#Christian song im fine movie#

('True, God is everywhere,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned, “but it is not His will that you should look for God everywhere.') Yet without claiming all of culture as our own, we should allow cultural artifacts to speak in multidimensional ways. This doesn’t mean all of culture necessarily belongs to Christians. Perhaps it’s my affinity for these words from theologian Abraham Kuyper, which Lief himself quotes: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'' Yet Lief’s bottom-line declaration - that some parts of culture should be left entirely alone – still doesn’t sit well with me.

We try to be wary of such strategies here at Think Christian – a big challenge is to determine when we’re finding something theologically resonant in the culture at large and where we’re “stretching things.” I thank both Lief and Smith for offering a corrective to keep in mind whenever TC starts to lean toward the latter. Claiming to find a Christ figure in a teen’s favorite song is almost always a bad idea in fact, finding Christ figures in art is rarely useful to anyone. To a degree, I understand the trepidation expressed here, particularly when it comes to the area of youth ministry, which a good portion of Lief’s essay concerns. The result is too often a fixation on God-language in cultural artifacts or - worse - belabored allegorical readings which see ‘Christ figures’ everywhere.” It still tends to instrumentalize the arts as a conduit for a Gospel ‘message’ or ‘theistic’ propositions.

Expanding on Lief’s premise, Smith wrote then, “I'm not convinced this is the best hermeneutic frame for appreciating the arts. Last month on The Twelve, Smith praised Lief’s piece and referenced his own 2010 essay, which bemoaned cultural engagement that encourages us to 'find God' in popular culture. Smith, who regularly writes for the new (and very fine) blog The Twelve. Lief received a hearty endorsement from Calvin College’s James K.A. We don't need to control or explain everything, or have it all on our terms.” “We don't need to get them to come to church.

“We should leave Metallica alone and let them do their work,” Lief wrote.

#Christian song im fine movie#

Lief’s premise is that Christians too often approach culture - and popular culture in particular - as colonists, looking to claim it for their own means, means which have little to do with the true identity of the music, movie or television show at hand. Entitled “Leave Metallica Alone! Why Metallica Coming to Church Is a Bad Idea,” the essay is a response of sorts to the premise behind The Day Metallica Came to Church, a book on cultural engagement written by Think Christian contributor John Van Sloten. The phrase “just let them be” comes from a recent Perspectives essay by Dordt College religion professor Jason Lief. That’s the discouraging suggestion being made in certain faith-and-culture circles of late. When it comes to some elements of popular culture, should Christians “just let them be?”