|
Lolli-Pop Spirituality:
Why Youth are Crashing from Sugar-Coated Christianity
by
Lieutenant Steve Bussey
“Show the world a real, living, hardworking,
toiling, triumphing religion. Show them anything less and the
world will turn around and spit upon it.”
Catherine Booth
“We don’t want God to work unless He can make a theatrical
production of it. We want Him to come dressed in costumes with
a beard and with a staff. We want Him to play a part according
to our ideas. Some of us even demand that He provide a
colorful setting and fireworks as well!”
A.W. Tozer
Major Rick Munn, the Program Secretary for The Salvation
Army’s USA Eastern Territory recently sent to me an article
from Time Magazine (Time, 2006) on how “…sugar-coated,
MTV-style youth ministry is over”, and “Bible-based worship is
packing teens in the pews.” When I read this article, I
resonated with what was being written. In response, I wrote
the following as a reflection on the implications of this
shift in youth culture. They are going through a spiritual
sugar-crash and are looking for something of greater substance
that will sustain them through the challenges of living out
their faith in a consumer-driven world.
The candy-coated version of youth ministry has been a
homogeneous formula that has been sold as youth ministry for
the past 25 years. This paradigm of youthwork suggests that
the deepest, Maslowian "felt need" of adolescents is to be
entertained. As a result, hundreds of thousands (if not
millions) of dollars have been invested in trying to entertain
our kids into the kingdom.
My problem with this strategy is that:
(1) We will never be able to compete with Hollywood, but
Hollywood is competing with us. A W Tozer speaks about
those of us in the church creating "second-rate talent shows"
to attempt to match up to what the media industry is able to
produce. Therefore we have created an entire Christian
consumer subculture which, ironically, has become so lucrative
(middle-class Christian teens have quite amount of disposable
income!) that even the major media moguls have caught onto
this. Most Christian brands from Veggietales to Youth
Specialties products are now subsidiaries of larger companies
such as NewsCorp and Viacom. Even Hollywood has noticed how
consumer-driven Christians are - and have begun to set aside
"Passion dollars" for ideologically Christian stories -
because we evangelicals LOVE to be entertained!
At what point do we begin to recognize this as a form of
hegemonic co-optation? Are we giving glory to Jesus or to
Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone? At what point do we begin
to realize that this as a form of gospel domestication? I'm
all up for going to the movies and listening to well-produced
artists singing songs which reflect the kingdom - but this is
very different to lolli-pop spirituality! If we were in Africa
- Christianity that is uncritically synergized with culture is
considered syncretism. At what point do we begin to examine
our own ‘cultural accretions’ - our own syncretisms?
The Israelites in the wilderness longed for the benefits of
slavery in Egypt - the food and treasure... these were
concessionary bribes from Egyptians that were intended to win
the consent of the people of Israel. The provision of the
slave-lord can often be more alluring that the provision of
God... but at the price of what? Our freedom? Our destiny?
Similarly, we evangelicals need to seriously begin to ask
whether commodified Christianity is going to be what truly
satisfies this generation?
The French philosopher Guy Debord refers to America as a
"society of the spectacle" (Debord, 1995). Unfortunately,
those most attracted to this dangling carrot-spectacle happens
to be lucrative evangelicals! The only problem is that this
next generation is one of the most consumer-savvy cultures out
there - they are "the iPod generation" - a generation that has
the market tailored to their own desires. The only problem is
that youth are beginning to sniff out that such me-centered
worlds ("I"/Me + Pod/Mini-World) are simply a tailor-made
prison that brings little satisfaction. In essence, the need
for satisfaction is sent into an abusive, spiraling, addictive
race to keep up with whatever is the latest and greatest.
If all that we (as the Church) have to offer to youth is a
Christian, sanitized, knock-off version of these tailor-made,
me-centered consumer prisons, they will quickly reject
Christianity. Therefore, the solution for youth ministry is
not to create better products and more entertaining programs -
what this Time article is articulating is that youth workers
are beginning to realize that these are simply hollow
solutions to a much deeper need.
(2) "To be Entertained" is a misinformed goal of today's
generation. We have missed the mark if we think that youth
desperately want to be entertained - as I have mentioned in
the previous point, they have, to use a Neil Postman concept,
been "amused to death" (Postman, 2005). So what is their
deepest desire? I believe there are three deep longings:
(a) They do not want to be entertained - they want to be
challenged. Statistics have shown that more and more teens
and young adults are getting involved in philanthropic
volunteerism. Civic engagement has been steadily increasing as
youth become bored with the physically solitary life of
X-Boxes, computers, delivery food and Tivo. Recently, one of
our students gave up their X-Box and television and came to
Project 1:17 choosing to live a solitary, monastic lifestyle -
with a focus on being trained to service the poor in the name
of Jesus!
