I’ve written about Chic-fil-a in my blog before, regarding its view of Christ and culture. As I sit here today I noticed their music: not just Christian contemporary but also a little country. Interesting. Do they equate country music as part of Christian culture?
The other evening I was a little bored and found myself watching a move with Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan. It wasn’t a movie I typically watch or ever thought I would be interested in, it was just on as I did some other things.
This move, called First Sunday, was about a couple guys who have execute a half-baked plan to rob a church. As the story unfolded it became clear that this church was very typically in the middle of a controversy about involvement in its community. Some wanted to move into a safer community where they could be protected from the corrupting culture around them. Others wanted to stay in the neighborhood and reach out to it.
Slate.com has an excellent article reviewing a new book by Daniel Radosh, Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture. This article shows how Christians have embraced culture and began creating their own culture to parallel secular pop culture. It asks some engaging questions about what happens to the Christian message when we do this.
Many of the attempts of Christians to use the culture around them reflects a Christ Above Culture outlook. They are using parts of culture to promote Christ. This motive can easily be lost. One day you are producing rock music to attract people to Christ and the next day those same people- who are now Christians- want to purchase your music and only your music. That’s when we begin to sell out to culture and fall into the Christ of Culture perspective.
Of all the things I read, I think I enjoy my subscription to Wired the most. Every year they publish an entire issue featuring brief articles telling you “How to” do various things. Usually these things are very geeky and are actually answering questions I wonder about- further proving my geekiness.
Occasionally they include a more serious “How to”- although its hard to take it seriously surrounded by so much sarcasm. For instance this year they have a great description on How to Apologize. Its a great description of how to make a clear, concise apology.
The other day I caught a new show called, Drive Thru History. I don’t watch the Trinity network much (which is an example of Christ Above Culture by the way), but every once in a while they come up with something worth watching. This show is like something you might find on the History network but from a Christian perspective (another example of Christ Above Culture). Although this Christian influence negates any neutrality (as if the History channel is ever neutral) and this limits the scope of the show (for instance, they skipped the entire Protestant Reformation) I enjoy watching it.
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Anyway… the episode I watched talked about the Pilgrims coming to America. Most people know that these people were Puritans- resisting the corruption, in their minds, of the Church of England. In the context of a discussion of Christ and Culture, the Puritans are often quoted as an example of Christ Transforming Culture. The Mayflower Compact is a great example of this.
My wife noticed something a couple weeks ago while we were watching The Apprentice. Not only has it been true for the last couple weeks, but looking back I think he’s always done it after he fires someone. He turns to his advisors and asks them (in one way or another) if he made the right decision.
It is funny that one of the most confident men in the world has to find validation as much as I do. He has to have someone tell him that he was right. They say that the most dogmatic and overconfident people are really trying to despirately overcompensate for their insecurities.
Today a friend and I went to see U23D. Being self-avowed U2 fans we had high expectations yet it was everything we could hope for. The 3D aspect of the movie was great. More than a couple times I found myself leaning over to better see the Edge since his microphone stand was in the way. There were times when I tried to move out of the glare of a spotlight only to remember that this was a movie, and I couldn’t do that. There were times when I wanted to start cheering with the concert audience but then I remembered that Brian and I were the only two people in the theater at 1:30 in the afternoon.
A friend and I were talking Bible commentaries the other day. Books are one of my favorite topics even before I was the assistant manager at my seminary’s bookstore. I suggested he check out D. A. Carson’s book, New Testament Commentary Survey, as a starting point to know what he should invest in. It is a rarity for anyone to ever take my suggestion, but in this case he did search the internet for the book only to find it available on MTV.com! HUH?!
As if that wasn’t wierd enough, the top suggestion off MTV’s site for people interested in Carson’s book was the “complete unsensored” version of Ms. Tequila’s show- “A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila.” Now we all know how silly these alogrithms can be but this made me ask what Carson and Tila Tequila have in common that MTV would make this connection.
Full Disclosure: I have to admit that I am a McCain fan. I still wear my “McCain 2000″ t-shirt proudly (although it is in tatters by now). I have already endorsed him for the Republican nomination in this blog and made a point to go see him when he came to my town. I have tried to review the Forum as objectively as possible- yeah, right!
My sister-in-law told me that she recently saw an ESPN interview with Tim Tebow, Heisman winning quarterback for the University of Florida, where he spoke about his faith. It is great to see such a great guy become so successful. It is also neat to see him use his fame as a football player to promote Christ- an example of Christ Above Culture.
This reminds me of a time when I met another famous quarterback. Although he is not famous enough for me to actually remember his name, he played for the Bills (I think) as a backup quarterback. Through a series of coincidences he ended up playing a playoff game and helped his team win, despite the predictions to the contrary. With his success, this quarterback used his moment of glory to point to Christ.