Author: art rogers
Exegeting Trends
Monday, June 30th, 2008 @ 12:01 am
How many times have I heard Ed Stetzer and others say that we need to exegete culture? Many, I assure you. Let me also assure you that I am not against exegeting culture. I’m for it.
But how far? How much culture can we truly decipher before we are spending all of our time trying to figure out minutiae? What about culture that moves quickly? Too much time studying a trend and it is out of style before you can apply anything relevant.
Best example: When I moved from rural Kentucky to Charlotte, NC (still in Youth Ministry) I went up to some of my older guys and said, “What up, dog?” They burst out laughing and one of them literally took me by the shoulders and said: “Never again. Ok? Never again.”
Relevant in Kentucky, way past relevant in Charlotte. A little trend that I had failed to grasp well had done much to convince my teenagers that, while I loved them, I knew little of their world.
And then there is the whole postmodern aspect to trends. What they mean to you, what they were originally intended to mean, is not what they mean to many who are participants in them.
I remember when the Lance Armstrong LiveStrong yellow armbands came out. I had a teenaged girl in my Youth Group who showed up one Wednesday night wearing one. Thinking that I would find a point of relationship with her, since my family has been rife with cancer, I approached her and asked who she knew that struggled with cancer.
Blink. Blink. Dumbfounded look.
“The LiveStrong bracelet?”
More blinking.
*sigh*
Foiled again.
So at what level and to what degree do you pay attention to trends? Enough, but not too much?
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June 30th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Art,
I’m not sure if you are equating “culture” with “trends” here, but trends are simply a particular expression of a culture. Culture is broad and general whereas trends are narrow and specific.
For example, a trend can be seen in advertising where everyone is (was) using “New and Improved” in their labeling. Those trends, however, were simply a reflection of a market-driven consumer culture. The trends change (as you note in your example of “cool things to say” and “cool things to wear”) but those trends reflect something deeper within the culture that didn’t change - the drive to be “hip” and “cool.”
I think it is pretty pointless to try to exegete trends. You’ll never keep up. However, try exegeting “cool.” Try exegeting “market-driven consumerism.” Try exegeting “church as we’ve always done it (in our culture - either our larger culture, or the more specific culture of your own local church). Those things do not change overnight and that may be where your time is more profitably spent in examination and discernment.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Paul,
I am not equating trends with culture, but view them exactly the way you do.
You did, however answer my question, which was “To how much minutiae does one apply one’s mind to the task of unraveling?”
You answer, as I understand it, is, “Not much. Nothing rapid. Only things that change over long periods of time.”
Fair enough?
June 30th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Art,
Fair enough, though I do think it is important to understand the gradual changes (and sometimes abrupt ones) that come over time.
Yesterday I mentioned to our folks how certain events in American life have shaped who we believe ourselves to be as Americans and people - events like the Boston Tea Party, the Revolutionary war, the Civil War and the two World Wars. But notice how that understanding changed after Korea (the first war America fought without an entirely positive outcome) and especially Vietnam (the first war America fought without any positive outcome - from the standpoint of an American victory). Then think about how those Vietnam vets were treated when they came home. We no longer proceed as we once did. Even those who are adamantly opposed to our involvement in Iraq continue to “support the troops.”
In addition, over the last century America made a shift from being a world producer to a world consumer. Thinking has shifted from the modern to the postmodern. Science is losing ground as the “foundation of knowledge” and being replaced with “spirituality” and “mystery.”
These things are much more than wrist bands and hip sayings. They are generally subconscious (we aren’t particularly consciously aware of them and their impact) and “given.” In other words, we take them for granted as telling us what life in this world is like. But they are, by and large, not Biblical, but rather cultural-specific. The things you and I assume about life, as Americans, are very different from what a Filipino thinks about life and how it “works” (even a Christian Filipino).
Well…I’ve got more I’d like to say, but I hate it when someone’s comment is longer than the original post, so I’ll just leave it there for now.
Pauls last blog post..Whyfour?
June 30th, 2008 at 11:38 am
By the way, your pics aren’t loading. I don’t know if that is just a problem I’m having or what.
Pauls last blog post..Whyfour?
