It goes without saying that most of the 'entertainment' these days geared towards adults has a copious amount of language, sex, and violence. I'm not even sure why they bother posting the little warning signs anymore...it seems that without those things, adults won't consume them. But how necessary are each of those things?
L: Language. While one usually doesn't find the F word too much in prime-time entertainment, an R rated movie is guaranteed to have this word used over and over again. Most 'lesser' words are perfectly acceptable now in most adult entertainment; to use the S word never gets it past the PG-13 rating in most films, and seems to be acceptable in most prime time cable dramas. But most uses of profane language is not just offensive, but really pointless. When Rhett says "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" it comes after years of abuse by Scarlett O'Hara. Maybe after all that time, a shocking word might be appropriate. When there is genuine anger or genuine fear maybe some words are the only things that can express the sentiment of the moment...but more and more the abuse of such language just shows lazy writing. Last year my wife and I went to a play about two couples stuck in a romantic getaway cabin for a weekend together. It was a story of conflict: one couple was old and white, the other young and black. There were good elements to it, but I found the use of profanity lazy and cliched. Tension build up, Conflict, Profanity Punch Line (usually the old white man exclaiming DAMMIT), and the audience laughs. Really, that was the best way to handle this? It was as if the writer of the play couldn't find a way to properly resolve the tension, so he picked out the laziest path he could. And most of the time when I hear people use profanity today, it's because their brains aren't big enough to express what it is they really need to express.
S: Sexual Situations. This is what usually gets Christians worked up today, the use of sex and/or nudity. Somebody once told me that in many novels you can turn to a page each 1/4 of the way through and find a sex scene, and that's probably not a bad rule of thumb. When you see S listed as something a show will have this can mean any number of things, from people actually engaged in sex to a post-coital conversation afterwards to a steamy make-out session. It's hard to know what really is implied, as it can mean so many things. It's interesting the way sex is used...a skilled writer or film maker will use it where it gets both the male and female interested. A man wants more of the graphic, titillating image; the woman usually wants more of the romance and vulnerability of the people so engaged. As I get older sex doesn't seem to bug me as much when it is used properly. It is a very natural, God-given thing, and something that is familiar to almost every adult. Maybe it is often pictured more 'beautifully' than most sex actually is, but it's a very real thing. Unfortunately, in most entertainment it usually is enacted between two people who are not married, and often used in the very same way profanity was used in that play: tension, conflict, LET'S GET BUSY! Again, the resolution of conflict involves two people who don't know each other well tearing each others' clothes off. That doesn't happen for most people, does it? Maybe I'm far too sheltered.
V: Violence. If our society was as truly violent as most of our entertainment, most of us would be in the hospital most of the time or dead. Conflict may well be the seed of all drama, but rarely does conflict arise to the place that it does in most things we read or watch. For most people when we have conflict we either avoid it (that doesn't make good entertainment, admittedly), or we get through it quickly by argument and eventually ignore what happened. Rarely do we take it to the places it ends up in entertainment: getting in fist fights or engaging in Jackie Chan violence or shooting to kill the guy who has insulted us. But again, where would the drama be if the violence wasn't ramped far beyond the normal standards of human conflict?
I suppose the reason people watch or read as they do is to engage in some kind of escapism; we don't want to watch things that look like our normal life. Unfortunately, we have become a people who speak little different than the L warnings of our entertainment. S and V, though, take us to a place we never would imagine going to on our own. Perhaps it does give us an outlet for our basest desires, but should Christians desire to engage this? Suppression is not the answer; it only blows up in our face. Rather, in Christ we are called to be transformed to something different than what the world had made us to be. It means that we seek better ways to use language, it means that we better resolve our conflicts, and it means that we recognize sexuality is God-given but must be used as he would have us to do.
Truly, we can't escape such things even in the Bible...even in Holy Scripture there is a LOT of S and V. Much of contemporary 'Christian' entertainment seems to forget it; but Scripture also takes such things and redeems them to God's good purpose. The best of entertainment today can do the same thing, but sadly most of the time it only takes them down to our basest desires.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Friday, May 9, 2014
"Hi, God!"
The other night our family was eating out on the back porch, and we could tell that off to the west a storm was brewing up and headed our way. Our 6-year old son finished his meal about the time we heard the first thunder. "What's that?" We knew that he knew it was thunder, but I said, "It's God clapping for you." He thought about it for a second, and then looked up into the sky. "Hi, God!" And for the next five minutes he carried on a conversation with God. He showed off his beaded necklace (don't ask) that he had gotten for a scavenger hunt, danced around the yard, and occasionally would talk to the sky.
