95 Theses or Reese’s Pieces (or When Narratives Collide)
October 31, 1517.
The young monk scurried across the courtyard with his fine tuned list of grievances rolled up in his hand. By the time his list was completed, he had 95 points of contention where he thought church practice had strayed from biblical teaching. In his other hand he carried a crude hammer and a pair of nails. He made a bee line for the weathered wooden doors of the church in his current home of Wittenberg. He was nervous, but he had a burning passion that swallowed his trepidation.
It was dusk, and the shadows were long and cold. He skimmed up the few steps and unfurled his scroll. He secured the writing on the door with a nail on the top and bottom.
Inside one of the senior Fathers of the church heard the pounding. Somewhat annoyed, he went to the door carrying a sackcloth holding molasses candies the monks had made for their upcoming All Saints Day bingo party. "Who's there?", he asked loudly. "It is I, brother Martin." , replied the young monk.
"What do you want?". "Nothing. I am only posting these theses on the door for future discussions," replied Martin. "Let me take a look at them," said Martin's superior. He opened the door and looked at his posting. "Holy cow. There must be about 100 points." "Actually, there are 95.", replied Martin, blushing a little.
The senior Father quickly scanned the list and got a troubled look on his face. He sensed that the 95 theses would cause much trouble. "What is this? Some sort of trick?", he demanded. Martin retorted, "I think it's a treat for the church." The superior countered, "I think it is a trick." Martin entrenched, "No. It's a treat."
"Trick!" said the superior.
"Treat!" said Martin.
"Trick!"
"Treat!"
"Trick!"
"Treat!"
"Trick!"
"Well, trick or treat I am posting them," Martin insisted.
"Get off this stoop," insisted the superior.
"No!" said Martin. "Here I stand. I can do no other."
"Here. I'll give you this candy to take down your stupid theses and go away," offered the superior.
Just then the superior's iphone buzzed. The Pope was calling. He quickly shoved the candy into Martin's hands and slammed the door shut. Martin reached in the bag and took a bite of one of the candies. "Ach!!!" (German which ruffly translates to "dang") Martin bemoaned. "I wanted a Mallow Cup.".
And so Halloween was born.....or maybe not. I seem to have mixed the story of the Reformation with another story.
Sometimes stories collide and sound weird. However, after a time one story dominates and only elements of the other remain, and we get used to a story that once seemed weird.
I bring this up because our city departed from historical practice and did not see the need to move trick-or-treating back to Saturday . This move merely extends a growing trend of the Christian narrative being edged out of our daily cultural story.
Halloween goes back to ancient Celtic rituals. On October 31, their new years eve, the division between the dead and the living thinned allowing dead spirits to roam the earth. People wore costumes to trick the dead and left treats out to pacify spirits or people with ill intent. This thinning of the division between the living and dead is something satanists, witches and pagan practitioners of Wicca still recognize and celebrate today.
The medieval church, in an effort to convert pagans, instituted All Saints Day on November 1, to supplant a pagan practice but still provide a celebration. However, these Halloween practices, though greatly diminished, did not disappear altogether.
In the last fifty years, the holiday has experienced a resurgence of popularity in our country. Marketers have made it the second biggest money making holiday behind Christmas. The primary products sold are candy for the youth and alcohol for the adults.
To most, the pagan connections are gone, and it's just a holiday of cuteness, sentiment for families, and a reason for theme based adult parties. Despite the lack of pagan worship practices, many elements of ancient Celtic and modern pagan beliefs still abound. Stores are plastered with skeletons, ghosts, witches and other things from the world of the dead. Homes are adorned with dummies hanging from trees, tombstones, and other macabre adornments. Some kids even dress as witches, zombies, and vampires (though vampires have supposedly been redeemed by the Twilight books). For most it's all in fun and not taken seriously.
