Making Christianty Better or Rock and Roll Worse?
August 22, 2007
I found this funny and insightful piece on a blog recently. Read on…
I used to watch a lot of the show “King of the Hill.” For those who don’t know it, it is an animated show targetted at adults (like The Simpsons and any number of other shows these days, most of which are not worth watching). The main character is Hank Hill, a proud, Republican Texan who has dedicated his life to selling propane and propane accessories. He loves country music, football, Willie Nelson, Sweet Lady Propane, and of course, God. His love for God is presented as real, but somewhat inconsistent, as we might expect for a Texan who has lived his life amidst one of the strongholds of institutionalized religion. While it is a fun and usually innocent show, I stopped watching it a few years ago.
One episode from a few years ago caught my attention. It was called “Reborn to be Wild” and was nominated for an award by The Writers Guild of America. This episode continues to come to my mind these days, especially as I read Phil Johnson’s posts about the Fad Driven Church and Steve Camp’s articles about “God is my Girlfriend Songs.”
While my memory of the show is getting hazy, I found a substantial number of quotes from the show at various web sites, enough to provide a good summary of the episode. In this particular episode Bobby (Hank’s son who must be twelve or thirteen) becomes involved with a youth group and the far-too-cool youth pastor, Pastor K. Hank is reluctant to have Bobby involved in this type of group, where all the kids skateboard, listen to loud music and generally try to make God cool. Bobby becomes captivated by the group and seeks to impress his parents with his new friends.
BOBBY: These are my friends from the youth group. They’re cool and they’re totally Christian.
Bobby begins to absorb the message of this youth leader and begins to wear a “Satan Sucks” t-shirt.
PASTOR K: To be tight with the Lord, you gotta take your faith to the limit. You know what I’m talking about?KID: The power!
PASTOR K: That’s right! Nothing runs without power. Your amp is useless unless it gets that juice, and so are we. So you gotta test all things to find the good.
BOBBY: But how do you know what’s good?
PASTOR K: It’s whatever sticks to your spirit, man, whatever God tattoos on your soul. We’re all searching for that eternal ink.
Bobby begins to show the influence of the pastor and the other kids.
BOBBY: And then Cain was all like “I ain’t s’posed to be lookin’ out for my bro, yo.”
LUANNE (Bobby’s Cousin): I didn’t know that was in Genesis.
Hank expresses his concern to Pastor K.
PASTOR K: Dude, you don’t have to act or dress a certain way for God. You can hang with him any way, anywhere. Don’t you think Jesus is right here in this half-pipe?
HANK: I’m sure he’s a lot of places he doesn’t want to be.
Meanwhile, Bobby has started collecting all the Jesus Junk that seems to be part-and-parcel of this little Christian subculture. His mother tries out one of his video games.
PEGGY (playing an “Exodus” video game): Whoo! I’m out of Egypt! And look at Moses dance!
Hank and Peggy talk to Bobby and express their concern with what he is learning and how he is acting. He pulls the “you just don’t understand” card that is always popular with teens.
BOBBY: You guys just don’t understand how I feel about Jesus!
A few days later Bobby ends up on stage, leading the crowd at a wild Christian rock concert.
BOBBY: I’ll say holy, you say ghost! Holy!
CROWD: Ghost!
BOBBY: Holy!
CROWD: Ghost!
PASTOR K: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want! He make me lie down in green pastures!BOBBY: They’re green, y’all!
Hank confronts Pastor K one more time, expressing his disgust with the music, the look and the lifestyle.
HANK: Can’t you see you’re not making Christianity better, you’re just making rock n’ roll worse.
PASTOR K: You people are all alike. You look at us and think we’re freaks. Come on, even Jesus had long hair.
HANK: Only because I wasn’t his dad.
Jessie (I cannot recall her relationship to Pastor K) encourages Pastor K.
JESSIE: Never come between a kid and his dad. If the man doesn’t want his boy praising like you, that’s cool.
PASTOR K: Yeah, but —
JESSIE: Now go finish the show before they start moshing out of anger instead of jubilation.
The show wraps up with Hank teaching Bobby an important lesson.
BOBBY: When I turn 18, I’m going to do whatever I want for the Lord. Tattoos, piercings, you name it.
HANK: Well, I’ll take that chance. Come here, there’s something I want you to see. (Hank takes down a box from the shelf and opens it up) Remember this?
BOBBY: My beanbag buddy? Oh, man, I can’t believe I collected those things. They’re so lame.
HANK: You didn’t think so five years ago. And how about your virtual pet? You used to carry this thing everywhere. Then you got tired of it, forgot to feed it, and it died.
BOBBY (looks at a photo of himself in a Ninja Turtles costume): I look like such a dork.
