#331 – Falling Asleep on Culture

I am all-pro at falling asleep in church.

In my rookie years I used to head nod like a Pez dispenser. I’ve learned, though, that the key is to look like you’re praying. My favorite position is with my elbows on my thighs and my face in my hands. Anyone looking on will think you’re just deep in prayer. But you’ll actually be catching up on the sleep you missed from settling Catan late into Saturday night.

Falling asleep in church, whether on purpose or accidentally, shows that we have disengaged from the service. We may not like the songs, we may not like the sermon or we may just really like the back of our eyelids, but whatever the reason, we have disengaged.

We do the same thing with culture all of the time.

I have spoken with a lot of Christians, nerds and non-nerds, who have disengaged from certain aspects of culture. They disengage because, in their eyes, certain aspects of culture are irredeemable.

Why would a Christian watch Harry Potter? It’s demonic and irredeemable.

Why would a Christian read Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time? It doesn’t support a creationist worldview.

Why would a Christian listen to secular radio? It doesn’t glorify God and edify the soul.

As Christians we shouldn’t shy away from culture, even if it doesn’t look that “Christian”. There are few aspects of culture that are completely irredeemable. Pornography is one and maybe senseless and graphic violence. Most aspects of culture are somewhat redeemable, though. If we look hard enough, we can find God’s truth in almost anything.

I’ve read the first two Harry Potter books and written about God’s truth present within them.

A Brief History of Time may not support a creationist worldview, but it can help us marvel at the size of our God who could create such a universe.

Secular radio may not play songs about Jesus, but it can show us the pain and realities of a world we’re trying to reach.

I updated the About TCN page with this statement:

This blog is about helping people grow closer to God by showing them how he’s already engaging them through culture.

God can choose to speak to us through almost anything, including different aspects of our culture. Obviously we shouldn’t abandon spiritual disciplines like reading the Bible, praying and going to church for strictly cultural disciplines. However, when we disengage from the culture at large, we are cutting ourselves off from another way that God wants to speak to us.

God’s truth is everywhere. He wants to show it to us through culture. When we close ourselves off to it, it’s like we’re falling asleep in church.

How have you seen God speak to you through culture?