I’m working on an essay and I want to hear from you.
The surest sign that someone is a Christian celebrity is _______.
Christian celebrities are helpful because _______.
Christian celebrities are harmful because _______.
Go ahead. Hit me with it.
You know what that picture above is — it’s a hammer. But if I asked you what a hammer is used for, what would say?
Despite its stark simplicity, a hammer is quite a remarkable tool. As I see it, a hammer has two purposes: building and tearing down. Construction and destruction, if you will. I’m struck by the versatility of a hammer — the same tool can play an important part in the establishment and demolition of a home.
Lately, these hammer-centric thoughts have dominated my little brain. I haven’t been able to shake them. Not because I think I missed my calling as a building contractor (I most certainly did not) or because I’ve been watching a lot of Handy Manny these days (my daughter prefers Wonder Pets). I can’t stop thinking about the hammer because I’ve come to see it as a fitting analogy for the media and tech tools we talk about in COLLIDE.
Film, animation, graphic design, music, websites, Twitter, Facebook — they’re all hammers. They can be used for construction or destruction. They can be used to build something or to tear something down.* It’s up to us to know the difference. Perhaps an increasingly important role for church leaders of the 21st-century is to fully realize the construction/destruction potential of new media and then model the responsible (oh, and Christ-like!) application of these tools.
Of course, this entire concept isn’t exactly revelatory. Almost 2,000 years ago, James wrote about taming the tongue (James 3:8-11):
But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restlesss evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God’s image. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters. A spring does not pour out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening, does it?
Twitter and the other tools I mentioned above simply amplify our voice and provide new formats and channels through which we can bless the Lord and curse his handiwork. As James says, these things should not be. Let’s do our best to help one another tame our tongues and our tools.
* That’s not to say I believe tools are entirely neutral; I don’t. Swinging a hammer all day, whether to build or destroy, has an effect on the worker. These effects can be physical (muscles, blisters, aches and pains), psychological (as the old saying goes, “When you’re a hammer, you start to see everything else as a nail”), and so on.
I’ve blogged about this before, but I’m blogging about it again.
As we were rearranging and cleaning out our offices not long ago, we found ourselves thinking a lot about environments. Specifically, we began wondering about your environments—where you work and where you worship. Our guess is that some of you have creative and cool work environments—offices, studios, production booths, conference rooms—and we want to see them. We believe creative environments are conducive to creative work, so we’d love to see where you do your creative work, and then we’d like to share those spaces with others.
Along those same lines, some of you have creative worship environments and we’d like to see those, too. Environments have an undeniable influence on our worship moods, attitudes, and experiences, so it would be interesting to see the different environments you guys are working with. When you have a chance, snap some pictures or go through your archives. Then, send your best pictures to info@collidemagazine.com. We’ll compile the best and most interesting pictures of work spaces and worship spaces into a future article. So come on and send in those pictures! (It’ll be fun, like America’s Funniest Home Videos, except without the funny or the home videos or the prize money.)
As you mill about the Internet today, here’s another batch of handpicked videos for your viewing pleasure.
First up, an amazing short film called, “Pixels.”
PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. – Discover more animation and arts videos.
Now it’s L.A.’s turn for a little video love (HT: churchmediadesign.tv).
This video features great visuals and great jazz (HT: Scott Hodge).
On the tech side of things, let some smart Google employees teach you about their Realtime search.
And finally, check out this video from Centerline New Media, “God Is.”
A friend of mine, the inimitable Justin Schneider, recently shared a quote from John Calvin on his blog and I thought it was perfectly applicable in the ongoing COLLIDE conversation. Here’s Calvin talking about the changing form of worship in Institutes of the Christian Religion:
I mean that the Lord has in his sacred oracles faithfully embraced and clearly expressed both the whole sum of true righteousness, and all aspects of the worship of his majesty, and whatever was necessary to salvation; therefore, in these the Master alone is to be heard. But because he did not will in outward discipline and ceremonies to prescribe in detail what we ought to do (because he foresaw that this depended upon the state of the times, and he did not deem one form suitable for all ages), here we must take refuge in those general rules which he has given, that whatever the necessity of the church will require for order and decorum should be tested against these. Lastly, because he has taught nothing specifically, and because these things are not necessary to salvation, and for the upbuilding of the church ought to be variously accommodated to the customs of each nation and age, it will be fitting (as the advantage of the church will require) to change and abrogate traditional practices and to establish new ones. Indeed, I admit that we ought not to charge into innovation rashly, suddenly, for insufficient cause. But love will best judge what may hurt or edify; and if we let love be our guide, all will be safe.
Yes, that’s a lengthy and somewhat dense passage but I think it’s worth a read and a re-read. Above, I bolded two phrases concerning contextualizing worship to fit the time and place in which the saints are gathered. In many ways, that’s what COLLIDE (and Echo, of course) endeavors to explore. Hopefully, it’s something you endeavor to explore for your time and place, too. But I also want to draw attention to the two sentences that conclude the passage:
Indeed, I admit that we ought not to charge into innovation rashly, suddenly, for insufficient cause. But love will best judge what may hurt or edify; and if we let love be our guide, all will be safe.
Centuries removed from the writing of those words, I sense that they were written with a pastor’s heart. Calvin begins with an argument for (and justification of) cultivating new worship forms and practices, but he takes care to pair this pursuit with a caution against rash innovation. After all, Calvin was well aware of the toll that rapid change in the Church can take. Finally, he exhorts his readers to rely heavily upon love to guide us through. Good words for his time, our time, and the time to come.