HANK: I know how you feel. I never thought that “Members Only” jacket would go out of style, but it did. I know you think stuff you’re doing now is cool, but in a few years you’re going to think it’s lame. And I don’t want the Lord to end up in this box.
BOBBY: Hey, what’s this picture? Mom used to have blonde hair?
HANK: Farrah Fawcett was very popular back then.
This particular episode was written by Tony Gama-Lobo & Rebecca May. I don’t know if they are believers, or merely outside observers, but they made some astute observations. Hank’s concern is one I share when I look at the way some Christian kids are encouraged to behave. Too often it seems that God is treated as just another product. Children are unable to seperate Him from the other fads that sweep through their lives when they are young. Beanie Babies and Ninja Turtles come and go. For too many children, God does the same. As long as God is all the rage they are happy to acknowledge Him, but as soon as He goes out of style, they put him in a box like all the other fads. He ends up on the top shelf, along with the Revolve Bible-zines, the “Got Jesus?” shirts, the purity rings and the WWJD bracelets. God is thrown aside as just another fad.
What is the solution? I’m not entirely sure, but I suppose I’ll have some better answers when my children are teenagers and are fighting this very battle. In the meantime, I’d be interested in your perspective (that’s right, you!).
Tattoos and Such
August 21, 2007
In response to another blog posting elswhere on the issue of tattooing–i.e. is it ok for Christians to get them, see below my reply to that blog post.
Well, I think the whole body modification (BM) movement as some have called it, is moving some Christians far too close to pagan philosophies. BM involves piercing, tattooing, scarring, branding, cutting, etc. and is clearly becoming somewhat of a subculture itself.
Really these are various forms of self desecration. We should remember that God does not idly say that we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God…and to not be conformed to the world (Romans 12.1-2). God is concerned about our bodies. He is concerned with its dignity. We are not own. We belong body and soul to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ (Heidelberg).
Piercing, for example, has the idea of submission in the scriptures. Ex. 21 and Dt. 15 provide for a Hebrew servant who would otherwise be free, to voluntarily to be permanently enslaved by being pierced. The recently freed Israelites in Ex. 32 offered their earrings to be removed. This shows that they had just been freed from slavery—hence the piercing.
Lev. 19.28 forbids the cutting or tattooing of the body. Yes that was in that time of the law. But what were they doing? They were cutting the skin in a pagan custom to call on their deity to help them. Hardly something I would think Christians would want to emulate!
But, some may say, my piercing and/or tattoo is a sign of my faith in Christ! It shows that I am set apart for Him. No…the sign of your faith is your baptism (see WCF) and your obedience to Christ. That is how the world around will know that you do not belong to yourself. They will see your love and good works and your non-conformity to the world around you and, by God’s Spirit, Glorify God in heaven.
I think the BM movement is just that—a movement of a pagan culture. It will fade. Something else will come along to preoccupy the unbelieving world as they attempt to find some form of self atonement and gratification.
As John Piper said so well, “The resounding cry of freedom in the Bible is: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2). In other words, be free! Don’t be duped by the gurus of the age. They are here today and gone tomorrow. One enslaving fad follows another. Thirty years from now today’s tattoos will not be marks of freedom, but indelible reminders of conformity.”
Choosing Friends
August 7, 2007
An interesting article appeared recently on msnbc.com about how we choose friends. It seems, according to the research, that our genes play an important part in how we choose our friends.
The research showed that “an individual’s selection of friends–whether they chose to socialize with fewer or more socially deviant peers–was shaped by genetic factors.” The researchers go on to say that as we get older, from early age to young adult, we actually contribute, along with our genetic make-up, to our circle of friends:
“…it’s the capacity you have increasing with time to be able to shape your own life. You really do get to make your own life as you grow up.”
Further, the article suggests something very interesting as to how our environment shapes us:
“There tends to be an overemphasis on assuming that [regarding personal relationships] we are sort of helpless victims of our environment. This study shows quite clearly that human development is not like that. Our environment can victimize us, but we are also very active in creating our environment, for good or ill.”
Read the msnbc article here, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20149020/site/newsweek/
Does the bible have anything to say about this? Of course it does.
“Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor,[1] but the way of the wicked leads them astray. (Prov. 12:26) [1]Or The righteous chooses his friends carefully
But was not Jesus a “friend” of sinners? Surely He was. He proclaimed the good news to them. He pointed out their sin and their need for cleansing. That is what a “friend” would do.
A distinction needs to be made between befriending someone who is not a believer, genuinely caring for them and their soul with the additional aim of evangelizing them, and befriending a non-believer without regard to their soul. If they are frequently engaged in immorality and deviancy and we befriend them, without evangelism taking place, we fail in Proverbs 12:26 and run the risk of falling into their ways. Care must be taken in the close, personal friendships we as Christians make.
