Have you noticed that everything in life is shrinking? Ok, maybe it's hyperbolic, but it seems as if the 'bigger is always better' concept is being strongly challenged, in all sectors of life, except for TV's possibly. People love the big TV's. I just watched some March Madness on relative's big ol' TV this weekend. It was awesome.
But outside of television, small is the new big. Don't believe me? Consider the following.
Postmodern Thought/Culture: A central tenet of postmodernism is the deconstruction of the metanarrative; the adherence to a grand, all encompassing story that orders and purposes our experience. Obviously, Christians don't buy this. Rather, we believe in an all-encompassing metanarrative written by God, found in his Bible, lived in His Son, confessed by His followers. In Jesus we find the Story that makes sense of our own personal stories.
The shift away from the metanarrative results in a shrinking of the reigning narrative that orders and purposes you. In other words, rather than look to something grand and glorious for one's purpose (ahem: God), one instead looks simply to him/herself for purpose, destiny, and belief system. You are priority number one, and whatever works for you is all you should be concerned with.
Business: In the business world, we're (finally) seeing a shift in attitude away from the global conglomerate corporations and the big box retailers. Though there's still a long ways to go here (cough...Wal Mart), there are glimmers of hope that people are starting to see the value in the small business. People are recognizing that price isn't the only factor in a purchase; justice to the worker, customer service, and stewardship of the environment must all be considered. Marketing guru Seth Godin in many ways coined the 'small is the new big' concept applied to the business world. He even wrote a bestselling book about it. Businesses are realizing that bigger isn't always better.
Tech: Who truly controls media content at the present? Sure, the big boys are still around: FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS, ESPN, and Rupert Murdoch's empire. But with the advent of YouTube, mySpace, Facebook, and the rest of Web 2.0, the individual user has much more autonomy in media selection and production. It has carried into blogging, which started out as a mere online journal for a few tech nerds, and has now become a formidable form of journalism and idea shaping in it's own right. The power distribution is spreading more evenly, getting smaller.
But things are getting 'smaller' yet...almost tiny. Take twitter, for instance. Twitter is a new breed of small form media, designed to allow you to quickly and simply tell your friends what you're doing right at this very moment. Some view it as web-stalking, others see it as a new way to keep up with friends. Many use twitter as their 'blog', albeit a tiny blog, where they post one sentences reactions, statements, or feelings about something. (you can find me on twitter HERE.)
Church: What implications does this have for the church? Look around and you'll see that megachurches are still booming. Their influence is still incredibly strong. Yet there's also a grassroots movement of Christians seeking a different, 'smaller' way, fostering a very anti-megachurch sentiment. I'll save my thoughts on megachurches specifically for another day (they're mixed), but one cannot escape the fact that this new breed of church that is emerging is simple, small, missional. Free from the once deemed 'necessities' of doing church such as pastoral salaries, buildings, and a jumbotron, faith communities are exploring how to be the church in small, yet incredibly significant way.
(If you can't tell, I'm setting myself up quite nicely for a shameless Mennonite plug...you've been warned)
Though small in number, I believe this trend toward getting smaller in church is gaining steam. The 'denominations' that are historically smaller in orientation are going to be stepping up and showing the American church how to do things small. Trust me, we could use some reprogramming in this area. What would it look like to do church stripped of all the glitz and glamor?
I'd encourage you to look to the Mennonites and other historically small pockets of faith. Or the house church movement in China, which is exploding, but in small and local ways. Both are proof that going small doesn't negate going big. The Chinese house church numbers in the millions. Likewise, Mennonite communities can be found throughout the world. Though simple, their presence is proving prophetic for a postmodern culture seeking to go small. The challenge lies in going small without forsaking the Jesus metanarrative.
As Andrew Jones, aka 'Tall Skinny Kiwi" recently wrote,
"Church for some of us happens in TINY increments, TINY spaces and sometimes with TINY amounts of people. It happens many times a week and many times a day when the various aggregations of God's people come together around coffee or taking care of business or helping someone and especially at mealtimes..."
So, while the relentless quest for bigger and better seems to progress unbridled, find hope in the fact that there's a quiet revolution of all things small going against the grain. It may be small, but in a way...it's HUGE.
For all those who live in or around NW Ohio, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be preaching this Sunday at Archbold Evangelical Mennonite Church (8:30 and 11, EST). Consider yourself invited.
