Entertainment Theology

Surface as Depth: Faith as Fetishization

There are many churches still resisting the reality of the influence and effectiveness of media and technology in the postmodern era. This may the reason why churches are ineffectiveness in their attempts to reach more people. As people become more fluent and accustomed in the language of technology, the church, too, needs to become fluent in communicating to a technologically advanced society. Many churches have already caught on to this cultural shift, and made adjustments. A first step towards communicating to this culture can be to create a website that allows active participation and providing information.

Shopping for God

The church is facing new and difficult challenges in a highly consumer-based society where individual have the ability to choose and purchase whatever they want, including their religion or faith. Churches of course in a ‘shopping around’ culture, cannot hope to reach everyone that is shopping around. Rather, I believe that the church should focus on a demographic. I believe that Mars Hill (Ballard) has captured this idea. In a city that is very liberal, technologically savvy, sexually active, and pluralistic, Mars Hill has successful focused their resources, creativity, and ministry to reach to this specific group. It is one of the fasting growing church, with over half of the being new converts. I believe the church needs to take time to know who they are trying to reach in order to be able to reach out and share the gospel effectively.

Personal Soul Space

Advanced computer technologies, for example, are facilitating a participatory religious construct in which the self is the key determinant of how the religious is manifested in particular lives. If the church can take technologies and incorporated in the fabric of their church culture, I think it can moved individuals to corporately participate with one another outside of the institution of religion. An example of this can be a creating a blog site where people can contribute thoughts and ideas of how the church can be more involved in the community or testimonies of what God has been doing in their lives through sermons, ministries or relationships.

Playing the Future

“In order to survive (church) must change and find a “new way of being in an evolving world.” This is an immense challenge for church with a long history of tradition, culture, and practices. Although I believe that the church should continue to think forward, looking into the future, it is difficult for churches to make transitions and changes when its been grounded in tradition. I suggest that the church allows conversation for innovative church planting committee. Mostly likely, this will be committee will be formed with younger members of the body. It would be wise to have couple elders in this committee to help guide and direct the theological and practical conversation of church planting. This committee should be given resources and tools to prepare for the church plant.

After Christianity

I think it is difficult to have a conversation about theology in a church because this will stir up controversy. Not only would there be a need a competent facilitator to guide the discussion, but also the desire to have a conversation of it. More than talking about theology as a conversation about God, I think there is a need for the church to ask itself how it practices those theologies. For example, how is the church practicing its missiological values and beliefs? These conversations would have to come from the leadership level, in hopes to lead their congregation closer to becoming the ‘church’.