One usually unasked question though is, if we can look at evil things as fake and trivial and even cute, how much do we really believe in the entire spiritual realm? If I discount fake witches as harmless or funny, might this point to an inability to understand that there are real witches today who worship the earth and false spirits? Or even if I am uncomfortable with the evil parts but I participate in a non-evil manner, could an uncritical embracing of Halloween allow a godless or god dishonoring narrative to dominate our culture? When competing narratives collide, only one will prevail. I think in my town and most others a secular or pseudo-pagan narrative is winning.
If you haven't figured out yet, my family chooses not to participate in Halloween. Instead we celebrate Reformation Day, which is the day Martin Luther made public his 95 theses in the city of Wittenberg, Germany and launched the protestant reformation. We watch the movie Luther, talk about its significance, and go out to do something fun as a family.
We don't look down on people who trick-or-treat or think we are more spiritual. We don't egg trick-or-treaters. We aren't, as one co-worker labeled me, Halloween Nazis (an odd label in that Hitler's fascination with the occult would endear Nazis to Halloween). We have chosen to emphasize an important part of the Christian story instead. The monumental events that were set into motion on October 31 by Martin Luther were world changing. The world was freed from a destructive worldview that enslaved Christians in false views of God, the world, and themselves.
My intent is not to cause guilt, end trick-or-treating, or stamp out kids dressed as ladybugs. My intent is to reinvigorate our realization and observance of one of the most powerful world changing events of the last 2000 years. There is not space here to go into the enormous implications of Luther's courage. I recommend reading Abraham Kuyper's Stone Lectures for a introduction to the scope of the reformational biblical worldview.
Christ-followers must work hard, often against the broader culture, to assert the Christian story in the midst of lesser, or even evil and destructive stories whether we celebrate Halloween or not.
What about Christmas and its pagan elements like the Christmas tree and the great conditional giver Santa? I suppose you want to dump Christmas too? ( I've heard this too many times to count) Christmas, unlike Halloween, largely succeeded in establishing a decidedly Christian story. The pagan elements have been totally removed from their original story. Unfortunately, Christmas has been largely taken captive by the godless and increasingly anti-Christian story of consumerism and empty sentimentality and deserves a reformation of its own. Each of the holidays has its own battle, but one should not assert that taking a pass on Halloween while still celebrating Christmas is inconsistent.
Consider what story you want to be most prominent. Make your choice. 95 theses or Reese's Pieces.
I'm with Luther. Here I stand. I can do no other.
Art and Worship
A question to my last post was of a nature that I decided to make this separate post to answer it.
Here is the question: Great thoughts on a taken-for-granted subject. I was helped in this area by Francis Shaeffer’s, “How Should We Then Live?” In this post you said, “We have abandoned the entire field to personal preference. We give ourselves over to whatever tickles our emotions and immediate passions.” I agree. But here’s a loaded question. Don’t know if you’ll take the bait. Do you think the same could be said for the use and practice of the arts in the church? How do we evaluate our worship to keep it out of the shallows?
Answer:
Thanks for the Question. I feel like the hound dog in the old Buggs Bunny cartoons being handed an old fashioned phone by Foghorn Leghorn not realizing the part I put up to my ear is a stick of dynamite. Let me rush in where angels fear to tread.
Musical worship is to be God centered and not man centered. Man centering occurs in a number of different ways. When quality, emotion, sentiment, style, and several other human desires rise to a place of too high of importance we are off course. Even though it is God centered, it is meant to engage humanity in worshiping Him. Consequently, quality, sentiment, style, etc..... have a necessary place. Where are the lines? Who makes the call? Is God's desire for worship unknowable?
God's desire for musical worship specifics is unknowable to the extent we would like. If only Jesus would have walked around the Sea of Galilee humming the tunes that were His favorites. Scripture's silence on the subject is noteworthy. We are left to fearfully and creatively extract methods and specifics of worship within the context of a Spirit led community that works to discern the ethos of Scripture. This flies in the face of our desire to autonomously critique and decide on worship methods in the privacy of our own minds. We want to bypass communities and authorities God has placed in the church and become self made dictators of preferences based on our supposed mastery of absolutes.
