The World As We Know It

If it wasn’t for a certain frosty headed, Rivers Cuomo glasses wearing, progressive hipster pastor from Michigan, Portland may not have ever been a stop in the journey that is my Personal Legend.

There are certain people or pieces of pop culture that act a catalyst and move us to that next thing in our life, that thing that is meant to be. There are people that influence us and inspire whether we are interacting with these people in our day-to-day life, or if they are touching us through a book, lecture, film, dance or television show.

In the “Christian” realm, pastors often site Tolkien and Lewis as catalysts whom God has “worked through” (pardon the use of Christianese) to impact the lives of people. As much respect as I have for the authors who influenced me through Lord of the Rings and Mere Christianity, I think we need to be talking about other channels of modern pop culture that God is working through. I believe this as evident through my own journey of faith that is not as directly influenced though Lewis, Tolkien or the “church fathers”.

The pastor that I referred to in my opening thought is Pastor Rob Bell who started Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, MI. I was first introduced to Bell about a decade ago through his NOOMA videos that were occasionally shown at the college group I was attending, Axis, in Simi Valley, CA. NOOMA videos are modern day parables creatively communicated through a topical video. The topic of “Noise” used in the video below launched me into a deep sea of introspection about the ways God is currently reaching a society easily distracted by the culture and technology that we were born into and are in a way worshipping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8V38um2lhw

As one who struggles to make decisions and who is easily distracted by noise, God influenced my thought through Bell’s work titled, Velvet Elvis, which ultimately acted as a catalyst in helping me to decide to move to Portland. Through Velvet Elvis, I was encouraged to explore the “gray” area that lies in the genius of the God of the universe. So many times evangelicals put God in a black and white box and by doing so, put limits on an omniscient, omnipresent, transcendent being. Because who wants to admit that their three-pound finite mind doesn’t have all the answers, right?

I am one who believes God continues to reach out to us through “noise”, much of which comes out of pop culture, but is not limited to just that. My faith is justified through creation, scripture, people and pop culture. To take it a step further and speak in specifics, my faith and values have been defined by God working through The Alchemist, LOST, and several songs penned by Aaron Marsh and Stephen Christian.  I will go as far as saying that God has used these modern day parables to strengthen my faith beyond any of the parables written in Scripture. Blasphemy? Maybe if you put limits on the Creator.

When it comes down to it, I would not be who I am in Christ without the parable of Jack Shepherd or without the concept of “dismantle,repair” or without that heartbreaking relationship. God will always find a way to reach us through any obstacle or through any amount of noise.