Supernatural Nature of Community

We recently watched this in one of my courses at Luther and I wanted to share it here and discuss it a bit. Please holster you doctrine guns and Bible bullets and just listen all the way through before you think about shooting it to pieces. How can we be in conversation with Jim and what truth is there in what he’s presenting?

Although on the one hand thinking of the collective of humanity as being God is problematic and concerning to me, it also resonates with a great deal of Christianity’s language of thinking of itself as The Body of Christ (Ro. 12:5, 1 Cor. 12:12-27). I highly doubt that everyone in Jim’s internet pool are believers in God, but Jim’s testimony gets me to thinking about the potential of The Body of Christ.

Many I watched the video with shared a plethora of Bible verses in opposition to mankind depending on themselves and not God, and I totally agree with that.

“You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth…”(Deut. 8:17-18)

or more prominently,

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5).

We the body of Christ don’t claim to be God, but we have certainly been enabled to do tremendous things beyond what we could ever imagine only years ago. Consider the commissioning of the twelve (Matt. 10, Mark 3:13-19, Luke 9:1-6) They were given the authority against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease, even to raise the dead (10:8). When you start to think about how connected we are (the shared knowledge and provided agency), aiding Jim in receiving new life, twice, it is far beyond the imaginable even just 10 years ago. The impossible becomes more possible all the time.

As the line between the two slowly (or quickly) disappears/dwindles over time, the remarkableness of what we are able to do can disappear as well. Stories like Jim’s can remind us of just how enabled we have become, and how those things promised to the original twelve disciples seem to be in a sense,  granted to us as well. As Christians we also need to use our given ability to focus on the source from which it all comes.

As Jim knows, this tremendous power/ability comes from others working as a community to support one another. Behind (in front of?) that community that is so capable is a God who has enabled and continues to enable them. One of my fellow classmates Jody Spiak pointed out that Jim’s story reminded him of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). Indeed we can do some amazing things when we all work together, but God made us to be in relationship with one another AND with him, not to replace him.  Regardless of what Jim’s theological claim is (if that was what he meant to make) I am thankful for the ways in which the Spirit has inspired me to think about the body of Christ through the message he’s shared. As a participant in what Jim calls his religion (the internet) I hope that others see from this what good we can accomplish together, and I also hope that we can aid one another in remembering what the source of good in life is.

Any thoughts the video inspired for you? If you are a disciple of Christ, how has God enabled you and what community do you share that gift with?

More from Elizabeth Drescher and others

I stumbled across another article of Drescher’s, the author of Tweet if You Love Jesus, about what social media is doing for religion. She gives some examples here of not only what churches are doing with social networking, but more importantly how it’s effecting some churches  beyond just their digital presence.

A nod to Pastor Keith Anderson for sharing the article. Pastor Anderson has done what I’m studying in this course for quite some time. Jump over to his page when you have a moment and follow on Twitter or his blog if you dig it.

Although not fully dedicated to the topic of media and tech in the parish,  Adam Copeland is a seasoned blogger/church leader who is still frequently relevant on the topic as well. Here’s a recent post from his blog about the use of smart phones in the sanctuary.

The Dark Tower, the next pop – religion crossover?

I’m just finishing up the 7th and final book in Stephen King‘s Dark Tower series. It’s currently in production to be 3 movies and 2 TV mini series with Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Eat Pray Love) playing the lead character. The Dark Tower story takes place across different times, including both our world in several different times, and also several alternate worlds/realities. There is frequent reference to the Bible and “God and the man Jesus” (I guess the Holy Spirit didn’t make King’s cut). I can’t wait for the movie makes of this awesome series, although I’m sure it’s still years away. The series currently has a huge following and I’m sure the movies will only increase that following. This should be another great opportunity to use the language of this pop culture to familiarize people with theological language and the stories of the Bible.

****SPOILER**** the end of the first book uses imagery that could definitely parallel the Abraham Isaac story. As I’m finishing up the final book in the series it could definitely be read as a commentary on the American life and the privileged few oppressing the rest of the world, and how the main character is turning things upside. As always with any culture, there’s plenty of sin mixed in with the good, but I can’t wait to read the series again and begin dissecting it more and drawing out its positive messages. As I read them again I’m hoping to put together another blog that explores the themes in each of the books since I’ve found no such blog so far. I’ve read bits and pieces in other people’s blogs, but there’s nothing dedicated to it yet. Hopefully doing so will provide a place for others to join the dialogue and improve it as well (kind of like Wikipedia).

Jesus Christ was a Horcrux? Hmmm…..!

