POP CULTURE CHURCH
There is a thin line that a Christian must walk between relevance and compromise, between being “in” the world and being “of” the world. With this in mind, I am growing increasingly concerned about a major trend within churches and among church leadership that I will refer to as “Pop Culture Church” [PCC[.
PCC is where the overarching goal seems to be hipness and cultural acceptance at almost any cost, and often it begins with the name of the church, a name that one could often easily choose for a rock band. And in a PCC, the brand of the church and/or its leader, ideally, will go viral in a culturally affirming way.
And, of course, in a PCC, we must avoid any public positions on moral issues. The cardinal sin would be to alienate any cultural demographic. Furthermore, what we do must always be fun and entertaining in a PCC.
So, in a PCC, the ultimate cultural “win” is not making a difference in our culture, but in getting culture’s stamp of approval. And being able to post a selfie with some cultural celebrity who has a “Jesusy side,” like a Justin Bieber type, oh my, who could ask for anything more?
In such a model, Jesus bends and molds Himself to the culture in order to be accepted. But the actual gospel of Jesus is very different than what you will find in a PCC. In a truly biblical church, Jesus Christ is the transformer of culture. Yes, we are to build cultural bridges across which we can walk in a post-Christian world, but we walk across it for a very specific reason: to offer something to the world that it does not already have!
Devotedly yours in Christ,
Bill Blanchard, Pastor