with the righteousness of Christ and my own sinful state in contrast. I repented and believed in Him, and He saved me.
There are others out there like me who are open to this sort of "intellectual conversion". Scripture quoting alone won't reach them. They have to see how Christianity works in the areas that interest them before they will listen to the deeper things.
Shannon writes:
"I am an artist and have often being the subject of frowns of disapproval and a "you need to do something practical" kind of attitude by many christians. I often feel like I do not fit in in the church and have keep my talents to myself, resulting in a lot of frustration."
I hear this from many artistic people in the church. Partly it's due to the mental laziness of substituting religious cliches for spiritual discernment (we are all vulnerable to this temptation!). It's also due to the deeply ingrained American habit of measuring all things according to money, which means reducing every form of excellence to a job and a paycheck.
"In many ways, the rapture doctrine has become cult-like, instilling a lot of fear in people."
There are some pre-tribbers who aren't giving up on the culture, but they're outnumbered by their apathetic brethren. But do you notice how the latter are double-minded concerning the future? They plan for their children's college education and their own retirement decades in the future, only to turn around and claim that we have no time to effect any kind of social reform! Can we motivate these people without touching the Rapture doctrine? I think so. One way is an appeal to courage (i.e., the heroic last stand). Think of Boromir against the Uruk-hai, if you've read Tolkien.
"I just wish more christians would embrace and promote the creative ones."
Like the unsaved, they need a better reason to pay attention to our works than a plea for patronage. Let us strive to create worthy things that are hard to ignore.
Our walk with the Lord is an individual journey yet we are parts of a larger entity, the body of Christ, the bride etc. Yet we continue to talk about "christians" doing this, or doing that. It is because of individual uniqueness and creativity that we have so much difference among believers. If someone wants to be different, have at it. If you can sell it, great. But if you use and abuse people, shame on you. That is where, I fear, too many of our "leaders" reside. I for one want to walk with Him and not with "them".
Henry, thank you for placing the discussion in the context of Christian humility and individual gifting of different parts of the Body of Christ.
The best way to view this ministry is as a form of seed planting (seeds = ideas), not reforming other people to meet one's own expectations. Example: my older brother has written and directed church plays dealing with political issues that most pastors won't touch with a 100 foot pole. After the performances people would approach him and say, "Wow, I never thought the Bible even addressed the matter of [insert neglected issue]. Thank you. That was interesting." I've asked my brother whether he'd be willing to publish these plays on the Web. If so, I will set up a web site for them.
Is it correct to say, "Christians ought to work harder at [insert neglected virtue or ministry here]?" Yes, provided we mean this as a general exhortation, not a command to every individual. I think Bill meant it in the former sense.
Brother Bill,
WOW
You stirred up a hornet's nest with this.
Of course you are right on.
I also minister in a holiness group. PH.
I looked over your fellowship's website. Very good.
This issue of cultural relevancy is going to become a repeated theme. If Judgement starts in the House of the Lord we are in for it.
Maybe it's about time. I'm glad I found your website.
Keep up the good work.
There is no question that we as believers should strive for excellence in everything we do, however....I think go way to far. You take a worldly point of view and try to tie it into the kingdom of God. How "involved" are believers supposed to be in this world and it's kingdom? Is our kingdom of this world?
Please show me where in the bible Jesus's carpentry skills are discussed in the same context you write about in your article and we'll explore the subject further.
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