In the digital age

It felt as impossible as unscrambling an egg, this separating my culture from my Christianity. I’m on a journey to find what is mandated in the Bible and what is mandated by tradition, for the second doesn’t hold the weight for me that the first does.

That may be why I found Flickering Pixels so interesting. Author Shane Hipps explores how the technology of our culture affects how we think. And that affects how we believe.

Until the invention of the printing press in 1440, people lived in largely an oral society. Most were not literate and, within the church, were dependent on the priest to read and interpret God’s word to them.

That fostered community, for information largely came in group settings. Societies were interconnected, talking to one another, depending on others.

The printing press changed society dramatically. When Gutenberg began a new industry – that of churning out books and pamphlets and newspapers – people learned to read. This didn’t happen instantly, of course, but in the over-500 years since the printing press was invented, cultures have been radically altered.

Information could be found individually. Not longer did we need to depend on a priest to give us God’s word: we could read it for ourselves. The age of the printing press encouraged independence, logic, analytical thinking – all skills gained from reading.

Today we are moving into a digital age where the internet, cell phones, and televisions are king.

Hipps shows us how those change us. We understand how sound bytes have altered elections. We have seen how visual images have reigned in marketing and campaigns.

Where once a person had to learn to read to gain information, one need only have access to a TV or radio today. Little skill is required.

As we march forward into the digital age, how will the internet affect our culture? Hipps commented that our knowledge is becoming a mile wide and an inch deep as we can surf sites, almost overwhelmed by the easy access to ideas, opinions, information.

Hipps does not advocate withdrawing to a cave in the Egyptian mountains in an attempt to avoid the digital culture. He suggests that Christians can understand how the new technology affects us.

God is the creator and master of communication. Texting and tweeting don’t throw him off track.

Hipps’ book is a fascinating read and an important one for Christians who want to engage our evolving culture. You’re reading this on a digital outlet – a blog – so find a copy of the book and see what Hipps has to say.

Just in case?

This has to be a joke, right? On a day dedicated to love, you could also add in some religious cheesiness as well......I think it's another "just in case" product line.... as though God wants to know I honor him with my bubble bath choices, just in case that's important to him. It's not: he wants my heart instead.

Judging Jenny

You may know Jenny’s story better than I do, but it’s familiar to all of us. Jenny was not only pretty but talented and drew lots of attention from admirers during junior high and high school. She never lacked for boyfriends, opportunities or invitations to parties.

You know where this is going. The parties became an obsession. First it was the drinking (“Everybody does it,” she reasoned. “Harmless.”) Then she sampled some pot. Eventually her family was devastated to hear she was hooked on meth, making bizarre upsetting decisions.

Their once-beautiful daughter was skeletal, eyes sunk deep in her face and a twitch wracking her hands. While they raged, she digging herself deeper into addictions and a bad batch of friends.

Once the "Jennys" were the backstreet junkies but now they are the cheerleader, the quarterback, the poet. Maybe they’re in the youth group or at our family reunion.

What to do? I’m not trained as a counselor and I don’t run a detox unit. But in crisis, I can stand up for troubled youth, supporting them in love and prayer and directing them to resources equipped to help them.

I remember well Paul’s words to the Romans, who were disgusted with the sensual lusting of others: “Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself.” (Romans 2:1 The Message)

To a woman caught in the act of adultery, Jesus said, “Neither do I [condemn you]. Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11)

Rather than judging, we ought to be pointing the way to life and restoration.

You do probably know Jenny’s story well. Because her real name is Britney Spears.

Praising

"These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own."

G. K. Chesterton

A beautiful place

I've been fascinated with a new blog called A Beautiful Place. I stumbled onto (actually, I think I found it through Proverbs 31 Ministries). Shari Braendel has fashion tips that emphasize the modest and yet stylish. She describes what to wear from a Christian point of view. Let me know what you think of her ideas.

Reincarnation license?

Maybe you thought the San Francisco city council was the ultimate government nanny but you’d be wrong in that. Check out the Chinese, who have now decided that no Buddhist monk can return from the dead by way of reincarnation, except with government approval.

I can’t make this up. Something about "giving to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" comes to mind here....

Ben Witherington has a brilliant analysis. Take a look.

Reading too much and too little

Douglas Groothius suggests that we read too much and not enough in this country. His point is an excellent one: we often choose to feast on marshmallows and disdain broccoli.

I’ve been seeking out some vegetables lately and want to share a few articles that I’ve found. Like a good eating plan, however, you won’t find yourself hungry again at 10 am. These will challenge your mind and fill your soul:

Ben Witherington, considered one of the top evangelical biblical scholars in the country, examines a news report about God getting sued. His style is approachable and insightful.

Sarah Scott exposes biases she experiences as a student at Colorado State University while a follower of Jesus.

At Conservative Reformed Media, a group of bloggers revel in their name – a label thrown at them by some more liberal groups. They tag-team when writing topics, and this recent one about analogies and eastern religions is interesting.

Scott McKnight is featuring a series on Colossians at his Jesus Creed site.

Try some vegetables today!

