Yet another example....
....of the world making an impact on the church instead of the other way around. Case in point:
Our son visited a church on Sunday. That's not so unusual, since he just moved back to the area and is looking for a place to call 'home'. What IS unusual is that he heard something that arrested his attention. That's very hard to do when you grow up in a pastor's home. It wasn't their Core Beliefs (which are strikingly orthodox). It was the expression of their Core Values. For the record, all of them can be supported from Scripture. What was striking is that he actually heard someone affiliated with the church say "We believe that the church should be the most creative place on earth." I couldn't agree more. Remarking on our lack of creativity, one of my favorite seminary profs used to say "God made the sunset, the rainbow, the peacock - and we Christians dress in black and white". Admittedly this was usually in response to one of his multi-hued outfits - he often looked like he'd just won a major golf tournament. The point is valid even if my prof was sartorially deficient (which is Washington DC speak for "That's really an ugly sport coat") - we of the conservative evangelical stripe often display a stunning lack of creativity. They (National Community Church) "got it right" when it comes to the church making an impact on the culture around it.
Which brings me to the point (I do have one, just be patient). Courtesy of a very fertile technical mind at one of my alma maters we have a "Christian version" of Youtube called Godtube. It has some terrific satire (which Christians rarely use, and even more rarely is it used effectively) and technical wizardry. My question is, if we're supposed to be so creative, why did the world come up with the idea first and we were relegated to an "also ran" knock off? Why don't we have "first mover advantage" when it comes to creativity? IMHO (In my humble opinion) its like those "David and Goliath action figures" displayed among all the trinity trinkets and holy hardware in my local Christian bookstore. Just go to Christianbook.com and type in "action figure" for a plethora of examples. Notice both trinity and holy are in small letters - I just don't think much of the rip-offs that copy the world, nor do I think they have much to do with the triune God I serve. "See Billy, its just like (insert name of your favorite action figure here - come on, you know you have one) that they sell at Wally World, only this one will let you play to please Jesus."
Okay, now its your turn to respond.
Signed,
"Thinking outside of the evangelical box in NoVA"
Our son visited a church on Sunday. That's not so unusual, since he just moved back to the area and is looking for a place to call 'home'. What IS unusual is that he heard something that arrested his attention. That's very hard to do when you grow up in a pastor's home. It wasn't their Core Beliefs (which are strikingly orthodox). It was the expression of their Core Values. For the record, all of them can be supported from Scripture. What was striking is that he actually heard someone affiliated with the church say "We believe that the church should be the most creative place on earth." I couldn't agree more. Remarking on our lack of creativity, one of my favorite seminary profs used to say "God made the sunset, the rainbow, the peacock - and we Christians dress in black and white". Admittedly this was usually in response to one of his multi-hued outfits - he often looked like he'd just won a major golf tournament. The point is valid even if my prof was sartorially deficient (which is Washington DC speak for "That's really an ugly sport coat") - we of the conservative evangelical stripe often display a stunning lack of creativity. They (National Community Church) "got it right" when it comes to the church making an impact on the culture around it.
Which brings me to the point (I do have one, just be patient). Courtesy of a very fertile technical mind at one of my alma maters we have a "Christian version" of Youtube called Godtube. It has some terrific satire (which Christians rarely use, and even more rarely is it used effectively) and technical wizardry. My question is, if we're supposed to be so creative, why did the world come up with the idea first and we were relegated to an "also ran" knock off? Why don't we have "first mover advantage" when it comes to creativity? IMHO (In my humble opinion) its like those "David and Goliath action figures" displayed among all the trinity trinkets and holy hardware in my local Christian bookstore. Just go to Christianbook.com and type in "action figure" for a plethora of examples. Notice both trinity and holy are in small letters - I just don't think much of the rip-offs that copy the world, nor do I think they have much to do with the triune God I serve. "See Billy, its just like (insert name of your favorite action figure here - come on, you know you have one) that they sell at Wally World, only this one will let you play to please Jesus."
Okay, now its your turn to respond.
Signed,
"Thinking outside of the evangelical box in NoVA"
Wow, I really, realloy, really like those values. Most core values pretty much say the same thing. These describe something totally different, more real.
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My question is, if we're supposed to be so creative, why did the world come up with the idea first and we were relegated to an "also ran" knock off? Why don't we have "first mover advantage" when it comes to creativity?
My first thought is that we are in a place where the Legion and God are engaged in a fight beyond our comprehension (involving powers and principalities). We, being a little bit lower than the angels have a hard time I suppose, in defining where the battle of powers and principalities is going to go next (as a part of taking it to them at that place first). We are limited in time and space, except the good news is our bodyguard can vanquish these foes at will, and He will in the fullness of time; He has already spoken the word that will fall Satan. As far as these sideline activities to the big battle there's no reason not to apply our gifts, but I think God wants to reveal himself through our weakness and not through our strengths (or breakthroughs). That said, if we did something truly land-marking first it would probably come from God else it wouldn't be of our weakness, and if it is of our weakness, then God gets the credit. If the landmark accomplishment is of our own doing then I think we'd be running the risk of letting our pride be involved. It would be nice to get there first, and to keep the advantage, but more times than not God seems to work His best through the inept, shy, short, young, cowardly, poor-speaking, tree-dwelling underdog tax collector. When He takes it to the enemy we are a part of a great victory indeed; not the type of victory or innovation cited above, but the kind of victory cited in Heaven based on the Heavenly definition of what a truly earth-shaking achievement is. I think I've been debating myself a little bit here, and I didn't even want to strike up a debate with a Th.d on his own turf [blog], that's asking for a whupping and it's a smart man that knows his own limitations (Clint Eastwood, The Enforcers). I'm sure we agree that we need to be available for service and to give our best when called upon. On the cosmic scale of events we may be a part of something really, really, really big and not recognize it as one of those cosmic events at all from our three dimensional and time bound (limited) vantage. If we make ourselves available, whatever we'll be used for will last an eternity which is more than can be said for the best of You Tube, or the Internet. Even the Lilies of the field were more spleandent than anything Solomon could muster. As Heaven counts victories I think we'll be amazed at something we did by merely being available to God and it's impact in the fullness in time. It could be giving a homeless person a ride or a meal made us a part of something huge and far out-shining what we think we'd accomplish if we could just one-up Satan in the marketplace of ideas. Be available.
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thanks for bringing this up alan:
for a perspective from outside our fishpond looking in -- here is wired">http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2007/03/the_best_of_the.html">wired magazine's take on Godtub: "For the record, what is disturbing about many of GodTube's videos is not that they are done by Christians, or enthusiastically discuss topics like Intelligent Design, the immorality of homosexuality, etc. What is disturbing about GodTube is that it is an observable microcosm of the way that fundamentalist Christians have shut themselves off from any outside perspective. The result is mental and creative poverty."
i happen to concur. "mental and creative poverty" sums up much of christian "art" - actually a better term would be christian *propaganda*.
i think the same thought applies to much of our (chrisitian) music scene.
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Thanks so much for visiting National Community Church. I'm glad that your son enjoyed his visit! If we can answer any questions or be of assistance, please pass along my contact information to him. We know that feeling of needing a place to call "home" and we'd love to connect with him. And even if NCC isn't his cup of tea,
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