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| Found at Kerusso |
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Theatre Church
As you probably know, I am rather fascinated by both how Christians have adopted their own consumer culture and the various attmepts to ensure that Christianity is "relevant" to the current generations. Lately I've been wondering how long it can possibly be until those two worlds collide and "secular" consumer industries start marketing things to the church in order to help them in their quest to be more relevant. It looks like that day is already here.
Yesterday, in my quest to get one more Oscar nominated film under my belt before Sunday, I went to a matinee at the local AMC theater. I usually frequent independent theaters (we have some amazing ones here in the Twin Cities) so I always forget that the chain theaters mean at least 20 minutes of commercials, previews, and various theater promotions. Due to that forgetfulness, I arrived early and had to sit through all that promotion. But in the midst of all the clips telling me to go get a Coke in the lobby or join the National Guard, there was one that I hadn't seen before. There was a promotion in the middle of all of this encouraging me to "grow [my] church at the movie theater." Apparently AMC theaters now have an established program of recruiting people to host church services in their theaters as a strategic growth strategy for new and multi-site churches.
The other reason this caught my attention is because awhile back there was some media coverage about a new church meeting in a local theater. It received the typical charming oddity human interest story spin of "Who'd have thought?" Now I know who: AMC theaters and Fathom. That's who thought.
I want to make it perfectly clear that I have no problem with the idea of renting a theater for church and am making no statement on the churches that meet there or their beliefs. It may be a very cost effective option for them that fits into the model of what they want their church to be. Although, I personally would have a very had time focusing on the sermon if the smell of popcorn was wafting in the air. But then again, I'm kind of addicted to popcorn and have a bad habit of not eating enough breakfast prior to leaving for church on Sunday morning. :) If this model works for someone, that's great. I just wanted to mention it because I had been wondering how long the church could seek to find it's place in American culture until American culture realized the opportunity that existed in marketing to the church. I thought this was a very interesting example of that. If you are as curious as I was, you can check out more information at http://www.fathomtheatrechurch.com/
Yesterday, in my quest to get one more Oscar nominated film under my belt before Sunday, I went to a matinee at the local AMC theater. I usually frequent independent theaters (we have some amazing ones here in the Twin Cities) so I always forget that the chain theaters mean at least 20 minutes of commercials, previews, and various theater promotions. Due to that forgetfulness, I arrived early and had to sit through all that promotion. But in the midst of all the clips telling me to go get a Coke in the lobby or join the National Guard, there was one that I hadn't seen before. There was a promotion in the middle of all of this encouraging me to "grow [my] church at the movie theater." Apparently AMC theaters now have an established program of recruiting people to host church services in their theaters as a strategic growth strategy for new and multi-site churches.
The other reason this caught my attention is because awhile back there was some media coverage about a new church meeting in a local theater. It received the typical charming oddity human interest story spin of "Who'd have thought?" Now I know who: AMC theaters and Fathom. That's who thought.
I want to make it perfectly clear that I have no problem with the idea of renting a theater for church and am making no statement on the churches that meet there or their beliefs. It may be a very cost effective option for them that fits into the model of what they want their church to be. Although, I personally would have a very had time focusing on the sermon if the smell of popcorn was wafting in the air. But then again, I'm kind of addicted to popcorn and have a bad habit of not eating enough breakfast prior to leaving for church on Sunday morning. :) If this model works for someone, that's great. I just wanted to mention it because I had been wondering how long the church could seek to find it's place in American culture until American culture realized the opportunity that existed in marketing to the church. I thought this was a very interesting example of that. If you are as curious as I was, you can check out more information at http://www.fathomtheatrechurch.com/
Thursday, February 24, 2011
God is Love?
I just wanted to share a brief theory that's been on my mind lately.
I hear many Christians talk about how God is love and their mission to to share that love with the world. Nothing wrong with that. The problem sets in when the people who so loudly profess the love of God and claim to be his vessel behave with so little love themselves. Here's the theory I've developed on the matter.
