The Sunday Seven

Welcome to my new series, “The Sunday Seven.”  Here, you will find a rather motley collection of articles, blogs and other various musings that have captured my attention over the past seven days.  No promises as to what you may find on a week to week basis.  But like Baskin Robbins on a hot summer night, there’s a little something for everyone here, so why not make your way up to the counter to see if you can’t find a flavor that suits your fancy.

Newly discovered blog that has captured my attention …

How to Talk Evangelical: An Annotated Glossary.  Take The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce and add to it the writings of Kathleen Norris.  Now place these in a blender and hit “puree. ” Equal parts humorous and painful, definitely a blog to watch.

Newly discovered blog that makes me want to vomit …

Pastorfashion.com.  That’s right: pastorfashion.com, the place “where faith and fashion intersect.”  Does your pastor have a bit of a “muffin top?”  Does his tie not look quite right?  Then maybe he needs a little help from Pastor Ed or maybe he just needs a new set of spanx.  Whatever the case, you know where to send him.

From the Files of the Unexpected …

Atheist Insists that Society Needs Guidance from Religion.  When a well-known atheist picks a fight with an even more well-known atheist, things get interesting.  When the fight has to do with building an atheist temple, well … you’ll just have to read it yourself.

From the Files of the Inevitable …

J.K. Rowling to pen a new novel.  It’ll be interesting to see what the author of Harry Potter can do outside the realm of Hogwarts and Muggles.  Even more interesting … a novel aimed at adults.

A Voice in the Wilderness …

Give Up the Gimmicks Youth Pastors.  This link will take you to an excerpt from a promising new book by Brian Cosby.  From all reports, this is a clarion call to re-centering youth ministry on the Gospel of Jesus the Christ.

From my friend, the Pagan/Wiccan …

Bait and Switch Afflicts Contemporary Christian Society.   I’m not going to tell you anything about this one.  Just read it with an open mind and consider what Beck is trying to say.  I think you’ll find it worth your time.

And finally, a little wisdom from the “Philosoraptor” …

 

Marketing the Church into Oblivion

Earlier this morning, as I perused the usual websites I tend to haunt over my morning cup of coffee, I encountered a news item entitled: “Pastor Ed Young, Wife to Stream Time in Bed on the Internet.”  Needless to say, I did a double take.

Apparently, Ed Young, who is the Founding and Senior Pastor of the multi-site Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, has a new book to sell.  This book, which he co-authored with his wife, is called Sexperiment; and it encourages married couples to commit to having sexual relations every day for seven straight days.  Now please understand, I am not questioning a pastor’s decision to teach on the subject of human sexuality.  Far from it.  What I am questioning here today is the seemingly boundless lengths to which we are willing to go to market Christianity to a Modern, presumably disinterested, culture. 

Back in 2008, Paul and Susie Wirth released a book entitled, 30-Day Sex Challenge.  It was marketed with the tagline:

“Every man’s fantasy: 30 days of sex! Every woman’s dream: 30 days of intimacy!”

Now I want you to stop and look at that for a moment; and I want you to ask yourself: what is being “sold” and who’s “selling” it?  While I don’t know the sales figures for the book,  its basic premise caught fire, as it was used as the inspiration for many “challenges” delivered in numerous churches across the nation.

But as we all know, news cycles move on, and Modernity is always anxious to discard the “old” in favor of the “new.”  And so now, just three years later, capitalism once again rears its ugly head within the church, and two new books are released.  The first book, Young’s Sexperiment, promises to do in seven days, what the “old” book could only do in 30.  And as for Mark Driscoll’s book, Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship and Life Together, it promises to tell you all sorts of explicit things, the likes and details of which I will leave for you to investigate.

Here’s the problem.  Not only are we, as Christians, caught in the lie that the “new” must be better than the “old,” we’re also caught up in constantly struggling to find new and “innovative” ways to market our materials.  If N.T. Wright goes on Comedy Central’s  Colbert Report, than Driscoll has to show up on Dr. Drew’s Loveline.  And if Rob Bell previews his book, Love Wins, with a catchy video, than Ed Young has to one-up him and stage a “Sexperiment Bed In.”  You read that right.  In an effort to generate some serious sales volume, Ed Young and his wife, are camped out for 24 hours on a bed on the roof of their church.  And you are invited to witness this live event through this link.

The question are numerous.  Where will this all end?  Is it even possible for this to end?  Or are we all caught up upon a wave – a wave that leaves us flailing about as we wait to be dashed upon the rocky shoreline?  I guess only time will tell.