From Pastor Bill

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POP CULTURE CHURCH

Posted by Dr. Bill Blanchard on

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

 

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