GodCon06
I think the problem with Christians is that we are too much like everybody else.
Yes, this is still Dale's blog. I am unfortunately not under the influence of any illegal substances, and I am not being held at gunpoint by the fundamentalist mafia.
But I stand by my previous statement.
How can the problem be that Christians still aren't different enough? Fundamentalism is militant on being clearly different when it comes to clothing, music, and entertainment. And evangelicalism's culture war rages on every day over homosexuality, abortion, politics, and even moderately crappy thriller novels that Ron Howard is making into summer blockbusters.
I have never been to a comic book convention. I have never actually been to any real convention before. I have been to a couple home and garden expos, and a bunch of flea markets, but I don't think those count. So I really don't have any experiential backing for what I am about to ask.
Who is the coolest kid at the Star Trek convention? Is it the guy wearing Abercrombie or is it the dude with the pointy ears and the comb-looking thing over his eyes? Why is that? What happened to the normal rules about cool and not cool?
I watched Star Wars Episode III opening weekend. The theater was pretty packed, but I still remember these two guys. One of them had his face painted to look like Darth Maul, and the other was dressed like a Jedi. And I remember that when they walked past me, they weren't embarrassed at all. They were really proud of their outfits. I'm pretty sure that they thought they were the coolest people in the room. I didn't know what to think. Part of me thought it would be really cool to walk around dressed like a Jedi. And the other part of me wanted to stay engaged.
I grew up in a world that normal people don't believe actually exists. Women never wore pants. TV was only for sports, and even that was carefully rationed. I never watched movies. Even animated Disney stuff. There was even a little while that I didn't wear shorts because some people thought they weren't modest. I could have gotten kicked out of the high school because I listened to Nat King Cole occasionally on the radio. Two of my friends (a guy and a girl) got kicked out for talking on the phone when they were in 11th grade.
The problem was that even though all of us were raised in a moral incubator, we still had problems. None of us related well to our parents or our peers. We were all violently insecure. Some of my friends dealt with mental or verbal abuse to varying degrees, from either their parents or the church/school staff. And I know of at least 7 people within a year or two of me who dealt with extremely serious substance abuse issues.
So, even though we were good at acting holy, we sucked at living.
Sometimes I imagine that we are all at this big Christianity convention. And everybody wants to be the coolest kid at GodCon. So we think of all these new ways to be a better Christian. We won't listen to this, and we don't want to be associated with those people. And this group has the newest technology, but these people have this killer marketing plan for their suburb. The group over in the corner thinks that they are the only people that have really figured out God, but everybody else thinks pretty much the same thing. This dude just wrote a book about why culture is headed to hell. And this guy thinks that if he is on American Idol he will be able to reach so many more people. These people are quoting the Bible to support the war in Iraq, and across the room these other people are quoting other verses to condemn the war in Iraq. And eventually people start sorting themselves out by who watches what, and who drinks that, and if your shoes are flat, and whether you read that version.
And the whole time, there is this guy standing by the bathrooms looking around. And he doesn't care what verses your four-point sales pitch uses. He doesn't need your cup of coffee or fancy booklet. He doesn't care about a tulip, or the distinctives of your denomination.
He wants to know why your life doesn't suck. He wants to know why he feels like there is this whole part of him that feels incomplete. He wants to know how you can lose your job, or your friend, or your car, and then get up in the morning. When that crap happens to him, he wants to drink the pain away. Or he tries to hurt his wife, or his kid, or himself. He wants to know why he shouldn't cheat on his wife, and why he should forgive his dad.
And he looks around, and he realizes that we don't know any of this stuff, either. He sees hotheads. He sees manipulators. He sees hypocrites. He sees people that get their validation by putting down the people around them, and he sees people who abandon their family to get ahead.
So he looks at us and he realizes that we are just like trekkies. We have this different way of dressing, and talking, and all of this stuff that we do. We have a totally different heirarchy of what is cool. And if you are good at being one of us, it is pretty validating. But we don't actually get it. We aren't any better at living--loving people, dealing with problems, living with a sense of purpose, keeping a steady moral compass--than anybody else.
Yes, this is still Dale's blog. I am unfortunately not under the influence of any illegal substances, and I am not being held at gunpoint by the fundamentalist mafia.
But I stand by my previous statement.
How can the problem be that Christians still aren't different enough? Fundamentalism is militant on being clearly different when it comes to clothing, music, and entertainment. And evangelicalism's culture war rages on every day over homosexuality, abortion, politics, and even moderately crappy thriller novels that Ron Howard is making into summer blockbusters.
I have never been to a comic book convention. I have never actually been to any real convention before. I have been to a couple home and garden expos, and a bunch of flea markets, but I don't think those count. So I really don't have any experiential backing for what I am about to ask.