I'm the leadoff in a 3 part series leading up to Easter. I'll be preaching on Matt 2:1-12, looking specifically at the Magi who visited the baby Jesus. It will set the stage for our sr. pastor to preach the more traditional Easter texts.
Christmas in March? Kind of...but it all points to Easter anyway right?
My main point is that Matt 2:1-12 is a passage of contrasts:
Earthly Kings vs. THE KING
Matt 2:1-12 is a blatantly obvious parallel passage to the story of Moses. Pharaoh, threatened by the Hebrews, sought to squelch the threat through infanticide. Moses miraculously escapes this sentence, and grows up to be the Hebrew deliverer.
Fast forward to Herod. Threatened by the thought of the true King of the Jews, he prescribes a similar infanticide. Jesus escapes the plight, and is the deliverer, savior, Lord, and King of Kings.
All earthly politicians...er...kings pale in comparison.
The Spiritually Obtuse vs. the Spiritually Seeking
The religious leaders, who told Herod that when the Messiah came, he would come from Bethlehem...didn't have the wisdom to see Jesus for who he was, is, and is to come. All that education without the spiritual humility and thirst? That, my friends, is textbook 'obtuse'.
The Pagan star-worshiping Magi, however, recognized Jesus for who He truly was, is, and is to come: THE KING to be worshiped.
Who are the Magi of today? Those pagans not welcomed in today's churches, but yet so spiritually thirsty?
How do you describe the indescribable? I'm grasping for terms. Like John the Revelator Words don't suffice. Though they fail, I can't help but try.
God is bigger than my comprehension More eternal than Pi. More beautiful than a masterpiece Wider than my mind can enfold. Deeper than deep.
He's a lion...yet a lamb Living water...yet the bread of life. A regal king, robed in majesty...yet a beggar with no shoes. His riches can't be contained in any vault...yet he never owned a home But if he did, it wouldn't be a McMansion in a gated community. No. He'd probably live in the 'hood. He's the Great High Priest....yet also a dirty hippie activist. He was called a drunkard, satanic, a criminal, a malcontent. He challenged the Law...by fulfilling it. He stuck it to the man...because he was THE MAN. He challenged the status quo...because he himself is THE STATUS.
How do you describe the indescribable? I'm grasping for terms.
For this final post, I want to focus on Hipps' thoughts on the implications of electronic culture on leadership/worship in the church. Hipps rightly sees that "authority is often derived from information control." 127 Those who have the information (theological training, inside connections, political knowledge) have the power.
Looking back at this idea applied in the early church, we find a much more egalitarian community. Hipps believes it's because the first century was an oral culture, and in an oral culture everyone has access to the information.
Though we aren't exactly retreating to an oral culture, our postmodern society has certainly morphed into an electronic culture. The result is a dispersion of access to information. We can access, learn, and respond to information in a myriad of ways, from the comforts of home or cafe. In Hipps' own words: "Power is now dispersed among the pews."
In light of this new paradigm of power, Hipps calls for a recovery of 'praxis', where reflection and study informs our action and engagement in culture (and vice-versa). It's a rhythm of reflection and action that's sorely needed in today's program driven church culture.
He then ventures into a look at how many Mennonites handle the issue of power. Mennonites have long practiced collaborative models of authority, viewing everyone in the congregation as equal, requiring a consensus in decision making (though many churches now settle for some form of majority). Hipps' consensus approach is very intriguing, and very countercultural to contemporary leadership hierarchies in most churches. Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with this approach, it's important to note that this is but one example that points to why (in my humble opinion) Anabaptists are in a perfect position to exemplify how to authentically be the church in the postmodern world.
Hipps concludes this book with some great thoughts on worship in electronic culture, specifically focusing on the emerging church. Hipps offers a very effective illustration that helps sift through the varying viewpoints under the broad umbrella of 'emerging'. Rather than looking at theological positioning, as Ed Stetzer tries to do, Hipps instead organizes by approach. Churches who would consider themselves as 'emerging' are either taking the 'Windows' approach of the 'Mac' approach.
Windows was an attempt by Microsoft to place a cosmetic layer over their cumbersome DOS system (in order to compete with Apple's innovative operating system). Computers running Windows were really not that different than previous models. Many emerging churches are using the Windows approach. They use emerging worship styles as a mere cosmetic layer. They way they think and do church remains the same. Their structures, their practices, and their leadership are left largely intact.
Mac computers are noted by their revolutionary approach to computing. Upon their conception, Mac computers began rethinking computers from the ground up. Many emerging churches are using the Mac approach. They are completely rethinking church, participating in nothing short of a revolution of the people of God. They are innovating from the inside out.