It was a beautiful thing to watch.
And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me." (Mark 9:36-37 ESV)
It was a beautiful thing to watch.
And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me." (Mark 9:36-37 ESV)
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Preacher Shortage
A fellow preacher I know casually called me up the other day for some information which is not really relevant for this space, except that he's thinking of leaving preaching after being in a town different than the one he had been at when I knew him. I had not known he had left the previous town, and he proceeded to tell me the story that I've heard so many times before from other preachers. He'd been there a few years, been with them through some trials, and the moment he even thinks about looking for another job (due to some family concerns) he comes in the next week to his elders' meeting and is given a thirty-day notice of termination, though it's not really thirty days because they pay him for the month he's about to preach and that month was just about over. From there he went to another church, not the one he had thought about going to previously because they dragged their feet for three months before finally saying no to him. Ultimately the church at which he landed really had no desire to do anything more than what they are now (and probably don't even want to do what they are doing), so he's thinking of moving, and probably already quit by the time you read this.
Another preacher friend of mine have kicked around the idea for a few years of writing a book for churches, "How NOT to Hire Your Next Preacher", basically a collection of horror stories about things that churches do when it comes to hire churches. While there are many good and responsible churches out there (and I am eternally blessed to be at one who treats me and my family wonderfully), there are many more that look at their preacher as a hireling, ready to jettison him the moment the shine wears off. It shows in the interview processes: churches that do not consider that he is picking up and moving a family to a new place, shuffle their feet (aka looking for a whiter knight) and leave somebody hanging for months, or totally lose communication courtesy with somebody they had brought in to interview. That book will one day be written, even if I'm not the one to write it.
I speak of all this because regularly I hear this statement that "there aren't enough preachers to go around". Men (always men in my fellowship, but that's another column) aren't being trained to preach, and many churches can't get anybody to hire, so the lament goes. So our church schools establish scholarships for preaching, 'preaching schools' (with little to no accreditation and no responsibility except to a particular ideology) pop up everywhere, and we wonder why things are the way they are. Indeed, I can name in just the area a number of churches that do not have a regular preacher and are quickly withering away; it's not that they wither because of no preacher, but because they are just dying...having a preacher only seems to delay this happening.
But it's not that there are not enough preachers; it's that there aren't enough preachers for the many tiny congregations we have. A friend of mine is a youth minister in a large (for that area) church of about 275 people, and they are looking for a preacher. Last time I talked to him they had somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 applications. I am not looking for a new job, but I scan the ads once in awhile see how many tiny churches can't afford to pay anybody; a run-down parsonage and $300/month won't support a family, sorry to say. Certainly, there are a few semi-retired ministers out there willing to do that, and God bless them, but many more churches go wanting. I can't say that I really blame these churches; they really can't afford to hire somebody on what is given, and just asking people to give more is not always the answer. Sometimes the money just isn't there.
Still, many preachers are getting out and doing something else. Two main issues I see: 1)We burn out preachers out to where they don't want to preach; many are the stories of preachers who keep getting burned by churches and need somewhere to recuperate. In another area congregation I know of at least 4 men who used to preach regularly who no longer do; they need nurturing instead after years of giving so much that they have nothing else to given, all the while being dragged through the mud by churches who have never learned to understand that preachers need love too. Why did it get that bad? Some churches are guilty of malpractice. 2)We have too many men wanting a nice job in the Bible belt. It's easier there; on the edge of it there are many more opportunities than for somebody away from it. It frustrates me when I see missionaries return back from foreign fields and they use that experience of church planting and evangelism to settle into a plateaued congregation that simply wants a preacher. 3)Many of our preachers, when they retire, move to a church where nothing is asked of them. In my parents' congregation in the heart of the Bible belt, they have dozens of retired preachers among them; a few still get out and preach occasionally, but most of them let their knowledge and wisdom go to waste. I can't imagine NOT wanting to preach at all; maybe not every week, but I'd like to think I'm starting to figure this out after a certain time.
