{"id":25714,"date":"2020-02-04T03:43:26","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T11:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=25714"},"modified":"2020-02-04T03:43:26","modified_gmt":"2020-02-04T11:43:26","slug":"folk-theology-seduction-and-the-cult-of-personality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/folk-theology-seduction-and-the-cult-of-personality\/","title":{"rendered":"Folk Theology, Seduction, and the Cult of Personality"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the longest time, I have argued that I can find more theology within a song written by the American rock group, The Eagles, than I can in almost any song written within the contemporary worship movement.\u00a0 One of my favorite songs of all time is \u201cDesperado\u201d, the title track to the Eagles\u2019 1973 album.\u00a0 I remember running down the road trying to loosen my load one day and \u201cDesperado\u201d started playing.\u00a0 I had heard the song hundreds of times and I liked it, but I wasn\u2019t in love<\/em> with it. But for whatever reason, this time was different.\u00a0 As the soft, opening chords of the piano melody played and Don Henley\u2019s voice began to sing, a thought occurred to me: This song is the Gospel.<\/p>\n

A switch flipped and I began to view the song as a love ballad of Jesus calling out to the exhausted sinner who keeps searching for meaning and love.\u00a0 The last verse of the song hammered this thought in:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDesperado, why don\u2019t you come to your senses?<\/p>\n

Come down from your fences, open the gate<\/p>\n

It may be rainin\u2019, but there\u2019s a rainbow above you<\/p>\n

You better let somebody love you, before it\u2019s too late.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While this wasn\u2019t a conversion moment for me in the sense of \u201cI\u2019m devoting my life to Christ,\u201d it completely changed the way that I listened to the Eagles and other music as well.\u00a0 Although I didn\u2019t realize it at the time, I was building a folk theology around the Eagles, always asking myself, \u201cWhat would St. Henley or the Apostle Joe say about this?\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a trend within Christianity that we latch our theology onto goods or ideas and slowly \u201cChristianize\u201d them.\u00a0 One of the clearest examples of this is the American ideal of hard work.\u00a0 I remember overhearing a conversation in my home church many years ago between my parents and one of their friends.\u00a0 They were talking about a family member who was struggling (all of their own accord of course) and were debating on whether or not they should keep bailing them out of their problems.\u00a0 That\u2019s when I heard it: \u201cI know God tells us to love our neighbors, but the Bible also says, \u2018God helps those who help themselves.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 I cocked my head to the side and looked at them quizzically.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure the Bible doesn\u2019t <\/em>say that,\u201d I thought.\u00a0 A quick Google search confirmed my suspicions.<\/p>\n

Vincent Miller writes, \u201cThe fundamental problem with the commodification of culture is that it trains believers to abstract religious doctrines, symbols, and practices from the traditional and communal contexts that give them meaning and connect them to a form of life.\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 In the above example, we see this strange conglomeration of God\u2019s care (most likely justified from Matthew 6:25-34) mixed with the American ideal of \u201cPull yourself up by your bootstraps.\u201d\u00a0 What\u2019s troubling about this action is that people actually believe it\u2019s truth that comes from Scripture; there is little critical engagement with it.<\/p>\n

The invasion of commodification doesn\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 At my tiny Christian university in southern Indiana, it was commonplace to see folk theology printed on t-shirts.[3]<\/a>\u00a0 One of my friends in particular was known for wearing these t-shirts daily (and I\u2019ll admit, I had my own \u201cOur Apostle\u201d t-shirt and we all<\/em> wanted the coveted \u201c<insert theologian> is my Homeboy\u201d shirt) as a means of evangelism on campus.\u00a0 While some of them were clever, looking back on them I can\u2019t help but laugh and cringe.<\/p>\n

However, the reason these products are able to sell is because there\u2019s actually a market for them.\u00a0 Millers writes in particular of the power that seduction has when it comes to religious ideals.\u00a0 He writes, \u201cSeduction is not about having<\/em> the perfect outfit, piece of jewelry, or CD.\u00a0 It is about seeking<\/em> the perfect one, about ensuring that one has access to just the right one for just the right time.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 In a very real way, consumerism slips into the church and acts as a means of seduction.\u00a0 Do our churches play into this?\u00a0 Do we try to seduce people into our pews?<\/p>\n

People church shop because they are seeking<\/em> something.\u00a0 If we take a little bit or worship from the Anglican church, mix it with the local celebrity pastor\u2019s preaching style from the megachurch down the road, but have the community of the Baptist church (plus they have potlucks), what do we get?\u00a0 The perfect mixture of pickings and choosing into our shopping basket.\u00a0 Our churches rely on programs to bring people into the door and this is troublesome.\u00a0 Do we lose the heart of what it means to be a community?\u00a0 Do we lose the heart of the Gospel when we rely on programs or celebrities?<\/p>\n

One final musing is that of the church celebrity, the preaching aficionado, the charismatic leader who can get people to follow them.\u00a0 Within Christianity, there are many people who would be considered celebrities due to their accessibility or their charisma.\u00a0 While I was in university, John Piper was the big name that everyone would ask, \u201cOh, have you read this book?\u201d\u00a0 Within the drama ministry I was part of, Paul Washer became a celebrity from his \u201cShocking Youth Message\u201d that challenged youth and young adults on their salvation.\u00a0 Here in Hong Kong, I have heard many people say they attend certain churches because<\/em> of who the pastor is; they are local celebrities that amassed a following.<\/p>\n

My question is whether or not these pastors have inadvertently created cults of personality.\u00a0 By this, I simply ask whether their fame brought people together in a way that exalts them<\/em> rather than Christ.\u00a0 We all have our role models or spiritual heroes (which is a good thing), but when these heroes become our primary focus they move into spiritual idols.<\/p>\n

These are all big questions and ideas and would take a lot to unpack.\u00a0 To summarize, here are my main questions:<\/p>\n