For me, this is a much more helpful illustration than Stetzer's 'relevant, reconstructionist, and revisionist' categorization. The emerging church is simply too messy to fit Stetzer's theological categories (though they are at times helpful). Stetzer's categories focus more on theological starting point. Hipps' Windows v. Mac approach hones in on church praxis.
I highly recommend this book. It offers a balanced perspective on the emerging church, and provides much needed cultural prophecy to the church.
By the way: Coincidentally, I just made the switch to an apple macbook. It's in the mail and on it's way as we speak, thanks to the glory of Uncle Sam's tax breaks for minister's...and apple's education discount. Sorry, Dustin.
Continuing some thoughts on this book, in Part II Hipps gets a lot more specific to the church: "Like it or not, our theology and interpretation of Scripture have a long history of mirroring our forms of media." p 88
Consider how the printing press revolutionized our theology and view of Scripture. Personal quiet times, small group bible studies, prayer journals all flow from this medium. Transcending all forms of electronic media is the church, which Hipps refers to as God's chosen medium. 92 "In Christ, God's medium and message are perfectly united." 92
If one applies McLuhan's axiom with Hipps thoughts, we, the body of Christ are the message. Though he doesn't reference him, Lesslie Newbigin draws similar conclusions. Jesus never wrote an autobiography or a systematic theology book. He instead left behind a redemptive community with a mission to the world. That community is the hermeneutic of the gospel. It communicates, translates, and embodied the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.
Back specifically to electronic media, Hipps makes an interesting point: "The nature of the church is never directly described in Scripture; instead it is described indirectly through image and metaphor." p. 93 Additionally, the kingdom of God is described as a contrast society set apart as a holy nation distinct from political nations. Thus, Scripture indicates that the church is to represent a "penetrating, contrasting way of living in the world..." 95
It's not designed to be a counterculture for the sake of counterculture...but a counterculture that engages, penetrates, and dialogues with the culture of the day. If we are to truly embody our role as a penetrating, contrast society, we must do so corporately. In Hipps' view, "God chose the church, not individual Christians, as the medium for mission." 100
I think he's on to something. So much energy and resources have been devoted to enhancing one's personal witness. While no doubt important, the body of Christ is certainly greater than the sum of its parts. That's why Scripture refers to it as a body. A heap of appendages and organs rolled up into a ball aren't very productive. At best, they are a disgusting mental image. But when they work together in systems, you have a living, breathing, thinking organism. Retrieving authentic community is crucial in this media drenched culture.
However, electronic culture has turned us into a tribe of individuals. A perfect example is the cell phone. A cell can bridge incredible distances. I can call a college buddy in California, bridging the distance between Ohio and the West Coast. But while I'm talking to my buddy on my cell phone, I can simultaneously isolate myself from my wife sitting across the dining room table trying to talk to me about her day.
Shane thus warns us against substituting authentic community for electronic forms. Authentic community must have intimacy, permanence, and proximity. Electronic communities often lack these core attributes. There's a difference between being in-touch and in community. We should strive for both, but we must never forsake being 'in community' for being 'in-touch'.
He's dead on, and it's a good warning for people like me, who enjoy electronic media and the way it connects us with others.
Tomorrow: Part 3, where we'll focus in on Leadership and Worship in electronic culture. Stay tuned...
Shane Hipps, author of The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture, is an emerging, missional, Mennonite pastor in Arizona with a background in advertising. Any author with that mix of descriptors is worth a read.
I picked up a copy expecting an interesting perspective on media and the church. I wasn't disappointed. In fact, not only is this book a fascinating look into the influence our media drenched culture has on the church...it's also a fantastic look at leadership and the emerging church (an unexpected bonus).
By understanding media and communication theory, and by gleaning from the wisdom of cultural prophet Marshall McLuhan, Shane is able to offer a much needed, and well overdue perspective on the church in America.