June 30th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Paul,
Ok, so to what degree can trends give us a broader understanding of our culture? Is culture not, in some way, revealed by the trends that it spawns?
I would say that culture is certainly not the sum total of its trends. It is certainly much more than that. Nevertheless, trends can only live in the culture that feeds them.
For instance, the LiveStrong bracelet means nothing to the kids living in the garbage heaps outside Rio de Janeiro. So it does tell us something about this culture, doesn’t it?
What does it say? And how much time should we give it?
Concerning the pictures, are you talking about the slide show? You can email me the answer, if you prefer.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Oh, I looked at my page in Explorer. I don’t know what that junk is all about. I am not getting it Firefox 3. There is nothing supposed to be embedded in the post. David is writing his dissertation now, so I will leave it be and encourage you to use Firefox.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Art,
Let it be known that I abhor IE and only use it when absolutely necessary (because Firefox or Flock won’t run a needed plugin). I’m using Flock and it has three spinning things and says “Image unavailable.” I’m guessing that’s a slideshow of some sort. It’s something from Greased Lightbox.
To the more serious question, yes, trends reveal underlying cultural beliefs and attitudes. I suppose they do have that value and in that regard cannot simply be ignored. But as you noted earlier, I don’t think there is much profit in analyzing the trends in and of themselves, but only for what they point to in the culture. But because of that I think we have to look at them as a whole and not get overly analytical about the particulars.
IOW, yesterday it was the mood ring or the magic 8 ball, today it is some sort of colored wrist band, tomorrow it will be something else. But what is the value in culture that drives those trends? Is it a good value and one that we should celebrate? Is it a negative value and one that we should avoid?
But in the end my real interest isn’t as much in what those say about the culture at large, but which of these values have our churches adopted, not because they are particularly Biblical, but because they are cultural? Are they helping the church fulfill it’s calling or hindering?
As an example, did your church have a patriotic celebration yesterday? If you did, what did it say about the values of the church? Did you sing songs of worship to God or did you sing songs in praise of country? Were there sermons preached yesterday in defense of a particular political party? The war in Iraq? That elevated political freedom to the neglect of spiritual freedom?
Our church had a patriotic service and people almost always respond more favorably to that then they ever do to the worship of God. What does that say about what our real values are and where did that come from? It’s cultural.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
People matter to God. How we reach them will involve believers understanding the culture around us. Where I work the culture is different than at church. My Life Changing Bible Study has it’s own unique culture. Southern Baptists train called believers who serve to reach different ethnic groups the culture they will be trying to reach. Bottom line is the message doesn’t change, our calling hasn’t changed, but how we build relationships is affected by the culture we live, work, play, and serve in.
Bart
June 30th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Art,
Good discussion starter. Mention Ed Stetzer in a blog post and traffic runs wild. I am hoping more people will weigh in on this post so it will not look like Paul and I are tag teaming.
Maybe it would be best to simply ditto Paul’s take on the difference between trends and cultural shifts. I have a friend who suggests the shifts we are seeing build on some “turns” that he benchmarks at every 20 years beginning in about 1920. The coalescing of these “turns” plunged us into a period, the current one, about which Alan Roxburgh describes as “discontinuous change.” The “turns” are much more than trends/fads. Some fads and trends do not have significant connection with the cultural undertow. Certainly we can get bogged down in minutiae but our attempts at contextualization will fall woefully and embarrassingly short if we simply consider change a part of life and make adjustments out of reaction rather than intention.
June 30th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Fascinating.
Bart, I am privileged to be your pastor. You are a great “reacher” toward people.
Todd, I, too, would love for others to join. I was beginning to think it would just be Paul and I, which has certain benefits of its own, but I used to have really great discussions around here and kinda miss it, sometimes.
On to your comment, I am intrigued. Moreover, I have a question. How are some trends not connect to the culture?
Or, are you saying that some trends are not deeply revelatory of the culture? I would totally buy that.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Art,
I think I am trying to suggest something of a “both/and.”
