The Smell of Freedom and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Sebastian Faust and Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) I Know a Boy by Shannan Martin

"There are so many sides to every story and we may never know for sure what happened in those moments where time stood still and a new line of mangled history was inked. It's too hard to wade through, the water too murky, and we don't want to be wrong. So we turn and walk away, back to our tidy corners and our predominantly white churches where things make sense and everyone believes the same version of the story."

2) He Was a Miracle by Laura Turner

"He's there, walking, so alive, so completely, painfully alive. He's right there, a living, breathing human person! His diaphragm is contracting! His lungs are taking in oxygen and nitrogen! Air moved from his trachea to his bronchi, then bronchioles, then alveoli! He was a walking ninth-grade science class, right there in front of us, a fucking miracle on two feet!
It was over in about fifteen seconds. The cops came, of course. They are white. He, as you know, was black."

3) The Cross and the Molotov Cocktail by Christena Cleveland

"Can you see the suffering Christ in the oppressed, even the ones who aren't responding perfectly to society's oppression? Christ doesn't just suffer for the innocent, the ones who don't have the energy to fight back, or the ones who perfectly respond to injustice. He suffers for the ones who suffer now and sin in their suffering."

4) The Eccentric Economy of Love by Richard Beck

"The church is denying its own need, weakness and vulnerability. Thus, the church comes to see itself as a hero, riding in on a white horse to save others. Since we don't need anything from the people we are helping, there is no reciprocity, no economy, no relationship, no giving and sharing back and forth.
We show up, do our good deeds and then pack up and leave. Why? Because we don't need anything from those people. They need us. We don't need them.
But we do need them. And we need each other."

5) For Now, Young Black Males Matter...Until the Cameras Go Off by Romal Tune

"If they go inside now, they know that they will cease to matter. America will go right back to not caring about what happens to them. In their minds, they have to stay outside, they will do whatever it takes to keep the cameras rolling. It's almost as if they are saying please don't go away, please stay, because the moment you leave or turn the channel, no one will care anymore."

Honorable Mention

When Them Becomes Us: On Emmanuel by Abby Norman

Sermon on Grace, Dogs, and Sass-Mouthed Women by Nadia Bolz Weber

What to Wear When You're Lost by Shannan Martin

Tweets of the Week (via Lane Severson)

"According to Led Zeppelin, people in wheelchairs aren't getting into heaven." - @daemonic3

"I held a grape up to a cup of wine before eating it, so it could see how fully my species has subjugated its kind" - @lanyardigan

"i put my pants on like everyone else - surrounded by cops in the middle of a wendy's screaming furiously about my rights" - @rahtzee

On Pop Theology Week in Review 

Ferguson and the Suffering God by Kyle Baughman

"Theology is, for me, a Trojan Horse. I allowed it through the gates and trusted much too quickly, when suddenly its peaceful presence turned savage; the doors fell open and it revealed its nature."


Song of the Week

For Michael Brown, Ferguson, and all the rest... "Final Straw" by R.E.M.

If hatred makes a play on me tomorrow

And forgiveness takes a backseat to revenge

There's a hurt down deep that has not been corrected

There's a voice in me that says you will not win.

Now I don't believe, and I never did,

That two wrongs make a right

But if the world be filled with the likes of you

Then I'm putting up a fight.

So I raise my voice up higher

And I look you in the eye,

And I offer love with one condition:

With conviction, tell me why.

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. If you'd like to help us pay the bills, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen.

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.  

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• Useful Signs and the Best Things You'll Read All Week
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Useful Signs and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard and Sebastian Faust

Reads of the Week

1) The Cost of Repentance by Zack Hunt

"Our actions have consequences. And while we may no longer face eternal consequences for our sin because of Jesus, the earthly consequences are very real and aren’t going anywhere. Which is why forgiveness divorced from accountability is so dangerous."

2) Cripple by Shannan Martin

"We worry sometimes that we'll seem too churchy, too weird, and all Jesus ever did was be weird and ridiculous and shocking and bold. We tell ourselves the world wants us to be more like them, and caught in the exact-right light, it's true. But the harder truth is, the world wants us to love them with the heart-ruined love of the only thing that ever made us alive."

