by Mia Burke

It's 3am. I woke up, now I can't sleep. Having fangirled all Saturday night on the BBC’s Songbook with Duran Duran, (my second favorite band of all time) a line of lyrics floats up from my subconscious and is on repeat in my brain. 

Ooh, here besides the news

Of holy war and holy need

Ours is just a little sorrow[1].

I'm turning over Simon LeBon's word choice, his pauses, the meter, the rhyme, and then ultimately his meaning- my heart hurts. My thoughts drift to the culture we're living in. Our politically charged, divided, broken world. Simon's words from “Ordinary World” take on a much deeper meaning than the little ditty of lyrics I've sung for (gulp) 26 years. They suddenly, and very loudly speak to me. Simon's gentle, poetically beautiful reminder that in perspective my anxiety over the writing gig I got yesterday, the communication with a family member that never seems to connect and flourish, the disappointment of a project derailed by stupid copyright issues, the dogs, and on and on- don't matter.

In the scope of suffering, they're temporary.

My concerns are simply sorrows, that feeling of deep disappointment or misfortunes suffered by oneself or others[2]. Besides the greater pain in the world, my concerns are little. Valid, but small. Thank you, Brother LeBon, for the perspective.

After putting my exploration of the lyric's literary merits, philosophy, and theological exercise to bed, I drift over the past nine years-ish of teaching Bible and Pop Culture for a small yet potent Christian University in Hawaii. I chuckle at my assessment of Duran Duran's lyrics from "Ordinary World" off The Wedding Album (1993) and wonder what grade I would have given myself had I developed my musings into an end of semester paper/Pecha Kucha presentation that was the hallmark of my class. My comments would have ranged from "rushed" and "could be more thoughtful" to "develop this point further" with my infamous red ink. I would have fleshed out the theological section with scriptures from Romans and Timothy, I would pontificate on Post Modernism and Humanism, blah, blah blah. Then the words of Garrett Sandeen, a towering, enthusiastic guy from my first class, bobs to the surface of my conscious amidst the flotsam floating around my mind, "Blog about it." So here we are.

In developing a blog, my first thought is that I should give you the rules of engagement. As in my class, we should first tackle the why, or as we say in the English/Creative Writing world- the "So what?" Why do this? Why go through the exercise of looking at our culture or a specific aspect of art through the lenses of Christianity, history, philosophy, or the basic tenants of aesthetics? Why's it worth my time? Why bother to learn these elements of critical thought and dissect the things I'm coming into contact with? I'm glad you asked.

First, we are exposed to upwards of 34 gigabytes daily. A study conducted by researchers at the University of California-San Diego reported in the British newspaper, The Telegraph, reports that we are inundated with the equivalent of 34 Gb (gigabytes) of information every day. This amount of data is sufficient to overload a laptop within a week. The article notes that this study, conducted in 2008, assumes that this number is now much higher in 2019. It observes,

Through mobile phones, online entertainment services, the Internet, electronic mail, television, radio, newspapers, books, social media, etc. people receive every day about 105,000 words or 23 words per second in half a day (12 hours; during awake hours[3]).

According to researchers, the main effect of this information overload is that our focus is continually hampered and interrupted, which hinders the process of reflection and deeper thinking. So what?

In my years of teaching Bible and Pop Culture, I find this oberservation about the lack of reflection and deeper thinking to be accurate and to have increased in intensity as the years progressed. Students in my first generations of classes were engaged at high levels: they thought critically, genuinely interacted with the material, had suprisingly thoughtful insights which caused me to work hard to keep up. And yes, even those with learning disabilities. As time went by, I saw this ability to think hampered- fewer and fewer students able to articulate why they felt something or to see connections between varying abstract ideas. But it doesn't stop there.

In addition to teaching, I've also been in active ministry on and off (mostly on) for twenty-six years. The same thing is happening at a much more alarming capacity in the Church- The Big C church, not specifically one local church or denomination, but worldwide.  I grew up Catholic (where my ability to think critically was fostered-thank you) in a small town in Mississippi and married an Air Force member and converted. I have traveled the world (“and the seven seas” to quote my girl, Annie Lennox) and served in ten different ministries in ten different denominations to date. I've attended twenty churches ranging from Catholic to non-denominational, from charismatic to traditional liturgical. And I see it everywhere- tribal speak.

The idea of Christian tribal speak is coined first (at least to my young graduate ears) by Terry Lindvall in his book Sanctuary Cinema: Origins of the Christian Film Industry. He notes: 

Christian films are of, by, and for the people of the church, not aspiring to high aesthetic values nor aiming for economic profit, but seeking to renew, uplift, and propagate. They are tribal films, told and retold within our own community to carry on its traditions and values[4].

