Hey! There's a popular new social network that all the kids are getting on. Check it out! Oh! Did you see that ad? Do you see the pictures they're using for their avatars? Oh my! Let's start a Christian version of this, so kids won't have to be exposed to that stuff.
Hey! Have you played that new game? You know...it's called Guitar Hero. Wow, it sure is fun. Yeah, but I hate hearing those filthy lyrics. Have you heard "Tattooed Love Boys?" My, oh my. Why doesn't someone start a Christian version of this game, so we don't have to hear those lyrics and look at those evil images?
Why do we do stuff like that? Do Hindu's do stuff like that to proselytize? Do Muslims do that sort of thing to protect their youth from unwanted influence? Why is it that us Christians in the West resort to weird ideas like this? Isn't there something flawed in this line of reasoning?
It's one thing to speak a message and share it with the world in your speech, your art, your music, your craftwork. But it's another thing to try to create an entire subculture of safety and like-minded ideas.
This is one reason why I'm excited that many Christian artists have taken their art beyond the four "walls" of the Christian music industry (with its own stores, own radio stations). We've tried to encourage that growth in the pages of HM; and we've tried to get HM out on newsstands in mainstream stores. I hope that HM is able to help push, convict, inspire and encourage those artists and fans that enjoy the music made by fellow believers. While we exist partly inside the "bubble" known as the CMI (Christian Music Industry), we hope to be a growth agent somehow in that role.
What if Christians developed a well-rounded view of the world, took seriously their call to be "salt" in that environment, and then made sure they were out in it, making a difference? What if, instead of never being around "those" kids in the hallway (or interacting with on myspace), we were present, being who we are (without compromise, without apology, and without unnecessary going-out-of-your-way-to offense); instead of retreating into our own safe world?
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at November 10, 2008 08:47 AMIt is like building a water park next to an ocean.
Posted by: Jenn Smith at November 10, 2008 02:43 PMActually, Hindus and Muslims do do stuff worse than that. They just clamp down so hard on their kids that they don't even get on any video games or social networks (my wife's family is Indian). And there are Hindu and Muslim rock bands out there, btw...
And then there is Sitar Hero of course.... Oh, and check out muslimsocial dot com :)
Posted by: Matt at November 11, 2008 04:18 PM