If you can’t beat ‘em… make fun of their hair
I had the privilege to perform at the Willow Creek Arts Conference this year. I have to say that it was a pretty amazing event, having 5,000 Christian artists from round the world worshiping in one place. It was obvious that God is once again moving through the arts in the church.
One session on Wednesday Afternoon, Dan Kimball spoke for about 20 minutes on his new book, followed by a group panel discussing issues of the day. The goal was to address hard issues of our day, like the rising topic of homosexuality, increasing ethnic diversity, and the hot topic of 18 – 30 year olds in the church (or lack there of).
Many of the watchdoggie blogs have jumped on a video that was meant to be an “after thought†on the session that just happened. The problem is that these writers missed the 90 minute conversation and presentation that went on before the video was filmed. In fact, the clip was meant to be a “bonus†to the conference for those that attended the event. Once again, the context in which this video was filmed was not addressed or even known.
The article written at one of these sites had little to no content on the film. Really, the only substantial  comment made about Dan Kimball was the following
One humorous note about this clip of Kimball. He tells us with a straight face that church should be about its mission, not trends. Apparently that doesn’t apply to emerging hairstyles.
Once again, if you can’t beat ‘em, jut make fun of how they look, right?
One writer at CRN wrote this strong statement:
Please understand that there is an impassible chasm between men like me who proclaim the Gospel to unbelievers and men like Dan Kimball who want to talk about it with them…. Men and women, we have now reached the point where either men like Charles Spurgeon and Dr. John MacArthur are Christians or people like Rob Bell and Erwin McManus, both leaders in the neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church, are.
With this attempt to let the truth be known, no writer at the watchdoggie site bothered to add this quote from the clip to their article from Dan Kimball
But you can’t argue against the teaching of Jesus.. and that should be why we want to change, not just because this is trendy or this is trendy.
2 Comments(+Add)
Boy, I saw that too. If we’re going to start talking about hairstyles, I don’t think a group of middle-aged men with comb-overs should start throwing stones.
Seriously though, where do people like the author of that second comment get the idea that the Gospel can only be presented as one-sided shouting match. I seriously thank God that I’m a Christian now, because if I weren’t, meeting people like that would really discourage me from becoming one. I know that’s a strong statement, but I honestly feel attitudes like that prevent people from entering the Kingdom.
I guess Jesus should not have had a discussion with Nicodemus then; I guess He should have just preached at him and sent him on his way.
I think one reason people are against discussion is that they are insecure. Here’s one example that comes to mind. My wife is finishing up her PhD in microbiology, and she has tried to have a few discussions with Christians about the whole evolution/creation thing. If she suggests that evolution could possibly still fit within the Biblical narrative, many Christian will just ignore any evidence she suggests. They don’t want to see it or hear about it. They think if they accept it, their whole belif system will crumble. I think often when people are most dogmatic about a belief, to the point of not even talking about it, it reveals an inherent weakness in their belief system.
I agree with you regarding the one-sided, shouting preventing people from accepting Christ. It smells of legalism.
I tried to have a dialogue with the previous writer. I stayed somewhat ambiguous to see how he would respond. Boy, I got lambasted, to the point of being told I stand for nothing. I guess I hit a nerve by simply asking questions. These “Scholars†with their haughty attitudes will have to answer to God on day. The only people Jesus was harsh to were the legalistic Pharisees.
1 Peter 5:5-7
5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.