I believe that we are in a perfect position in The Salvation
Army to take full advantage of this. With our wholistic view
of spiritual/social mission, we can meet this need in today's
youth. Issues of social justice such as addressing poverty,
illiteracy, delinquency, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, human
trafficking and the exploring community-based solutions to the
HIV epidemic are among the noble philanthropic causes for an
individual to commit themselves to. To do this "in the name of
Jesus" - and to share the faith, hope and love available
through salvation makes this type of service not just
temporally, but also eternally effective.
This generation believes that they can change the world! This
can be perceived of as a utopian optimism that will quickly be
shattered by the harsh realities of life... or it could also
be understood as a cultural opportunity which, when linked to
a solid eschatology and missiology, could be seen as a
God-moment
(b) They do not want to be entertained - they want to know
'why?' This generation is a deep thinking group of young
people. Often, we mistake our youth's refusal to participate
in something/or do something as rebellion. Most youth today
are driven by a great desire to know "why" they should do
things - they require a rationale and logic. A group of people
that have been inundated with every form of mass-marketing are
provided all sorts of rationales for why they should watch
television shows, buy certain brands of clothing, click on
certain websites, listen to types of music, etc. etc. that
they have become what Maire Messenger Davies has called
"critical connoisseurs of media" (Davies, 1997) The critical
skills have made them sophisticated in their decision-making
process. Gone are the days of "do this because I am telling
you to." They need to know why - or they'll not buy in.
Unfortunately, in the church, we have also been going through
a bit of an identity crisis. Modernity has swept the church
for the past 50 plus years to the point that we celebrate the
contemporary or the new that we have become disconnected with
our history. As a result, once two or three generations
removed from anything that even mildly represents "tradition"
- we have no reason why we do what we do! So we end up having
Corps which are a hybrid of Salvationism mixed with a hodge
podge of contemporary church models ranging from charismatic,
conservative, liberal, emergent, mega, homogeneous (ad nauseum!)
Our churches look more like a Baskin Robbins after a busy
streak than a community that knows who it is!
So what happens when a young person chooses to become a part
of our movement? They enter into soldier's classes being
trained by people who don't know what a soldier is. They sit
in youth programs being run by people who don't know why what
they are doing is critical to the mission of The Salvation
Army. They worship in Corps that have lost focus, don't
understand the difference between a holiness and salvation
meeting, and have never done an open air in their lives! When
they begin to ask why we are doing what we are doing... they
are answered with a "just do it" response. Our youth are not
going to stick around long until they are able to understand
why we do what we do!!
The Salvation Army used to put out a manual called "The Why
and Wherefore of The Salvation Army" - the intention was to
give people a rationale for why we do what we do. This needs
to be pulled out, dusted off, and taught once again. Like the
temple builders who discovered the law afresh, we need to
rediscover why we do what we do! We need to re-educate
ourselves on the methods behind the madness of what makes
Salvationism so effective. Then we need to be willing to sit
down with our youth and have long conversations with them -
where they are welcome to test the validity of our rationale.
I have confidence in what we are doing so much that I would
invite any young leader to test our philosophies and
theologies, principles and procedures. Once they discover how
solid things are, they will be willing to give their lives to
serving gone in this amazing vehicle of the gospel.
At Project 1:17, we have incorporated a soldier's training
class. One of our students soldiership was limited to being
shown a picture of William Booth and being told what the flag
represents!! Majors Bob and Donna Green have been relaying the
foundations in this class - seeking to ensure that we send out
of our program students who have had the freedom to explore
deeply the why's and wherefore's. Philosopher Alisdair
MacIntyre has commented that controversy and questioning is
not an enemy, but an ally to tradition. Apathy will kill any
sense of heritage, but asking why will produce a great sense
of allegiance (MacIntyre, 1984).
An entertainment-driven youth work will repel youth from
future involvement in our movement. The coliseum was created
to distract the masses from asking why questions. Similarly, a
trip to the movies might ward off questioning for today, but
the insatiable hunger to know 'why' will not be satisfied by
cracker-jack prizes - it will only be satisfied by the meat of
true, rigorous engagement.
