Go watch ‘em
Not too long ago I posted a link to the parody of the Mac vs. PC ads: Christian vs. Christ-Follower. I want to know what you think. Clicking on the previous link will take you to the youTube stream of the first one. There are 6 in the series, and you can follow the leads to the rest of them from there.
October 28th, 2007 at 5:22 am
mixed feelings at best… where are our cutting edge artists , film makers
musicians, i feel like most christian artists ( not all ) are more like parrots then innovators . now if you will excuse me im going to iron my “gods gym” tee shirt b4 church pop a few testaments to make my breath smell good and pop on my rackets and drapes cd ( they sound just like marilyn manson but with out the funny after taste. ) peace and thanks
October 28th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
I get it, interesting idea, and um, hitting a nerve, I guess, but I think it gets a little boring. The thing that makes those Mac commercials so great is their brevity. (My friend John actually has the following message on his cell phone voicemail: “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Beep. PERFECT. I know, I should speak–Esther is the queen of lengthy paragraphs. Hey, whaddya want, the girl sits around getting myrrh treatments all day. Too much time on her hands.
Anyway, I really take issue with choosing a “new name”–ie “Christ Follower”, and the organization or whomever makes the videos called “Christian No More”. I think that’s confusing–to the church, to the world. I don’t think the answer is to distance ourselves, reinvent the wheel and come up with new terminology. Because you know what, I think it just becomes yet another level of “Christianese”. Nobody knows what it means anyway. It’s not better in any way that those lists that say “If you like Green Day, you’ll love Audio Adrenaline.” (PS, they both suck. No offense.) Another example: I’ll bet self-titled “apostles” and independent churches, without accountability, think they’re doing something great in the vein of “getting back to New Testament times” by thinking they’re planting something original and new and pure. But really what I think that kind of thing is, is elitism, separatism, etc. Maybe we want to take a label other than what the world gives us (i.e. “They were first called Christians at Antioch”–others chose that name for them), but I think the reason that some decline to call themselves Christians is because they don’t want “the culture” to confuse them with “bad Christians” like the Falwells and Robertsons of the world (PS, see Big Al’s latest post!). Myself, I spent so much time calling myself by *any* other name than a Christian, or Christ follower, that now that I belong to him and his people, I’m honored to be called by that name. Because I think that “Christ Follower” implies my will, my “choice” to follow. “Christian” has to do with my identity, both associated with Christ, and with his people.
I think we should be redefining “Christian” by how we live, openly following Christ without embarrassment, and making people think twice about *their* definitions.
October 28th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
I would heartily and happily have you visit this site that Big Al sent me one time:
http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/posters.htm
I’m not a huge fan of emergent church.
October 28th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
They’re stoopid.
October 28th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Jeff, I don’t know that there are many cutting edge artists (within Christendom) in the sense that they produce a cultural icon in itself worthy of parody. Actually, the people at Big Idea kinda did it with VeggieTales. I know I’m opening myself up to a whole bunch of rotten tomatoes being thrown my way, but the writers on Drawn Together (loath it) have parodied Larry and Bob.
Anyway… The mac ads are genius, love em or not. The best parody is when it does more than refer back to its source in some recognizable form. Alanis’ cover of the Black Eyed Peas actually comments upon the original through her parody, rather than uses it as a vehical for her own ends. These merely graft the intricasies of American Evangelical culture onto the recognizable form of the mac ads.
I chuckled when I saw them, especially because of the boiled down culture wars within our camp that the spots epitomized.
October 28th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Vesper, I’m tracking with you. I too have wrestled with the “new name game.” I guess I would rather be like our siblings at antioch who obeyed so radically that their neighbors found a new name to call them. I think this is the kernal of truth that spawns the Christ-Follower distinction, but this is a self imposed label. I don’t get to give myself a nick name, I earn or stumble into it.
“I think we should be redefining “Christian” by how we live, openly following Christ without embarrassment, and making people think twice about *their* definitions.” - Absolutely!
October 29th, 2007 at 5:06 am
I think there are some great artists out there who happen to be Christians. Unfortunately most of them are not given much of an audience by Christians. In my day - the 77’s, the Choir, and Adam Again made really excellent albums, but sold like two copies. There were others like Two-pound Planet who were great but never got out of the starting gate. They never had a very significant following among Christians. The artists that sold the most were usually the ones which were the most homogenized. (Not unlike popular music as a whole) Think about who are the biggest sellers - Brittany Spears, and a dozen other forgettable acts.
Today there are lots of guys out there - Our own Ben and Vesper to name just one example of people who are making really innovative original music. Sufjan Stevens, Josh Garrels, Cold War Kids, Huckleberry and I could name a lot more - but they either are not known, or are not “pop” enough to get a larger hearing. What needs to happen is a revolution that says no to the “Christian” record companies (most owned by larger secular companies), and demands these crappy Christian bookstores start carrying books that have some depth and music other than the muzak they presently sell. I would love to see a boycott of Christian bookstores - drive them al out of business as far as I am concerned. All right, easy scott you are getting carried away. Anyway… do you catch my drift?