Part 2: Current Place of Christians in Power

Last week I wrote about the definition and structure of culture in order to frame future discussion. But as with most structures, they are hard to understand until you see them built upon and applied (like the skeletal system supporting the other systems). Anyways, this week I decided to summarize the rise of evangelicals to “power” positions in culture: media, business, politics and academics. They certainly do not represent all of American Christianity but they represent a culturally powerful group that represents Christianity outside of the subculture to a large degree. This will only be a cursory review of the areas in order for us to get to Part 3 for discussion of the role of the church, of community, and “calling” in engaging with those areas. Here are some quotes:

Martin Luther: “The very ablest of youth should be reserved and educated not for the office of preaching, but for government, because in preaching the Holy Spirit does it all, whereas, in government one must exercise reason in the shadowy realms where ambiguity and uncertainty are the order of the day.”

Mark Knoll wrote The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind in 1994 with a disparaging tone for the incredible lack of evangelical academic achievement. But today he says he would have written it with “a different tone—more hopeful than despairing, more attuned to possibilities than to problems, more concerned with theological resources than theological problems.”

The 2005 host for Inside Edition gave this response to a Christian's surprise at being invited on the show: “Didn't you know? Christian is the new gay”.

I utilized much of the research done by Michael Lindsay in Faith in the Halls of Power where he summarized his personal interviews of over 300 Christians in power positions-well written and thorough but long and academic so be prepared.

Summary: Despite Christians losing many of their positions of influence by the mid-21^st c, we have been active in higher education, remembered the importance of the arts and entertainment, and utilized religious expression in the workplace. Expressive language, symbolic action and creativity have brought faith into the public consciousness through networking naturally yet intentionally. Christian leaders in business, academia, media, and politics do not have much individual power, but they have “convening power”: the power to bring disparate people together, which is potent for a rising movement. Their orthodoxy has flexibility or elasticity that allows them to hold to their convictions while cooperating with those that don't.
But what do they want to do with this cultural power? Who do they want to serve? Answering this reveals a divide: one group directs their efforts inwardly, what some have called “Populist Evangelicalism” while another group directs their efforts outward, what some call “Cosmopolitan Evangelicalism”. The Populist group depends on mass mobilization and large-scale democratic action by creating a dichotomy between traditional and secular activists and promoting theological simplicity and pragmatism. Focus on the Family's Washington for Jesus Rally and Moral Majority, Jerry Falwell, Joel Olsteen are key leaders in this group. The Cosmopolitan group tries to distance itself from the Populist group, come from various backgrounds, have greater access to powerful institutions; most came to faith after high school. They travel constantly and are involved in the arts and live affluently. Both are zealous in living out their faith, but they act on their convictions differently. Cosmopolitan evangelicals have small, invitation-only gatherings of elite social and professional peers, and slowly affect politics through equipping leaders. Populist evangelicals aim for mass rallies like stadium events, and mobilize and push for immediate legislation. Cosmopolitan evangelical efforts take more time to succeed than the Populist ones, but theirs will have a more lasting impact. Populist evangelicals' primary aim is to convert their opponent religiously, politically, socially, etc. whereas the Cosmopolitan ones focus on establishing “legitimacy” with their opponents. Despite their differences, these two groups do not divide over political lines as much. My hunch is that this is because they both are largely removed from the world of economic inequality.

Remaining questions for Part 3
Do these cultural elite Christians need the church? Do I? If poverty is being cut off from cultural power then who will use their influence instead of further impoverishing people through willful ignorance?Do we need God's guidance or the church's support? Only 20% of evangelicals nationally recall talking with their pastor about their job in the past year. It is tempting to speak and live as if the onus was completely on us as individuals to change the world and transform culture- a clear loss of a communitarian ethic. How do we exercise our cultural power? What does it mean to have communal discernment? What should characterize our lives as culture makers? Can we really change anything? How we discern our calling? Who is involved?

Being Human-Image Bearers, Culture Makers

About 10-12 random Christians, those I know and don't know, come together for a dinner and discussion every Sunday evening. We each volunteer to share about something that we are passionate about that engages our faith. Below is part of introduction and conclusion of my lecture for tomorrow night covering the last 100yrs of Christian involvement with/reaction to culture. Part 2 will cover the current place of Christians in positions of power: politics, media, academia and business. Part 3 will discuss the role of the church and community in living out one's faith.

Introduction:
"Culture is what we make of the world, in both senses”-Ken Myers.

Culture is not the arts or the sense of being “cultured” or the “fish bowl” metaphor. It is how we see the world, similar to someone asking “what do you make of that book?” It is also making in the physical sense just like someone asking you “what are you making?” Defining culture in this way allows for greater depth, creativity and breadth.
God created all out of nothing, bringing order out of chaos. God is not only Creator but Ruler (which sounds bad to us Americans due to our history). God is also the first culture maker, he made a garden, he brought further order and beauty to what was already good. He made us to reflect His image and participate in that work, order accompanies creativity. He gave us a perception or a way to see the world. He modelled both senses of making culture. We are called to be priests, to be culture makers by uniting what has been broken by both receiving the world from God and offering it to God.

The world and what is in the world is not stagnant, it was not created to be that way and thus it is futile and dangerous to address culture in either sense as an abstract, ethereal concept. Adam's first task, and one that Eve was a helper in, was naming and cultivating creation. Culture is the activity of making meaning, otherwise Adam and Eve would have had a boring task, a boring life. Thankfully God is more creative and calls us to be. Seeing culture this way we realize the complexity of what occurs at the Fall. Besides the broken relationship with God, with paradise, with shalom, we now have a warped culture. To be culture makers we have enemies in our flesh, in our world and in Satan as we try to model God’s culture making.