If you talk about how much God loves you and how you are sharing that love with others but treat people with little/no love, you most likely leave them to arrive at one of the following conclusions:
1. God is not love.
2. I have to earn God's love.
3. God must not love me.
4. I am unlovable.
I know that may seem controversial to some. But think about it, if you claim to represent the source of purest love but do not share that with others, why wouldn't they come to one of those conclusions?
I hear many Christians talk about how God is love and their mission to to share that love with the world. Nothing wrong with that. The problem sets in when the people who so loudly profess the love of God and claim to be his vessel behave with so little love themselves. Here's the theory I've developed on the matter.
If you talk about how much God loves you and how you are sharing that love with others but treat people with little/no love, you most likely leave them to arrive at one of the following conclusions:
1. God is not love.
2. I have to earn God's love.
3. God must not love me.
4. I am unlovable.
I know that may seem controversial to some. But think about it, if you claim to represent the source of purest love but do not share that with others, why wouldn't they come to one of those conclusions?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Happy Spiritual Birthday to You?
Most of us love birthdays. The cake, the festivities, the presents...overall, they're pretty great. But when I attended Conservative Christian College, I learned that many there celebrated two birthdays...their physical birthday and their "spiritual birthday." Those birthdays didn't come with all the cake and gifts, but they were announced proudly. I've even seen confusing facebook statuses from people in their 20s or 30s that say things like "Today is my 17th birthday!"
Such landmarks were also used to justify why someone did something others disagreed with. For example, "Well, they are just a baby Christian." Or as the basis for a challenge from a chapel speaker or pastor. "Everyone should memorize at least one Bible verse for every year that they've been a Christian." The whole concept confused me, on both personal and theological levels.
It confused me because I had never heard of such a thing before. And once I understood what it meant, I realized that I didn't have a spiritual birthday. Let me clarify.
For those of you who are not familiar with the concept, many in American Evangelical Culture count the day that they "accepted Jesus into their heart" as their spiritual birthday...the day they were reborn so to speak. So, how does one know exactly what day they count as their spiritual birthday? The most common measure is by celebrating the day they prayed "the sinner's prayer." Don't look for the term (or the prayer itself for that matter) in the Bible. It's not there. Rather, it's a prayer that has become the standard to know whether or not someone is saved. It involves confessing one's sin, asking God for forgiveness, expressing belief in Jesus Christ and His redemptive work on the cross, and committing to follow Him from now on.
So, like I said...I have no spiritual birthday. I was raised in a Lutheran Church and can remember from a young age believing in God and Jesus Christ, but no one ever told me I had to put Him into my heart and make sure He was my personal savior. I didn't hear that claim until I started spending more time with kids from the Evangelical Church late into my high school years. And at first I worried. "Was I really a Christian? Did all the previous years not count? Why didn't anyone tell me about this? Does this mean I'm not saved?" Due to those fears, I'm certain I must have prayed some version of that prayer at least a dozen times over the next five years. I mean, you can't be too sure, right?
Even so, there was no date I could mark as a spiritual birthday, because I was a Christian long before praying any of those prayers. And once I made the decision to take my faith more seriously, it was a series of small intentional steps rather than one grand gesture. This didn't bother me. After all, didn't Paul say to work out your salvation with fear and trembling? That certainly doesn't sound like a simple formulaic prayer to me.
In some ways I get why so many people push that type of prayer as a measure of faith. It does cover some basic tenets of Christian belief. And if you're from the type of church that prints the tally of the number of people "saved" in the bulletin every week, there's got to be some standard of measure. But overall, it just seems like an overly simplified approach to the complex beauty of faith.
Such landmarks were also used to justify why someone did something others disagreed with. For example, "Well, they are just a baby Christian." Or as the basis for a challenge from a chapel speaker or pastor. "Everyone should memorize at least one Bible verse for every year that they've been a Christian." The whole concept confused me, on both personal and theological levels.