Primarily we need to keep in mind that leadership is responsible and accountable for worship styles and offerings. The rest of us are responsible only for how we approach worship. This should relieve us of being perpetual critics. Unfortunately, we are too demanding and continue to step in the same puddle of making our preferences into absolutes. It is leadership's responsibility to wrestle appropriately with sentiment, emotion, stardom, quality, style, etc..... If we are invited into that process, we go with humility and deference. If we are not invited and it frustrates us, there is probably something beyond worship that we need to learn about our own hearts.
Leadership, on the other hand, is responsible for what is put forth artistically to lead the community in worship. They too must be humble and open, yet they must ultimately make decisions. They must work hard to guard against empty sentiment, man-centered emotionalism, and shoddy offerings that are passed off as "earthy". Things like timing, quality and and how to feature people in the process is also important. They will miss the mark at times, but so will I in my teaching and writing.
Some church's boast of their "superior" quality musicians. Others prefer using as many volunteers as possible. Some churches believe in quiet, reverent traditional hymns, while others say "holy" can be witnessed only where freedom reigns. Which is right? I am not sure. I would be very cautious to raise one above the other. Our leadership is responsible for our choices, and their leadership is responsible for their choices. For my part, I am responsible for neither.
I believe a big part of our problem is the amount of choice we expect from the marketplace. It is so much a part of our worldview that church becomes just another consumer interaction where I go to get what I want. Unfortunately, indulging my wants often precludes me from getting what I need.
Often we pontificate about "pure" and "authentic" worship while at the same time we treat our spouses/kids poorly, don't joyfully give our money to our church, don't pray, don't study Scripture, and on and on. It is as if 30 minutes of music is the sole expression of our spirituality. No wonder we're so demanding. That 30 minutes must undo the hypocrisy of the remainder of our week.
Additionally, we immerse ourselves in crappy TV/crappy movies/crappy romance novels/video games/facebook and more. We literally dumb down our thinking and then show up Sunday thinking the way we think is the way God thinks.
For the participant in musical worship - be still and know He is God and He has put leadership and community in place to bring praise to Himself.
For leaders - understand emotionalism, sentimentality, and shallowness so you may guard against them. Above all else, know the Biblical story intimately and live it, so your music will reflect it.
Artprize Reprise
What do Mylie Cyrus, Keanu Reeves, Leonardo DaVinci, and Wolfgang Mozart have in common? They all "Can't be Tamed"? No. They all make action movies with little dialogue and plot because they can't act? No, at least not all of them. Oddly, they are all considered artists. Art is such a diverse collection of form, use, and taste that it covers a multitude of people and offerings.
- 2010 Artprize Winner
Underscoring the power of art is Grand Rapids' second offering of Artprize. Artprize is the world's largest competitive art competition offering the winner a $250,000 cash prize. Seventeen hundred artists displayed their entries at 192 locations around the city.
Artprize was not for everyone. If your idea of art is the lion on the Detroit Lions' helmets or the mustard stain on the UM helmets, then Artprize was probably not for you. (Deep authentic gold helmets are a different story. ) If your favorite color is camouflage and over half your wardrobe is from Cabelas, then Artprize was probably not for you. If you need Granimals to put together a matching outfit each morning, then Artprize was definitely not for you.
However, Artprize was for a lot of other people.
A quick rundown of my take on the top 10:
1. Calvary Awesomeness amplified by doing it with a #2 pencil. Doodling on steroids. Interesting explanation of piece.
2. Svelata Weird name - beautiful piece.
3. Lure/Wave Cat got into the yarn. Represents mystical interconnection of the ones we are fated to be with. 3rd best? Not in my top 300. I'm probably not fated to meet this artist.
4. Matter of Time Captivating to look at. Driftwood will never look the same. Another pollution warning not rooted in a compelling narrative.
