{"id":17090,"date":"2018-03-15T11:43:27","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T18:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=17090"},"modified":"2018-03-15T11:51:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-15T18:51:16","slug":"jazz-and-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/jazz-and-the-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"Jazz and the gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>To set the stage for reading this post, put on your earbuds and begin by clicking this link<\/a><\/strong> and streaming content while you read and respond. I apologize in advance for any commercials. <\/em>?<\/em><\/p>\n

James Davison Hunter\u2019s monumental book, To Change the World<\/em>, shifts the territory under which most modern Christianity struggles to pursue its mission as we serve God. While most of us have been raised to labour, advocate, and pursue substantive change in our world as a result of our perceived calling to \u201cmake a difference\u201d and fulfill the Great Commission, Hunter disrupts this emphasis with his call to just be.<\/p>\n

After many decades, billions of dollars, and a never-ending struggle, Christianity has little to demonstrate in terms of shaping recent Western culture. This anxious Sisyphean labour of continually pushing against culture from a position of weakness is countered by Hunter with a call to be faithfully present in our world. While we remain in exile, he echoes Jeremiah\u2019s call for the church to:<\/p>\n

\u201c5\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.\u00a06\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.\u00a07\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the\u00a0Lord\u00a0on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The trouble with our efforts to this point, says Hunter, is we have operated from an idealistic, pietistic, and individualistic mentality where we claim that the salvation of souls will naturally lead to culture change.[2]<\/a> Hunter demonstrates how that hasn\u2019t happened, and explores how less numerous groups, specifically the Jewish and gay communities, have disproportionally influenced Western culture over the last fifty years by focusing on elite level presence in law, media, academia, journalism, and science. Grassroots and political efforts of evangelicals have been up to now only a Band-Aid on the wounds of our society.<\/p>\n

This book has generated significant debate, particularly amongst evangelicals exploring the integration of faith with culture. For example, Hunter claims that Andy Crouch\u2019s Culture Making<\/em> does not go far enough, remaining rooted in a materialist perspective of cultural artefact creation rather than exploring deeper, intangible, culture-shaping forces.[3]<\/a> Crouch graciously responds in his own review of Hunter\u2019s book by maintaining \u201c[i]t is groundbreaking, it is comprehensive, and it is visionary. Above all, it is wise, both sociologically and theologically.\u201d[4]<\/a> But he counters with the observation that Hunter himself is being idealistic, portraying himself as one of the few leading the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you are unlikely to ascertain from the text or the notes,\u2026 is the existence of any Christian scholar or public actor who has pursued the course Hunter recommends other than Hunter himself, along with a few of his students and associates\u2026 It would take nothing away from Hunter’s brilliant synthesis to acknowledge that others are doing similarly important and influential work.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Anna Littauer Carrington, in her review of Hunter\u2019s book, states:<\/p>\n

“To Change the World\u00a0describes the crucial role of elites and networks in cultural change, and it helpfully questions the over\u2010politicized grassroots tactics that American Christians have embraced in recent decades. But, as Crouch has noted, Hunter\u2019s concluding essay doesn\u2019t present \u201can action plan for elite\u2010driven cultural change\u201d. As Crouch hints, readers looking for a thorough prescriptive on how evangelicals should engage the culture may be disappointed.”[6]<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The lack of this action plan means, really, that it is up to us. If culture does indeed change through the leadership of elites in society, then we need Christians who take up this mantle and pursue excellence in the higher echelons of culture making. This doesn\u2019t need to infer we abandon our traditional grassroots good works of feeding the hungry, sheltering refugees, or proclaiming the good news. It does, however, require a more deliberate, long-range view of being a persistent presence in our culture at the higher levels of society. As well, it requires a substantial shift in how we view our role. Rather than seeing ourselves as agents of change, we must commit to being faithfully present in our world in the arts, sciences, urban planning, architecture, medicine, law, and media. We must surrender our ego-driven quest for meaning, and learn to patiently cultivate the soil of culture and wait for the harvest.<\/p>\n

Hunter states,<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there are benevolent consequences of our engagement with the world\u2026 it is precisely because it is not <\/strong>rooted in a desire to change the world for the better but rather because it is an expression of a desire to honor the creator of all goodness, beauty, and truth, a manifestation of our loving obedience to God, and a fulfillment of God\u2019s command to love our neighbor.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In my work in philanthropy, I have grappled with these questions for years. In fact, this book has been a key work I\u2019ve struggled with since its publication. While most Christian philanthropy is directed at grassroots projects and the desire to \u201cchange the world\u201d, I am most inspired by examples of faithful philanthropists who are carving out a place to be within culture.<\/p>\n

I had a coffee with one of my clients this week who is on a similar journey. She enthused about her recent discovery of Jazz FM<\/a><\/strong>, a Toronto radio station that relies on charitable donations for its survival (and which you may still be listening to\u2026 just checking!). The making and supporting of good jazz is an example of a worthy cultural investment that is aligned with the Jeremiah 29 passage at the outset of this post. It doesn\u2019t appear to be typical Christian philanthropy, but in my view it is a broader and more robust expression of Christian philanthropy than we usually witness.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Our friend, Laila Biali<\/strong><\/a>, is another example. From our former church, Laila has risen in the ranks of jazz music in the past decade. She has played with Sting, hosts the Sunday jazz show on CBC, and relocated to New York to pursue her love of making great music. Her recent, self-titled album debuted number 1 in Canada, and number 7 in the US on iTunes. I watched her newest music video, Got To Love<\/em>, and saw evidence of the beauty, humanity and spirituality of her message \u2013 entirely consistent with the exhortation of Jeremiah to build houses and plant. We need to settle down in our neighbourhoods and cultivate carefully. This is integral mission; let\u2019s creatively hunker down.<\/p>\n