Pop Culture Relevancy

I’m on a bit of a spiritual pilgrimage right now. As a part of my research project I have decided to explore the connection between the contemporary church and pop culture. Specifically I am aiming at trying to figure our a hermeneutic that works to connect the 20-something generation with theology. It’s funny when you begin doing research in this area because although there are some amazing books that were written years ago like “Christ and Culture” by Richard Niebuhr most of the great stuff is fairly new. Like pop culture I guess it changes so rapidly that its hard to keep up. A bit disenchanting when I think that the three years I put into this project might be irrelevant by the time its finally published. But I am convinced that as with most things dealing with faith these days the important part is that the dialogue is started and continued. As culture shifts the church will need to continue to shift in order to follow it. Here’s a little taste of my thoughts.

The church historically has had a love for “High” culture. Music, literature and the arts that fall into this category are loved by the church. Think to yourself how many times you’ve her Handel’s Messiah done at a church. We grab hold of something like the “Hallelujah chorus” and claim it as our own. Don’t get me wrong I think there is something incredible about having the congregation up on stage belting it out. There is something “spiritual” about that moment. I put most “High” culture into the category of “Dead White Guys” because that’s pretty much what the church has as a sub-category for “High” culture.

The church also has a great love affair with “Middle” culture. This is mostly defined as culture that is common to a particular region. This “Folk” culture is something that churches hold on to tightly because it is usually a huge part of their historical roots. This is why many churches still have festivals and activities that many people outside the church think are strange. Growing up in the Lutheran church we had a festival every Christmas where we celebrated our Norwegian heritage. This potluck event was a scary smorgasbord of odd Norweigian food such as Lutefisk (raw fish soaked in lye) and Lefsa (a tasty little pastry.) The church embraced jokes about Ole and Sven and we had a great time accompanied by music from the old country. Whatever your particular church clings too as its historical Folk roots tends to come out in its love for the “Folk” culture. Its unfortunate I think that many “mega” and “non-denom” churches don’t have these types of folk experiences to draw from.

Pop culture is a phenomena that the church does not know how to handle. By “Pop” I’ll loosely define it as the culture of the “day.” Granted this definition has a huge spectrum of meanings based on geographic and socio economic diversity but it is still a real problem that the church doesn’t know how to respond to. I contend that “Pop” culture is a scary thing for the church because we have lost a lot of our ability to be relevant to post-modern society. Things move so quickly outside of our doors but inside we tend to be embroiled in committee meetings and other issues. Please understand that I love the church and have worked in some amazing ones. I point to myself as being part of the problem because as a Youth Pastor I probably have the best stage to work on a Theology that allows for this interface. I just haven’t done enough and am now scrambling to see how to fit it together.

Here’s one last thought. I was in a church service one morning with Brittany Spears, Jessica Simpson and Tori Spelling all in attendance. I’ve sat behind David Hasselhoff and conversed with the Producer for “Saved by the Bell.” These people and the people that love these people need to know that the church wants to interact with pop culture and dialogue in such a way that doesn’t condemn who they are and what they do.

Some of these thoughts began to be fleshed out in one of my D.Min classes at George Fox and reflect some of the ideas of Leonard Sweet who in my opinion “gets it.”

Side note. Go to the Reel Spirituality Conference at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena on October 21st. See you there. Let’s go see some movies too.