As I’ve been preparing to work on a small group study working with the language of pop culture to discuss faith and religion I’ve come across a few resources for some shows I’m more familiar with. If you have any of your own to add that’d be a great help. Here’s what I have so far, I’m hoping to continue to grow my resources over time so if you come across something and you’re feeling generous with your time, please stop back and post a comment with the web address and maybe why you’ve found it helpful.

The Simpson’s Archive: Religion . Wow, I’ve watched a lot of episodes over the years, but this gives an excellent breakdown of what was said in the episode and what’s referenced to. It even goes behind the scenes, in one episode talking about how they are making fun of Scientology even while the voice of Lisa is played by a Scientologist.

Religion in Futurama is a Wikipedia page. Although it’s not real in-depth it does give some detail of places where religion themes show up and talks the most about an episode which I’m considering for my project entitled “Godfellas”.

25 Essays on Christian Themes in Harry Potter I can’t wait for the final film to come out. I’m a huge potter fan, both novels and movies. There’s an abundance of Christian themes in the series, admittedly there by the author. As far as resources they’re aplenty out there, but I haven’t found a good website that compiles all the info. This one certainly has some ideas to get the pot brewing on some great discussions.

The Matrix: Unloaded Revelations Not so much a compilation as some of these other pages, but it gives a good overview of themes throughout the movies by which you could search other topics. It also has a chart comparing Matrix “theology” to Christianity and several other religions. That’s right I said a CHART, who doesn’t like charts?

Theology in Battle Star Galactica Another Wikipedia entry. Although it’s not in-depth as others, it’s a good starting point by which to search for specific content elsewhere.

Among the many suggestions I got from a Facebook post concerning faith/religion in pop culture, there were a few I was surprised to find little information on. As for the Lord of the Rings, I’ve found several bits and pieces about the web pointing to religious/Christian themes, but no good compilations. Another is Scrubs, although it has a great deal of good content to discuss, it seems that much of what I’ve found is people dogging it for sexual themes alongside the religious ones (nothing new for several of these other titles).

Here Comes Everybody

Reading Clay Shirky‘s Here Comes Everybody gives me new hope for an old theory of mine. As a means to connect to people in middle school and highschool I really wanted to be socially accepted. I wasn’t that great at sports or all that book smart, so I found my place in humoring other people. To become relevantly humorous to a given person I used what I call the “shotgun effect.” I’d throw out all kinds of humor until I found a reaction to a particular thing (some of the shot would hit the target), then I would work around that idea, offering similar bits of humor until I really knew what would make somebody laugh. Call it a desperate measure for attention if you like, but it worked and I was generally accepted as a funny guy which gave me avenue to other more important topics.

I saw parallels with the shotgun effect throughout Shirky’s book, but particularly in his chapter, Failure for Free. With the relatively low-cost of producing and publishing that the internet now offers we are able to do a very similar thing with out ideas.

Trial and error, in a system like Meetup, has both a lower cost and a higher value than in traditional institutions, where failure often comes with some employee’s name attached. -Shirky

We can test out all kinds of ideas now on the web and get immediate feedback. I also like the potential for many people working together to come up with some amazing things (like Wikipedia, or Linux). As Shirky demonstrated several times over, everyone has at least a few good ideas, and when we work together on a given topic that makes for great potential. It gives me some hope to work on things like the potential for pop cultures interaction with the church. For some time I’ve thought why bother contributing because someone else like Mark Pinsky (author of The Gospel According to The Simpsons) has already done a better job, but Shirky’s examples give me hope that even the amateur has something to contribute and in such a way be bettered, and maybe even provide something useful.

The conversation that forms around shared photos, videos, weblog posts, and the like is often about how to do it better next time. – Shriky

Race depiction in pop entertainment

I’ve been a fan of the Simpsons for some time now, although I’ve found them far less entertaining in recent years than I did in it’s earlier seasons (they’re now beyond their 20th season, and are the longest running animated series). As I consider a project I’ll be taking on in the near future around conversation with this pop juggernaut and theology I started to bring race/ethnicity into the conversation. In some recent reading I’ve done (hop over to the book reviews page) the potential for media to engage the marginalized has come into the conversation. The Simpsons focuses on a white (or yellow if you like) middle class family with the mother and father falling into traditional roles (that are becoming less and less traditional as the years go by).

As I consider some other options to engage, Matt Groening‘s other brainchild, Futurama comes to mind. Although the lead character is also a young white male, the regular cast features several other races, species, and robots. I also like how the main robot character, Bender regularly blurs the line of what it is to be alive in a variety of comical ways. Both shows regularly touch on theological topics, albeit jokingly, but I think they provide avenues within which to discuss commonly held misconceptions (or revealing truths) about how religion and the church are understood.