3) Letting Go of God by Heath Bradley

"Throughout the Christian tradition there has always been a constructive tension between saying things about God, and at the same time acknowledging that all our words fall short of the divine reality. It is to our detriment when this paradoxical polarity gets out of balance."

4) Farewell, StrongBlackWoman by Christena Cleveland

"Meanwhile, the StrongBlackWoman identity, which at first glance seems like a positive identity, has wreaked havoc on black women’s emotional, physical, spiritual and relational health. In an attempt to escape one set of racist/sexist stereotypes, black women have run smack dab into another stereotype, one that is also maintained by societal racism and sexism."

5) Sermon on Lembas Bread, the Feeding of the 5,000 and Why I Hated Pastoral Care Classes by Nadia Bolz-Weber

"Perhaps Jesus’ injunction against sending the crowd away wasn’t because he was about to magically multiply a couple loaves into thousands, (although, again, that is a totally valid reading of the text). Maybe he didn’t want the disciples to send the people away because Jesus knew that those people had what the disciples lacked."

Honorable Mention

Search Term Friday: Judas Suicide by Richard Beck

Holy Relics: A Focus on the Family Movie Review by Martyn Wendell Jones

The Book That Changed Amy's Life by Amy Peterson

Not Our Problem: Why Collectively Ignoring Mark Driscoll Isn't an Option by Richard Clark

Tweets of the Week

"When He Goes Limp You Have To Stop Punching, Charlie Brown" - @briangarr

"Good thing most planes have TVs. Nothings worse than having to look out the window at Earths sacred majesty from the point of view of angels" - @pharmasean

"I raised my kid as a philistine. "How about less Schopenhauer & more QVC Shopping Hour?" I'd scold—but German idealism already corrupted him" - @BigRedDreck

On Pop Theology Week in Review

Harry, Severus, & David: The Danger of a Single Narrative by Laura Brekke

"Recently, I had an epic weekend of re-watching all the Harry Potter films (okay, it was more than a weekend, because: sleep)."

Song of the Week

"Let Your Heart Hold Fast" by Fort Atlantic

Peace,
Ben

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. If you'd like to help us pay the bills, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen.

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.  

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Hardcore Asthmatics and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard and Sebastian Faust

Reads of the Week

1) The Evil at Our Borders: Migrants, Refugees, and the Spiritual Crisis of Immigration by David R. Henson

"For conservatives, it is an immigration crisis, demonstrating the failures of the U.S. immigration policy and the need for militarized borders. For liberals, it is a humanitarian crisis, demonstrating the failures of U.S. economic policy, the immediate need for aid, and the necessity of immigration reform. For me, while I agree with progressives here, it is also a profoundly spiritual crisis. It is a crisis of faith, and right now, we are not the bearers of liberty, hope, democracy, or good news. Rather, we are the bearers of evil."

2) Re-thinking Communion by Christena Cleveland

"It seems that the way we do communion in many churches is too easy, too convenient, too painless, too safe, too inorganic, too separate from actual reconciliation work, and too individualistic. I’m starting to think that the way we do communion is not scandalous enough to represent the cross."

3) Hebel, Grace and the Art of Andy Goldsworthy: Part 2, Living as a Sacrament by Richard Beck

"Here's what I mean. Today each of us will wander out into the world. And around us we'll find all sorts people and all sorts of situations. It's a fractal, messy, and chaotic world out there. And it's not all bad. There are beautiful things, like flowers, out there. But there is also sadness and brokenness, conflict and deadness. And what we'll try to do today (or what we should be doing today) is very similar to what Goldsworthy does. We will try, given what we find out there, to bring grace and beauty into the world."

4) Authentic Modesty: Compassion Over Shame by Saskia Wishart

"Imagine if we, as women who love, started talking about how we deal with harassment from men on the street instead of slut-shaming women for drawing the harassment. My hope is that we learn to look with compassion, not lust. That we can place value, rather than casting shame. My hope is that we understand that body parts are only the start of the story, and there is so much more to be known about an individual."

