by Ben Howard and Sebastian Faust Reads of the Week 1) What the Pope's Popularity Says About American Culture by Jonathan Merritt "Recognizing the complexity of this cultural narrative provides an opportunity for those who call themselves “Christians” to reflect on why they are actually encountering some resistance from some sectors of society. Is any of it deserved? Which opposition can be written off as irrational disdain and which is legitimate defiance to a malformation of the faith? When is the social tension a necessary result of speaking prophetically and when are we paying a price unnecessarily?" 2) Blue Valentines by Chelsea Batten "Typically, with pain like this, I don’t grieve so much as hurl it back from whence it came. It feels like contesting a traffic ticket–a long, protracted thumb-wrestle between mute power and dedicated protest. I make my prayers, if you can call them that, with impassioned thoroughness and elaborate legalese, listing with categorical precision why I didn’t deserve to experience this. Again. And again, the answer comes back mute–another form to fill, out as it were–each one saps my strength a little more, until finally I’m just dully, mulishly repeating 'No. No.'" 3) 5 Ways Progressive Mainline Churches Can Welcome Disenfranchised Evangelicals by Rachel Held Evans "There is much to love about evangelicalism, but lately I’ve been receiving a lot of messages from disenfranchised evangelicals who, after a break from church, are looking to return. Many hope to find a place in a more progressive tradition, but feel a bit disoriented their first time in an Episcopal Church or at a PCUSA coffee hour. In addition, when I travel, I meet many progressive ministers who are eager to welcome new people to their churches. So with all that in mind, here are some ideas for helping those evangelical visitors feel more at home." 4) The Complexity of Loving Your Neighbor by Nate Pyle "Here’s what I believe. I do not believe that loving God with our whole being ever has to be in conflict with loving our neighbor. If, in our love of God, we fail to love and serve our neighbor, then maybe we are misunderstanding what it means to love God." 5) Dismantling the White Male Industrial Complex by Christena Cleveland "The truth is that the battle for justice won’t be won when white men finally join the fight. The battle was already won on the cross. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is at hand. It’s here. It’s happening. It’s already been set in motion. We’re inevitably moving toward a world that reflects the prophetic reality of the resurrection. Justice will be done. All things will be made new." Honorable Mention How To Be Free by Shannan Martin
Tweets of the Week "Don't text and drive. Just pull over until you're done using your phone. That's what I do. I've been on the side of the road since 2011." - @jwoodham "If only there was a German word for schadenfreude." - @psmith "Cookie Monster is nearly 50 now and is somehow neither a) progressing in English subject/verb agreement, nor b) dead from all those cookies." - @TheRevReid On Pop Theology Week in Review James Bond is the Church by Laura Brekke "Let us suppose that James Bond is the Church. Not a church, but the Church." The Popes Predict the World Cup Final by Ben Moore "Never before have the home countries of two living popes played each other in a World Cup Final." Song of the Week "Turn Down for What" by DJ Snake and Lil Jon
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. You might also like:
In this week's episode Ben chats with Jonathan Merritt, author of the
new book Jesus Is Better Than You Imagined. Their conversation will
cover topics such as the effects of growing up as a preacher's kid, the
nature of religious commentary, and the need for mysticism in the
church. They'll also talk about the importance of honesty and
vulnerability in writing as well as the time he took a ride on Mel
Gibson's jet.
You can download the podcast by clicking here.
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review us on iTunes. It's the first step in our secret mission to take over the world. Finally, if you'd like to stream the podcast, you can do that here: 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 support what we do, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen. You might also like:
by Ben Howard Reads of the Week 1) If Men Got the Titus 2 Treatment... by Rachel Held Evans "It has come to my attention that we are facing a crisis of biblical masculinity in the Church today. An increasing number of men are neglecting the roles God clearly outlined for them in Scripture (Genesis 3:19, 1 Thessalonians 5:26, 1 Timothy 2:8) in favor of blatant cultural capitulation. I’d like to focus on three biblical principles that many modern men, out of total disregard for Scripture, continue to ignore: sweating, kissing, and hand-raising." 2) No Offense: Hating Black History Month by Maria Dixon "For many in the American Church, yes even the Progressive Church, race and blackness are topics and people that are to be objectified. What I mean by this is that the Church is more than happy to make African Americans the objects of their outreach; their philanthropy; or even their programmatic initiatives but rarely if ever their fully actualized discursive partners capable of self-governing thoughts. Well-intentioned saviors, swoop in often without asking, offer diagnosis and remedy, and then leave frustrated when questions are asked or critique offered." 3) Everyone Stop What You're Doing and Listen to Panti Bliss by Fred Clark "Panti takes the stage after what appears to have been a somber play about impoverished coal miners in 1913 — because this is in Ireland, where if you’re ever going to step onto a stage the odds are that it will be soon after a somber play about impoverished coal miners in 1913. She then offers a charming, funny, heartfelt and sometimes heart-breaking speech about oppression and how it becomes internalized and about what it means to be a person like her living in a place like that." 4) Sochi Cadillac Ad Encourages Worship at the Altar of Work and Stuff by Jonathan Merritt "In my faith tradition—evangelical Christianity—I’m struck by an absence of preaching, teaching, and talking about these kinds of Biblical ideas. Perhaps it is because materialism has become a respectable sin or maybe it is because we need the wealthy to bankroll our massive ministry budgets and mammoth church building projects." 