Let’s use the Church as an example. Churches historically have lagged culture. Much like your illustration of the loss of “hip” lingo in your post. As such, we become enamored with something new that is old. Mega-churches are a dying trend. Certainly there may be a few more popping up as a last gasp for middle-income Americans in a certain socio-economic subgroup who like being lost in the large crowd. Culturally we see a move in something of a different direction. It could be argued the house-church movement tapped this and enjoys the fruits of this subtle but profound move. Generational Theory is helpful but planning community life in the Church around it resulted in fragmentation not community. Every age group must have their age appropriate worship and getting together results in no-less than the Hatfield’s battling the McCoy’s. The wider culture recognized this and many a church leader poo-poo’s one of the emphases of the Emerging Church Movement which long ago suggested the needed for an integrated (both age and ethnicity) community life including worship.
And to the second, yes. I do believe some trends do not necessarily reveal cultural shifts but are events that occur due to the breadth of culture. Some would refer to these kinds of trends as “tempests in teapots.”
July 1st, 2008 at 6:07 pm
I’m just jumping in from the top ring rope so it doesn’t look like Todd and Paul are tag teaming Art.
I’ve got the whirleygigs, too, in Firefox 3.
Ed Stetzer, Ed Stetzer, Ed Stetzer. That oughta help the traffic.
Marty Durens last blog post..Taking a Break
July 1st, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Todd brought up the Church as an example. I have been thinking about this culture/trend concept concerning “Church” all day.
I know that SDBC recognized the need to reach a generation that is missing from attending and decided to do something. The hard part has just started, trying to nail down the something. And then get everyone to buy into it.
I’m not ancient but I’m old enough to cling to some of the old traditional ways of doing church. But the more people I talk to my age that have attended Church the bulk of their lives, the theme I hear is that we need to get serious about reaching and hanging on to our kids. We can’t do it the way we use to, and we have to quit talking about it and do something.
I don’t have to become immersed in a culture, I just need to listen and try to understand the culture. Marty’s book is a great example of what a lot of Church’s are going through, it is hard, exciting and hard core missional.
I look forward to continue trying to build relationships and reach a culture different than mine for Christ.
I also know that God will put people in my circle that has the same “trends, favorite food, and similar lifestyle” as mine.
Didn’t Jesus GO TO different cultures? Tax Collectors, fishermen, prostitutes, outcasts, even a man that persecuted the believers. Speaking of Paul, he was very much aware of the culture around him.
Speaking of trends, I still own and wear bell bottom jeans. Just can’t let go.
Bart
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:12 am
ART - greetings from VA. Looking forward to couple days in OK the last of this month. Great post on Trends and culture. Our leadership team is reading “POP GOES THE CHURCH” by Tim Stevens which meets what you are saying well. The church has to be and our message must be what will get people talking. Are we willing, really willing to step up and speak out? What people are already talking about and being confronted with is the best place to begin conversations about Jesus. God gives us opportunity daily to speak from what we learn from culture. Good stuff, and be blessed! MICHAEL
PS - great and powerful thoughts, Bart!!!
Michael Harrisons last blog post..church NEWS blog
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Sorry I’ve been out of the discussion on this for a couple of days. My computer is officially terminal, now. I am limping along otherwise, but I’m going to survive, I think.
Anyway, Todd, I wanted to ask if you could give an example of a disassociated trend, just so I could wrap my head around what you are saying better.
Bart, awesome thoughts. How can we create a culture within our church of understanding the culture around us? That’s what I think we need to address. We’ve actually got to create a new culture here.
Michael, thanks for the book suggestion. I also think we can leverage culture and use it to communicate. That’s good stuff.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Dividing Lines between church and society need to be revamped. The church I have noticed is starting to see this… Considering Jesus’s ministry is important.
**He loved EVERYBODY
** He made it easy for people to walk away
** He hung out with un churched people
** He wasn’t on a cruisade to “police” evil.
** He stayed out of politics
** He openly enjoyed things this world has to offer.
I believe church as usual is coming to an end…All of these dividing lines between secular/Christian popular culture. Sillyness.
It’s good to start living in the Kingdom. Sread the good news that God loves us and will never forsake us. And let the Holy Spirit do work on the hearts of men… It is very exciting now to be a believer.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Hip,
You seem to be working your way backward through my posts.
Well, I agree that the church is beginning to tear down the walls of separation between us and the world. I also agree that most of what separates us is the concept from within the church that we are in the position to judge the world and the lost in it. We aren’t and that is silly.