I’m aware of some other shows (such as Scrubs and Lost) which also regularly engage moral topics and narrowly avoid an entire white cast, but it’s hard to find something that has at least semi-equal representation among races. As I consider Futurama Futher, I’d be delighted to hear of any other suggestions you might have on pop-culutre that engages moral/religious topics and represents the marginalized.

A short clip from the Simpsons on the topic of going to church

And another from Futurama about the religious/pop holiday overlap.

Engaging Technology in Theological Education

Just finished up another gem of a book, Engaging Technology in Theological Education: All that we can’t leave behind, by Mary Hess. Perhaps what excites me the most as I read Hess’s book was that she finds value in the language that is pop culture media. Prior to my seminary education I was far more educated in pop-culture than I was in the Bible or theological ideas. Although I’d like to think that’s balancing out as time goes by, and hopefully tipping towards more familiarity with the Bible and theology, as the title suggests, there’s so much I can’t leave behind.

Among many, here are a couple of additional positives that come out of Hess’s book for me. On the relationship between witnessing Jesus Christ and digital technology Hess writes,

“Increasingly that witness has drawn me — compelled me, really — to think about the ways in which digital technologies engage the margins.” – Mary Hess

As Hess demonstrates throughout the book with several pop-media references, there is a base “language” so to speak that is well-known even among the margins of society. It is with this language that we can interact to bridge the language gap when it comes to conversing about theological ideas and the Bible.

Related to that same topic, Hess brings into this conversation racism and the influence of white supremacy. As a young white male I’ve often overlooked how privileged I am, most likely because my race and gender have caused next to no issues for me over the course of life. As I have a deep desire to work with media and pop culture in the parish, and am excited about the potential of it to reach the margins, a little voice has been planted in my head that has already begun to make me think twice about some of my choices for material to present.

I’m excited for how Hess’s book has shaped some upcoming projects for engaging pop culture in the parish and I could carry on more about her book, but if you have any interest for the potential of media use in the parish pick the book up for yourself and keep it handy as you venture out to encounter God in ALL aspects of life.

#Nomi The Mpls Tornado Tweet page

As we continue to try to aid this community in its recovery, I’ve found this page helpful in keeping track of what’s going on in North Minneapolis not only from a news standpoint, but from those aiding, living in, and supporting the community. It really gives an entirely different depth to the situation than what you’d ever get from just watching the news. As we discuss the transition into the digital age, I’m sure there will continue to be an appreciation for professional reporting, but I wonder how much longer news services will be the primary source of information.

There’s a variety of other pages that are collecting information on what’s going on with the recovery effort, but I particularly like this one as it incorporates so many different voices, from both the caregivers and the recipients. Although this video did come from a news service, I thought it was worth putting in this particular discussion as it is about a school that its students and staff have all been displaced by the tornado, yet they are still gathering for school for some continuity amidst the destruction.

Tweet if you Love Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation

Just finished up this wonderful treat by Elizabeth Drescher. Don’t let the title deceive you, it’s about far more than just Twitter. Although she does reference both Twitter and Facebook in her book, Drescher offers useful information that is applicable in any communication avenue. She provides an overview of the history of communication developments and how they affected/interacted with the church. From there she goes into some deeply interesting topics about how we can effectively put social media to work with in our ministries.

Having done social media in a couple different businesses, it’s easy for me to see how many of today’s churches use social media in a similar formula as businesses do. They use it as a means of free advertising so to speak, a chance to put your message in other’s feeds in order that it’s in their face on a daily basis rather than just when they’re in attendance at church. Drescher addresses this and points out how little of social media’s potential is used with this model. She also notes that over the course of time, this kind of approach will likely drive people away from giving any attention to what you or your organization have to say.

“If we get annoyed when the Facebook advertising automatons don’t know us well enough, imagine how it feels when our priest or pastor keeps posting or tweeting stuff that betrays no understanding of who we are or who we hope to be.” – Drescher

Instead Drescher offers a variety of ways in which we can use social media to learn more about the people in our communities in order to serve them better and how we can use social networks to invite conversation on several important topics, rather than force feeding people our own opinions. She suggests it’s far more important for leaders to be looking at other peoples pages and learning and commenting on the things they’re interested in than it is for us to be endlessly posting our own insights into life. For me, it’s a totally new approach to social network, and one that’s far more inline with how I so often talk about what it means to be a Christian in community.

Does your church use social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook? If they do, do the posts invite conversation or is it advertising for the church?