5) Sermon On That Special Class of Salty, Light-Bearing People to Whom Jesus Preaches by Nadia Bolz-Weber "These people, the wretched ones left behind in the last verses of chapter 4, they follow Jesus, in a way that the least, the last, the lost and the lonely have followed him ever since, and to them he gives a blessing. The poor, those who mourn and are meek. Jesus gives them a blessing. You are blessed. He says, And then right after that, he says that they are salt and light." Honorable Mention How to Be Loved Today by Shannan Martin Keep The Earth Below My Feet by Kelli Woodford A Closet Comes Undone by Ben Moberg Tweets of the Week "On behalf of my wife and I, we'd like to apologize to everyone for the Nicholas Sparks movie we just watched. We are truly sorry." - @ScottAEmery "How much can't could a white girl can't even if a white girl literally could not even." - @aguywithnolife "When the phrase "a penny for your thoughts" was first coined you could buy a horse for a penny. Today our thoughts are worth almost nothing." - @MooseAllain On Pop Theology Week in Review A Theology of Legos by Jim Kast-Keat "Growing up, there was one Christmas present I could always guess with a single shake: Legos." Failure, The Only Option by Rebekah Mays "As a writer, I often wish there was some magic pill I could take that would instantly transform me into Flannery O’Connor." A Different Olympics by Ben Howard "I’ve been watching a different Olympics than you." On Love by Lane Severson "As a Christian, I find it very difficult to say anything about love that is both true to experience and true to my religious convictions." The Value In All Sorts Of Loves by Emily Maynard "If you’ve walked into any store that sells things recently, you may have noticed that love is in the air." Song of the Week "Stop" by Matchbox Twenty
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. You might also like:
by Ben Howard Reads of the Week 1)Miscalculating Racism: Life on a Christian College Campus by Drew Hart "However, subtle race issues that I initially ignored, because they seemed so minor, began to overwhelm me with their continual and ongoing assault. I began to notice that the people who didn’t know me personally on campus tended to respond to me with discomfort or suspicion." 2)On "Mr. Jones" and Intentional Listening by Registered Runaway "Intentionally listening to one another’s stories requires that we meet when on the other’s terms. It means that if you have something to tell me- then tell me in the way you feel most comfortable. If that’s email. Email. If that’s phone call. Call. I cannot know you beyond your avatar, beyond your first impression, until you tell me. Until you draw me in to your reality and let it effect me." 3)In Defense of the Neo-Reformed by Charity Erickson "This is my situation. I have seen lives changed in the crucible of neo-reformed theology. I have seen lives crushed and lives changed, and I don’t know what to do with that. It would be intellectually and spiritually dishonest, not to mention incredibly prideful and condescending, to write off the neo-reformed as being outside orthodoxy, declaring TULIP a heresy, and decrying “their Christ” as a false god—and it would be too easy, too." 4)White Supremacist Talking Points: Everyone is Racist by Rod the Rogue Demon Hunter "In this vein, I would like to briefly address a white supremacist talking point I get tired of hearing: 'Everyone is racist'” There are several problems with the narrative being told here. First, for the 'IS' part of this false truism, racism is once again placed as an individual problem to be solved by dealing with the issues of 'the heart' rather than a social construct that is exerted in public practices. One of the best ways to silence anti-racists is to make sure they can’t discuss public policy and social practices." 5)On Syrian Conflict, Three Christian Perspectives by Jonathan Merritt "Traditionally, Christians have viewed war through one of two lenses. Those who hold to just war theory believe that war is often right if the violent conflict meets certain criteria. This is the view held by most Catholics and conservative Protestants. On the other hand, Christian pacifists believe that violence is incompatible with a faith that is patterned after the one who blessed peacemakers and urged his followers to 'turn the other cheek.'" 6) Sermon About How Totally Uncool We Are by Nadia Bolz-Weber "See, I wonder if maybe when Jesus talks about using either pride or false humility to be given a place of honor, I wonder if it’s not that he’s being prescriptive about how to do something right as he is being descriptive about all the ways we do something wrong. Like he’s just calling everyone out on the way in which we tend to not always be so honest about what we are up to." 7) Thinking About God Makes Me Just Want to Keep My Mouth Shut by Peter Enns "If there is a God….a higher power, a supreme being, who is behind all this, I feel we should just stop talking for a minute and…well…just stop talking for a minute." 8) The Film Elysium and the Conquest of Canaan by Morgan Guyton "According to the individualist ethos of America, it’s completely nonsensical to consider other peoples’ poverty an 'injustice' unless they’re poor because I personally robbed or cheated them. At least in the present-day Reagan era, there is no concept that we are collectively responsible for each other. Building off of this individualist ethos, much of American Christianity has come to serve the purpose of making us comfortable with our selfishness by providing us with a moral system that exonerates us from loving our neighbor." 9) When It's Too Big (A Reflection on Syria) by Rachel Held Evans "When you hate how the news has made graphics and theme music, when you realize that your opinion will do nothing to change the matter, when your utter helplessness follows you around like a dark presence and laughs at all the empty things you say, when it’s just too big…. All that’s left is prayer and fasting." 10)Perhaps Love Bakes a Cake by Micah J. Murray "This is where the 'cake debates' reveal a larger problem. We’ve reduced Biblical ideas of sin and godliness to a small handful of sexual “issues” where we plant our flags and fight to the death – abortion, gay marriage, pornography, premarital sex. The great majority of our words are spent arguing about these things to the neglect of a holistic view of Christian living. In the process, we make people into props for our debates and eliminate the potential for any meaningful relationship."