(c) They do not want to be entertained - they want to be
engaged by a vibrant and authentic spirituality. A
generation that has grown up after the death of God is hungry
for authentic spiritual encounter. Physical entertainment will
not satisfy metaphysical desires. Catherine Booth was
prophetic when she said "show the world a REAL, LIVING,
hardworking, toiling triumphing religion. Show them anything
less and the world will turn around and spit upon it!"
We are fools if we think that the chocolate-coated, fool's
golden calf of entertainment is going to satisfy the deep need
for genuine spirituality. One thing which has worried me in
recent years, though, is that there has emerged a commodified
version of spirituality. Sometimes I will stand in the middle
of a youth-oriented worship gathering and turn on the
anthropologist that exists in me... and I wonder, "what social
experiment am I in???" I have discovered that I can travel
from Africa, to England, to the East and West of America, from
community to community and find similar patterns of youth
worship sub-culture! There are codes to our worship, certain
CDs, atmospheric pre-requisites and emotional reactions that
parallel themselves in almost all of these communities -
almost a global youth spirituality culture. Is this what we
understand to be "authentic spirituality?" I think the answer
is both yes and no. We all create contexts, ceremonies,
traditions, rites of passage - this is the essence of culture.
There have been many 'skins' that have clothed the church -
globally and historically.
The issue of spirituality has less to do with the skin which
embodies worship than it has to do with the posture of the
worshipper. Youth are looking for people who can help to lead
them into the presence of God. They don't care whether this is
being done by through a tattooed and tongue-pierced worship
leader or through a retired Salvation Army officer - what they
desperately need is not the cultural skin, but rather the
bones and sinew of authentic spirituality! So many youth are
being attracted to the most liturgical worship settings - not
because "retro ecclesiology" is "in" - but because they are
able to meet with people who are deep and contemplative in
their spirituality. This is why I will often find myself
chatting for hours to a Lt-Colonel Lyle Rader. We might be
cultural opposites in our expression of spirituality - but we
are attracted to similar things when it comes to the 'sinews
and bones of salvationism.'
The Time magazine article recognizes accurately that there is
a malcontent with an entertainment-driven youth ministry. Our
goal in the Army - I would argue - would be to ensure that in
our youth work we are creating opportunities for intentional
engagement in local marginalized contexts (maybe a league of
mercy for youth); increased critical dialogue on foundational
issues of salvationism (Corps Cadets does a great job of this
already, but maybe also relooking at soldier's training); and
a deepening of our spirituality (24/7 Prayer Weeks, Prayer
Weekend etc.).
In The Salvation Army, we saw the redemptive value of the
circus-as-context-for-missional-engagement. We used
innovation, new technology, entertainment and the absurd as
tools-with-a-purpose (Winston, 2002). They were a means to an
end. They were part of our Muktifaj contextualization strategy
- as William Booth has said, "attract their attention."
However, without “gaining their confidence; saving their
souls; and training them to live for God and the salvation of
the world”, attraction is simply an empty opportunity - an
iPod without music!
If we are going to allow this generation to “taste and see
that the Lord is good” and therefore “…take refuge in Him”
(Ps. 34:8), then we must ask ourselves the hard question,
“What are we inviting this generation to taste?” My prayer is
that youth workers in The Salvation Army will learn to balance
the sweetness of culturally adaptable methodologies and
tactics with the meatiness of our time-tested biblical and
practical orthodoxy. Let’s show the world what we’re really
made of!
References
Davies, M.M. (1997). Fake, fact, and fantasy: Children’s
interpretations of television reality.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Debord, G., & Nicholson-Smith, D. (1995). The society of the
spectacle.
Cambridge, MA: Zone Books.
MacIntyre, A. (1984). After virtue: A study in moral theory.
Fair Haven, CT: University of Nortre Dame Press.
Postman, N. (2005). Amusing ourselves to death: Public
discourse in the age of show business.
NY: Penguin.
Time Magazine. (2006). In touch with Jesus: Sugar-coated,
MTV-style youth ministry is over. Bible-based worship is
packing teens in pews now.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1552027,00.html.
(Accessed: November, 2006).
Winston, D. (2002). All the world’s a stage: The performed
religion of The Salvation Army 1880 – 1920. In S.M. Hoover &
L.S. Clark, Practicing religion in the age of the media:
Explorations in media, religion, and culture. New York, NY:
Columbia University Press.
|
