Everything Is Spiritual

Tonight, I watched Rob Bell's presentation called Everything Is Spiritual. Bell is such a great presenter. His ability to take highly complex theological topics and communicate them in everyday language is astounding. Not only is it good, but it is also highly practical without adding some "application" section to the end of some trite three point sermon. Bell's preaching is always an integrative whole-- no sections, points, illustrations, etc.-- it all criss-crosses and loops and connects. I have moments where I'm able to speak with such clarity and intersection-- but not everytime I get up to speak.

Nevertheless, I found myself earlier today feeling a little "Rob Bell-ish" as I discussed religion and theology with students in my youth group. I was writing on napkins, explaining gnosticism and dualism, eschatology and its relation to how people see planet Earth, feeding the poor, and sexuality, and how all of life is spiritual. I live for these moments. I wish I could do that everyday.

The Problem of Attempted Shelter

Being raised in a very conservative church, I grew up around families and church leaders who advocated for the sheltering of children from the "evils of the world." Many of these families prohibited their children from watching many movies and television shows and home schooled their children in an attempt to minimize the influence of "the world" on their kids (although these same families would often send their kids into the work place no questions asked, which often corrupted their children within several months if not weeks).

Before I go on, let me first say that I'm not trying to denounce these practices. Parents do need to watch out for their kids and protect them. However, I think these practices can be quite naive. What these families often misunderstand is that the influence of the world has already reached their kids. As they drive in their car, kids see a plethra of advertisements and logos. They watch commercials on television. Parents buy Happy Meals. Kids walk down the aisles of Target. And let's not forget their friends-- their peer educators and influencers. And finally, the parents. The parents are the chief infected influences in the kids' lives. Everything about our world-- our house, car, job, stress in paying the bills, dressing up or down for certain occasions, looking in the mirror, shopping at the supermarket, watching the news, discussing political concerns, etc.-- brings "the world" into their lives.

A great example of this is the series Veggie-Tales. Many Christians buy their kids these movies to help the kids learn biblical lessons/values and stories. However, the very idea of Veggie-Tales plays right into the consumerist value system-- one of brand marketing, consumption of a product, filling the need of constant entertainment, etc. At the end of the day, it represents captive Christianity-- the gospel being placed in servitude to a different story/message/value-system. One must learn how to discern the medium and what it promotes before before even looking at the message.

My point is that we cannot escape the infiltration of the consumerist world into our minds and lives. We cannot hide the children from it. However, what we can do is to create a new imagination that will create a counter, alternative form of divine-human agency in the world-- a gospel-storied people formed by an immersion in the tradition and liturgical practices of the faith and transforming the world through the simple means of life-- conversations, eating together with our neighbors, our enemies, and the disenfranchised/marginalized/ignored, etc. The true task that is given to parents is not one of sheltering but one of discernment and critical thinking. Children learn first-hand from adults how to see the world and how to respond in it. Children need to learn first-hand from a Christian community how to see the world (and its various component parts) differently and how to respond to it in transformative ways.

I am starting the book Branded-- Adolescents Converting From Consumer Faith by Katherine Turpin. Her introduction got me thinking about my own up bringing. Turpin described how her daughter knew everything about The Incredibles and was completely enamored with it even though she and her husband had decided not to allow their daughter to watch the movie because of the level of violence in it. On later reflection, she and her husband realized that their tactic did not work and that their daughter mimicked the violent actions of the characters with her friends on a daily basis. She uses this as the opening story in her book. Here is a quote:

... the average American child recognizes over 500 brand names before they reach the age of five.... After just a few days, I realized that she [the daughter] is well past the five hundred mark already. She knows names of restaurants, department, and grocery stores and recognizes their signs even though she does not yet read. She knows characters from Disney and Nickelodian and the Sesame Street Workshop.... She knows a few brand names of food items, particulary breakfast cereals. All of this is particularly remarkable because she has never watched "commercial" television. (page 2)

I am very intersted to see where this goes!