It confused me because I had never heard of such a thing before. And once I understood what it meant, I realized that I didn't have a spiritual birthday. Let me clarify.
For those of you who are not familiar with the concept, many in American Evangelical Culture count the day that they "accepted Jesus into their heart" as their spiritual birthday...the day they were reborn so to speak. So, how does one know exactly what day they count as their spiritual birthday? The most common measure is by celebrating the day they prayed "the sinner's prayer." Don't look for the term (or the prayer itself for that matter) in the Bible. It's not there. Rather, it's a prayer that has become the standard to know whether or not someone is saved. It involves confessing one's sin, asking God for forgiveness, expressing belief in Jesus Christ and His redemptive work on the cross, and committing to follow Him from now on.
So, like I said...I have no spiritual birthday. I was raised in a Lutheran Church and can remember from a young age believing in God and Jesus Christ, but no one ever told me I had to put Him into my heart and make sure He was my personal savior. I didn't hear that claim until I started spending more time with kids from the Evangelical Church late into my high school years. And at first I worried. "Was I really a Christian? Did all the previous years not count? Why didn't anyone tell me about this? Does this mean I'm not saved?" Due to those fears, I'm certain I must have prayed some version of that prayer at least a dozen times over the next five years. I mean, you can't be too sure, right?
Even so, there was no date I could mark as a spiritual birthday, because I was a Christian long before praying any of those prayers. And once I made the decision to take my faith more seriously, it was a series of small intentional steps rather than one grand gesture. This didn't bother me. After all, didn't Paul say to work out your salvation with fear and trembling? That certainly doesn't sound like a simple formulaic prayer to me.
In some ways I get why so many people push that type of prayer as a measure of faith. It does cover some basic tenets of Christian belief. And if you're from the type of church that prints the tally of the number of people "saved" in the bulletin every week, there's got to be some standard of measure. But overall, it just seems like an overly simplified approach to the complex beauty of faith.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
WWJB Saturday: Go, Go, Power...Samson? Edition
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| Found at Swartz Christian Novelties |
Wait a minute...shouldn't those muscles have shrunk after he cut his hair?
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Everyone is Lost
There's something that's been on my mind a lot lately. I've been thinking about the approach American Evangelical Culture takes towards the rest of the world. I think it can best be summed up by "Everyone is lost and we are the only ones who can save them."
I was thinking about this due to a number of things I've seen/heard this week. One was a documentary that an American megachurch produced about how their church got started. In it they discussed how they decided to move to a city that was notorious for the number of churches it had in order to start a new church. They didn't mention anything about the dynamics of the city itself or the people there. They seemed convinced that they were the ones who could bring God's true message to these people in spite of the fact that so many others were working to the same end.
The other was a little more humorous. A girl I know told me a story about a rather sheltered, charismatic Christian, homeschooled boy that she knows. Apparently they were giving him a ride somewhere and without warning he suddenly placed his hand on the top of her head and started praying in tongues over her and saying he was trying to get rid of the devil in her. (I have to think that there is no quicker way to get kicked out of the carpool than spontaneous exorcism.) But the best part about this story is that their vehicle has had some issues with the heating system recently so it intermittently just spits out sudden bursts of air. As he is wrapping up his prayer, the heating system spews a quick burst of air. At which point he exclaims, "Did you feel that!?? It was the Holy Spirit!" In that moment, he was fully convinced that the presence of God was needed in that vehicle and he had ushered it in. Meanwhile, she was completely creeped out and counting the minutes to the end of the ride.