Jesus is the ultimate and perfect priest. He does not throw out the old and bring in the new, he restores and redeems. Modeling his Father, he knows he is dealing with shattered ruins with glimpses of their former glory; mankind still bears some semblance of God’s image. Jesus identifies what is good and bad in our culture, in both senses, and his restoration heals and restores the good, bringing something new, fresh into existence (a new life, a healthy leg, a challenging principle “love your enemy”) while tearing down the bad bringing conflict, liberation, and freedom (turning the tables in the temple, casting out demons, conquering Satan and death, condemning “religion”, calling us brothers). Hebrews reminds how Jesus fulfilled all the expectations of being the perfect man, which included the roles of prophet, priest and king. He spent most of his life in the world behind the scenes before dramatically reshaping culture on every level. How did he engage with culture? How do we?

Conclusion:

The patterns of the last century were to condemn, critique, copy or consume culture. Which of these did Jesus adopt? He did none of these and all of these for he adopted them as gestures not postures. A posture is your adopted, habitual stance to the world around you. It affects how you see and how you engage with the world. Bad postures inhibit movement and limit perspective. Good posture frees our movement and opens our perspective. Gestures are movements and actions adopted for specific occasions, circumstances and people. I can gesture rejection by a hand raised or a clenched fist, or pondering by a hand on my chin, mimicking by careful observation or greed by reaching out with both hands. There are all kinds of gestures we make to communicate what we think of something that is displayed in action. Gestures change whereas a posture does not, cannot. Jesus’ posture was one of creating, of making culture by healing what is broken and building up and bringing out the good that was held captive, hidden or maimed by the bad. Again what is good or bad is a result of what we make of the world in both senses of “make”-a physical artifact (slice of culture) and accepted perspective (belief of culture). Jesus doesn’t give us the option of making any gesture into a posture. Just looking at his life proves that he had no consistent gesture. What he does do is model perfectly how one interacts with culture in specific ways (the gestures). The only way to change culture is to create new culture; we need to offer an alternative. For our own joy and benefit (and others), and for God’s glory, we need to be better culture makers.

Preview of Part 2 and 3:

Are Christians in positions of cultural power? How do they view their faith and their work? Do they function independently or corporately? How do they interact with non-Christians? The earliest record of man, Genesis 1-2 reminds us that we need God, and were designed dependent on each other as human. It is interesting that the only longing present before the Fall is for community, the only thing God saw as “not good” was for man to be alone. (This normally is referenced in marriage but the more immediate reference should be friendship/community). For man to fully reflect God's image (trinity), community needed to be reflected as well. Life and culture is actually made more beautiful because of that dependency. There is development expected rather than an idealization of a garden paradise-the final vision given in the Bible is of a city with nations bringing forth their glory to be seen through the light of God's glory (Rev. 21:24) But how does sin impact all of this? What is the role of the church?

*if you want a link to the paper itself let me know

Dad's visit and a wedding

It has been almost a month since my last post, April seemed to fly by. Even with three part time jobs, my life can seem to fall into a routine. Routines give me the structure necessary for me to accomplish things but they also get repetitive. It was nice to have some refreshing trips away.

My dad came from Wyoming to visit me for a few days. Being one of four kids, this was the first time I ever had multiple days with just him-not having to share attention. It was fun to play show and tell in a sense-where I am living, where I am working, who my friends are, favorite places, etc. He had not been back since moving in the fall of 2007. Wyoming was definitely a culture shock coming from Seattle, and there was some shock in returning to "the big city". It was nice to not have plans but to decide things as the days progressed. We went up to the mts for a few days and he enjoyed seeing so much green! It was refreshing to share my life with him without being rushed.

The next weekend I left to a friend's wedding in Chattanooga, TN. The ceremony and reception was next to a lake/pond and despite the clouds and a brief shower, they held it outside. Weddings are about the only time I wear a suit, so my sister snagged the opportunity to get a picture with me, she was one of the bridesmaids. Besides getting to see the bride and groom, it was great to catch up with friends I had not seen in a while. Some of them I have known over seven years! Though each of us have had significant changes in our lives, we have enough in common to maintain our friendships. Serving as bartender allowed me to see more people than I otherwise would have. Despite all the prep and clean up, it actually was a relaxing day. And as with most weddings, it wasn't until the end that it sunk in "huh, I don't know when I'll see these friends again...". I soaked in the cool evening and smiled as i thought of my friends who were just married.
Sunday I visited Rock Creek Fellowship, the church I attended in college. It was the first place I saw the church as a welcoming but also broken and vulnerable family. I could be real with them, I could rest. I am grateful for that gift and for the now 7 yrs of their prayers and support. My favorite and most vivid memory is of having communion with them and singing together.
I stayed a few extra days to see my sister and brother in-law before they moved to North Carolina. They've been married almost 2 yrs and in the same area 7+ yrs. My sister finished up a paralegal program and he is ready for a change in work, so thankfully they have a summer to contemplate what the future might look like. It was sweet to have lazy mornings, to be around people who've known me longer than 6 months, to read in a hammock, to slow down.

It was weird to walk around my old college campus, to see renovations, new buildings, new fields, new faces. The students seemed so young. I had some friends who were graduating the next week who were freshmen when I had graduated. I enjoyed hearing their future plans while I reflected back on my final week in college three years ago. All transitions involve risk and create a mix of excitement and nervousness. It is a comfort to realize you are not alone in that tension.

It was refreshing to get away but responsibilities awaited me, and the Noise of life greeted me at the terminal. Vacations are committed, extended breaks from that Noise but they make me realize the need to create space in my daily routine for silence, for fellowship, for rest.