Where Do We Live? An Analysis of American Culture in the 21st Century

I have almost finished reading David F. Wells' book No Place for Truth for the first time. I realize that my shame level is enormous for having just now encountered this "stinging indictment of evangelicalism's theological corruption." One of my biggest sins, it seems, is being a good deal behind the curve. Nonetheless, God put this book in my hands in recent days and I would like to simply share some of my insights that flow out of my interaction with Wells. These are not critiques, but rather a summary finished off with some of my own passion about these matters.

First, it does us well to consider some of the marks of our Modern / Postmodern culture.

Temporary / Impermanent (Fad-ish)
Ours is a styrofoam society where everything is manufactured to later be cast into the garbage. Our clothing, our food, our dinnerware, even our homes and automobiles are not made to last. "Get the latest" is one of our biggest catch-phrases.

Superficial (Not Deep)
Education is not about learning in our society, but it is about using knowledge as a tool to have a successful career. Theology is laid aside and replaced with experience: “That really blessed me.”

Relativistic (Not Center, No Truth)
“That’s fine for you but not for me.” Tolerance for all beliefs is the chief virtue. The basic laws of logic are thrown to the wolves. The only truth is that there is no truth. Instead of thinking, people simple exist.

Revolt Against All Authority Except Self (Mirror Idolatry)
With Democracy (and I am thankful for the good parts of it) government authority is placed in the hands of the voters. Church authority has been incredibly marginalized. Parental authority is questioned at every turn. The only boss of me is me.

A Sense of Restlessness (In Search of Something More)
The heart is designed by God to find that which is stable, eternal, and which provides true satisfaction. The meaningfulness of life in this culture has in many ways been drained from our thinking and thus we move and flitter from activity to activity like numb and buzzed drones.

Focus on Self (Individualism)
The Reformation and the Enlightenment led people to see that they could think for themselves and need not follow authorities, superstitions, religions, or anything else. Freedom and liberty after all, is what America is built on. Meaning is thought to be found inside the self. “I need to find myself.” Technological advances (especially the TV) have provided society with a way of watching others reflect on their selves, supplying an enduring model for the rest of us to ponder our selves.

Conformity to the Crowd (Fit In)
There is an apparent discrepancy between Freedom and Equality / Individualism and Conformity, but in America both are highly valued. After all, the self looks to the crowd for a definition of what the self should be. It is in this that the majority truly rules! Whatever the crowd says to wear, the individual wears. Whatever the crowd says to watch (Nielsen ratings) the individual watches. However the crowd votes, that is the individual who is elected.

Competitive (The Apprentice)
The business world is called “Dog eat dog” for a reason. People are befriended only as a means of using them to climb to a higher rung on the self's career ladder. On TV, we watch Survivor, the Bachelor, American Idol, and the Apprentice (just to name a small sampling) and we see what it takes to be the King of the Hill. Because our culture worships self, to be envied by others is the highest form of self worship.

Entertainment-Oriented (Killing Time)
People in our culture seem to believe that leisure activity is the activity of a king. We kill ourselves five days a week so that we can be entertained on the weekends. So the goal of our flittering and running is to get a drink, a few laughs, and a show. I remember once saying at a James Taylor concert, "All these people and I have hired James Taylor (via our ticket purchases) to put on this show for us. Therefore, he is our servant." I did not know what I was saying at the time. How ironic that we worship our superstars, and we pay them to expose their talent so that we can gawk at them at the same time. But entertainment is much more pervasive: video games, Internet surfing, fantasy sports, and useless phone chatter. Even our news broadcasts must be witty, fast, and attention grabbing or people will quickly exercise their authority as an autonomous self and, using the remote control, change the channel to Wheel of Fortune.

Now, having thought about these marks of our culture, consider what is happening to various churches who believe that the best way to reach a sinful culture is to become like that culture. What about the Church that tries to "fit in?"

The Professionalization of Ministry
Dr. Wells shows clearly the awful tendency of pastors and other ministers to find respectability in this type of culture. (I would also recommend here John Piper's book on this topic, Brothers We Are Not Professionals.) This trend in ministry has happened, according to Wells, because the clergy were being marginalized as a result of Enlightenment and Modern thinking. Their respected and prominent positions in the community (literally as the center of the community) was diminishing at an alarming rate. Thus the modern minister changed his approach. Seminaries adopted new degree programs (such as the D.Min) in order to accommodate this changed approach. The preacher went from truth broker to everyone’s best friend (since he is unqualified to be a psychologist).

The Therapeutic Model of Ministry (Instead of Moral Model)
The needs of the people determine the direction of the ministry, not the truth of God’s Word. Sin is set aside as a reality, holiness is replaced with a desire for wholeness, and the goal of ministry is to feel good about yourself (like you feeling you get when you get back to the hotel from Disney World). In this way churches have truly become seeker sensitive instead of Kingdom announcing.

