in defence of sad songs (2)
Posted by Paul | Filed under uncategorised
What this blog has been lacking for a long time is a good quote from The Princess Bride. So let’s go with this one…
Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.
It seems to me that this sums up the cynicism that comes from commericialism identified by Dick Keyes (see last post) and some of the distrust of postmodernism (see another previous post).
And what do we take from this? Perhaps that people want honesty. We know that the world is broken and, if we are going to trust, we need people to acknowledge this. We don’t want a glossing over that implies ‘try my option and everything will go smoothly’.
As Christians, we might try to ignore the brokenness of life in the mistaken belief that this makes what we have more attractive. Perhaps the example of commercialism points us this way — ensure life looks rosy with your product and everyone will want it. But we need to be careful not to fall into step with the wider culture and we need to be honest.
One reason, the Biblical story can be trusted is that is faces up to the pain and brokenness and doesn’t look away. To quote Colossians Remixed
The biblical embrace of pain refuses to cover up or deny suffering. … the biblical trajectory … highlights ‘absence’ — the absence of justice and shalom, and in the lament tradition even the absence of God.
If we want to produce art that reflects the biblical tradition and connects with those cynical from commercialism and untrusting from exploitation of the big stories then we have to face up to the absence and brokenness.
Of course, as we have to continually keep in mind, this is done in the context of the existence of God, the God who is ‘intimately involved with the suffering’, who is the true hope. We cannot feel the absence if the presence is not hoped for.
Tags: art, culture, imagination, lament, postmodernism, worldview
in defence of sad songs (1)
Posted by Paul | Filed under uncategorised
A number of things I have read or listened to recently have (tangetially) touched on art that considers the brokenness of life. It often seems that many Christians are worried about such negativity, implying that we should only focus on happier things. So, here are a few posts with reasons why we need both.
(Before I start, I’m not saying it is healthy to stay on the negative side, only that there is a place for art that looks in that direction — OK?)
First point is from an mp3 interview with Dick Keyes, his concern is commercialism (and cynicism). He points out that commercialism focusses on an unreal rosy picture of life — drink this can and your life will be OK. Consequently, we are suprised when bad things happen to us; we can’t cope and become cynical. Obviously this isn’t necessarily limited to commercialism — it can apply to Christians if we try to do the same thing. (Which raises the question, why we, as Christians, have the tendency to look away from the brokenness — are we following the wider culture? Just a thought…)
What is the answer? Perhaps, we can get a clue from Pete Lowman’s article If There Really Is a God, Why Don’t People Notice? – A Media Studies Approach (Which is great, by the way, and deserves a post of its own, if I get the time.) Let’s try this quote:
the media reshape our perception of what is normal or acceptable… Actually, this is how Bible reading should work: we read, say, an old testament narrative, we then encounter something similar in real life, and we apply the categories from the clarified narrative we have absorbed in our Bible study across to understand the real-life situation: `Ah, this is a little bit like the story of Abraham… and in the biblical story this was right, that was important… and therefore this is what I should do.’ The Bible supplies our norms. But in our society, immersion in the intensely-presented alternative (unreal) universes of media shapes our understanding of what is normal and appropriate, gives us categories to apply (consciously or subconsciously) to understanding our own experience. `What’s going on here in my life reminds me of what happened in the movie; and then what happened was….’
We need art, songs, imagination-formation that encompasses all of life, both the good and bad bits, from a Christian perspective. Otherwise, when bad things happen we have no reference points to guide us. So, either we collapse or we fall back on reference points from other sources.
Perhaps, this helps us see the value of the Bible bits that we tend to avoid. You know, the depressing Psalms, Ecclessiaties, Lamentations. They might not give cheery answers, but they engage with brokenness while retaining a God-sourced perspective. They provide a model of people in tough places who are still keeping the big Mission-of-God picture in mind. So, they can form our imgainations in ways that allow us to see God in those situations.
If we produce art that only fits the neat middle-class Christian optimal vision of life, then we miss out on this. Since art forms our imagination, we need to see the importance of art that recognises the significance of the fall as well as the hope. Of course, the point we need to get to is where we can hold both together at the same time…
Tags: art, culture, imagination, lament, music, worldview
Hearts and Minds blog
Posted by Paul | Filed under uncategorised
Byron Borger’s Hearts and Minds blog has just moved to www.heartsandmindsbooks.com. This is an excellent opportunity to point how great his blog is — always worth a look. Certainly the place to discover remarkable and unusual books that you wouldn’t have come across otherwise. And a big emphasis on developing the Christian mind/worldview in all areas of life, which I love.
I suspect the Hearts and Minds bookshop would be very high on my list of favourite shops if only it wasn’t half way ’round the world…
living proof
Posted by Paul | Filed under uncategorised
The belief policy of the Christian … is not “believe whatever you are told no matter how seemingly ridiculous” but rather “believe what you are told about God by those who have it on good authority and whose testimony — which includes their lives (and deaths — are reliable indicators of practical wisdom.” …
No special privileges or perogatives should be allowed to insulate theological truth claims from the crucible of testing. To pour onelsefl out for the sake of the evangelical truth claim mean making the way of Christ intelligible, both theoretically and practically. It means living a life that embodies the Word in the power of the Spirit in a way that is able to meet, an pass, the critical tests of human reflecting and human existence.
Kevin J. Vanhoozer in First Theology
I want to suggest that scientific proof, philosophical proof and riligeous proof follow the same rules…After a question has been defined … We must be able to live consistently with our theory.
