simulacra-kklesia (part 13): If your church HAS to have a stage, put the Geek Squad on it

Some people may think my friend Andy is an antichrist.

That means he is to blame for covering up the organ,
introducing U2 songs into services,
and changing the name of First Baptist Church
to New Vintage


That's not only no antichrist,
it sounds pretty Christ to me.

But one feels for traditionalists from the church, whose motto was "oldest Church in California."

Note the new name, New Vintage, brilliantly reflects and names the best of both old and new.
See: "Rockin' the Gospel":

A new pastor and a wild new approach to the same
old gospel have revitalized a dying church into
'The church for people who don't like church'

By CECILIA M. VEGA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAt
link

Now that they have grown from 78 to 1000, they find it necessary to move to the Wells Fargo Center (see video interview of Andy here).

Even though I think our style is closer to planting a church in an bar when we reach 78(:

....Andy is the real deal.
And among a rare breed who can keep a megachurch real,
when , inevitably,

simulacra sneaks in.

It is subverted and stopped in the bathrooms and kitchens. Andy gets it:

The more serious praying, church members say, comes during the week in small group Bible studies that church leaders encourage all members to attend.

VomSteeg calls those sessions where members meet in groups of eight to discuss life problems and faith "the kitchen" because, "life changes happen in the kitchen," he said.
link

On vacation, we stooped in for a noon service at Valley Bible Fellowship, Bakersfield, one of the fastest growing churches in the county, recently in the news for being home to new convert Brian Head Welch, formerly of the bank KORN...and a really real guy (video interview here and Sept 25. 2008 blog here).


They have a sense of humor, see this this clip of President Bush At Valley Bible Fellowship,
or this tour of their bathroom.
Listening to Ron Vietti (founding and lead pastor) speak on the radio, you think he's maybe 25.

He's been married for 38 years, and started the church in 1974!
Has 10,000 members.
And really real.
I even heard him say (on the radio) the church does not have a budget.
He does not know what's in the checkbook.
But when they feel they are called to do something, the team gets together and prays/discerns.

!!

I almost drove off the road when I heard that
(as Bono did when he heard Moya).

Check out this video from Valley Bible, and see if you can guess my main issue with it,
and join me after.


I love that the guy is really real.
And I don't necessarily have a problem with the car stunt...

But I heard this beloved pastor use the "S" word:


stage!

What the ^%$# are we doing with stages in our church buildings?
You can have the dedicated area, but call it a stage?

Rememember one of the E-Bay atheist's observations after visiting churches of all styles and .

They all had stages, no matter how small the church was.
Whatsup with that, he wondered.

I am not sure churches like ours are immune; it's just the stage is de-centered.
James Gilmore:

As a business guy, I'm always cautious about taking any business thinking and applying it to the church. Don't take this stuff about the experience economy and make worship a staged experience. Consumerism has come to dominate contemporary evangelicalism. We're becoming a reflection of the world, instead of standing apart from the world. The church has moved to "spectacalism," which can become a false gospel.
…
All of life is being commodified. The church should be the one place that stands apart and says, We have nothing for sale. We only offer a free gift. The church ought to be the place where people see that there's something different about this place and this people from anything one experiences elsewhere in the commercial marketplace.
…
To me, the church should not aim to be "real" as an end. The church is there to proclaim truth. Trying to be hip and cool and real does a disservice to the church. We're not called to be successful. We're called to be obedient, even if they don't come. Ministry leaders should think more like Noah, of being part of a remnant that is faithful. If somebody doesn't find you objectionable, I wonder if you're preaching the full counsel of God.
…
To some extent, if people view the church as being fake, they will never enter. But the extent to which the church has become a business, with food courts, skate parks, basketball courts, etc.–I think people look at it and say, That's not really a church. That's fake.
…
If you truly see people, that comes off as real. If you love, you will automatically come off as real. You don't need to strive to be real. Do what the Bible says you should be doing: giving, serving, loving. Nowhere, nowhere, do we find the modern-day sense of authenticity in Scripture. But Scripture is replete with references to true and false. Real is telling people about their sin and their need for repentance and their need for a Savior. The church's function is to proclaim that which is unchanging.
link

…
But if there is a technique; a "take-home" and "how to" from Gilmore's article, it's this line below.

Fill in the blank, and then scroll down to see if you filled it with the way he did.

"I am convinced that_______ is a good way of engendering authenticity."

The blank?

"juxtaposition of opposites."

I love it.
That's what I have been saying all along this series:

• metaphor
• parable
• analogy
• paradox
• pun
• holy synesthesia
• splicing
• genre-crossing

That's really real.
That's pushing toward the unobvious.
That's translation as messianic and betrayal.
His example actually reminds me of some of the subversive "holy fool" means of simulacra we have discussed: Zoo TV, Adbusters, etc. But this time, it's The Geek Squad:

I am convinced that a juxtaposition of opposites is a good way of engendering authenticity. [Best Buy's] Geek Squad is one of my favorite examples. The Geek Squad works because they are cool geeks. Working with that tension comes across as real. The church has got it's own great set of polarities: belief and unbelief; salvation and damnation. We need to point them out and preach them explicitly, in tension.
…
Read my book to understand the culture that you're preaching to, not as an operating model for your church. I don't want a church or a pastor who doesn't care about culture. But at the same time, I don't want them to be so steeped in the culture that we lose the point of why are we really doing this.
link

I am going to go meet some of our local Geek Squadders, and see what I can learn about God and gospel.
I might even hire them to make an appearance on our church stage.