(Disclaimer: I know that even blogging this makes me a part of the consumer culture. I'm not advocating that we no longer participate in the consumer world, rather that we make ourselves aware of its influence and find ways to foster an alternative formation of our imaginations and actions. Thus, how does the medium of the internet, the computer, and the blogging world impact me?)

A Preaching Youth Ministry

This morning in our two worship services, 15 of my youth preached their mission trip experience to the congregation. I say preached because they did more than present what they did on their mission trip. They took the texts of their experiences and placed them under the text of Scripture and theology. I watched as each of them unpacked their stories with skill and articulation. They were able to make micro- and macro- insights into life and world. Our congregation was given the experience of seeing the formative task of many years at work in these students' experiences. What was more amazing is that my students did not use normal Christian cliches to convey these experiences and insights. Instead, they made use of real insight, intellect, and imagination.
When I first arrived at UPC, the youth ministry was expected to do a Youth Sunday as is traditional in many churches. I have never like Youth Sundays (for various reasons) and to date I have never conducted a Youth Sunday at UPC. However, I have created and conducted several worship services involving youth-- some for the youth and others by the youth. All of these services have been for the purpose of forming our youth in vocation and our congregation in faith. Never has the primary reason for the service been to highlight our youth ministry (although that indirectly happens any time our youth do anything). My youth have engaged the congregation in an Imago Dei ceremony on sexuality, intimacy, and fidelity; a confirmation rite-of-passage where my Jr. High students led our congregation in the traditional and ancient practices of faith forming and confirming; a service around the film Invisible Children where my students not only highlighted a world problem, but connected it to the rich tradition of Lent and the Eucharist-- the mystery of the table where the invisible is made visible through the act of confession and dining; as well as various other services. Like many other churches, we will recognize our graduates in May; however, we see it as a rite of passage where our students are called and sent into the world. This ceremony is held on Pentecost for this reason. Our students are literally sent into the world to extend the kingdom. We tell them to remember their baptism and to engage the Eucharist.
Simply put... my students are enacting theology in real life. They take the pulpit with responsibilty and courage. The preach!

Changing Youth Ministry

MarkO-- the president of Youth Specialties-- recently commented on his blog that YS is primarily responsible for communicating a youth ministry philosophy that was negative and unhelpful. Definately a statement of courage and boldness. Here is an excerpt from his post:

While youth specialties certainly isn’t solely responsible, i think it’s very fair to say we should bear the brunt of the blame. yes, youth specialties is primarily responsible for promoting – for decades – a model of youth ministry, built on a set of assumptions (mostly unstated), that elevated programming as the best path to successful youth ministry. and for this – i will speak for us, organizationally – we are sorry.

Definately a statement of courage and boldness. I am so glad that he is willing to do this. Many in this field that I am a part of have been calling for such an admission by the world of youth ministry for a while. For too long, ymin has been about glitz and the stage-- big events that get a lot of students to come out and make a confession of faith (without any true understanding that faith is participating in a community of people who live a certain way and have a certain vision for the world that corresponds to how Jesus lived in mission here; and without a true understanding that confession is an expression of such a vision and way of life).

Many on MarkO's blog were complaining that although a failure has been admitted, no help has been given as to what youth ministry should be. I do not agree with these sentiments. Youth ministry is about a community of faith that centers around Eucharist and Baptism-- the primary practices of the church that give the whole community vision about suffering, resurrection, forgiveness, and reconciliation. That community of faith must find ways together to practice this faith in tangible ways in the world-- i.e. offering table fellowship (acceptance and forgiveness in 1st century language) to the people we encounter daily and to people groups (nations) that are encountered as the church is in the world.

This is just a complicated way of saying, youth ministry needs good churches. Good churches form people in the way of Christ and youth ministry is one part of that. Such ideas may seem simplistic and idealistic, but they are the answer to our questions. Jesus' answer to the world: get wet and eat! Jesus' answer to us in youth ministry: get wet and eat!