Waiting For Sunday

By John Pryor - MHCC Youth Minister

“Miss McBeth” just got rehired to a teaching job in Eagleswood Township, NJ. After an extended absence due to surgery, the 71-year-old returns as a sub for now but hopes to become full time. Sounds great, right? But check this out: the surgery was a sex-change operation for the former “Mr McBeth,” a retired father of three. Several parents had a big problem with the school board’s decision, but they were overruled on the testimony of a few people who reminded them that “the fact that she is a good teacher” was “more important” than his/her/its personal lifestyle.

If I remember correctly, this lie (that job performance matters but personal integrity and/or morality does not) gained national prominence and acceptance when Clinton’s lawyers used it to keep him from being impeached because of moral failures. (As any high school or middle school teacher/principal will tell you, the assertions that oral sex is not sex also have had a big impact on our culture, but that’s another story.)

Are Christians OK with this philosophy? Are we so trapped in secret sins of our own that we’re willing to let this lie became “popular wisdom” that is lived by? If not, what do we do about it?

Bookmark to:

Michael Medved wrote an interesting article for USA Today about the reaction (or lack ot it) of conservative Christians to Brokeback Mountain. While secular critics have tried to best each other in singing the movie’s praises, Christians have been relatively silent about it. No major evangelical organization has called for a boycott. Medved says that this isn’t apathy, but rather a sign that our movement has matured and Christians feel more secure in our place at the cultural table. After all, our movies are getting made too, and making big money (witness The Passion, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia). I think he’s right, and I’m sure it would have been a terrible strategy to picket theaters and try to shame movie-goers.

With the move to the new building in February, I’ve been doing a lot of reminiscing about the start of my ministry here, and if I think back to 1988 (my first year at MHCC) I remember another controversial movie to which we responded differently. The movie was The Last Temptation of Christ, and I hate to bring it up even eighteen years later because of all the emotion that surrounded it then. Many Christians felt that the movie defamed Christ. Director Martin Scorsese said that, on the contrary, it showed how wonderful Christ’s sacrifice really was by asking the big “what if”…what if Jesus had come down from the cross and lived a normal life?

I’m not interested in revisiting the debate over the movie, but I can’t help mentioning the difference in our response eighteen years later to Brokeback. Back in ’88 there was a lot of picketing of theaters, name-calling and calls for boycotts in response to Last Temptation. I thought at the time that Christians who took part in this merely helped publicize the movie and came off looking angry and mean.

I agree with Medved that our recent response to Brokeback has been better and more mature. The film hasn’t been ignored by Christian leaders and publications, but neither has it become a rallying point for cultural war. Medved implies that the film makers may actually be disappointed in this response.

Of course the other possibility is that we just don’t care anymore, that we’re not willing to take an unpopular stand. What do you think? (Click on the link below that counts comments if you want to reply).

Bookmark to:

I haven’t lost my mind, but nothing beats an eye-catching headline. Cindy and I recently did a workshop at Johnson Bible College called Pornography: Freeing the Victims of this Victimless Vice. This list is the resource page we handed out on paper, and it demonstrates the power of de.lico.us, which I blogged about earlier. I used it here to give everyone a clickable version of my bibliography. One day it might make sense to do the same with all of my church teaching. Or if someone asks you to recommend some articles or resources, tag the links in del.icio.us and send them the link. BTW, the best (anti) porn site is xxxchurch.com.

Bookmark to:

Here’s some hilarious fun with movie trailers. A little music puts a new spin on Back to the Future and Top Gun. Also, I heard someone once say that the romantic hit Sleepless in Seattle isn’t all that far removed from a stalker flick. The trailer here proves it.

-

-

—–

Bookmark to:

Exultate Justi is a well-written blog that is sometimes political, sometimes personal and always thought-provoking. It contains some great out-of-the-way evangelical links too. Blogger Jared Keller is a family friend (he’s my wife’s brother’s wife’s brother - got it?).

Bookmark to:

When I raised this topic awhile back, my interest was the implications for church and faith. If people create their own radio stations, carry all their entertainment with them, view their favorite TV shows on their own schedule, and even participate in reporting the news (see previous posts under “You Are In Control”), how does this change what they expect from the church? How does it change the way they relate to Christ Himself?

Discussion boards and forums are another way some of us want to be in control, or at least participate. I posted a link to a USA Today story about Jesus on our discussion board last night. At the bottom of that story (and most stories on most news sites) there is a link to discuss the story. I joined in and posted something about how Jesus is still alive and well in church, and got chewed on a little by an evangelistic atheist. By the time the story had been online for 48 hours, nearly 3,300 people had posted a comment reacting to it (or arguing with each other). People don’t just read the news anymore. They criticize and argue about it with a worldwide audience. The impulse to join in isn’t new, but the web gives us a forum much wider and more immediate than writing a letter to the editor.

At church, much of our commucation is still patterned after the old model. It’s often one-way communication from preacher to congregation; it’s delivered according to a set schedule - be there on Sunday at eleven, or forget it; and we (even me sometimes) aren’t all that anxious to have folks participate, offer comments, or criticize.

We’ve taken baby-steps toward changing this at MHCC - the discussion board, the ability to comment in this blog, teaching available online, Home Bible Fellowships which are participatory, etc. I sense that we need to do more, that in fact there needs to be a land-shift in some of our ideas. Any comments here would be appreciated.

On the other hand, I know that an essential part of the church is being together, taking Communion together, worshipping and being taught together. These things can’t happen by listening to a sermon on your Ipod.

And what about how all this applies to our relationship with Christ? Is it still possible to convince people who are used to being in control to relate to Him as Lord, the Ruler of all of life?

Bookmark to:

Christianity Today Movies has posted a list of Black History Classics, films about the black experience from the past eighty years. These movies have all been released recently on DVD in honor of Black History Month.

-

-

-

Bookmark to:

Instructables is a web site with potential, but as yet that potential is mostly untapped. Maybe you can change that. The idea is for users to provide step-by-step instructions to projects. There’s not many practical projects here yet, though if you need a tricked-out marshmellow-shooting blowgun, you’re in luck.

Bookmark to:

Enjoy channel sufing? StumbleUpon lets you do it on the web. Visit their site, chose a category, hit the “Stumble” button and StumbleUpon will take you to out-of-the-way web sites that may interest you. If you use Firefox as your browser, you can add a Stumble button to your browser.

-

-

Bookmark to: