Tragically not hip ...
I wasn't surprised. In fact, I pretty much expected it. Actually, I would have been disappointed if it hadn't happened. It was Tuesday morning and there in my inbox was a note from my co-host, Marlo Boux. She was at it again. Mixing it up in online discussion groups. Sniffing out stories. Looking for angles. (Looking for trouble.) She'd come across a stream of judgmental, self-righteous rants from believers taking cheap shots at atheists and agnostics (or even other believers who didn't buy into their particular brand of right-wing conservativism). And she was taking them on.
They never saw it coming. They never knew what hit them. Armed with her Amplified Bible, the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, Marlo pushed them hard, arguing for compassion, understanding, and respect for others. She served it with a smile (and probably a muffin), but she kept coming back at them every time they tried to shut her down (or shut her up). Marlo's intervention may or may not have been changed people's minds. What it did for certain was introduce a conscience into the conversation. Why do we think we can diss others with impunity?
The church has a problem. It has a nostalgia-driven notion that the U.S. and Canada used to be "Christian" countries. According to this hyperreal version of history, the good old days were heaven on earth: everyone feared God, everyone believed in the Bible, the courts and schools upheld Scripture and prayer, and everyone prospered. All what we need now is a return to the good old days: more God in the court house, more God in the school house, and more God in the White House (or 24 Sussex Drive).
I'm not going to bother to dredge up all the state-sponsored and church-sanctioned atrocities of the so-called good old days. I just want to say I'm tired of looking for Jesus in all the wrong places. I don't expect to find him in the court house or the school house. I'm happy if he shows up in the church house. When Jesus walked the face of the earth you'd find him outside the court house and the school house (and the church house for that matter). If you want to find him today, hang out with the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the naked, the sick, and the prisoners (Matthew 25.35-40). I keep bumping into him on Wednesday nights, handing out sandwiches and drink boxes down on Princess Street.
Why do "believers" spend so much time lamenting the state of society, yet buying into at the same time? According to Andy Crouch, author Culture Making, the church (especially its conservative varieties) has a love/hate relationship with culture. It either condemns and critiques it or copies and consumes it. What the church rarely does these days is cultivate and create culture. That's shocking when you think about it. Shouldn't creationists be creative? Shouldn't people who think they're made in the image of creative God be creating a vivid/vibrant culture instead of complaining there isn't enough God in the existing culture? (Or worse: baptizing existing culture with Christianeese and passing it off as "Christian".)
I think it's time we stopped looking for Jesus in the surrounding culture and started looking like Jesus. That's creative. That's redemptive. That's inspiring.
I'm taking my cue from the apostles, who admittedly started off looking for Jesus instead of looking like him. I attribute the false start to separation anxiety -- one minute Jesus was there, the next minute he was gone. Literally. Here's how Jesus peace'd out:
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." (Acts 1.8-11)
The apostles eventually got their act together. They stopped looking for Jesus and started looking like Jesus (they became his witnesses as he said they would). They turned the world upside down (Acts 17.6). The Spirit of Jesus exploded their doubts and insecurities like metaphysical dynamite. They became "empowered" in the most profound sense of the word. There was no God in the court house, no God in the school house, and the church house (synagogue) wasn't that friendly either, but none of that held the apostles back.
In true apostolic fashion, I think it's time for the church to get hip. HIP was always supposed to be the game plan. Check out the Apostle Paul:
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. (Ephesians 1.17-19)
It's time for so-called believers to live like they have Hope, an Inheritance, and Power ... instead of living like the best days are behind us, we've got nothing to draw from, and we can't really do anything about what's happening around us.
It's the 21st century. We live in an age of unprecedented freedom. With that freedom comes the real possibility of making mistakes, doing more harm than good, and leaving a legacy of chaos and consumption. But with that freedom also comes a real longing within people to find what's hip. People are looking for hope. People are looking for an inheritance to draw from. People are looking for power.
The world wants hip. The world needs hip. I think it would be tragic if the people who name the name of Jesus were the only people not hip.
They never saw it coming. They never knew what hit them. Armed with her Amplified Bible, the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, Marlo pushed them hard, arguing for compassion, understanding, and respect for others. She served it with a smile (and probably a muffin), but she kept coming back at them every time they tried to shut her down (or shut her up). Marlo's intervention may or may not have been changed people's minds. What it did for certain was introduce a conscience into the conversation. Why do we think we can diss others with impunity?
The church has a problem. It has a nostalgia-driven notion that the U.S. and Canada used to be "Christian" countries. According to this hyperreal version of history, the good old days were heaven on earth: everyone feared God, everyone believed in the Bible, the courts and schools upheld Scripture and prayer, and everyone prospered. All what we need now is a return to the good old days: more God in the court house, more God in the school house, and more God in the White House (or 24 Sussex Drive).
I'm not going to bother to dredge up all the state-sponsored and church-sanctioned atrocities of the so-called good old days. I just want to say I'm tired of looking for Jesus in all the wrong places. I don't expect to find him in the court house or the school house. I'm happy if he shows up in the church house. When Jesus walked the face of the earth you'd find him outside the court house and the school house (and the church house for that matter). If you want to find him today, hang out with the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the naked, the sick, and the prisoners (Matthew 25.35-40). I keep bumping into him on Wednesday nights, handing out sandwiches and drink boxes down on Princess Street.
Why do "believers" spend so much time lamenting the state of society, yet buying into at the same time? According to Andy Crouch, author Culture Making, the church (especially its conservative varieties) has a love/hate relationship with culture. It either condemns and critiques it or copies and consumes it. What the church rarely does these days is cultivate and create culture. That's shocking when you think about it. Shouldn't creationists be creative? Shouldn't people who think they're made in the image of creative God be creating a vivid/vibrant culture instead of complaining there isn't enough God in the existing culture? (Or worse: baptizing existing culture with Christianeese and passing it off as "Christian".)
I think it's time we stopped looking for Jesus in the surrounding culture and started looking like Jesus. That's creative. That's redemptive. That's inspiring.
I'm taking my cue from the apostles, who admittedly started off looking for Jesus instead of looking like him. I attribute the false start to separation anxiety -- one minute Jesus was there, the next minute he was gone. Literally. Here's how Jesus peace'd out:
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." (Acts 1.8-11)
The apostles eventually got their act together. They stopped looking for Jesus and started looking like Jesus (they became his witnesses as he said they would). They turned the world upside down (Acts 17.6). The Spirit of Jesus exploded their doubts and insecurities like metaphysical dynamite. They became "empowered" in the most profound sense of the word. There was no God in the court house, no God in the school house, and the church house (synagogue) wasn't that friendly either, but none of that held the apostles back.
In true apostolic fashion, I think it's time for the church to get hip. HIP was always supposed to be the game plan. Check out the Apostle Paul:
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. (Ephesians 1.17-19)
It's time for so-called believers to live like they have Hope, an Inheritance, and Power ... instead of living like the best days are behind us, we've got nothing to draw from, and we can't really do anything about what's happening around us.
It's the 21st century. We live in an age of unprecedented freedom. With that freedom comes the real possibility of making mistakes, doing more harm than good, and leaving a legacy of chaos and consumption. But with that freedom also comes a real longing within people to find what's hip. People are looking for hope. People are looking for an inheritance to draw from. People are looking for power.
The world wants hip. The world needs hip. I think it would be tragic if the people who name the name of Jesus were the only people not hip.
Labels: culture, god, hip, Jesus, Marlo Boux
posted by Rev. Greg Glatz, the Rock 'n' Roll Preacher at
5/22/2009 08:14:00 PM
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