So where are we going with this? Some suggestions. 1)Stop focusing on preachers being what churches need. Most churches don't need somebody to give two sermons and preach two classes a week. They need evangelists, those whose primary job is to make new disciples and strengthen old ones, and that happens more in the other hours of the week besides the assembly. But wait, you say...what happens when there is nobody to preach? 2)Thanks to technology, most churches don't need a regular preacher anymore. Many churches (my own included) provide audio podcasts, and some of the more high-tech churches provide live-streaming; it's now possible to watch preachers all around the world, good preachers who don't need a parsonage and $300/month from a congregation that can't afford it. 3)As most churches won't do the first two, here's a third and more realistic one: stop thinking that your preacher will be a star. Far too many of our people today compare their preacher (for example) to the fluffy nothingness that is Joel Osteen. We can't compete (except with more truth and better messages, but who wants that?). Few of us are made for TV; we plod along week after week, looking for the truth of Scripture and applying it as best we can. Far too many churches have far too high of expectations for their preachers, especially considering the fact that they can't afford to pay them a living wage. Time for that to change. 4)Recognize that going forward most of us will start having to serve part-time. Again, this is not all the home church's fault. Sometimes the money simply is not there. But we have to be realistic and find ways to help families stay afloat when the church itself cannot be the sole financial source. It's one thing to say 'we need more tentmakers', it's another thing to help these men find places to practice their tentmaking. I don't know of any church in which a business-owning member thinks about hiring dedicated Christian men whose first job isn't to work for him, but for the Lord.
I don't have all the answers, but things have to change. It's a strange new world, and many of our churches and our preachers have no idea how to face it.
Another preacher friend of mine have kicked around the idea for a few years of writing a book for churches, "How NOT to Hire Your Next Preacher", basically a collection of horror stories about things that churches do when it comes to hire churches. While there are many good and responsible churches out there (and I am eternally blessed to be at one who treats me and my family wonderfully), there are many more that look at their preacher as a hireling, ready to jettison him the moment the shine wears off. It shows in the interview processes: churches that do not consider that he is picking up and moving a family to a new place, shuffle their feet (aka looking for a whiter knight) and leave somebody hanging for months, or totally lose communication courtesy with somebody they had brought in to interview. That book will one day be written, even if I'm not the one to write it.
I speak of all this because regularly I hear this statement that "there aren't enough preachers to go around". Men (always men in my fellowship, but that's another column) aren't being trained to preach, and many churches can't get anybody to hire, so the lament goes. So our church schools establish scholarships for preaching, 'preaching schools' (with little to no accreditation and no responsibility except to a particular ideology) pop up everywhere, and we wonder why things are the way they are. Indeed, I can name in just the area a number of churches that do not have a regular preacher and are quickly withering away; it's not that they wither because of no preacher, but because they are just dying...having a preacher only seems to delay this happening.
But it's not that there are not enough preachers; it's that there aren't enough preachers for the many tiny congregations we have. A friend of mine is a youth minister in a large (for that area) church of about 275 people, and they are looking for a preacher. Last time I talked to him they had somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 applications. I am not looking for a new job, but I scan the ads once in awhile see how many tiny churches can't afford to pay anybody; a run-down parsonage and $300/month won't support a family, sorry to say. Certainly, there are a few semi-retired ministers out there willing to do that, and God bless them, but many more churches go wanting. I can't say that I really blame these churches; they really can't afford to hire somebody on what is given, and just asking people to give more is not always the answer. Sometimes the money just isn't there.
Still, many preachers are getting out and doing something else. Two main issues I see: 1)We burn out preachers out to where they don't want to preach; many are the stories of preachers who keep getting burned by churches and need somewhere to recuperate. In another area congregation I know of at least 4 men who used to preach regularly who no longer do; they need nurturing instead after years of giving so much that they have nothing else to given, all the while being dragged through the mud by churches who have never learned to understand that preachers need love too. Why did it get that bad? Some churches are guilty of malpractice. 2)We have too many men wanting a nice job in the Bible belt. It's easier there; on the edge of it there are many more opportunities than for somebody away from it. It frustrates me when I see missionaries return back from foreign fields and they use that experience of church planting and evangelism to settle into a plateaued congregation that simply wants a preacher. 3)Many of our preachers, when they retire, move to a church where nothing is asked of them. In my parents' congregation in the heart of the Bible belt, they have dozens of retired preachers among them; a few still get out and preach occasionally, but most of them let their knowledge and wisdom go to waste. I can't imagine NOT wanting to preach at all; maybe not every week, but I'd like to think I'm starting to figure this out after a certain time.
