Through our unawareness of the immense significance of the affective and non-cognitive levels of Christian formation, we have encouraged the notion that pumping in more right teaching will serve as the solution for all problems. Yet such right teaching, even where accepted, often lacks the transformational impact anticipated for it, its effects distorted or dulled by the largely unacknowledged formative power of the surrounding evangelical culture.
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Evangelicalism’s Poor Form – Christ and Pop Culture // // //
Andy Crouch on the IWatch or Apple Watch as they call it.
Posted in Daily Links and Notes
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Unrealistic Expectations and the Opiate of the Masses
Interesting discussion on the podcast today.
- The topic was David Cameron’s comments about ISIS. First the west wants to deny narratives in terms of freedom but now facing a threat of a narrative it wishes to return to one. (minute 14 on)
- Phil mentioned a story in the Divine Conspiracy of a Harvard Student who drops out because of the poor moral quality of her fellow students. He then refers to Robert Coles piece “The Disparity Between Intellect and Character“.
- Skye brings in Oz Guiness “A Free People’s Suicide” (minute 19) the argument that for a people to be unrestrained by government they need to be virtuous. As we lose our virtue we need more external constraint.
- Minute 20: the sociological roots of British unrest in the community of immigrants.
- Minute 22: Dyck, we dismiss the recruitment on socio-economic grounds but that doesn’t address Bin Laden. We don’t understand the theological roots.
- Skye jumps in that the economic argument does hold water. The American Dream narrative, if you play by the rules you can be rich and successful, but when that narrative is not available to you, and it isn’t to most of us, the alternative looks good.
- There’s not an alternative narrative that is accessible to everyone (23:20)
- Add of a cute young girl available at hip place… cupcake, this is day you should play the lottery.
- After the abandonment of the Christian narrative wealth and celebrity have taken its place. The disappointment in not having access to this narrative.
In other words Marx was right. Without religion the masses will arise and clamber for the wealth and celebrity narrative.
Posted in Culture commentary
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Education doesn’t Make Character
The Elephant and the Rider
Posted in Link Compilations
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A transcendentalist poem vs the real thing with people
You can find elements of this in many religions. If you look at Emerson, Muir, and others you can find very similar thoughts. The thoughts aren’t far from the Bible if you know how it works in terms of the garden of Eden story, why the tabernacle and the temple had the shape it had, etc. It’s not hard to sit and “Imagine” (John Lennon) lots of wonderful things.
At the same time:
I remind people in my church that Yhwh is portrayed as capable of creating the world with words, and destroying it, but dealing with people takes the whole 1300 page book. We’re that complicated, powerful, messy, valuable. It’s the story of every marriage, every relationship, every community.
What to do with people?! They are glorious and they are terrible.
Religion is the ongoing attempt by people to come to communal answers to life’s most important questions. Politics is too but since the enlightenment we’ve tried to make politics easier by trying to differentiate it from religion. In the ancient world they were much closer.
So nice thought, but OK, now you’ve had a nice thought, what are you going to actually DO about it? That means getting busy with people.
On any given day I’ll have someone approach me and say “Pastor demons are bothering me” and another say “pastor, person X is doing Y and Z and I can’t live with that anymore” and another say “I just need 3 bucks to get some food…” and then a hospital visit and a conversation about what a 2000+ year old text illuminates on the whole business.
The quote reminds me of the difference between walking through a museum and seeing the masterpieces, and taking brush and canvas yourself. It is the difference between watching a chick flick and saying “ahh, romance” and a real relationship. It’s the difference between being a would-be presidential candidate and being the president. One is easy but staying there really is just being a tourist. The other means making real commitments about life and trying to stick with them.