5) "Why I Use Birth Control": 11 Women Speak Up by Rachel Held Evans

"Opinions about the ruling aside, I’ve been stunned by some of the misinformation circulating around social media about contraception, the most unhelpful of which characterizes women who use contraception as 'entitled,' 'sluts,' 'moochers,' and 'whores.'  I’ve shared my own thoughts on contraception in a post entitled 'Privilege and the Pill,' but today I wanted to yield the floor to ten women whose stories challenge these unfair caricatures. I am incredibly grateful for their bravery and honesty in stepping forward to tell the truth of their experiences. Please, listen."

Honorable Mention

The Saddest - and Classiest - Soccer Fan by Jason Morehead

How Secrets Made Me Sick by J.

Gettin' on the Mat by Diana Trautwein

Tweets of the Week

"An exclamation point is like a tiny little crutch for your joke." - @bazecraze

"God was dead. But the show had to go on. His doppelgänger Göd stepped in, executed the Apocalypse to rapturous applause." - @VikramParalkar

"Crossfitters are the Boy Scouts of the adult world." - @chettarcheese

On Pop Theology Week in Review

Because I Know You: Friendship and Tom Cruise by Charity Erickson

"The other day, I went to see Edge of Tomorrow, the newest addition to Tom Cruise’s rather extensive sci-fi repertoire."

Elephants in the Room: Israel, Palestine, and the Nature of Oppression by David Creech

"My natural disposition is to side with those who are oppressed. I also prefer to hear people tell their own story rather than insert my opinions from the outside. Enter the Israel-Palestine conflict."

Song of the Week

"Lanterns" by Birds of Tokyo

Peace,
Ben

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. If you'd like to help us pay the bills, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen.

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.  

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The Real Reason for Park Benches and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard and Sebastian Faust

Reads of the Week

1) Guilt is Good by Christena Cleveland

"Despite their discomfort, I challenged my study-abroad students to talk about inequality every single day that we were in Brazil. I brought it up all the time. I pointed out racial and economic disparities on the bus, at the museums, at the Monsanto plant, at the beaches, at the pousadas. I asked our guest lecturers to focus on inequality.  I asked the students to journal about it. It was inequality all day, all night, all the time. As a result, the students felt guilty…a lot. And that’s okay because guilt is good and necessary."

2) My "Enlightened" Christian "Friends" by Doug Bursch

"But you are so certain of the absence of certainty, so the moment will come when you cut into me. I know you say it in general, but the sword you wield cuts indiscriminately. It cuts indiscriminately and I bleed. I bleed quietly, unable to defend. You say feel free to defend yourself, feel free to share your perspective. But I know the consequences. My attempt to defend my contrasting truth will simply codify your conviction of my immaturity and closed-mindedness."

3) Some Ambivalent Thoughts on Sovereign Grace, The Gospel Coalition, and Twitter by Morgan Guyton

"Those of us who have a more progressive understanding of Christianity tend to push back against a strictly retributive understanding of justice and call for a more restorative form of justice. But when it comes to our ideological enemies, we get sucked into the scorched earth buzzfeed retributive approach to justice where nothing less than total political annihilation and absolute discredit will suffice."

4) Abducted & Robbed In The Congo (How Jesus, Bear Grylls & CBS Saved My Life) by Benjamin Corey

"With every mile that went by, my sense of panic only increased. It was so dark that I couldn’t see anything around us, and we didn’t seem to be driving in any direction that I’d want to be going. With robbery and murder being so common (while I was there they killed 20 people after losing a soccer match, which locals shrugged off as typical), I began to accept that I was being robbed (something I can deal with) and that there was a good chance I was also about to be killed (not how I preferred to start my trip)."

5) When Christians Fall by Jennifer Luitwieler

"I see it all the time. Social media makes it pretty easy to witness lives spiraling out of control. A man I know has devolved into a mewling mess after being caught in a years’ long affair. A dear woman has become a virtual, polarizing Hester Prynne after she left her husband for another man. The details don’t matter, because the story is so old, so common, you see it in your own social media streams. All day long."

