« Memorial Day Observed | Home | Videos that Make us Laugh and Think- Pt 4 »
Pop Goes the Church 4
By John | May 27, 2008
**Here we go with Chapters 8-11 of Pop Goes the Church by Tim Stevens. For more info go to Popgoesthechurch.com.
It’s here, about half way through the book, that Tim stops to see if we’re all still along for the ride. Many people are probably digging the idea that the church can leverage pop culture to reach the unchurched, but others might wonder if he’s departing from Biblical Christianity a bit.
Not to fear - ‘Tim the Theologian’ is here!
Although he says he’s not a theologian - he includes a list of proofs from the Bible that Jesus, Paul, & others all used the popular culture of the day to help the ‘unchurched’ experience God. I still wonder why Tim used Matthew 11:18-19 to say that Jesus did not avoid the culture. What do you think?
After pulling everyone back onto the boat, Tim gets practical with us. To tell you the truth, I was a little disappointed with this section. He simply gives us the usual bits about leading others through change, being true to who you are, and lists about how Granger has used pop culture in their setting.
However, one good image to keep relates to how you design a church experience: stick to the three legged stool of (1) Relevant Topic - because people have to feel like you’re talking to/with them not at them, (2) Cultural Theme - because it raises issues that most people (churched & unchurched) are dealing with, and (3) Biblical Truth - because that’s where lasting truth exists.
But for as ordinary as the last few chapters were, Tim makes up for it in chapter 12.
In the meantime…
If you attend a church, do they adhere to the 3-legged stool mentioned above?
Do you often feel talked ‘at’ and not talked ‘with’?
Do you feel like your Mon-Sat. world changes because of what happens on Sunday?
Topics: Books |
May 27th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Interesting questions John. It would be interesting to see how other people react to this. I think our church is most effective in looking at cultural themes and Biblical truths. My understanding of your outline would make it sound like relevant topic gets to the real specifics- how do I reflect on the war in Iraq as a Christian, what do I do with the money concerns I’m facing when God tells me not to worry, etc.
Maybe it would be good to walk through a couple of examples here. Are there any topics you guys have hit lately at church? I’d be curious for some of our readers to chime in with ways they’ve seen the church do this well or not so well lately.
I might have to check out these chapters specifically in the book. I’d be curious to dig through some of his examples and see what he did with Jesus leveraging the pop culture of his day as well.