So where are we going with this? Some suggestions. 1)Stop focusing on preachers being what churches need. Most churches don't need somebody to give two sermons and preach two classes a week. They need evangelists, those whose primary job is to make new disciples and strengthen old ones, and that happens more in the other hours of the week besides the assembly. But wait, you say...what happens when there is nobody to preach? 2)Thanks to technology, most churches don't need a regular preacher anymore. Many churches (my own included) provide audio podcasts, and some of the more high-tech churches provide live-streaming; it's now possible to watch preachers all around the world, good preachers who don't need a parsonage and $300/month from a congregation that can't afford it. 3)As most churches won't do the first two, here's a third and more realistic one: stop thinking that your preacher will be a star. Far too many of our people today compare their preacher (for example) to the fluffy nothingness that is Joel Osteen. We can't compete (except with more truth and better messages, but who wants that?). Few of us are made for TV; we plod along week after week, looking for the truth of Scripture and applying it as best we can. Far too many churches have far too high of expectations for their preachers, especially considering the fact that they can't afford to pay them a living wage. Time for that to change. 4)Recognize that going forward most of us will start having to serve part-time. Again, this is not all the home church's fault. Sometimes the money simply is not there. But we have to be realistic and find ways to help families stay afloat when the church itself cannot be the sole financial source. It's one thing to say 'we need more tentmakers', it's another thing to help these men find places to practice their tentmaking. I don't know of any church in which a business-owning member thinks about hiring dedicated Christian men whose first job isn't to work for him, but for the Lord.
I don't have all the answers, but things have to change. It's a strange new world, and many of our churches and our preachers have no idea how to face it.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Commercials For Codgers?
It's no secret that most TV commercials are targeted to the particular audience watching them. Beer and car commercials dominate sporting events, and I'm assuming tampon and weight watchers commercials during most Lifetime shows (yeah, I know...broad sexist generalization!).
But what about the commercials for shows on networks who target people who watched TV long before I was born? I like some of those shows, on a network called 'Antenna TV', that features shows like Green Acres, The Burns and Allen show, and Jack Benny. What seems to be things that companies think old people need?
So, as an experiment, here's the list of commercials during tonight's 6:30pm episode of I Dream of Jeannie on cable channel 674.
Commercial block one:
1. The "I've fallen and can't get up" help button for seniors, almost a minute and a half. Philips Lifeline, featuring a lot of senior citizens near tears.
Commercial block two:
2. NordicTrac X9, another long mini-infomercial. Burn them calories, fat people. Just get up and walk.
3. OMG Tax, a tax resolution company. Stop taking my money!
4. Wall & Associates, to get the IRS off your back!
Commercial block three:
5. XOut pimple treatment.
6. ITT Tech. Scholarships and financial assistance for qualified candidates.
7. FreeHealthHotline.com. What are you entitled to? Get the prescription plan.
I'm actually a bit disappointed, I expected a few more prostate pills and portable scooters like I've seen over lunch. But I guess that's more during the daytime when the older crowd is still awake. This crowd is more interested in keeping their money, keeping their job, and staying alive after a fall.
But what about the commercials for shows on networks who target people who watched TV long before I was born? I like some of those shows, on a network called 'Antenna TV', that features shows like Green Acres, The Burns and Allen show, and Jack Benny. What seems to be things that companies think old people need?
So, as an experiment, here's the list of commercials during tonight's 6:30pm episode of I Dream of Jeannie on cable channel 674.
Commercial block one:
1. The "I've fallen and can't get up" help button for seniors, almost a minute and a half. Philips Lifeline, featuring a lot of senior citizens near tears.
Commercial block two:
2. NordicTrac X9, another long mini-infomercial. Burn them calories, fat people. Just get up and walk.
3. OMG Tax, a tax resolution company. Stop taking my money!
4. Wall & Associates, to get the IRS off your back!
Commercial block three:
5. XOut pimple treatment.
6. ITT Tech. Scholarships and financial assistance for qualified candidates.
7. FreeHealthHotline.com. What are you entitled to? Get the prescription plan.
I'm actually a bit disappointed, I expected a few more prostate pills and portable scooters like I've seen over lunch. But I guess that's more during the daytime when the older crowd is still awake. This crowd is more interested in keeping their money, keeping their job, and staying alive after a fall.
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