Honorable Mention

Can You Have A Church Without A Prison Ministry? by Zack Hunt

Chicken and Fries by Jen Hatmaker

A Love Letter from Bethany Suckrow by Bethany Suckrow

When You're Thirsty, Keep On Walking by Rachel Haltiwanger

In Praise of Heretics by Kelly Pigott

Tweets of the Week

"The fact that the new 9/11 Museum sells tacky merchandise is triumphant proof that the terrorists failed to change the American way of life." - @TheTweetOfGod

"On the first day of prison go up to the most ironic guy you see and tell him prison is actually good." - @lukeoneil47

"a line of Catholic crafts stores called Build-a-Bear-Your-Own-Cross" - @ashfein
On Pop Theology Week in Review

In Celebration of a Milestone by Ben Howard

"The first post I wrote for this website is a mess. The writing is stilted and repetitive. The thesis is obvious and uninteresting, and even if it wasn’t, I don’t explain the premise enough for anyone who isn’t reading my mind to understand what’s going on."

In Defense of Gluttony by Charity Erickson

"For anyone who follows along with my regular tweeting about cheese, this shouldn’t come as a shock, but for those who are unfamiliar I will begin with this proclamation: I love food."

Pint-Sized Picassos and Human Identity by Justin McRoberts

"A pair of brilliant young girls in my neighborhood (ages 6 and 8) set up an art gallery in their garage. Hung on packing twine with clothespins and paper clips, most of the art is their own, though they also featured a few contributions from siblings labeled 'guest pieces.'

Song of the Week

"One Night Town" by Ingrid Michaelson (feat. Mat Kearney)

Peace,
Ben

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. If you'd like to help us pay the bills, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen.

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.  

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Irony American Style and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard and Sebastian Faust

Reads of the Week

1) Speaking Fear, Praying Shalom by Osheta Moore

"I don’t want to tell the truth that his mama is afraid. This Black Mama is afraid when I roll deep with my three kiddos in the affluent parts of Cambridge. I’m afraid of sideways glances and watchful eyes. I don’t want to tell my kids that they must been seen and not heard, not because their little voices don’t matter, but because the sound of our invasion invokes fear or annoyance. I don’t want to tell them that today, I read another story of racial profiling resulting in another black boy’s life cut short, and I keep seeing my oldest son’s face replace the victim’s face."

2) Urban Church Planting Plantations by Christena Cleveland

"This is happening all over the U.S. In Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Boston , Charlotte and many other cities, I’ve seen predominantly white, wealthy suburban churches take an imperialistic glance at the urban center, decide that they are called to “take back the city” and then proceed with all of the honor and finesse of a military invasion."

3) Sermon on Earthly Things, Wombs and the Resurrection of the Dead by Nadia Bolz-Weber

"And understanding the heavenly within the earthly, the transcendent within the mundane, is not an intellectual logical, reason-based experience. You can’t make the gospel make sense by using your head.  You have to use your hands.  And eyes, and mouth, and ears and nose. Because the kingdom of heaven, as Jesus says, is At HAND, reach out and touch it, see it, eat it, feel it. In other words, take in the glory of God in the common, unexpected and totally crazy ways in which our Lord Jesus Christ still seems to be redeeming us."

4) Cheese Ball Rosary by Tamara Lunardo

"I explained my anti-death stance to my 11-year-old last night while I boiled pasta for our dinner: 'The problem with death is it takes away all hope for life.' I talked about the possibility for redemption and healing while a person was still living; I talked about God being God and us, definitely not. I talked, impassioned and impotent, and the spaghetti turned limp from the boil."

5) A Voice in the Desert by Jamie Wright

"Into the desert, I carried my own. A dry spirit. An empty cup. An impressive expanse of cracked and broken foundation. Unknown and unlovely. The tiniest signs of life, waiting for rain. Waiting for water. Thirsty and wanting. No one could have known how lost I'd been when we arrived. No one could have known how small I felt. No one knew, as I climbed down the wobbly ladder, that doubt was shaking my soul. And then a steady hand reached up and took mine."

