Archive | May, 2008
Pop Goes the Church, Tim Stevens
Pop Goes the Church makes the case for the wise and effective use of popular culture within a church service. Stevens does not approach the subject lightly, nor does he speak from an academic or merely hypothetical point of view. As Executive Pastor at Granger Community Church in Granger, Illinois, Stevens speaks from years of seeing his opinions put into effective practice.
Television, movies, music, the internet: these are the means of communication in the 21st century, the way in which we (especially in America) learn the greater narrative of our times. It is mass media that entertains us while simultaneously telling us who we are and what we value.
As the church has had to adjust to the printing press and every other major technological innovation of the last 2,000 years, so to must today’s church. It would seem that the church has chosen both the path of most resistance and the path of least resistance. Most traditional churches err on the side of maintaining the Christian bubble, wary of the needles of pop culture that threaten to burst what must be a fragile faith in the first place. On the other hand, hipper-than-thou churches err on the side of accommodation, sacrificing substance for style in the name of the trend, the fad, and the holy most, otherwise known as a popularity contest.
Stevens pleads the case for the wise use of the culture around us to create welcoming and familiar places of entry into a church service for those that would otherwise be disinclined to step foot into a place of worship. Citing more than a few biblical instances, including Paul’s speech at the Aeropagus regarding worship of an unknown god and Jesus’ use of stories (parables) relevant to his culture, Stevens devotes half of the book to the theoretical underpinning of his belief. Fortunately, for those that don’t know what such a church service could look like, Stevens then uses the last half of the book to give concrete examples of how such positive use of popular culture has worked in American churches.
As a seemingly lifelong church service attender, I appreciate the changes Stevens proposes. Instead of escaping the culture, boycotting the culture, or diving headlong into culture, I agree with the notion that we, as the church, should be engaged with the culture, as long as the end result is life change.
“Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.” – Matthew 10:16, The Message
www.popgoesthechurch.com – the book’s site
www.leadingsmart.com – the author’s blog
AA Plane TO PARIS loses panel IN FLIGHT!
My apologies for the egregious use of caps in the title, but consider me more than concerned that this was very nearly my flight! It left a week before from DFW, headed to Paris, which is exactly what we did. I just hope that the problem was fixed before our flight, or we were in fact on a different plane. Either way, there are certain news stories I wish I just had not run across.
And this is a good sign:
“Airline officials say the pilot thought the loud noises during the flight last month were due to cargo shifting, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.”
Thus the following exchange:
“Did you hear that Bob?”
“Hear what?”
“That loud bang?”
“Naw. Probably just someone’s souvenir-stuffed luggage. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“OK. If you say so…”
Paris Photos Embedded Slideshow
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
I’d forgotten about this embedded slideshow feature! Click each large picture to read the captions!
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