Thursday, June 10, 2010

Cult of the Cool

Here is a question or query for you all to think about. When was the last time you saw a pastor at a Church with Contemporary Church or an Emergent Church that didn't think that he was "cool"? Not confident, not a nerd who enjoys himself, but who thought that other people would look at him and say, "wow, that guy's got it"?

That is what contemporary worship is. It's the cult of the cool - and whether it's the hip late 20s guy from the Sem, or the 55 year old gray-hair folk-rocking out for Jesus - there is this assumption that the ones in charge are "cool".

I don't want to be part of the cult of the cool (even though I am teh super AWESOME!!!). I don't want people to come to church because I am spiffy and neat, because we are the hip place to be. That's not what Church is to be about - Church is to be the gathering of the Body of Christ around Christ present for us in Word and Sacrament.

Enough of the "let's be hip for Jesus" as the main guide to "winning" souls. Let's just talk and focus upon Christ and His gifts.

5 comments:

Rev. Josh Sullivan said...

Personality fades, and coolness withers, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.

Or as my wife always says, "That which brings them in will keep them in."

Jay Hobson said...

As the hip mid 20s guy from the sem, does that mean I should let myself go before I head out to the church that calls me?

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

Jay - hip? You? Country music? Come on. .

luketimm said...

Do you know how much pressure there is on people who are cool? It's not fun and games! People look to the cool for sources of mockery and disdain. Cool people are expected to know all the lyrics of the popular songs. Cool people are expected not only to be up on the latest trends, but to actually create them! Being cool is a tremendous burden.

How do I know? Because I'm cool. That's right. I'm a cool pastor, and I have a cool church.

I didn't ask to be this way, I was born this way. My parents both carry the recessive cool gene and I'm the fourth, and only cool, child in my family.

Growing up cool in a family of dorks was horrific. I alone had to carry the torch of style from a young age. I was a loner in my own home - an outcast.

But I have found a home in a cool church. There are cool people there, just like me. Together, we are able to be cool without fear of ridicule from people who would call us 'shallow' or 'self-centered.' We can just be cool.

I am thankful for my cool community. But it is more than that. Being cool is cool again. We are starting to take back all the refugees of nerds. Cool people are rising up.

We're taking back those positions in business that require 'degrees' and 'intelligence.' We taking back the spaces in society that call for stupid qualities like 'class' and 'refinement.' And it isn't grass roots - we're starting at the top.

You know that young, hip guy with the cigarette and the awesome blackberry that's so cool it's off the network? The one who's got a personal jet AND helicopter? The guy who can call the leader of any country he wants, AND drain a three pointer?

He's your president. He's one of ours. He's....cool.

Robyn B. @Leave the Lights On said...

Great post. Worship should not be about the pastor. The pastor is the servant of God, and his job is to direct the sheep not to himself, but to the Good Shepherd.