Categories: uncategorized
Date: 12 February 2007 08:28:57
I opened my e-mail this morning to find details of Wow Factor , a talent show being run by a local(ish) church.
Now I'm all for the idea of (i) the church being culturally relevant and (ii) the church encouraging and supporting the arts, but there is something with this that somehow does not sit easy with me.
I think the unease I have is two fold. Firstly, that even through the cheesy name it is buying into the whole cult of celebrity thing going on at the moment and as Christians I think we should be promoting the idea that you don't use talent just to compete but rather creative talent is a gift given (by God) to be used for the wider community. That's not saying that those who work in the arts or are producing a product which inevitably involves overheads should not be renumerated accordingly for their efforts; their product and livelihoods should be valued and provided for in the same way as all others. Rather what I am saying is we should somehow be encouraging co-operation rather than competition within our churches. Perhaps through things like community arts projects where churches work with other partners within the community in order to develop talent or put on a community production or something. I don't know but buying into the X factor / Pop Idol culture is not something I think we should be encouraging our young people, particularly, to do.
Secondly, I am uneasy that this is backdoor evangelism dressed up as something else. I think using church buildings in a range of ways and opening them up to the community is vital and should be encouraged. I also think it is important for the wider community to mix with Christians and see we are normal & so then have the chance to explore in their own way and at their own pace what we might involve. However, with this type of activity I wonder is the aim to covertly entice them in to then convert them, in a similar way to the child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?