That in and of itself isn't wrong. I'm going to camp on this idea for a minute, and in my chosen medium of study- film writing. Precisely, in the Christian film industry, we've forgotten that our primary mandate is sharing the Gospel. Sharing and experiencing the Gospel is complicated, not formulaic as the films would have you believe. We've neglected to recognize that we've developed our own language for our tribe, and that non-tribe members cannot decode- either in connotation or denotation. But I get ahead of myself, let’s save that for another post.

I'm going to break my own rule here (my students can attest that I am in fact an old school English teacher), I'm pulling a Wiki definition because it's concise and I want to make sure we're on the same page- so bear with me.

Tribalism (thus infer tribal speak) is the state of being organized in or advocating for a tribe.

In terms of conformity, tribalism also refers to a way of thinking or behaving in which people are more loyal to their tribe than to their friends, their country, or any other social group with a relatively simple role structure, with few (if any) significant social distinctions between individuals that separates one member of a group from the members of another group[5].

So far, so good. As Christians, we are indeed a set apart people according to Deuteronomy 7:6-11, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 18:4, or 1 John 4:4-5 to name a few. No problem with considering ourselves a tribe- a group of organized people with our way of thinking and behaving- God's way, His truth, etc. However, I've noticed that once in the tribe, many people stop thinking, stop analyzing, and we begin to separate ourselves from the greater circle, the culture. I think this phenomenon smacks of, to coin a Sci-Fi phrase, (my genre of choice) "hive mentality." We stop thinking for ourselves and start looking to a leader to tell us what to think and what to do. 

Unbelievably, it's natural. Case in point when I was a producer, I worked on a show with professional dancers learning new choreography. All were accomplished professionals in their own right, but suddenly when the leader couldn't do a box step (a fundamental move), they were all over the place in timing and ability. I stood back in amazement. Just seconds before, when they weren't following the leader, they could all do the move, they knew how to dance…they at least had rhythm. What happened? My observation is that when we spend a minimal amount of time in a group and let our guard down, we can without intention, slip into becoming as Pink Floyd puts it, "Comfortably Numb." We don't look hard (dare I say it- critically) at what's being said or worse yet, marketed to us. This is dangerous. The Word tells us clearly to be alert[6]and to test the spirits[7].

Another example worth exploring is the pervasive mindset that has invaded our tribe: secular exists separate from the sacred. These two forms do not touch, should not interact. And that is dangerous. Not to digress, as this is a whole other topic for blogging, but isn't God in the business of redemption? Give me time. I'll get around to that topic later along with the ancient Hebrew worldview of Creator vs. the created.

I'll stop here and acknowledge 1 John 2:15-17 and John 17:14 for those quick to jump to the defense of the thick line, so many draw between secular and sacred. We'll explore this idea through many of the posts on this site. Yes, we need to be in this world, not part of it. But I posit that God would not have given John the qualifier of the first half of the sentence if it weren't an expectation. We need to be in the world. I don't believe John was speaking just spiritually, I think he meant with our minds as well. We need to be a part of what's going on. Christians need to be in the field, in the theatre, in the marketplace where life is being lived. However, the issue we're seeing today with the vocal exiting of so many Christians from the Church, is an issue first of true salvation and repentance then of experiencing God- not just hearing of other’s experience of Him.  Then there is the issue of our minds being renewed to the mind of Christ- having God's perspective instead of our limited, emotional, fleshly understanding. Again, we'll explore that later in another post.

Getting back on the point of our why study this. Our why is that we, as Christians, need to be equipped to think, to reason, to use godly logic in order to look at our culture and see what's really being asked. Then pair that Greek logic with an expeirence of God. They go hand in hand. And that's the crux of it: questions are being asked. Unfortunately, in the current cultural climate, questions are cloaked in fear, anger, anxiety, rage, rebellion, and they commonly manifest in our inability to discourse with each other. There's no shame in not seeing that the often-tense interactions we face from another in the culture are really missed opportunities to talk through an idea, honestly. However, the even greater sin is our failure to grow and to learn. I'm guilty of it. We all have those elements that are too close to home that trigger us. We're human. And that’s the other other crux of it- and by it, I mean of art. Art and humanities are always asking a question.

