The Call to be Hip

A Christianity Today editorial made the statement, “Let’s not kid ourselves that a person’s salvation depends on our ability to discuss Austin Powers.” I can still remember the “bad old days” when a Christian could only embrace the pop culture in a dark room with the shades drawn. Movies, theatre, art, and contemporary literature weren’t the done thing. However, many still debate the value of Christian engagement with pop culture. What difference does my grasp of contemporary culture make for Christ’s Kingdom?

As Christ followers, we are always keen to dialogue about people’s belief. We want to engage in “big talk”, to address the substance of life which really matters. However, a communication principle states, “If you ever want to make ‘big talk’ with someone, you need to learn to make ‘small talk’. The late Francis Schaeffer challenged evangelicals to understand the worldview of contemporary men and women by paying attention to their music, art, and language. We desire that people would listen to us but do we ever take the time to listen to them first. Communication is more than knowing our message, it involves valuing our listeners in real and tangible ways. When we consider the incarnation of Christ, the unmistakable model was one of God entering into our world in order that we might be introduced to His world. All too often, Christians speak about the contemporary culture as something foreign and evil, creating an adversarial posture of “them” vs. “us”, then we wonder why we can’t get a hearing.

Recently while attending a footy match at Subi Oval, I met up with our youth pastor and some local unchurched kids. Now my American accent and the title of Reverend equates to not knowing a handball from a handshake. Yet, afterwards, the teens gave me the thumbs up, not because of my Christian virtue but because of my love for footy. Will the embrace of their world make a difference in their coming to Christ? It just might.