Are Christians Getting Most Of God's Teaching From Pop Culture?

[KnightOfDayJC12]

Hi, I've been a longtime lurker but have only posted a couple times.

I wanted to get y'all's opinion on an article I wrote. In it I use some quotes about the increasing influence of media and what it is doing to our faith. What do you guys think?

http://www.popandfaith.com/?p=210

[Vlad!]

Seems to me that, to the extent that what you say is true, it's caused by the fact that the line between Christianity as cultural identity and Christianity as personal religion is very blurry.

A while back I was hanging out with some friends, one of whom was raised Catholic. I don't remember exactly what the topic of conversation was, but at one point he said something like "those of us who are Catholic...", and I said "wait a minute, you're not Catholic". He said something to the effect of "fuck you, yes I am". We had a long argument about it, and I finally came to the realization that he doesn't care what the Catholic religion teaches or that he disagrees with most of it...he was raised Catholic so in his mind he is Catholic.

And while I like to laugh at Catholics for being like this, I think the same thing can happen in Protestant communities, especially here in the South. I would say that there are many people who consider themselves Christians but who are not at all familiar with the teachings of the Christ the religion got its name from. Jesus himself said in Matthew 7 that there will be those who even claim to have performed miracles in his name, but who he does not acknowledge before the Father.

Once we understand this, I think it's pretty easy to understand why it is that many people who call themselves Christians get their Christianity from the culture: because that's where their beliefs came from in the first place! Modern religion is a smorgasbord of beliefs which can be picked and chosen to one's taste.

It should definitely be noted, on the other hand, that not all differences in belief come from an insincere or ill-rooted faith. There are plenty of Christians who hold conflicting opinions but who have thought out these opinions and based them on the Bible. However, I don't think this type of Christian is the one that you're talking about in your article, because a Christian with a properly grounded faith will use the Bible as a lens to interpret modern culture rather than the other way around.

[KnightOfDayJC12]

Great response! I agree that the difference between culture's Christianity and a personal Christianity is vast. I don't have the numbers on hand but I remember reading an article about a poll asking people if they believe in God. A high majority said that they did. When asked whether they regularly attended church the number dropped dramatically. It's like your friend, Christianity as become more of a social label than a personal relationship with Christ.

[murlough23]

I don’t hide the fact that I am a pop culture junkie and admit that it’s influence on my faith probably breeds apathy and lacks substance.

Not to mention promoting bad grammar. This must be stopped!!!

But seriously now... I see the points that the author is getting at, and  do agree that people are getting their "religion" more from popular culture than from churches these days. The Barna study that the author cited, if it's the same study I'm thinking of, also found a lot of fairly convincing reasons why folks (particularly the younger generation) are leaving churches in droves and drifting farther and farther from a Bible-based faith. A big part of it is the Church's failure to teach truth while also demonstrating love instead of judgment. So we end up with a pop culture view of church that's an awful lot like what it is on the Simpsons, and even if churches exists that rise above the stereotype, I can understand why most of society has come to associate "church" with "that dull and overbearing place where everybody tries to force me to conform or else treats me harshly" in their minds. Pop culture is only reflecting (albeit often in comical, exaggerated, or just plain misinformed ways) how the Church has treated people in real life. I think the blame here starts with us.

I also don't think this a new phenomenon. The difference between now and back in the day is that media travels more quickly now and we can all discuss stuff the second after it happens. So we're more aware of stuff like the fall of a televangelist or a scandal involving a priest and a young child than we would have been 100 years ago, where the fallout from such a thing would have been more localized. I think "pop culture" has always existed, but before movies, TV, popular music, etc., it may have taken a different form in terms of the things that affected the general public's perception of the world around them. We can choose to ignore religion outright nowadays if we wanted to - in times past, many societies all but forced a certain worldview upon people, if it wasn't outright mandated by law. Popular culture in the past, while it seemed to come more directly from the Church, taught people very unbiblical things, such as it being OK to subjugate an entire race, or start holy wars and kill people who won't give a confession of faith.

I'm not saying we're better off now... we just have a different manifestation of the same problem. There will always be fallible human forces, whether knowingly or unknowingly, trying to pass off convenient falsehoods as Biblical truths. I get suspicious whenever I see writings like this about culture being on the decline as people drift farther and farther from the Bible, because as far as I can see, humanity's been more or less just as evil and defiant toward God's Word all throughout history. I'm much more concerned when this is coming from the Church than I am when it's just coming from free-thinking pundits in pop culture who pick and choose whatever feels good. I think purported "Christians" doing this can cause far more extensive damage.

NP: "Unfolding", Out of the Grey