His basic premise is that forms of media and technology, regardless of their content, are extremely powerful forces that shape our faith, theology, culture, and our church. This is best summed in Marshall McLuhan's most well-known quote: "the medium is the message." (he's also credited with the concept of the world becoming a 'global village')
Too often the church uses electronic media and technology void of serious consideration of the impact that the forms of media we use have on our gospel message. "They are merely tools..." is the common logic. Hipps is quick to pick a good ol' fashion Mennonite nonviolent fight with such thinking: "the task before us requires an entirely different approach to analyzing media, recognizing them not simply as conduits or pipelines, bu rather as dynamic forces with power to shape us, regardless of content." p. 27
Now, I should note that Hipps isn't proposing that content isn't important. It's critically important. He's just calling us to equally consider the forms of media we use to communicate our faith: "Whenever methods or media change, the message automatically changes along with them." 30
Nor is he fulfill the common caricature of a Mennonite pastor as some sort of psuedo-Amish Luddite who won't touch an iPod with a ten foot pole. Simply look at his website. He is deeply engaged in electronic media, but in such a way that it is useful, community forming, and authentic to context and giftedness.
Borrowing from McLuhan, Hipps begs the reader to consider four questions...a.k.a The Laws of Media (p. 41f):
What does the medium extend? (i.e.--a camera is an extension of the eye)
What does the medium make obsolete? (i.e.-- a car made the horse and buggy obsolete)
What does the medium reverse into? (i.e.--the car, designed for efficiency and speed, reverses into traffic jams and accidents when pushed too hard)
What does the medium retrieve? (i.e.--surveillance cameras retrieve the concept of the medieval wall, protecting us from intruders)
Hipps then moves into a brilliant exploration of the medium of printing, which he claims is the architect of the modern church. The development of the printed word fostered a strong emphasis on the individual, objective, abstract, and reasoned thought. While careful not to miss the importance of these distinctives, Hipps points to our current culture, driven more by images and icons.
One can easily see the disconnect. Today's postmodern culture is selling its stock in linear, rational thinking.
(insert emerging church here)
It's this fertile ground of postmodernity that paved the way for the emerging church. Electronic media planted the seeds, producing "a disorienting hall of mirrors where media are embedded into other media." 64 In an effort to provide the reader with some bearings, Hipps focuses in on the telegraph, photograph, and radio specifically, and chronicles their influence on today's media drenched culture.
Being the good, thoughtful Mennonite that he is, Hipps is careful not to fully embrace these postmodern developments. He sees much of postmodernity as proper corrective to the pitfalls of modernity, but he is careful to uphold the Word of God, and he vigorously defends the idea of the Bible as providing THE metanarrative for our lives (a very non-postmodern concept).
The bottom line is this: using media in worship is not merely a practice. It's generative. It generates and communicates something beyond pure content. It often communicates as much (or more) than the content itself.
Tomorrow: Part II, which delves into the more practical implications of media and communication theory for the emerging church.
I hesitate to even link to it, but it's so bizarre, I can't resist. I just threw my blogging hat into the Mere Mission ring, and I made a slight typo in the link to this blog. By simply reversing the 'sp' in 'blogspot', check out what you get. Creepy...
Tired of myspace? Tired of the errors? The spam? The smutty ads? But you love the media? Ditch mySpace and switch to VIRB. Virb is social networking for the artistically minded, offering music, videos, blogs, fashion, photography, etc. (it's a long list)...all in a slick, professional design, without the intrusive ads geared toward 14 year old boys in heat. Your profile is highly adaptable to suit your needs, and you don't have to be a Web genius to figure it all out (though some basic HTML helps).
They'll be rolling out some cool features soon, but already I've discovered a few worth mentioning:
Any bands on Virb that you like can be easily integrated into a tour schedule, letting you know when all your favorite artists will be coming into your area.
You can create a short playlist (approx. 15 songs) from artists virb profiles, and incorporate the list into a player on your profile.
You can plug in about 15 taglines into your profile, and one will randomly appear each time someone views your profile. (My most recent tagline: "The Drew abides...")
I'll let you all figure out the rest. Seriously, ditch mySpace and check out Virb.
I was interviewed (along with 3 other pastors) as part of a round-table discussion on twentysomething ministry for Relevant Network's Relevant Leader Newsletter. It's an odd thing for me to be interviewed. I'm afraid that it sets me up as some sort of 'expert'. I'm not. Most of the time I feel like an inept pastor just fumbling along. With that disclaimer, feel free to check out the article HERE.
I just stumbled upon this post by Confessions of an Empty-Nester (via Get Rich Slowly). It's the tale of an empty-nester couple who decided to downsize, leave the suburbs of Texas, and relocate to downtown Seattle. The results of their lifestyle change are inspiring.
Here's an excerpt:
"Our 3,200 square feet of Texas sprawl has been squeezed down to a cosmopolitan 1,200. We’ve gotten rid of most of our furniture, clothes, and surplus artwork, and all of our meaningless “stuff.” We’ve chucked the lawnmower and garden tools, and pared our dishes down to enough for only four. And best of all — most gloriously of all — we’ve sold our three cars!
