ARTICLE TOOLS

E-mail story

Comments

Printer friendly version

iPod friendly version

Share This

Text Size: A A A A

Chattanooga: Author says pop culture can be a tool in growing the church of the 21st century

By: Clint Cooper
(Contact)

Included in this article

Tim Stevens

EDITOR’S NOTE: Tim Stevens, executive pastor of Granger Community Church in Granger, Ind., which draws some 6,000 people per week, is the author of the new book “Pop Goes the Church.” In a recent interview with staff writer Clint Cooper, he explains how Jesus Christ in a 21-century America would look for themes in popular culture and use them to connect people with the kingdom of God. He says while spiritual hunger remains high, church attendance is at an all-time low but can be revived with the assistance of the pop culture with which people live. Published by Power Publishing, the paperback book is available through most bookstores for $16.95. For information about Mr. Stevens, his book or video clips of services, visit www.popgoesthechurch .com or www.powerpublishinginc.com.

Q: Was Jesus a proponent of first-century pop culture?

A: I think so. I mean when you look at the parables, he’s using analogies of culture throughout and really tying in

to the culture that he was a part of, that he lived in. I think we would see a good example in Jesus’ writings. ... He was using the teaching style of the day, the parables, and in the parables he was drawing the analogies to cultural icons and things that were part of his day and even referring to news items. I think in the book I talk about the example of where he’s referring to a tower that fell down and people died and whatever. He’s pulling in a popular, hot-off-the-press news item of the day and working that into a parable.

Q: What is irrelevant about church today?

A: I think that churches by and large use a language that does not connect to the normal non-church attender. Church tends to be really packaged well for people who like church, who go to church, who have always gone to church and that’s kind of their life. But when you’ve got someone who, that’s not their life, they can’t even understand the language. So pulling in pop culture kind of makes that connection. It’s the language that is able to bridge the gap, and so you’re pulling in something that’s already on their mind, and you’re finding spiritual issues in the culture that you can help people connect to life situations they’re going through, and then apply the Bible to that.

Q: How far can you go with pop culture without losing the message?

A: I think the important thing is to remember the end. The end is introducing people to Jesus, so if you can use pop culture to get there, great. I think sometimes you can use pop culture, and it’s cute and fun, and it doesn’t necessarily help you to get there. So I think sometimes churches go too far in that arena. I think, for the most part, if you’re introducing people to Christ, and you’re not disobeying the commandments or whatever, I think it’s all open game.

Q: Is it possible to still grow a church without using pop culture?

A: Sure it is. I think there are a lot of churches that are growing, and I would not want to diminish anything they’re doing for that growth. I think what I see is, (for) a lot of churches, their growth comes by just passing Christians around. It’s transfer growth. It’s people who are going to church somewhere, and they’re just switching to what’s bigger and better, or a new children’s program, or the cool new arts deal, or whatever. I think that’s where you see a lot of church growth these days. But I think there’s all kinds of churches that are out there doing great stuff, reaching all kinds of people, and I just think the more those churches, to whatever extent they can, can pull in pop culture as a language to reach people, I think is a great help.

Q: What are some topics that should be brought up in church services, but aren’t?

A: Anything that people are dealing with is a great topic to bring up. So whether it’s marriage or it’s parenting or it’s loneliness; forgiving others; dealing with money — all those kind of issues that are right in front of people’s eyes — that’s stuff that’s on their minds. So people may say, boy, I don’t have any interest in going to church. But, man, if you tell them you’re doing a series on how to make it through, as a parent, the teen years, they’re like all over that because that’s the phase they’re going through. And they need all the help they can get. Anything like that, anything kind of high-need, just really relevant, right-where-I’m-living kind of topics are really helpful.

Comments