Pop culture poisons my soul…

I’ve been reflecting on what it really means follow Jesus and to be incarnational.
Though it’s true that Jesus became “one of us” and identified himself with most human experiences, He did not submit to the popular culture of His day. When I choose to live “missionally” in the community I live in, it’s not much a matter of becoming like the people around me in their values and lifestyle choices. Rather it’s a matter of living generously, freely and lovingly alongside people. Others don’t grow from simply seeing a mirror image of themselves, rather they grow through having a listening ear, genuine compassion and kindness. My life is a human life. Full of ups and downs, fears and dreams, mundane and amazing.

I find myself consistently poisoned by subconsciously believing & following pop culture.
Though I’ve never considered myself beautiful and often craved beauty in the popular sense, it has never been as much a struggle for me as now that my body is stretched and “marred” by experience, by use. Why do I struggle to view these scars as beautiful? It’s because I buy into the belief that outer “perfection” brings happiness. I buy into the belief that my husband needs a picture perfect model to make love to; that I need to smell like Paris Hilton rather than baby powder; that I should turn heads in the street.

I’ve been meditating on a phrase that John the Baptist said about Jesus:
“He must become greater & greater, I must become less & less.”
At the heart of popular culture is the opposite “I must become greater & greater, others must become less & less.” Maybe we cringe at the statement, but how often do our lives reflect the second phrase, not the first?

When I seek first my own happiness, happiness eludes me.
Maybe that’s why God said “seek first My kingdom”. It’s an upside down kingdom that elevates the innocent, inexperienced, poor, wretched, humble and despised.

As I thought about this I was shocked by how much western Christianity often reflects popular culture more than Christ. Oh it’s thinly veiled by pious words… “delight yourself in the Lord”…. IN ORDER TO GET “the desires of your heart”. When we reflect on how much Jesus “loves us & wants the best for us” at the expense of the other things that He said, we’re simply putting a fish sticker on a million dollar Mercedes. Jesus said “woe to the rich”. Yet we think Rich? Yeah – you’re going down Tom Cruise and forget that Jesus was speaking to people whose riches paled in comparison to ours.

Another curse of pop culture I think is choice. We can choose who we talk to, who we ignore, what job we do, whether we drive, ride or walk. We can choose to change partners every few years, upgrade our possessions regularly, travel to new countries.
Why I think it’s a curse is because we’ve forgotten the value of endurance, faithfulness, simplicity. A little while back Josh & I watched a simple movie about a Mongolian family… people who still live in tents, still raise what they need to live on, whose circle of influence extends as far as their family & a small community of people. Are they any less valuable in God’s sight? Are their achievements any less than ours?
I’ve been meditating on the often used expression “when Jesus was on the cross He had my face in His mind”. Slowly I’ve begun to question that. Where does it indicate this? Yes it’s true that Jesus is God & God is powerful enough to think of and maintain all the billions of human beings at all times. Yes it’s true that God has a deep love for each of His created beings. Yes it’s true that Jesus’ life, death & resurrection free us from being under a curse of not knowing God’s love. But was Jesus focused on ME as He died? Do any of the few words He spoke show that? He was still human, still focused on those around him, those who crucified him, his mother and His Father that He committed His Spirit to.

Perhaps we like to imagine Jesus’ final thoughts being about us as an individual. But considering the communal nature of God I find it far more likely that His thoughts weren’t about how great Melody’s life will be if I do this. Perhaps we need to explore further the fact that God loved the WORLD so much that he gave His only Son and spend less time substituting our own name in every verse that promises God’s love.

I know that the first to speak often sounds right until someone else offers another view. So putting these thoughts on a blog opens me up, in humility, to the thoughts of others.
Mel