Our culture

Here's an interesting analysis of our internet culture and its impact on life beyond cyberspace:

End of Politics as we know it

Real relationship

It was an ugly line, coming from a man who pretended to be Truman’s best friend. The kids and I watched The Truman Show the other night, aghast to see Marlin assure Truman, cued through an earpiece by the producer of the show, that he was as close as a brother. “I’d never lie to you,” he lied to Truman.

Have you seen the movie? Truman grew up on a TV set, not realizing that everyone in his world (except him) was acting. He was the star of a fabulously popular TV show, but he had no idea. Instead, the artificial world as all he’d ever known. Seahaven was a pleasant town with blue skies, sunshine, friendly neighbors, and safety.

Christof was the designer of the show, the maker of Seahaven, creator of the world where Truman lived. He had great affection for Truman but he didn’t hesitate to conjure up a near-fatal windstorm trying to keep Truman from escaping. (The ratings were great for that episode.) He manipulated people in and out of Truman’s life for the sake of the story.

But the comfortable safe world that he created for Truman turned out not to be enough, for the young man walked away from all he had known in pursuit of freedom and reality.

The story makes me think about Adam in the Garden. Adam lived in a nice place too. There was plenty to eat, safety, comfort. But there were differences, too. Christof remained hidden away while he tinkered with Truman’s world. God walked in the cool of the evening with Adam and, moved by Adam’s need for companionship, formed Eve – flesh of his flesh, no actress sporting a glowing smile while collecting a paycheck.

Christof embodies much of others’ suspicions about God: a creator who is kind and benevolent as long as it suits him, distant and unknown while tweaking reality for his own purposes. Comfort trumps freedom, influence routs relationship in that worldview.

But while Christof surrounded Truman with a fake world – fake interaction, fake sand, fake smiles – God formed a world of fruitfulness and abundance and freedom for Adam.

Christof created Truman for ratings but God…well, he created Adam for relationship. The reality of sincere relationship was what Truman longed for. So do we all.

Our Creator longs for it, too. Not for what he gains, but for what he gives.

But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

Romans 5:8

Prizes

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God (Luke 16:14-15)

What’s wrong with the Mook and Midriff? Why can’t our young people have some fun?

Some might say that it’s because the lifestyles lead to immoral behavior. Sometimes, but not always. Not every Midriff sleeps around and not every Mook spends the weekend stoned.

Marketers’ motivation comes into play here. Why do merchandisers try to brainwash young people? For sales. They create an alternate reality for youth for one reason: to use teens to create affluence for themselves.

Jesus made the point clear: what we prize is often an abomination to God. God is concerned for the widows, the orphans, the weak, the poor, the vulnerable. We prize the rich and famous. We’ll exploit others to become rich and famous.

Manipulating others for our own gain is detestable to the Lord. Our young people are being misused. They are slaves to an empty image in a marketing plan. The lions of merchandise are on the prowl.

If you see a Mook this week, offer him a cookie and a soft drink. Let our youth know that they, and not their lifestyle, have value to us.

Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth?
Why then has he become plunder?
Lions have roared;
they have growled at him.
They have laid waste his land;
his towns are burned and deserted.

Jer 2:14-15

Midriff-itis

When you think Midriff, think Britney Spears. Think Beyonce. Frontline describes the Mook as the perpetual adolescent and the Midriff as the premature adult.

The marketers are training our girls to strut their bodies even when they don’t understand what they’re doing. Bare that skin. Shorten that skirt. Tighten that t-shirt. They’re told a woman’s worth is in her sexuality.

It sells make-up, shoes, entire lines of clothing. That’s the purpose: to sell not only an item, but an entire lifestyle. Here’s the look; here’s what you buy to get it.

Do these marketers care that a girl wants to be an artist? A teacher? A poet? A mommy? Only if it sells. Do they care that she’s intrigued by fireflies or wants to rescue baby birds? She may love the smell of bubble gum or the touch of velvet. She may love lying under the stars drawing pictures in the night sky.

It doesn’t matter unless the marketers can bring out a new line of merchandise.

This is slavery and we have a generation of captives.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

Luke 4:18-19

Mook-ness

Google Mook and the many hits that come up will wrestle with this odd term. There are several sites that simply ask, “what is a mook?” in sometimes mook-like terms. Take a look at Frontline, however, to get a better definition of a modern-day mook.

He’s your neighbor’s son. Maybe he’s your cousin or nephew. You’ve met him and seen him on TV. Frontline defines him as the “permanent adolescent.” He’s crude, loud, obnoxious, in your face, and seen on nearly every show that MTV has to offer. He’s a daredevil ever dreaming of spring break.

Frontline also says he’s a creation of marketers. He has to be nurtured by careful training from cradle to testosterone-crazed adolescence for one purpose: to so absorb the lifestyle that he buys what a mook buys. His wallet is open to the marketers, the “merchants of cool”.

A mook wears this brand of jeans. Buy. A mook drinks this soft drink. Buy. A mook listens to this music. Buy.

A mook becomes a slave to his marketers and to his lifestyle. He is branded for a lifestyle of loyal purchases dictated by the “merchants of cool,” who are raking in billions from their mooks.

Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters.” (Luke 16:13)

Tomorrow: The Midriff