Finally, if the church is going to be something special and unique in this kind of culture, it must repent and become authentic. That is, it must be counter-culture, since in almost every way the culture is antithetical to the dictates of the Bible. This world does not need more institutions that promote self worship, but rather an institution that promotes a completely different way of looking at life, where God and His eternal glory are the center of all thinking. Here is what the church needs to do:

Seek Out That Which Is Permanent
The self is impermanent, but God is eternal. Start looking for things that last instead of buying into each passing fad. Pastors, stay at your church longer than 2 years. Families, quit moving to new cities for a few bucks more in salary. Value permanence as a reflection of the permanent nature of our immutable God.

Go Deeper / Learn Theology
Stop believing that inward feelings are the criteria for determining truth. Start asking your pastor to preach more doctrinal sermons that explain the character of God, the Person and work of Christ, the nature of true salvation, and like issues. To know God and be able to meditate on His character and being in worship is the GOAL OF LIFE. Theology is not a means to an end. It is the end! Quit reading Stephen King and start reading Jonathan Edwards.

Know Truth (The Center is God)
There is one truth for all people, for all times, in all places. Be confident when you assert, "The Hindus have it wrong." They do. So do the Muslims. Almighty God, as He has graciously revealed Himself in the Bible, is truth and the source from which all true things flow. All knowledge must begin and end in God.

Submit to Proper Authorities (Elders, Government, Husband, Parents, Boss)
This is a big counter-culture move! Even if they are wrong, even if they are incompetent, even if you know the issues better than they do, it is the act of submission itself that is virtuous. This does not mean be mindlessly controlled by others, that is not what submission is. But that is another topic!

Be At Peace and Be Satisfied
If you want to stand out in this culture, quit running and relax. This is not to say be lazy! Laziness is altogether different. You still have tasks to accomplish. But this busy-bee anxiety that plagues our modern world stinks of death. Slow down! The only way to successfully do this is to anchor deeply into Jesus Christ. To know Him is to know that you are eternally secure. No situation, even a terminal illness, can shake you if you are fixed upon the Rock. Our unbelieving culture has no rock, thus it flitters. The Church should be at rest and satisfied in our Lord.

Focus on Others
Not just as a way of drawing attention to yourself, but as an end in itself. Help someone who needs money. Give away one of your extra cars to a family in need. House a missionary. Leave your high sanctuary pulpit and preach at a downtown mission to the homeless. Take a mission trip to Africa and carefully hold AIDS infected children while doctors place needed vaccines in their deteriorating bodies. For a moment, September 11 seemed to wake the Church up, that the world is desperate for true love (eternal love), but since then, we quickly went back to our self-worship. A focus on the eternal God (aided by theological musings) will lead to a focus on the needs of others.

Be Sacrificial
I worked for awhile at a bank here in Birmingham and I saw first hand how brutal the corporate world can be. Instead of competing, go counter-cultural and sacrifice yourself so others can be promoted over you! Sure, you will not make as much money, a thought that is anathema to this culture. You will even be called a wimp! People will say, "He helped others, why doesn't he save himself!" But the impact of going counter-cultural can be enormous.

Education-Oriented
Stop entertaining yourself to death! Throw out the Nintendo and turn off the tube. Read books with your children instead of attaching them to electronic pacifiers. (I am not saying do away completely with all these media, for they do have some helpful purposes, but our flaw is not in using these media too much in the helpful way, but in using them too much in harmful ways). Instead of entertainment, focus on education. Entertainment has some value, but we were not created to be amused ultimately. We were created to know. To know God. This involves using your mind in order to study theology. Do not go to church to get a high from the wonderful singers and be entertained by the pastor / comedian / self-help guru. Go to church in order to seek out knowledge of the living and true God. That is truly counter-culture!

Internet Apologist?

It is easy to suggest things, but not follow through with actions. So that is what I am going to do! I suggest that the Church establish a ministry to people who surf the Internet.

The person would be paid a salary and have board oversight and be required to surf the Internet 8 hours a day, focusing especially on forums, chat rooms, and blogs, and be a solid Christian voice there. He / she would not be a columnist but rather an evangelist. The goal would be to carry on conversations with people who talk online and to point them to the living water of Jesus Christ (John 4). As far as I know, this is not currently being done (correct me if I am wrong).

BENEFITS
People are turning to the Internet for answers. Because it is a protected environment, where people do not know each other really, where people cannot be rejected face-to-face, it is the place to go for seekers concerned about life and its meaning. Just scan the blogs on blogger.com or the thousands of myspace.com accounts and you will see clearly that the Internet is the new community of seekers, doubters, and loners who want friends (maybe?).

