passion play

As Christians, we’re in the business of redeeming and creating culture for the glory of Christ and the advance of His Kingdom. In order to redeem culture, and bring out the truth in it, we have to understand where it is prior to our intervention and reclamation. We are to be monitors of culture. We have to keep tabs of what is going on in the cultural and social environment around us so that we are informed to the point of being able to redeem that environment. From art to music to literature to film to family structure and overall belief systems, we have to keep ourselves informed and knowledgable about what is going on around us. So how do we do that?

Here are some resources that I use (and some I should) to dissect the general culture in America:

Magazines

• Paste
• Relevant
• Rolling Stone
• Wired
• Fast Company
• UTNE Reader

Books

• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
• The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
• Anything and everything by Malcolm Gladwell

Websites

• Digg
• Various news sites (CNN, MSNBC, BBC)
• del.icio.us popular
• YouTube
• Amazon (especially the bestsellers list and what people are buying)
• Wikipedia

By far the most valuable resource would be the magazines: they give the most diverse range of cultural influence on a regular basis (usually monthly). Books may be obsolete by the time you’ve read them (not those I mentioned, but some others more than likely), and websites are usually geared for a specific audience. Digg is becoming a little more diverse, but not much. YouTube is diverse, but it’s hard to extract cultural nuggets from a collection of videos. If I had to pick three resources to stick with, it’d be Wired magazine, Paste magazine, and the Digg website. Hope these resources help you a little dissect the general culture in which we live.

Any I missed, any suggestions, or any recommendations that you yourself use?

Last night, Miranda and I were in the Raleigh-Durham area looking at engagement rings (it went well), and we decided to go to the 6pm service at Vintage21 in downtown Raleigh. I’d been there before for an Acts29 luncheon, but never to a service. Here are some quick thoughts:

• Greeter was nice and friendly, snacks were a nice touch.
• The information booth was well-organized, and well laid out. The “get involved” board on the wall detailing the various ministries within the church was a great idea. I may borrow that one.
• We were there a little early, before most people showed up (probably 150 total, give or take), and we weren’t really spoken to by anyone from the church. The greeter did her job, and that’s about it. Hopefully, it’s because all the other people were new to the church as well.
  
• Matt Stevens, the worship leader, did a great job leading us in worship, explaining what it was, and he had good stage presence. The band was really good (better than I had expected, to be honest), and it was easy to tell that they weren’t just playing the songs, they were worshipping. I also really enjoyed Scripture reading during the time of worship: it’s hard to find that anymore.
• The songs they played were great lyrically, reflecting the Gospel: Vintage21 had written two of the ones we sang; the other was “Overwhelmed” by Robbie Seay. I’m a big fan of writing your own worship music locally, for many reasons. It was glad to see another church that feels the same way.
• The technical guys did a great job the whole night, with very few miscues on Powerpoint (I only remember one). Great job, if you happen to be reading!
• The transition from worship to teaching was kind of smooth, but awkward at the same time. The worship band just kind of stepped off, Tyler (the lead pastor) stepped on, and that was it. It worked pretty well, but it was different coming from a “traditional” church setting.
• Tyler did the announcements himself, and then efficiently delivered a well-prepared and engaging sermon on the topic of envy in Proverbs (note: we were thinking it was going to be parenting because that’s what the website had said).
• Miranda and I thought the ending transition was kind of odd. Tyler put questions for thought/discussion on the powerpoint (great idea), talked about offering (where to put it) and communion (where it was), and then kind of left us hanging. To a newcomer, communion would be kind of confusing (what is it, what do I do, etc.). Communion was also an individual practice. I didn’t like that too much, but it’s just personal preference. I think communion should be, well, communal. Just my opinion, though. It did allow for personal reflection and preparation and, should someone feel unworthy, they could avoid communion if they felt it inappropriate for them at the time, without risk of embarassment.
• The facilities were very clean and well-decorated.
• Overall, a very good service, and I can see why they are growing and having to move.

I really look forward to working with Acts29, Lord willing, and planting churches similar to Vintage21: contextualized to the surrounding culture in order to redeem it and its people through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

There is a lot of discussion in the church planting world today on being relevant to culture, or redeeming culture (I prefer the latter terminology). But no one is really discussing what culture is. The major assumption when discussing culture is that you are referring to the arts: literature, theater, cinema, music, painting, etc. I think that these are merely manifestations of the surrounding culture, however. Culture, as defined by dictionary.com, is the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. That is, culture is much more than the arts. Culture also comprises the academics, the mannerisms, the linguistics, ways of living, familial structures, beliefs, and general patterns and products of a particular ethnic, social, or age group.

The Church, if it is going to be relevant to and/or ultimately redeem culture,  it must realize that painting pictures of Jesus and the cross is not enough. Creating Christ-centered music is not enough. Directing redemptive movies is not enough. We have to form our families, teach our children, instill beliefs, and form productive patterns around Christ and His Kingdom. The Cross, the Resurrection, and the Kingdom must all penetrate the “totality” of any and all behavior and products of the Christian’s thought and action. That is what is required to redeem culture. And of course, it must be done with the eternally relevant message of Jesus, His Work, and Kingdom.

Thanks, Ben, for the Crowder CD! You can check out Ben and his replanting efforts in Reston, VA here. His replanted church, Reston Community Church, can be found by clicking on the church’s name.

An excerpt from Steven Furtick in Charlotte, NC(read the whole post by clicking his name):

We know what we believe, why we believe it, and we’re determined to live it out with all of our hearts.  We’re not perfect, but our passion is sincere to the bone.
We’re not here to merely survive or condemn the world, but to transform it for the glory of God.
And we’re here to stay.
We’re the living, breathing, forcefully advancing Church of Jesus Christ.

That’s who we are.

It’s also who I am.
Great words from a great, young pastor of a great, growing church.