It is all in the Context
A lot has been said in recent times in evangelical church circles about this video. Please watch it before you go on, I want your initial reactions to be unbiased by my comment.
“Sunday’s Coming” Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.
Some people find it funny, some ironic, and some point to it as proof that the evangelical church is loosing the plot.
I recently started reading a new blog. http://riparianchurch.com . The author (who goes by the name The Otter) is definitely not an evangelical. I like to read his posts because they make me think outside of the framework where I am used to operating.
The Otter found the video disturbing. he says:
What’s sad about the North Point video is that it shows a dim awareness that slick marketing is incongruent with Christianity’s message… but they’re telling a joke they don’t believe in. They don’t believe it’s ridiculous. Which calls into question how you’d know what they really believe.
(Please read the rest of his post (and 1 or 2 others), I don’t want you to take the above out of the context of the blog in which it was written.)
I was slightly amused at the Otter’s response, not because I think he is stupid or something (far from it) but rather because the comments he made were based on a completely out of context interpretation of the video. Which if you read a lot of his writing it slightly ironic.
In an attempt to put the video into the context in which it was intended to be viewed, I left quite a long comment on the Otter’s post. Any time we are trying to understand something context is very important. Whether it is scripture reading, understanding politicians or watching short (arguably funny) videos produced by a church that seem to be mocking that very same church.
Here is the comment I left. I hope It helps you understand the video. I know that I gained a deeper appreciation for the video and it’s message while I was processing my thoughts in order to write what follows.
I am a member of a church that is an International Strategic Partner of North Point. So in a sense I am a bit of an ‘insider’ when it comes to the background to this video. I thought it would be good to give a bit of background.
The video was designed for, and first played at, a conference where a whole bunch of local church leaders from around the world get together and the guys at NP give a bit of background to who they are and what they do and why they have found it effective within their context, in their areas of ministry. They do this not because they think they have all the answers (the conference is called Drive – because we’re not there yet!), but because they found themselves in a position where people were looking to them for some answers. They do this in a very humble manner btw.
The video was designed to tell the conference attendee’s that there is no recipe. That people should not be looking around and saying “Ooo they are doing that, lets do it like that”. That the ‘design’ of a service or the pattern of the service is not the be-all-and-end-all, but rather the content is important. (How ridiculous was the content of that video?)
And while “service planning” and “service flow” are important within their context, it is only important in so far as it “creates an environment where the Holy Spirit is free to work”. (That is not that they believe that the HS is unable to work in particular environments, just that some environments are more conducive than others, and we should be trying to help not hinder right?)
For context on what you have called their gingerbread house, one needs to understand their evangelism strategy. The main worship service environment at NP is designed to be a “foyer” environment. A foyer is where you expect guests to arrive, in the NP context a guest is someone who has had little or no recent exposure to church, or someone who has lost faith in church and Christianity in general. One of the main aims (but not the only one) for a foyer environment is that the guest will leave wanting to come back, that they might not have agreed with everything that happened or was said, but that they are sufficiently intrigued, even entertained, to want to come back. They don’t dumb down the gospel or anything like that, but everything they do is filtered through the sieve of “someone went out on a limb to invite a friend to church today, don’t mess up this opportunity to speak truth into that guest’s life.” (I can point you to a great book on the matter, but that might seem like I am peddling a book that can be purchased at the church store later
)
Your analogy of a gingerbread house is actually quite fitting. But imagine a story rather where the two orphaned children get lost in the wood, and they find this gingerbread house, they go inside (you can even say they were lured inside), but instead of a wicked witch they find a loving father.
Thanks for making me think about this video past the “that was really funny” stage.
Honestly now, What was your initial reaction to the video?
Did what I say help you understand the message behind the video?
UPDATE: I actually was not at the conference, so I don’t know exactly what the context was. What you see here is just my informed speculation
I appreciate the dialogue, Ron, and the comments you made on my blog (reproduced here). I’ll be interested to see what your readers make of this: if any are interested, I’ve replied to your comments over there.
I AM glad you raised the question of context, but I think the irony in that is that North Point obviously is assuming that its “guests” (for lack of a better) will come from a different context than the Church does.
You’d think that would make them hyper-conscious of how their video (and their approach to drawing people in) will be perceived by others. Apparently it doesn’t, or else there is a general willingness to concede that the least common denominator in culture is good enough for the gospel.
T-Bone Burnett once wrote, “When you’re talking to that many people at one time, you’re bound to be lying to someone at some time.”
(I note that as a blogger, I should take my own medicine on that!)
Best wishes,
Otter
.-= Otter´s last blog ..Christianity and Its Madness =-.
I think the ‘lying’ that T-Bone Burnett was referring to must be very subjective from the perspective of the listener. From the speakers perspective they are either lying or not regardless of the size of the audience. But I get your point.
As I said in my original comments, thanks for making me think, not just in this post but in a lot of your other pieces.
Here is North Point Media’s explanation to the video and placing it in context. If you watch the video, see it in context and then listen to the talk that followed this video, it would all make sense. It is however amazing that even though North Point is a mega church they can still laugh at themselves..
http://insidenorthpoint.org/media/2010/05/19/sunday-morning-video/
Thanks for the link Morgan. I still thing the North Point Media team did not do a great job of contextualizing it. They pointed out that there was a context but did not try and say what that context was.
Hey Ron!
I thought your description was great! Personally being at the conference and seeing the video’s debut, I thought it was well placed and quite amusing.
The aspects focused on in the video aren’t morality issues at the core (since when is it sinful to show a puppy on the big screen or for a pastor to use effective rhetoric?). It seems people are reacting to their fears that the church is becoming cookie cutter and focused more on marketing than on the Gospel and the life changing power it has. I don’t think that was the point of the video, though.
At the end of the day, the video for me was just a funny satire that was entertaining. I didn’t read too much into it, and from the vibe at the conference, I don’t think many other attendees did, either.
Rachel, just for the record, I never said it was “sinful,”. Just want to be clear about that.
I think rather it’s just showing a serious confusion about what a biblical gospel can and can’t be.
I just saw this video over at Tall Skinny Kiwi’s blog. But after looking to find some context (I thought the name North Point sounded like a church) I found your blog and this post.
Just a quick point: I saw that video out of context as have like half a million people by now. Many aren’t going to try and find the source. So for most people who see the video and weren’t at the conference the context of the video is a stand-alone parody.
So Otter’s comment is actually in context.
And for everyone calling it satire, you should stop. Satire is defined by Webster as:
1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
2 : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly
So when the North Point Media is holding up a hugely popular evangelical church service model as a human folly/vice for us to ridicule and scorn, don’t be offended when we do.
- mike