"I'm just gonna go ahead & police my own tone, so I don't have to blame it on anybody else." - Hannah Paasch (@thesettingsun07) On Pop Theology Week in Review Finding Holiness in the Pigskin by Adam Metz "If I close my eyes I can still smell the roast in the oven." On Pop Theology Podcast: Episode 38 - On Blogging and Growing Up Fundamentalist w/ Micah J. Murray "This week on the show Ben talks with blogger and friend Micah J. Murray
about writing, the importance of aesthetics, and the lessons he learned
growing up in a fundamentalist tradition." These Women Preach: On Jesus Feminist and Pastrix by Charity Erickson "I
first encountered Sarah Bessey during a pregnancy scare in 2011, when
she was still Emerging Mummy and I was on a Google bender." Song of the Week "The Fox" by Ylvis
by Ben Howard Reads of the Week 1)Accountable for Attention? by Lane Severson "Traditionally we have called them prophets. Their calling is to speak an
unpopular truth and to pump our stomachs in event of a Kool-aid
overdose. We are confused about them too. Often the most inflammatory
religious voices claim to be prophets. But prophets aren’t just baptized
attention whores." 2)Going to Weddings Alone by Emily Maynard "I wish there was an acknowledgement, even in vows and
til-death-do-us-parts, of the realities of the world. I wish there was a
celebration of deep rooted friendship beyond marriage ceremonies, with
just as much wine and dancing afterward." 3)For a Time by Mason Slater "For a time it can be easy to get wrapped up in movements, and
tribes, and trends, and systems, and buzz words, and
being-right-no-matter-the-cost, and forget our humanity. Because it’s tempting to pretend that we are somehow not like everyone else, that we are infallible." 4)In Which I Beg Barbie's Pardon by Sarah Bessey "I began to rethink my distrust. After all, the argument could be made that you are a feminist icon:
fifty years of careers ranging from doctor to teacher and all points
between. You seem to have a lot of friends and interests – my daughter
always has her little gang of Barbies working together to solve
problems, you see. You’re a big sister, too, and a good friend." 5)How "The Walking Dead" Solved Videogames' Christ-Figure Problem by Richard Clark "What results is an arc that drags the player along to a place of
Christ-like selflessness. There is very little actual shooting or
beating things up, even zombies. The game is about caring for others,
about living purposefully, about walking into a situation of danger
knowingly and being open to living and dying through the very worst so
that someone else might benefit." 6)There Are No Trophies Here by Micha Boyett "God was the Ultimate Grownup, smiling if I could keep up with my tasks, a
sweet teacher who liked me as long as I was nice enough to All the
People and concerned with All the Bad Things. And if I could do it, if I
could risk enough and try enough and come close enough to God, it would
be enough." 7)Christians and the Myth of "Hookup Culture" by Jonathan Merritt "The depravity of humans makes history look less like a moral ski slope and more like a moral game of whack-a-mole. Injustices and evils exist in every era, and about the time we eliminate a few of them, we’re forced to face a whole new set." 8)A Plea for Listening Well at Christian Colleges by DeLisa Thomas "There seemed be an overall misperception that we minorities were
playing the victim card and that our experiences of racism were somehow
our own fault or mere exaggerations. Honestly, this misperception is one that cuts me to the core." 9)Responding to Homophobia in the Christian Community by Rachel Held Evans "Sensing that the consideration of full personhood might sway the gay
marriage debate toward legalization, he suggests we should deliberately
move away from speaking of gay and lesbian people as multi-dimensional
human beings and instead reduce them to sex acts in order to make others
more repulsed by them. It is an unabashed attempt to single out,
stigmatize, and ostracize an entire group of people, which is the exact
opposite of what the gospel calls us to do." 10)The Onanism of "Teavangelical" Republicans by Fred Clark "Onan was dealt a more severe sentence because he was guilty of a more
severe crime. Him Whose Sandal Was Pulled Off was guilty of neglecting
his duty to provide for a childless widow. Onan was trying to weasel out
of that duty while at the same time exploiting the very woman he was duty-bound to help." Honorable Mention
"This week Ben is joined by his friend, and On Pop Theology contributor,
John Thornton Jr. for a conversation about stand-up comedy and the
economics of divinity school."
"I'm
currently lying in my bed staring up at the ceiling. The ceiling fan is
whirring on high and jostling slightly from side to side." Song of the Week
