Paddington Bear Thoughts
Posted on : 28-10-2008 | By : Dan | In : Christianity 2.0
Tags: Columbus Day, Google, Paddington Bear
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On various holidays, Google changes the logo on their search page to reflect the theme of the occasion. On October 13, 2008, which was Columbus Day, Google opted to sport a logo in honor of Paddington Bear’s 50th birthday instead of a drawing of the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria; which it has done in years past. I used to thoroughly enjoy reading Paddington Bear, but is it really more important than the day that Columbus discovered the New World?
Be honest, how many of you actually celebrated Columbus Day? That’s what I thought. I did to an extent, because I had the day off of work (I’m a federal employee, I know, you hate me). But in reality, I could have cared less about the holiday. What Google did really is impressive, it bucked against the status quo and decided to celebrate something people might actually be interested in: Paddington Bear’s birthday.
This is a really interesting lesson about Web 2.0 — it doesn’t maintain the status quo, it goes where the people really are, and talks about things that really matter to people. A lot of churches seem to always stick to the status quo for particular holidays. For instance, I know I’m going to learn about Jesus in the manger on Christmas and I know I’ll hear about His Passion and crucifixion on Good Friday. And there is nothing wrong with that, but how about the personal touch — what does this really mean to me? Maybe instead of re-enacting the nativity scene with a gaggle of preschoolers this year so people’s grandparents will attend church to take pictures of their kids, why not throw everyone for a loop and reflect on the magnitude of the Incarnation of Christ — the fact that He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).
I grew up Lutheran, and most Lutheran churches follow the church calendar. I could look in my hymnal as a kid and tell you what Bible verses we would be reading one year in advance. Now I understand tradition and all, but why not break from the status quo a little bit? I mean, we already know half of the people (if not more) who claim to be Christian only attend church on Christmas and Easter, why not give them something different. I mean, if one were only going to attend church twice a year, why should the services all be identical? Why not save some time and money, and instead of dressing up preschoolers as wise men, simply tell people about incarnational living? Maybe even explain (gulp) that without regular fellowship with other believers our faith will wither. Maybe instead of trying to appease our guests we only see twice a year, maybe preach Law and Gospel to them, in a non-traditional way. When you hear and see the same thing year after year, the status quo isn’t going to get your attention. Why not “let ‘em have it?” Why even bother with the manger story? Why not explain why He had to come in the first place? Do the unthinkable and preach out of the Old Testament — do something different, think outside of the box.
That’s the message of Paddington Bear trumping Columbus Day. Don’t go with the status quo, do something different. Get people’s attention. Get people talking. Most importantly, get people to think. We spend so much time living life at a busy pace so that we don’t have to slow down and reflect — because most of us are afraid of what we might learn if we did. Churches have largely unchurched folks’ undivided attention for at least one hour on Christmas this year, do something different — make it count. Christianity 2.0 doesn’t care about the way it’s always been done, it wants something fresh and relevant. Don’t bore me with another nativity play, tell me about incarnational living.
- What does incarnational living mean to you? What does the above picture tell you about it?
- Are you tired of the status quo?
- What are other ways one can be fresh and relevant instead of maintaining the status quo in regards to being a follower of Jesus?
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+ Incarnational living, to me, means what the picture’s tagline says – that the Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood. Too often our churches have become sanctuary FROM the neighborhood – and not in the good way, rather than mission posts set inside the neighborhood. We’re in agreement, I think, 100%.
+ I AM tired of the status quo – but I also see the beauty in it. While I despise the “Chr-easters” who come twice a year, at least they come twice a year to hear the Good News. I feel that if I messed with that too much – they would stop coming all together.
Last year I was very heartened to see the turnout for our Ash Wednesday service, and disheartened to see the next week when significantly less people showed up for the next Lenten service (for non-Lutheran readers, Lutherans normally hold Wednesday services during the 6 weeks preceding Easter [Lent, which Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of] and the four weeks preceding Christmas [Advent]). However disappointed I was, however, in the attendance for the rest of our Wednesday services – I always remembered a conversation I was able to have with a young woman who came just because it was Ash Wednesday.
This brings to mind something that I have been wrestling with lately, the question of tradition…even as it applies to the traditional way that we conceive of our Christian identities (i.e. Lutheran, Pentacostolobapist, etc). I’d love to hear your thoughts on that.
+ I think the fresh and relevant way of being a follower of Christ may include thinking about how Jesus takes a primary or secondary role in our worship services. How can you have more “Jesus” thrown into the mix of your weekly worship?
Some great thoughts here Jay. I see your point in not wanting the Chr-easters to stop attending altogether, but I also think they should learn something that is not just the status quo.
That’s great about the Ash Wednesday turnout and the conversation with the young woman. Tradition will bring people into the doors, but what do we do once we have them?
In regards to tradition and our Christian identities, I personally identify as non-denominational (even though I am aware that is a denomination) simply because I don’t want my theology to be branded and stereotyped. I was recently having a conversation about the Trinity and the Athanasian creed with a pastor, and he said something very profound: “The Trinity is not a doctrine in which I believe, it’s a relationship which I embrace.”
I want to be known for love, witness, service; not for my doctrinal statement. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve spent many years assembling a personal doctrinal statement, but I count it all useless if love is not driving it (1 Cor. 13).
Besides, I think far too many so-called Christians can cite their doctrinal statements by memory, or at least they know their distinctives, while they have no clue about the only identity that really matters: who we are in Christ. I long for the Church to know that She has been “blessed … in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3), and that “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace…” (Eph. 1:7), and that we have been “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance…” (Eph 1:13), and that He “raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” (Eph. 2:6), and notably that it is “by grace [we] have been saved through faith…” (Eph 2:8). That is just a short walk-through of the first two chapters of Ephesians, it’s amazing what the rest of the Bible has to say about us! Yet many Christians only know how to yield the Bible as a sword (Eph. 6:17), and not as a tool to equip one another through love for every good work (2 Tim. 3:17), and for mutual encouragement (Heb. 10:24).
I’d say Jesus is the best one to ask about including Him in our worship, and I think we do that best when we lay down all of man’s traditions and leave things open for Him to work (Matthew 15:3,6; Mark 7:8,9). I think we should stop thinking within the framework of “how we’ve always done things” and start from scratch and the Scriptures, and let Jesus take it from there. How does that look? I think it’s much more participatory and every-member-functioning, and it won’t work with all of the seats facing in one direction. I’m not saying it can’t happen in a church, but it’d be a lot easier with round tables than pews, and a living room is certainly the easiest.
Don’t worry, Viola and Barna haven’t completely sold me on making a clean break from the institutional church, but I do think the IC needs to radically change or fear becoming completely ineffective. Round table church was one of my many ideas on the issue, perhaps I’ll post about some more ideas soon.
I hope that addressed some of your thoughts and questions. God bless bro!
I agree with Jay, that for those who only come Chr-easter, messing with the message could cause them to stop coming altogether. Our church does not have a Christmas pageant on Christmas Eve or Christmas, because they realize it would detract form hearing the message and focus on the “messengers” in a sense. It is a separate program, not during a regular worship service the weekend prior to Christmas. I think the message preached at these services is designed to reach out to the unchurched and the Chr-easters while still maintaining the Christmas message. Whether one comes to church regularly, intermittently or for the first time, the Holy Spirit can and will work on that person’s heart to receive God’s Word given in the sermon, the sacraments, the readings – the traditions of the Christmas service.
Very true, Kathy. It is important to remember that the Holy Spirit can and will operate through any means to communicate God’s love to broken sinners, despite tradition or non-tradition. Great reminder, thanks for stopping by!