Honorable Mention

When the Abused Becomes the Abuser by Elizabeth Esther

When Christian Feminism is Anti-Judaic by Krista Dalton

In Which I Grow Wings by Amanda Williams

Tweets of the Week

"Oh, your bracket is still perfect? What about your parents' marriage, tough guy?" - @celebrityhottub

"Frantically not writing a blog post about Mark Driscoll. It's going to be a good one, y'all. And by good I mean nonexistent." - @TheAlanNoble

"The horrifying realization that if everything goes according to plan, you spend most of your life old." - @laureneoneal

On Pop Theology Week in Review

On Pop Theology Podcast: Episode 53 - Christ and Pop Culture w/ Alan Noble

"This week I talk with Alan Noble, the managing editor of the website and online magazine Christ and Pop Culture."

Fat Thursday by Lyndsey Graves

"'Cute joke,' I thought. 'Weird that someone happened to bring donuts on the same day the boss bought us lunch.'"

Pastors on Pedestals by Carly Gelsinger


"The children of an evangelical megachurch are given pictures of their pastor to color with crayons, a picture demanding their loyalty to him as their fearless, visionary leader."

What A Preacher Looks Like by JaneAnn Kenney


"On the last night of February, I stood before my classmates. I shivered as I reminded myself once again, 'A preacher looks exactly how I look tonight, because tonight I am a preacher.'"

Song of the Week

"Coming of Age" by Foster the People

Peace,
Ben

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. If you'd like to help us pay the bills, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen.

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.  

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The Things That Keep Us Apart: A Review of Disunity in Christ

(Ed. note: Due to an unfortunate miscommunication, the draft of this article posted earlier today was incomplete. The article has been amended to reflect the final draft intended by the author. The earlier draft can be found here.)

by Charity Erickson

Christena Cleveland’s Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart is a lovely piece of writing. It’s humorous—always a welcome surprise in Christian literature!—and very smart (knowing Cleveland, a previous guest on the On Pop Theology Podcast, the thorough scholarship of the book is much less surprising.) Her argument—built on wisdom gained through personal experience as well as social psychology, and further developed through her own research—is that Christian groups can discover unity by focusing on that which we have in common, instead of focusing on the theological and cultural specifics which we use to antagonize one another.

Throughout Disunity in Christ, I was struck by certain points of analysis that gave me pause and caused me personal conviction. As a Christian blogger, I regularly exploit differences with other Christians in order to “set myself apart,” so-to-speak.  It’s a great way to gain traffic; but more insidiously, it gives both me and my readers the opportunity to feel superior to other Christians. Cleveland says this sort of behavior is about self-esteem and power: “The unfortunate truth is that the easiest and most effective way to boost your own image is to lower someone else’s” (105). I fear that this is rather common practice within the Christian internet and its variety of subcultures.

But an even more potentially hurtful phenomenon within the Christian internets, which Cleveland describes, stems from the “black sheep effect.”  This occurs when those who we would consider a part of our “ingroup”—those similar to us, who we expect to be our comrades and defenders—express a dissenting opinion from that which is expected of the group.  For subcultures, defining safe and insulating boundaries is of supreme importance; maintaining moral high ground is what keeps the group identity (and in turn, one’s personal identity) intact.

I’ve witnessed this time and again among my own subculture within the Christian internet—those who dissent, or even nuance a conversation, are instantly turned on as enemies.  Cleveland writes: “This black sheep effect helps to explain why group members go to great lengths to punish and exclude other ingroup members who do not subscribe to the cultural beliefs of the group…we hate those people” (129).  For me, her explication of this phenomenon was a highlight of the book—it helped me understand a particularly unpleasant interaction with other members of my internet coterie. This past fall, I expressed a dissenting opinion in a group discussion on Facebook; months later, I found some of my comments—stripped of context and qualifying statements—reposted by a blogger who I respect (but with whom I had disagreed on a different topic) who then used them to argue that I support a certain “paleo-confederate."