Our everyday lives have changed in every way imaginable. We don’t own a car, so we walk everywhere, including to and from work. We use the bus or ferry if we want to go farther afield. This has had a profound effect on how we interact with people. We realize now that the cocoons of our cars kept us well insulated from the people around us.
[…]
We’ve developed friendships with several proprietors and servers at our favorite restaurants. A restaurateur recently called out to us and said, “We’ve missed you.” Our neighborhood grocer loves to talk to us, because he finds our change in lifestyle quite intriguing. “What do you think? Are you still happy with your decision?” Our local video store proprietor has very decided ideas about what we should and shouldn’t rent — he’ll actually pull DVD’s from under the counter and say, “Here — I was saving these for you.” Instead of feeling anonymous in the big city, we’ve grown to feel welcomed and wanted, and we’ve become friendlier, too. We’ve discovered that most people, whatever their walk of life, are pretty darn nice."
You want to live a life where you truly feel part of a community? You want to live a missional life in your community?
(Spoiler alert: If you are a fan of Lost, and haven't watched last night's episode, you might not want to continue reading...)
Anyone catch Lost last night? There was an excellent illustration on the power of forgiveness to make peace and end the cycle of violence that pervades our world. The focus of the flashbacks for the entire episode was Sayid's past as an 'interrogator' in the Iraqi Republican Guard. He tried to escape his past by starting a new life in Paris. But, as is often the case, your past catches up with you, and he's lured into confronting a woman he once tortured. The woman's husband wants revenge, and keeps Sayid locked up and chained for days, until he confesses to what he's done.
Sayid continues to deny his involvement, in spite of the beatings he receives for refusing to confess. Finally, the woman comes alone to confront Sayid. Sayid realizes he can no longer ignore the sins of his past, and he confesses.
The woman, whose arms bear the marks of his torture, has every opportunity to exact revenge and finish Sayid off.
But she doesn't....she forgives him. She lets him go. Sayid asks 'Why? I don't deserve this..."
But the woman wants to end the cycle of violence. She wants it to stop. She tells Sayid, "We are all capable of such evil..."
It's this flashback that compels Sayid to show mercy to his new hostage on the island. He could easily kill the Russian and be done with him. But he decides against it. That moment of forgiveness, peace, and reconciliation has changed him forever. He still struggles with his past, as previous episodes have shown, but he's experienced the power of forgiveness.
Thus the recent blog silence. Life has been a bit difficult the past couple weeks. The main culprit is our adoption, which has recently hit a significant snag. Rather than using this blog as my bullhorn to rant about the circus that is international adoption, I thought it would be wiser to take a breather, collect myself, and then resume blogging.
But I have to get a few things off my chest before the creative juices can again flow. In summary statements, here are my conclusions about the past few weeks:
Just because you feel called to something doesn't mean it's going to be easy. While this adoption journey has been amazing, it has also been amazingly difficult. I'm becoming more and more convinced that the Way of Jesus is a narrow road because it's tough. It ruins you. But I look around me and consider the alternative, and I'll take the narrow road of Jesus. The superhighway I could have chosen looks really comfortable and inviting, but it leads to nowhere.
My Mennonite-informed views on government have been reinforced. I'm even more convinced of the futility of politics. Politicians aren't there to serve the public. They're simply in office for the power. Politics as a whole is nothing but a game. What's tragic is that this power hungry chess match really screws up people's lives. The idealist in me screams for anarchy. The pragmatist in me tells me that's absurd. The pragmatist tends to win, which is why I still vote...but it's always a jaded vote.
Sidenote: I did write my congressman today, encouraging him to look into international adoption reform. We'll see...
Update: I just contacted our Senator as well. I'm basically an activist...
The views on drewmoser.com are solely my opinions. They are not necessarily the official views of any organization with which I'm affiliated (VOX Ohio, AEMC, Nieu Communities, etc.). There. I've covered my rear.
Have you noticed that everything in life is shrinking? Ok, maybe it's hyperbolic, but it seems as if the 'bigger is always better' concept is being strongly challenged, in all sectors of life, except for TV's possibly. People love the big TV's. I just watched some March Madness on relative's big ol' TV this weekend. It was awesome.
, is an emerging, missional, Mennonite pastor in Arizona with a background in advertising. Any author with that mix of descriptors is worth a read.
