playing the soundtrack to faith one post at a time
Theology Thought number two comes from a question I was asked after the sermon on the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12).
“What Was Mary Thinking?”
Thanks for watching.
What questions would you like to see me wriggle with on these Theology Thoughts. Chime in on the comments below.
Here is the sermon that is referenced in the video. It’s quite good…so I’ve heard.
Evangelism is the rough equivalent of sharing something that has changed the way you experience life.
Not too long ago, if I said the name Gotye, you would think I was talking about Jean Paul Gaultier and wondering why on earth I’d be talking about him since I’m a fashion assassin. I’m a terrible dresser. But today, everything has changed.
This band wrote this song and recorded an album.
I never heard the song.
BUT these guys did and filmed this incredibly creative and enigmatic cover.
After I saw their interpretation of the other band’s song, I had to go and see who did it originally.
That’s evangelism.
Sharing somebody else’s message, song, idea, etc…through their own personality and passion.
In the church, it looks like this:
Jesus proclaims this message of grace and freedom and people don’t hear it.
So you fall in love with the message and allow inspiration to create a medium that grabs peoples’ attention. Compelling, mind you. NOT repelling. A medium that makes sense. A medium people can own and experience. Like a YouTube video in this case.
When I first saw the Walk Off The Earth Cover, there were only 30 million views, now it’s 53 million a couple of weeks later. When I first saw the Gotye video there were less than 20 million views, not there have been over 70 million!
See people LOVE the cover, but you know what? They love the original more.
PS: Watch these. Seriously!
Picking a voice from around the web world, I’m engaging a post by John Byron from his blog The Biblical World.
The Church is leaking.
Of course, that statement has nothing to do with plumbing, unless you call the water of the church, young people. Citing Barna and Leadership Journal, Byron states that six out of ten young people will leave the church for an extended period of time, some of which will never return.
According to Leadership Journal, here are six reasons (quoted from Byron’s blog):
Isolationism. One-fourth of 18- to 29-year-olds say church demonizes everything outside church, including the music, movies, culture, and technology that define their generation.
Shallowness. One-third call church boring, about one-fourth say faith is irrelevant and Bible teaching is unclear. One-fifth say God is absent from their church experience.
Anti-science. Up to one-third say the church is out of step on scientific developments and debate.
Sex. The church is perceived as simplistic and judgmental. For a fifth or more, a “just say no” philosophy is insufficient in a techno-porno world. Young Christian singles are as sexually active as their non-churched friends, and many say they feel judged.
Exclusivity. Three in 10 young people feel the church is too exclusive in this pluralistic and multi-cultural age. And the same number feel forced to choose between their faith and their friends.
Doubters. The church is not a safe place to express doubts say over one-third of young people, and one-fourth have serious doubts they’d like to discuss.
In an excellent post by Chris Brooks on the Wayfarer’s Blog, Brooks notes an incompatibility between youth programs and later young adult communities. Citing a USA Today article, Brooks notes, “70 percent of Protestants between the ages of 18 and 30 drop out of church before age 23.”
“The problem arises from the inadequacy of preparing young Christians for life beyond youth group,” writes David Kinnaman, co-author of unChristian. He points to research findings showing that, “The university setting does not usually cause the disconnect; it exposes the shallow-faith problem of many young disciples.”
I submit that this trend has been the rule for quite a long time and as these young adult become…er, adults, they…, well, they hold a grudge.
And why wouldn’t they hold a grudge?
Ferris is right, “Life moves pretty fast.”
Why would anyone want to be a part of a system that settles into the complaints experienced above?
Those statistics, if empirically true, are an invitation for the church to…well, to not suck
Jesus pushes the mission of God forward through the church. We are a body that is designed to make The Fast and The Furious look like Thomas the Train Engine! The mission of the Church is an adventure epic in scale and heart arrestingly dangerous. How on earth have we become isolated, shallow, anti-intellectual, exclusive, sexually ambivalent doubt haters?
At the church I pastor, Glendale Presbyterian Church (in Glendale, Ca), we are journeying through the Gospel of John; moving through The Year of Living Dangerously. We are taking on the challenge of Jesus, finding his rhythm in the world and playing along.
The Church may be leaking, but the Gospel is in the business of pipe replacement.
Wherever it is, the drip won’t drop for long.
What do you think?
Just felt like Dire Straits set the mood for the whole thing…
I always appreciate when twitter gets used like this: to reveal truth, to connect universally, to create space for hope where hope needs to be.
Wow…can’t believe I haven’t blogged since posting the last one…sigh.
I don’t know why this needs to be on my blog…but, wil can provide the jovi. For real.
ripped from his site with courtesy and admiration.
for funs…you can follow wil on twitter and join like 45,000 other people.
Ed note: I don’t like to criticize others. I don’t. I hate that this has that personal attack vibe. However, when someone with this man’s power uses “bible” in ways that mean “don’t think,” which would appear to mean “don’t learn beneath the surface,” I want to make note of that. The extent to which his comments are un-critical are outrageous, however leave no doubt as to why American Folk Theology is so prevalent in our 21st Century religious landscape.
Here’s what I learnt:
1. Thou shalt be forevermore free from using your imagination.
2. Thou shalt use neither illustration nor demonic metaphor when preaching or telling stories.
3. Thou shalt study neither church history nor church doctrine before preaching on it.
4. However, thou shalt preach it as though thou hast.
5. Thou shalt misinterpret Trinitarian doctrine and make what is eternal temporal.
6. Thou shalt pretend as though thou hast comprehended the full mystery of God.
7. Thou shalt say nothing, but thou shalt sayest it loudly…and with Powerpoint.
8. Thou shalt say “modalism” whence thou meanest “I don’t know.”
9. Thou shalt not care who criticizes, for thine critics do not understand the full mystery of thou.
10. Thou shalt hold fast to the past, even when the present brings thineself closer to God.
Here’s what I’m thinking…when one preaches, one needs to know what one is saying when one says it.
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If baptize you must, and you have grown tired of liturgy and tradition, might I suggest something a little more impersonal, perhaps less significant, yet great fodder for a vid cam. Should baptism be something with enough media spectacle to make the news?
Technorati Tags: cannonball, baptism, funny video
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