Image via Yoximar

His claim was in complete antithesis to my actual argument, and yet, I wondered if the post would still cause me to be blacklisted in my small subculture, disgraced before those with whom I share many common beliefs and interests; I also wondered if it was the purpose of the post to engineer my exclusion along with the others mentioned there. I was confused, afraid, and embarrassed. Cleveland doesn’t offer an easy solution for those stuck in “black sheep” situations, but she does make the complex social interaction understandable, which I appreciated—as might the many other Christians, bloggers or not, who have found themselves in similar positions.

Disunity in Christ proves to be an important and politically neutral resource from a voice of scientific authority, appropriate for a diverse set of Christians who want to learn how to achieve reconciliation in the Church.  Yet there were times I wished Cleveland would dig deeper into the more insidious forces that divide the Church, and therein lies my criticism. While she does address the particular difficulties of cross-cultural reconciliation towards the end of the book (Chapter 9,) Cleveland chooses not to forefront the many other issues of conflict in the Church caused by serious power differentials, such as those associated with explicit racism, sexism, classism and cisgender privilege (the privilege enjoyed by those who conform to culturally-defined gender norms.)

Existing as “the Other” opposite a privileged subject means one’s agency, identity, and personhood is chronically disregarded as unimportant when viewed through privilege’s lens—while privilege regards its own identity and corresponding values as a universal standard. In the context of seeking unity in the Church, the privileged and the underprivileged do not come together for reconciliation on equal footing—unless those with privilege are willing to give up the advantages that come with their position, and even then, their status is not erased. Therefore, conflict resolution between the privileged and the underprivileged is fraught with negotiations of power that remain problematic even when privilege is acknowledged.

Cleveland encourages those in privileged positions to address the way their power hinders unity; “Positive crosscultural interactions only work if both groups enjoy equal status” (165). However, power dynamics are impossible to eradicate. I had hoped for more discussion of how we might deal with this fact. I also wanted to hear Cleveland discuss instances of conflict where the dissonance between “Christian” positions was so strong, and the difference so wide, that it would be difficult to even identify the schisming members as part of the same religion. How should we address threats to unity that happen when we find another Christian’s position to be a repugnant, oppressive, or even heretical characterization of the Gospel—when the point of contention between “Right Christian” and “Wrong Christian” is more than petty judgmentalism?

Perhaps Cleveland’s inclusion of Thabiti Anyabwile’s blurb on her book cover was itself a statement as to how Christians can function together even when they vehemently disagree. 

Last August, Anyabwile wrote an inflammatory post denouncing homosexuality in disturbing terms; the uproar only increased after Cleveland included him on a list recommending blogs written by people of color. After receiving criticism for his inclusion, Cleveland defended her choice, saying that though she might disagree with Anyabwile’s theology, she respects other aspects of his work—in effect, she prefers to take the good, leave the bad, and humbly let “iron sharpen iron” (a principle she develops early in the book, using the metaphor to illustrate the difficult and unpleasant nature of reconciliation.) So perhaps this is Cleveland painting us a small portrait of how unity might be pursued between those who espouse incompatible views, but that is merely an inference. I would have liked to see her speak more explicitly on this subject.

In sum, I would recommend Disunity in Christ as a primer for those interested in group dynamics and for those interested in learning about the ways we in the Church can overcome the self-seeking, power-motivated tactics we too often conflate with serving the Kingdom. Even with my few caveats, the book shares an abundant wealth of information, nuanced analysis, and thoughtful reflection on the nature of the Church. The author’s passion for unity is certain to inspire and challenge every member of the Body of Christ who takes up and reads. It’s not a panacea, but it’s a good, healthy start—and for those of us looking for a bit of guidance, Cleveland’s work proves to be enormously helpful.

Charity Erickson and her husband live and work together in the north woods of Minnesota. Check out her blog for more of her writing and follow her on Twitter @CharityJill.

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. If you'd like to support what we do, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen.
    

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