The Virtual Pastor
August 3, 2007
OK. Is this what the church has come to? A UK company began marketing the virtual pastor in 2005. You won’t believe what you read, but sadly it is true.
Congregants can provide input to change/shape their “pastor” to be and look like their personal likes and dislikes. Unbelievable!
Read the full story
http://www.larknews.com/august_2007/secondary.php?page=1
The Emerging Church and the Way of Cain
August 2, 2007
I believe the Emerging Church movement presents many dangers to the people of God. I plan to post more about it over time. For now, below is an article from Banner of Truth magazine.
‘Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain.’ (Jude 11)
The deceitfulness of the human heart is a truth recorded in Scripture and borne out in daily life. Believers discover it increasingly in their own lives as well as around them. One of the ways this deceitfulness shows itself is the love for the lie, especially the lie that we ourselves can determine how to serve God.
This lie has been promoted since the father of lies uttered it in the garden. It has had its countless followers, from Cain, Balaam, and Korah to the apostates in the Epistle of Jude.
Experimenting with Christianity
A century ago, it was popular to say you were ‘religious,’ but not ’spiritual.’ That meant that you did not take your Christian belief to the extreme, but you tried to live a religious life. Now, people like to say the opposite: ‘We are spiritual,’ they say, ‘but not religious.’[1] What they mean is that they feel themselves connected to the spiritual realm, but they don’t want to align themselves with any traditional institution or form of worship, and certainly not one that claims to be the only right and true one.
As part of this development, people have begun to talk about the ‘Emerging or Emergent Church.’ In his very helpful book, Don Carson makes clear that the Emerging Church sees itself as the shape of the church to come, because a new culture is emerging.[2] It is a reaction, first of all, to what it thinks of as the traditional church, with its creeds and its emphasis on truth. Secondly, it is a reaction to the seeker-sensitive church, which especially targeted baby-boomers. In fact, many of the leaders of the Emerging Church come out of the seeker-sensitive movement, and see themselves targeting the generation under 30. They reject ‘linear’ thinking, such as adherence to confessions, and instead emphasize experience and other such modes (emotion, aesthetics). They emphasize inclusion rather than exclusion. While they see other churches emphasizing ‘believing in order to belong,’ their frequent phrase is ‘you belong in order to believe.’ They promote a coming to faith ‘by osmosis.’ There is an emphasis on authenticity rather than absolutes. They do not fence the Lord’s table, for that would be exclusionary.
In this experience of ‘belonging,’ people might actually come to faith. They stress narrative and community. Sometimes they link up with other movements such as ‘openness of God’-thinking, anti-consumerism, the theology for the oppressed, the New Perspective on Paul, etc. In terms of its beliefs, there is wide diversity. In terms of its methods, there is broad commonality.
A New Kind of Christian
The Emerging Church movement, or conversation (as some call it), began to take off around 2001, inspired largely by a book, A New Kind of Christian, by Brian McLaren. It promotes itself as a ’spiritual renewal for those who thought they had given up on church,’ and documents the spiritual journey taken by two fictional characters (Dan Poole, a disillusioned evangelical pastor, and Neo, a high school science teacher) as they move from modern to postmodern approaches to Christianity. With Neo’s help, Dan begins to discover that the form of Christianity that he previously adhered to was too deeply rooted in the era of modernity to survive the present cultural changes. Since then, the movement has proliferated through books, and more so through conferences and the internet. The main representatives are Brian McLaren, Dan Kimball, and Andy Crouch.
Post-Modernism
According to Kimball, ‘modernity dates from around 1500 – 2000′ and ‘held to a single, universal worldview and moral standard, a belief that all knowledge is good and certain, truth is absolute, individualism is valued, and thinking, learning, and beliefs should be determined systematically and logically.’[3] Postmodernism, by contrast, ‘holds there is no single universal worldview. All truth is not absolute, community is valued over individualism, and thinking, learning, and beliefs can be determined nonlinearly.’
According to Carson, the leaders of the Emerging Church movement have a facile grasp of postmodernism in its philosophical form. They have little understanding of how it relates to modernism, and especially how it is a form of modernism. Moreover, Carson argues, though the church has in many quarters fallen prey to modernism, the embrace of the absolute is not a modern concern alone. Propositional thinking is not something that emerged with ‘modernity,’ but can be found throughout the Bible and down through the whole history of the church.[4]
Reformation or Reformulation?
Probably the most important emphasis of the Emerging Church is on ‘reading our times’ or ‘reading our culture.’ Here is where they show their seeker-sensitive background. They have basically detected that the seeker-sensitive model does not appeal to the younger generation. Why is that? ‘Well,’ the Emerging Church says, ‘It is because the younger generation is essentially post-modern, while the seeke-sensitive churches were modern. The post-moderns want to question tradition. The modern embrace it.’
