1. Time Magazine Names New Calvinism 3rd Most Powerful Idea
2. More Thoughts on Time Magazine and New Calvinism

Now, I am all for excellence in technique and production and good music indeed draws a crowd as much as great speaking. However, that is not the goal. That is the means. Evangelism is a purpose, but it is not always worship. Its one thing to make a worship setting that is friendly to unbelievers (see 1 Corinthians 14) it is another to make that the goal. Worship is the goal.

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It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians–I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians–go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord’s parable, seeing human needs all around them, but (after a pious wish, and perhaps a prayer, that God might meet those needs) averting their eyes and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirt of those Christians–alas, they are many–whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and brining up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the submiddle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian, to get on by themselves.

Some would use this story as an argument for exclusively listening to Christian music, but I believe that Sarah’s problem is much deeper. Christians at large, sense the 90s, have come to blindly accept that which is sold in the Christian bookstores. I would argue that the main reason there is a market for the Christian Industry (selling books, CDs, movies, even little TestaMints) is because Christians want to be lazy. They want to turn their discernment guards off and simply suck in the information. No questioning is involved and no guarding of what goes into their minds. This is obvious in that the major argument for only listening to Christian music is because Christians, “should guard what goes into their minds.”

Sarah’s problem wasn’t that she decided to listen to secular music but that she never learned discernment. She learned to listen to music by only listening. Never meditating or questioning… just listening. Thus, naturally when she listened to something else, she listened to it the same way she did before… just listening.

The Boomers created the CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) industry and the Millennials grew up with it. Boomers and Millennials will either abandon strictly listening to CCM or continue using it for their musical diet. For various reason I believe the Christian Music Industry will be dead (or nearly dead) within 10 years if it doesn’t make some serious changes. Currently the death of CCM is more likely than not, thus Boomers and Millennials will be forced to either crawl in a musically deprived hole or listen to “secular” music. Thus, the music will change, but the listening behavior will not and I believe that Christians will follow the same pattern that Sarah did, but unfortunately the solution will not be as simple as switching their musical diet. If you think we live in a spiritually deprived culture wait 10 years to see a spiritually deprived Christian culture.

I know some are asking the question, “so where do you draw the line in what you listen to?” Past Christian generations have been so strong on creating a lists of rules in order to make moral decisions easier — “don’t go into places that serve alcohol,” “don’t listen to secular music,” “don’t go to rated R movies,” etc. So where do you draw the line in all these situations? I will not define that. It must be different for each person because we all have different interests and struggles. The Christian life is difficult. It’s not as easy as we’d like to make it. It’s not a list of rules. We must learn how to discern.

Check yourself. Did you blindly read this post because I am a “Christian?”

Images were found from the following sites:

http://www.superficialgallery.com/Emails/Amazing-Pictures/cool-packaging.htm

http://www.hemmy.net/2006/10/15/creative-advertisements-around-the-world/

http://corcholat.com/!Bmq

Is it possible that man is created in the image of God, but has a sinful nature–therefore we are all in the same boat? Just some of us know the secret to getting out. Is it possible that we can see music, movies, literature, and theatre and not view it as “their culture” but “our culture.” Perhaps the reason why Christianity is seen as irrelevant by outsiders is that it is out of touch with reality. Whether we like it or not, it is our culture, and we are a part of it. Even if we want to close our eyes and pretend like everything is perfect in our little world, the gruesome fact is that we are a part of a corrupt culture. But seclusion does not bring about change. Actually, could it be that our culture is so corrupt because Christians have failed to be a functioning body of our culture and community?