Who is the coolest kid at the Star Trek convention? Is it the guy wearing Abercrombie or is it the dude with the pointy ears and the comb-looking thing over his eyes? Why is that? What happened to the normal rules about cool and not cool?
I watched Star Wars Episode III opening weekend. The theater was pretty packed, but I still remember these two guys. One of them had his face painted to look like Darth Maul, and the other was dressed like a Jedi. And I remember that when they walked past me, they weren't embarrassed at all. They were really proud of their outfits. I'm pretty sure that they thought they were the coolest people in the room. I didn't know what to think. Part of me thought it would be really cool to walk around dressed like a Jedi. And the other part of me wanted to stay engaged.
I grew up in a world that normal people don't believe actually exists. Women never wore pants. TV was only for sports, and even that was carefully rationed. I never watched movies. Even animated Disney stuff. There was even a little while that I didn't wear shorts because some people thought they weren't modest. I could have gotten kicked out of the high school because I listened to Nat King Cole occasionally on the radio. Two of my friends (a guy and a girl) got kicked out for talking on the phone when they were in 11th grade.
The problem was that even though all of us were raised in a moral incubator, we still had problems. None of us related well to our parents or our peers. We were all violently insecure. Some of my friends dealt with mental or verbal abuse to varying degrees, from either their parents or the church/school staff. And I know of at least 7 people within a year or two of me who dealt with extremely serious substance abuse issues.
So, even though we were good at acting holy, we sucked at living.
Sometimes I imagine that we are all at this big Christianity convention. And everybody wants to be the coolest kid at GodCon. So we think of all these new ways to be a better Christian. We won't listen to this, and we don't want to be associated with those people. And this group has the newest technology, but these people have this killer marketing plan for their suburb. The group over in the corner thinks that they are the only people that have really figured out God, but everybody else thinks pretty much the same thing. This dude just wrote a book about why culture is headed to hell. And this guy thinks that if he is on American Idol he will be able to reach so many more people. These people are quoting the Bible to support the war in Iraq, and across the room these other people are quoting other verses to condemn the war in Iraq. And eventually people start sorting themselves out by who watches what, and who drinks that, and if your shoes are flat, and whether you read that version.
And the whole time, there is this guy standing by the bathrooms looking around. And he doesn't care what verses your four-point sales pitch uses. He doesn't need your cup of coffee or fancy booklet. He doesn't care about a tulip, or the distinctives of your denomination.
He wants to know why your life doesn't suck. He wants to know why he feels like there is this whole part of him that feels incomplete. He wants to know how you can lose your job, or your friend, or your car, and then get up in the morning. When that crap happens to him, he wants to drink the pain away. Or he tries to hurt his wife, or his kid, or himself. He wants to know why he shouldn't cheat on his wife, and why he should forgive his dad.
And he looks around, and he realizes that we don't know any of this stuff, either. He sees hotheads. He sees manipulators. He sees hypocrites. He sees people that get their validation by putting down the people around them, and he sees people who abandon their family to get ahead.
So he looks at us and he realizes that we are just like trekkies. We have this different way of dressing, and talking, and all of this stuff that we do. We have a totally different heirarchy of what is cool. And if you are good at being one of us, it is pretty validating. But we don't actually get it. We aren't any better at living--loving people, dealing with problems, living with a sense of purpose, keeping a steady moral compass--than anybody else.
posted by oneweekend at 1:25 AM
7 Comments:
Hey,
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I'll reply in detail later, but thanks dude for the excellent post.
Yeah, I'm still mulling over everything in this post. There's a lot. I'll really reply later.
I'm going to simply echo previous setiments and reply when time is not as short as it currently is (that makes sense in my head). There is a lot to focus on, and I think I may even reply in the "metophor format." it could be interesting.
Honey, I'll comment right now. I think you are absolutely right. In fact, I think you're a genius! Yay for smart poeple.
OK, I'll venture a real comment on this post.
The guy over by the bathrooms. To be honest, I thought you were going to name him, but you never did. I think it's a pretty accurate description of how Jesus would react to us (other than the not know what's going on Himself thing). Seriously, here we are calling ourselves miniatures of Him, but we spend all our time ignoring the things He said were most important. He doesn't care that I've traded in my combover for a little cultural relevance--He wants to see me show some of His love to the people around me. He wants me to realize the futility of keeping the law and get a grasp the importance of a meaningful relationship with Him.
BTW, GodCon '06 is a strikingly appropriate name for my summer tour. I'm gathering evidence; I can't wait to discuss the case.
I actually wasn't thinking of the guy as Jesus, but it probably does work a little better than just some random dude. Maybe a little more cliche, but definitely more powerful.
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