Often they claim the badge of ‘reforming.’ In his book, Generous Orthodoxy, Brian McLaren claims to be, among other things, Reformed. What this means, however, is that the church must be always reforming, and reforming as our culture is developing. He has also adjusted the Five Points of Calvinism in a revealing way: Triune Love; Unselfish Election; Limitless Reconciliation; Inspiring Grace; Passionate, Persistent Saints. These may be catchy phrases, but do not at all delineate the gospel in a biblical and Reformed manner. It is telling that total depravity is absent. When sin is not sin, grace can never he grace either; this is no Reformation, but mere Reformulation.
Worship
In Soul Tsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millenium Culture, Leonard Sweet says, ‘Postmoderns want a God they can feel, taste, touch, hear and smell — a full sensory immersion in the divine.’[5] As a result, the Emerging Church has vigorously sought to move the prevailing patterns of Christian worship in a more experience-based direction. This has been encapsulated in Sweet’s own catchy acronym: EPIC — (E)xperiential, (P)articipatory, (I)mage-driven, and (C)onnected. Thus, there is a return to liturgical traditions, especially the performative, dramatic, and ritualistic.
A local congregation in Grand Rapids that embodies the emerging emphases writes this on their website: ‘From songs to readings to silent meditation, through ancient hymns or rock and roll or — dare I even say it — country music, we want to connect with God in as many different ways as there are different people and different sides of the Almighty. We’re barely scratching the surface. But we believe that God is actively redeeming and healing this planet, and he has invited every one of us to join him in this revolution.’[6] It is clear that the Reformed principle of Word-regulated and simple worship is the opposite of what the Emerging Church is about.
Two Spiritualities
Despite what its representatives claim, the Emerging Church has not left the Enlightenment behind. David Wells notes that this spiritual revolution is in fundamental harmony and continuity with the Enlightenment, not in conflict with it. It is the autonomous self-determining how a person ought to feel, think, and live. Sin is not understood vertically but horizontally. We do not conceive of sin as guilt, but rather as shame. We understand it in relational terms, and thus our view of salvation is also correspondingly relational. We basically conceive of salvation as ‘therapy,’ and engage in ‘therapeutic pragmatism.’
Because man was created in the image of God, it is not strange that people would crave spirituality. This is true especially in our society where we have everything to live with, but nothing to live for.[7] That man mixes his own recipe for spirituality, however, is part of the problem.
Throughout Scripture, we see two kinds of spiritualities — the true and the false. From the story of Cain and Abel’s offerings on, the whole Bible contrasts man-made religion with the divinely revealed religion. What was Elijah doing on Mount Carmel? He unmasked the vanity and wickedness of a self-made spirituality. What were the prophets doing when they called the people away from their vain oblations? What did Christ do when he railed on the Pharisees praying on the street-corners? What did Paul do when he unmasked the Galatian heresy? Throughout the Bible, God draws a line through all of man’s self-produced spirituality and writes over it all: vain and condemnable.
May God save us and our children from going down the path made by the Emerging Church — to any degree. The Emerging Church will come and go; until Christ’s return, other similar movements will come and dress up the same error in different garb. We should not be ignorant of this (2 Peter 2), but contend earnestly for the true faith (Jude 3). The only real protection against false spirituality and religion is the true. May we arm ourselves with the Berean spirit and especially know and retain the biblical spirituality of Abel, who ‘obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts’ (Heb. 11:4).
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NOTES
1. David Wells, Above All Earthly Powers (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 127-128. I want to thank Mark Raines and Maarten Kuivenhoven, both students at PRTS, for their papers on the subject, which helped me gain clarity on what is at stake in the Emerging Movement.
2. D.A.Carson, Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003).
3. Dan Kimball, The Emerging Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 57-58.
4. Carson, op. cit., chapters 4 & 5.
5. Leonard Sweet, Soul Tsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millenium Culture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999).
6. http://www.mhbcmi.org/about/history.php, accessed October 9, 2006.
7. I am indebted to Rev. Maurice Roberts for this thought which I heard him say in a lecture at PRTS.
Taken with permission from the Banner of Sovereign Grace and Truth, July/August 2007
Ronaldus Magnus
August 2, 2007
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
I’m Feeling Smart
August 2, 2007
Nick, thanks for this. This is no theory. It is fact.
The “Buffolo Theory” of Beer..
A herd of buffalo can move only as fast as the slowest buffalo. When the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first.
This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.
In much the same way the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, we all know, kills brain cells, but naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.
In this way regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.
That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers, and that’s why beer is so GOOD for you!