5. Vision Cool to look at. Unique design. Lost appeal the more I looked at it.
6. Helping Mom.... Coin collection gone wild. Cool but, (I hate to say what I'm about to say).....my kid's could have done it.
7. Dancing with Lions Sequel to the nail Moose from last year. Unique and interesting. Voters sent message of "We like your work but you won't win."
8. Salt and Earth Amazing salt design. Pictures of cells around the perimeter were odd if not disturbing. b/t/w Who stepped in it and why?
9. Steam Pig Seriously? Top Ten? Art? Looks like a prop for a new rib joint.
10. Elephant Walk Token Kid's Museum entry.....sorry pachyderm groupies.
I loved some pieces, hated others, and thought some boldly stupid. If you went, you probably felt the same.Where we may disagree is the application of good, bad, and stupid. We all have opinions, but is there any objective view of art or is it all personal preference? Can we say Handel's "Messiah" is better art than Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA," or is it just opinion?
Creating and experiencing art is a serious endeavor. Art is home turf for Christians. Beauty and truth are meant to come together in art and ultimately point to something beyond ourselves (God) in a creative way. Yet our artistic side is held captive by "reality" t.v., Disney Channel, romance novels, video games, sports t.v./radio, glamor magazines, etc.... Our interaction with the arts has become vicarious, voyeuristic, and virtual. Many Christians cannot or do not enter this arena meaningfully any more.
We have abandoned the entire field to personal preference. We give ourselves over to whatever tickles our emotions and immediate passions. If it takes work, patience, or heaven forbid - study, we breeze past it in favor of the newest pop schlock.
This is not OK. Our laziness here has had staggering ramifications over the years. More harm has been done than we are courageous enough to contemplate.
Truth and beauty find their home in God. Consequently, art can and should be evaluated on its ability to speak through our imaginations about the things of God and to stir deep longings for the profound truth of our creator. In a way, good art beckons us to our origins and enlivens the image that God used to shape our being. Good art is complex, takes skill to produce, and can be absorbed at many levels. Good art is original, but builds off of things that are timeless and transcendent.
The modern art discussion seems to be devoid of any consideration that Satan knows good art is dangerous, and so offers us a potpourri of empty and damaging substitutes. The Christ follower must be engaged here. As I said earlier, this is our home turf. Yet we must engage with discernment and insistence, that though it is mysterious, a framework of objectivity must be developed and used.
The modern art world seems to have a few dominant trends. A piece is valued because it is shocking. It's as if your piece has no value unless it upsets and disturbs traditional "oppressive" thinking. This applies especially to Christian "oppressive" thinking. A piece is valued because it is totally obscure. You look at it or hear it and it points to nothing. That is because all meaning is subjective so the thought of pointing to something objective is "oppressive". To the "oppressive" and "narrow minded" viewer these works look just plain stupid. Finally, a piece is valued because it is sexually explicit. This breaks with the moral straight jacket put on by Christianity over the years. Culture is liberated by explicit sexuality, particularly same-sex sexuality. Unfortunately, no one can explain what we are supposedly liberated into.
Beware! There is error in the other direction. Overly sentimental, shallow, and empty Christian art is pumped out faster than you can say Amy Gr.....sorry.....I'd better not name names. We do as much harm portraying God, life, and truth in overly simplistic, mind emptying ways. Sometimes we seem to think if it comes from a Christian label, publisher or producer, it is good art. Unfortunately that is not always true.
We also need to keep in mind that we are all made in God's image and often profoundly pagan people unexpectedly create art that points to beauty and truth that can only come from God. Why and how God does this is startling at times until I consider that He chose me to be his child and that reality is more startling and confusing.....but much appreciated.
Enjoy and embrace the arts, but do not be a lazy taker of short cuts. Turn off your TV. Read the stories of Scripture as stories. Read good literature. Watch fewer and better movies. Create your own art by writing, painting, playing, etc.... Engage your family in good art and good art discussions. Discernment comes over time with good work. In the end you, your family and community will be better for it.