That's the common thread in these two examples: the belief that everyone is without God and it is my job to bring it to them regardless of the circumstances. And to believe so to such a degree that you start attributing things to God that others clearly recognize as having a more mundane source. I keep seeing that attitude again and again in American Evangelical Culture. In college I once saw a video promoting the expansion of a Christian nightclub that featured the "lost" people in the community they would be moving into. It really caught my attention when I realized that one of those "lost souls" featured in their video was the roommate of a good friend of mine. A girl with tattoos, piercings, and a style all her own - a Christian girl who was currently attending a different Christian college in the area. She was absolutely outraged when she heard that her image was being used as an example of the unreached youth in the city.
I also think of my sister telling me about her time studying abroad. She said that she disliked the majority of American missionaries that she met because they didn't seem to truly care about the people or the culture much at all. They had a tunnel vision focus on "saving" everyone and teaching them how to be a Christian in the American sense of the term. A focus that in some instances caused more harm than good as people felt manipulated, marginalized, and uncared for.
My argument isn't about the theological concept of salvation or what it really means to share the gospel. My argument is this: Is this a responsible approach to the world around us? How is the faith of others impacted when they realize it is being second guessed and undermined? Does it help us to feel a sense of urgency when it comes to others? Or does it merely create a framework in which people become projects to be fixed rather than individuals to be loved and valued? Is caring about someone's salvation the same as caring about someone? And most importantly, does it reflect the attitude of Christ or is there a better way? I think it's something worth considering.
I was thinking about this due to a number of things I've seen/heard this week. One was a documentary that an American megachurch produced about how their church got started. In it they discussed how they decided to move to a city that was notorious for the number of churches it had in order to start a new church. They didn't mention anything about the dynamics of the city itself or the people there. They seemed convinced that they were the ones who could bring God's true message to these people in spite of the fact that so many others were working to the same end.
The other was a little more humorous. A girl I know told me a story about a rather sheltered, charismatic Christian, homeschooled boy that she knows. Apparently they were giving him a ride somewhere and without warning he suddenly placed his hand on the top of her head and started praying in tongues over her and saying he was trying to get rid of the devil in her. (I have to think that there is no quicker way to get kicked out of the carpool than spontaneous exorcism.) But the best part about this story is that their vehicle has had some issues with the heating system recently so it intermittently just spits out sudden bursts of air. As he is wrapping up his prayer, the heating system spews a quick burst of air. At which point he exclaims, "Did you feel that!?? It was the Holy Spirit!" In that moment, he was fully convinced that the presence of God was needed in that vehicle and he had ushered it in. Meanwhile, she was completely creeped out and counting the minutes to the end of the ride.
That's the common thread in these two examples: the belief that everyone is without God and it is my job to bring it to them regardless of the circumstances. And to believe so to such a degree that you start attributing things to God that others clearly recognize as having a more mundane source. I keep seeing that attitude again and again in American Evangelical Culture. In college I once saw a video promoting the expansion of a Christian nightclub that featured the "lost" people in the community they would be moving into. It really caught my attention when I realized that one of those "lost souls" featured in their video was the roommate of a good friend of mine. A girl with tattoos, piercings, and a style all her own - a Christian girl who was currently attending a different Christian college in the area. She was absolutely outraged when she heard that her image was being used as an example of the unreached youth in the city.
I also think of my sister telling me about her time studying abroad. She said that she disliked the majority of American missionaries that she met because they didn't seem to truly care about the people or the culture much at all. They had a tunnel vision focus on "saving" everyone and teaching them how to be a Christian in the American sense of the term. A focus that in some instances caused more harm than good as people felt manipulated, marginalized, and uncared for.
My argument isn't about the theological concept of salvation or what it really means to share the gospel. My argument is this: Is this a responsible approach to the world around us? How is the faith of others impacted when they realize it is being second guessed and undermined? Does it help us to feel a sense of urgency when it comes to others? Or does it merely create a framework in which people become projects to be fixed rather than individuals to be loved and valued? Is caring about someone's salvation the same as caring about someone? And most importantly, does it reflect the attitude of Christ or is there a better way? I think it's something worth considering.
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