Francis Schaeffer in The God Who is There
For the human makers of things, the incompletenesses and inconsistencies of our ideas become clear only during implementation. Thus it is that writing, experimentation, “working out” are essential disciplines for the theoretician.
Frederick P. Brooks Jr in The Mythical Man Month
Tags: apologetics, theology, worldview
The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work (aftermath 1)
Posted by Paul | Filed under work
OK, let’s try a few posts on thoughts inspired by Darrell Cosden’s The Heavenly Good of Earth Work….
First, it is great that this book works to add a eschatological component to our discussions of how Christian belief applies to all of life.
For a number of years, the application of our beliefs to all of life has been a big theme for me. That is, developing a comprehensive Christian worldview. But, there is a slight niggle — a sort of missing link. After reading this, I think part of the niggle has been the feeling that not every thing quite joins up. We have, on one side, the push for all of our thinking to be based on our beliefs about the world and for what we believe to influence all we do. But, on the other, the necessity does not always feel as strong as it ‘should’.
I think a lot of this comes down to eschatology — I can try to apply what I believe to my studies/work/etc., but if all of the things I study/make/etc are headed for the dustbin, then where is the real motivation? Why not expend the mental energy in something more worthwhile?
Cosden’s arguments make an important step in the right direction. (I’m not implying that he has doen somthing other haven’t here, but perhaps he spells it out in a particularly clear way.) If we have the view that things we do at work/study/etc have the potential for ‘heavenly good’ then the dots start to link up better. Now we have a clear motivation for applying what we believe across the board — where the things we do don’t match up with God’s future they become valueless, but where they do… So, if I want them to have significance, I really need to work on how my beliefs impact my day-to-day activities and developing an all-emcompassing worldview.
Tags: books, eschatology, The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work, theology, work, worldview
The Heavenly Good of Earth Work (4)
Posted by Paul | Filed under work
The final chapter of Darrell Cosden’s The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work looks at the impact of the preceding discussion on our view of missions. He starts by looking at the ‘crisis’ in missions. In particular, at his own experiences in Russia. In his experience there was an implicit denigration of ‘everyday work’ as those visiting on missions implied that they had been called from meaningless work to something more important. The general message being that everyday work is cut off from God’s mission.
This can be implied in any church when
… our practice of church, our spiritual heroes, and our beliefs about spiritual/eternal things have spoken louder than our words and have undermined what we intended… our words ring hollow when we only regularly and publicly pray for those missionaries on ‘faith support’. And it is hard to believe we really are full-time ‘salt and light’ when only visiting missionaries are asked to come up front in church and visit small groups to talk about the ups and downs of their ministries.
Obviously, a theology based on the ‘heavenly good’ of everyday work takes us to a more inclusive perspective. If all our work can be part of God’s new creation and involves us partnering with God, then we have the potential to be part of God’s mission in every area of our lives.
…when done in a way that images God and co-operates with him, human work in itself images God and thus co-operates with him, human work in itself is Christian missionary activity. Why? Because it is largely (though not exclusively) through our work that we reflect God’s image and co-operate with him in bringing people and the whole of creation to humanity’s and nature’s ultimate maturity and future.
This is, of course, incredibly liberating. Suddenly, I can become part of God’s mission in everything. Not just when preaching, but also when I carry out my everyday work in ways that line up with God’s kingdom.
Of course, we need to find a way to counteract the negative message that has been sent out. How do we do this?
Mostly we need to proactive. Slow and steady will win the race. When we are together in our various Christian gatherings and meetings, small or large, formal or informal, we have to be intentional about devising ways to help us see each person in their daily work as a missionary … [we] need to consciously practice naming ourselves and our work as missionary.
Finally Cosden looks at the way this interacts with evangelism. If we are all made in the image of God and our work is important, then all of us, non-believers and believers, are to larger or smaller extent working with God’s mission:
All people were created to image God, and thus all people by virtue of their humanity are included in God’s purposes for creation. Not all people image God in fellowship with him, but we do nevertheless corporately carry out his mission to work in one way or another.
Importantly, our new mission enterprise based on the heavenly good of earthly work treats people differently from our old approach to mission. God still includes in his purposes those who haven’t yet, haven’t fully, or even won’t ever, come to faith.
Previously, it was simple to catagorize people sharply as either ‘them’ or ‘us’. In this way of thinking, the tendency was always to dehumanize others by treating ‘them’ ultimately as projects.
This is a really fascinating line of thought. I’m particularly interested in the consequence of not treating others as projects. It something that I’ve noticed for a long time: sometimes we seem to be more worried about ‘contacts’ than friends. As Cosden implies, unless we are careful this is a frequent tendency.
Finally Cosden links this into the ‘belonging-before-believing’ debate:
…this new understanding of mission is actually not all that new. In fact, it dovetails nicely with what many of us have been discovering for a long time about mission. That is, people need to be included. They need to belong before they can believe.
In many ways, this final chapter shows the motivation that Cosden has had all along — the expansion to a fuller understanding of mission. And, as I said, it is a great vision that makes a lot of sense and enlarges our view of God’s new creation to one that really encompasses the whole world.
Hopefully, I will find time to write some other reactions to the book n the near future…
Tags: books, eschatology, The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work, theology, work, worldview
A random walk over culture, art, christianity, etc. with occasional photographs...