That question is: what does it mean to be human? Since the earliest cave paintings, rock goddess carvings, and when a once utilitarian set of utensils got their first paint job, we have been searching for meaning. We have used art as a psychological construct to ask the hard questions- asking for a friend if you will. We're not the stupid one who can't figure something out; it's Luke Skywalker (Star Wars, 1977) who's the dunce. It's Jonas Kahnwald (Dark, 2019) making those amateur moves. It's Simon LeBon processing his part in the death of an addicted friend through the lyrics of "Ordinary World." And we love them for it. They're the ones bumbling through life with lousy perception, illogical answers, tripping over their relationships- not us, thank God! Insert one of the most precise words in the Deutsch language: doofenshmirtz. It means one who experiences pain repeatedly from bad choices, not learning from mistakes. Been there, done that- ok, still doing that- another post.

And if we're wise, we learn from those guys. We don't make the same mistakes they made; we grow then pass that knowledge of being human on to another. We share the song and its treasured meaning- mined for us with the blood, sweat, and tears of the artist. We share the collective knowledge. And that sharing is not happening with much meaning anymore because thinking isn't en vogue. Passive consumerism is the soup de jour- we want to numb the pain of the times we're living in. I'm preaching to myself here.

And last, but not least, we owe God our best: our best mind, our best heart, the total gifting of our soul to our Creator. To Him, with which He can dialogue with us about what we're seeing, what we're understanding, what we're learning- ultimately about who we are becoming.  I love how The Passion Translation articulates Jesus' words in Matthew 22:37 (also found in Deut. 6:5 and Mark 12:30):

            Jesus answered him, "'Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you. 'This is the great and supreme commandment. And the second is like it in importance: 'You must love your friend in the same way you love yourself. 'Contained within these commandments to love you will find all the meaning of the Law and the Prophets."

Every thought that is within you- intentional consideration of what you think about something and what you feel about something- heart, soul, and mind. We're taught these can be deceitful above all[8], so be intentional about your taste and your opinion of something. Know your why. To quote my buddy Socrates, "Know thyself... it's the beginning of wisdom." And that second commandment thing Jesus talks about above, loving your neighbor, might come a bit easier. When you've considered other perspectives or at the very least been intentional about why you think and feel your something about something- empathy and her often trailing behind, slow, molasses-moving little brother love, comes more natural.

Art, broken apart aesthetically, philosophically and theologically is worth exploring. So what? Maybe by engaging and wrestling with that song everyone likes but you, that new film that your friend wants to see but you're just not sure about, that weird painting in the gallery uptown- is worth thinking on- for just a breath longer than we would have yesterday. Maybe it brings us one step closer to being just that much more human. By thinking about our why and the artifact more deeply, taking just one moment to be intentional about your ability to say why you think and feel what you do-we'll make meaning. Now doing that well, that's another post.

Works Cited

1. Duran Duran. “Ordinary World.” The Wedding Album, EMI Capitol/Parlophone Records, 1993. CD.

2. “Sorrow: Definition of Sorrow by Lexico.” Lexico Dictionaries | English, Lexico Dictionaries, https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/sorrow.

3. "The Human Brain Is Loaded Daily  with 34 GB of Information." Tech 21 Century, 20 Feb. 2019, https://www.tech21century.com/the-human-brain-is-loaded-daily-with-34-gb-of-information/.

4. Lindvall, Terry. Sanctuary Cinema. New York: New York UP, 2007.

5. "Tribalism." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 July 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribalism.

6. Ephesians 6:18, 1 Cor 16:13, Luke 21:34-36, and Acts 20:29-31 are great starters.

7. 1 John 1:4-6

8. Jeremiah 17:9 and many psalms address our heart (feelings) can't often be trusted; they change. What I loved and 20, I definitely don't love at 44.

Resources

We’ve created a free downloadable PDF to explore the article deeper. It contains discussion questions about the topic in general terms that will give you a jumping-off point for beginning a conversation.

The second page contains a way to see the topic from a biblical perspective.

And finally, to go deeper into the subject, we have chosen a few curated resources to explore from other authors’ and thinkers’ research or perspectives.

Read. Engage. Enjoy!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Depending on how a gem is held, light refracts differently. At B+PC we engage in Pop Culture topics to see ideas from a new angle, to bring us to a deeper understanding. And like Pastor Shane Willard notes, we want “…Jesus to get bigger, the cross to get clearer, the Resurrection to be central…” Instead of approaching a topic from “I don’t want to be wrong,“ we strive for the alternative “I want to expand my perspective.” 

So, we invite you to engage with us here. What piqued your curiosity to dig deeper? What line inspired you to action? What idea made you ask, “Hmmm?” Let’s join with our community to wrestle with our thoughts in love in the Comment Section! See you there!