1. The reaction of Will Smith’s family.

2. CNN’s defense (via the Onion) of making it their top story.

3. This question (reiterated by Time and others): Is MTV still relevant?

There was a time when MTV was simultaneously the scariest and most powerful culture shaping tool in American pop culture. The world was a ship spinning out of control with the Brat Pack was at the helm. That was decades ago before music videos migrated to YouTube and Reality TV became banal.

Miley’s strip show comes across as a desperate plea to remind the world MTV exists.

When many people think of practicing Jews, they envision the Hasidics, a sect that developed in 1800s. Hasidism was a charismatic revival movement among the Jews of Eastern Europe. They are Talmud loving mystics, best known for their distinctive black hats and black robes.

Why do they wear black hats? Legend has that it was an attempt to look like to Polish nobility of their day. In other words,

The #1 distinctive that sets Hasidic Jews apart from society began as an attempt at relevance to society.

The key element of the story of Jesus is the concept of “incarnation.” The idea comes from John 1:14 where the Word became flesh and “moved into the neighborhood.” The incarnation should be understood as God coming to the ancient middle east and moving in with his friends.

There is a subtle but key distinction between relevance and incarnation. As our world is increasingly mediated by the internet, the ability to grab attention becomes an economic force. Relevance is catering to the conversation of the moment. Incarnation means moving to the neighborhood, and staying long enough to become a local.

When the church becomes defined by the politics of the day they are being relevant. When they use billboards like this, they are trying to be relevant.

Incarnation is like St. Patrick returning to Ireland, even though he had originally been brought there as a slave. It’s staying in Ireland long enough to use the local images like the clover and the triquetra to teach about Trinity.

Incarnation is like Hudson Taylor moving into mainland China, growing his hair out and adopting local dress.

Incarnation means being around long enough to use local words, sounds and images to communicate about eternal issues.

Relevance is a race you can never win because it never ends. Eventually, you become MTV or a Hasidic black hat: a strange vestigial appendage of a culture that has forgotten you. Incarnation is a commitment to move into the neighborhood, to become a local, and see what God will do among you.

Where have you seen incarnation at work?

The post Miley’s Twerking, Hasidic Jews and the Failure of Relevance appeared first on Chris Morton.

via Evangelical Alliance

The post NT Wright Explains Contextualization appeared first on Chris Morton.

I heard this statement at a recent lunch with a local musician. Like many in my city, Austin, he’s a working musician, playing behind artists and with multiple bands. The difference is that his gigs are all at churches and parachurch events.

The sad thing about his statement is that it shows how churches easily divorce music from mission. Like her role model, Jesus, the church is called to have an incarnational presence in its community. That means that the church learns and loves the local culture, and then tries to embody what it means to be a community of Jesus followers in that time and place.

So should your church band sound like a cover band, doing renditions of what ever is popular on the Christian radio station in the area?

Maybe.

If that is incarnational thing to do.

People everywhere love music, but in Austin, music is the lifeblood of the city. Imagine what it would be like if the music on Sunday sounded like the music people those same people listened to the rest of the week?

I asked on Facebook for people to name bands that capture the sound of Austin.  You can hear the answers here:

Who would you add? What does your city sound like?

The post Should Your Church Band Sound Like a Cover Band? appeared first on Chris Morton.

Not surprisingly, I’m even less interested than the average American in the world’s most popular tournament.

The other day at work, I witnessed two friends watching a game.  One was clueless, and asked a series of questions about how the tournament worked and the rules of the game.  Now, he has something new that he enjoys, and the bond between them has grown.

My attitude is a far cry from that of Jesus, who was born poor and spent thirty years as an average Jew and manual laborer.  This earned him the credibility for three years of meaningful ministry.

I might not get the World Cup, but I do claim to care about my co-workers and neighbors.  Doing so means learning to express interest in what they love and care about join them in that, and celebrate with them.

The post I Don’t Get the World Cup appeared first on Chris Morton.

A few things did while Jesus lived on earth:

• Taught people
• Healed people
• Fed people
• Prayed a lot
• Hung out with people, of every stripe
• Criticized religious people
• Was killed

The Church:

• Excels in teaching
• Doesn’t do much healing…unless you’re a charismatic, but we don’t want to talk about them…
• Occasionally partners with non-profits that feed people
• Talks about praying a lot
• Is often exclusive, and has even built church growth theories on gathering exclusive groups
• Criticizes people of differing political, sexual or theological persuasion
• Occasionally faces persecution in far off corners of the world

What would you add to these lists?  There are two more questions: Why did Jesus do what he did?  What would he do today?

The post Determining Incarnation appeared first on Chris Morton.