To have an Internet apologist / evangelist would be to provide a solid Christian voice to people at the place where they seem to be looking most for answers.

PROBLEMS
One objection to putting finances into this type of thing would be that many Christians already do Internet ministry. There are plenty of websites where non-believers, doubters, and seekers can go to read or hear audio messages about the truth of Christianity. Why should we pay someone to do it? Well, good objection! However, the position of Internet apologist would be unique. It would not be a central Christian website (though it might involve that kind of thing as a home base). Rather it would be a person being proactive in bringing the Gospel message to other websites, blogs, etc. It would be an outreach as opposed to a sitting-still kind of website. I mean, you can have an article available called, "Proofs for God's existence," and you might even get some hits, but it is unlikely that most seekers are going to end up there. Remember Jesus sends us to others (Matt. 28:19-20).

Another problem would be that when we think of evangelism, face-to-face meetings seems to be the best method. True enough. Certainly, personal contact is the best, simply because a physical connection is made when you look people in the eye. But, the Internet evangelist would be playing an important role in the process since so many people are going to the Internet to fill the void of loneliness they feel in their lives. In a broken, fragmented, postmodern age, where the individual reigns supreme, people are left to look inward on themselves. When they grow bored with that, they reach out. However, many people do not want to risk actual personal face-to-face relationships, often out of fear of rejection. So the Internet has become a place of pseudo-community. It is not the best place for relationships and Christians should not be interested in living our lives separate from each other, only to speak through our monitors. However, since that is the place people are going, looking for answers and opening up their lives, then it makes sense that we need pastors there! This is a unique people group with unique needs.

Another problem: If the people are converted to Christ, they will almost certainly not go to a church local to the Internet apologist or to a church that supports the Internet apologist. They will go to a church local to them, which could be anywhere. This means there will be little visible fruit. It might be hard to support a ministry where that is the reality. But again, what is our interest in doing this ministry? Is it to fill up our own little quivers for the purpose of showing off to others how successful we are, or is it to bring the Kingdom of God to bear upon the Earth. Those who support this ministry would have to understand that the investment is worldwide, and the fruit is real, even if it is not local. Of course, this ministry will never and could never replace local ministry and local churches. It would be an evangelistic ministry design to see people converted to Christ and supporting a local church where they live. It would, in a very real sense, make the world a better place.

Well, I am posting this idea as nothing more than an idea. Again, it is easy to lay out a theory, but difficult indeed to follow through with it. I also have to admit that I would not want to be the Internet apologist. Looking at a screen 8 hours a day would send me to the asylum! But perhaps God has laid this kind of ministry idea on someone else who might be called for just such a time as this. Whaddaya think?

A Few Thoughts on Superman Returns

The revival of Superman brings a renewed need of examining the greatest superhero pop culture has ever produced, especially from a biblical point of view. Superman Returns is a fantastic production. Even the flying looks real! (I guess I can suspend disbelief with the best of them). The portrayals of old characters by new actors and actresses were successful in all but one case, that of Superman himself. It seems as though he was trying to be Christopher Reeve instead of Clark Kent / Superman. Routh does state that this was his intent and for good reason, but this is all really a matter of opinion and really beside the point. Let’s move on to more important issues.

Christians should, of course be concerned about the gay lifestyle chosen by director Bryan Singer and the possible motives he might have in creating this movie. Every creative venture a person engages in is going to, in some way, communicate his or her worldview.

Also, there is some debate over the controversial line, “Truth, justice...all that stuff,” spoken by Perry White as he coached his Daily Planet staff to write stories about the arrival of Superman. To me this seems like no big deal. They are simply making Superman out to be more global, not just American. From a Christian point of view, this makes sense. We are not the only country in the world.

The real questions however, especially for biblical Christians, relate to the role of Superman as a messianic figure. The correlations between Superman and Christ are many and well documented elsewhere and elsewhere and elsewhere. Some Christians will argue that these parallels are good and can be used to show the basic human need to have a “savior” as Superman is called in the movie. This might be an impetus for people to look to Christ as a true Savior.

On the other hand, does Kal-El end up functioning as a distraction from the one true God? Instead of pointing people to Jesus Christ, is he simply creating wrong imagines in the minds of people about what a savior is? After all, Superman is morally inadequate, as seen in his attempt to entice Lois even after he knows she is in a new relationship with another man. Does Superman actually lower our expectations of our concept of savior for humanity?

No doubt, different people will view Superman in different ways, most of them subconsciously. Some will look beyond this modern, man-made, mythical type to see the greatest being in existence, Jesus Christ. Some will be turned away from Christ as they lower their expectation of the idea of savior for humanity. I suggest that we think through these concepts in depth. Superman will probably return again and again in the years ahead.