So Rebecca Black posted this video to YouTube a while ago. Recently, a church in Chicago did a parody of it to advertise their Easter church service. One of the angles I am exploring for my book "Theology of the Broken Brain" is the response to creativity and inclusion of secular art in church. I'd like your input. Here's the videos side by side. Please answer the following poll honestly and comment back as to why you responded the way you did. The more answers the better so please pass the site on to your friends.
Thanks again :-)
1 comment:
I'm not sure how to vote on this poll. I actually preferred the vocals on the parody to Rebecca Blacks (which I found annoying). I'm not sure however, how I feel about the need that Christians so often feel to wrap church up in a secular feel-good package. This video screams that church is for happy people only. It also makes church the center of the Christian spiritual experience and not Jesus. All of the lyrics in the parody were about church and not about Christ.
The people who made this movie are playing church according to the rules of society: advertise well, get more people in, and watch your profits/church attendance soar. I find the whole thing lacking in spiritual depth and care. When I think about Jesus' way of advertising the kingdom of God in the Bible, he did it in a controversial way more often than not. He healed on the Sabbath. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He said blessed are the meek and the poor in spirit. Also, a lot of the time he even forbid advertising, commanding people not to reveal his identity.
I guess now that I've written all of these comments, I find the video somewhat offensive, because it plays into a cultural consumerism rather than a counter-cultural love for God and neighbor as oneself. The quality of the movie was good, and the parody was enjoyable, but its not what I want church or Easter Sunday to be all about.
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