Rolling Stone Goes Undercover with the Christian Fringe

I've been wanting to comment on the "Jesus Made Me Puke" story from Rolling Stone.  Fortunately, I don't have to because the blogosphere's two top Jared's have done my work for me and done a better job than I could have done.

In the latest of a burgeoning sub-genre of journalism called "undercover with the Christian right," Rolling Stone sent their man to get the scoop on one megachurch that is "representative" of the rest of evangelical Christianity.  Lo and behold, this reporter found a plethora of weirdness.

Jared Bridges rightly points out where the Rolling Stone reporter went wrong, but he acknowledges that the guy (unfortunately for evangelicals) got some things right.

When a writer for Rolling Stone can recognize that your preaching is more pop-psychology than biblical truth, you’re in trouble. Sadly, much of the evangelical landscape shares this wholesale adoption of talk-show therapy. It’s a practice the Apostle Paul might well refer to as conformity to the world.

Jared Wilson points out how the Rolling Stone writer rightly points out the troublesome privileging of jock culture in evangelical circles:

Some quotes, some thoughts . . .

One of the implicit promises of the church is that following its program will restore to you your vigor, confidence and assertiveness, effecting, among other things, a marked and obvious physical transformation from crippled lost soul to hearty vessel of God. That's one of the reasons that it's so important for the pastors to look healthy, lusty and lustrous — they're appearing as the "after" photo in the ongoing advertisement for the church wellness cure.

I found that observation really interesting, and generally true. Taibbi spends some time on the import of the macho, coulda-beena-contenda military/sportsman leaders, and it's an interesting perspective. As a guy who grew up in a youth ministry culture that propped up all manner of Christian ex-athletes, I always wondered if our youth ministers even cared that they were implicitly favoring jock culture with these endorsements, that many (most?) kids don't care that Jesus helped third string quaterback Brock Throwmeister get over losing that big game that one time.

My two comments are that unfortunately, some of what the article says is right and unfortunately, with this being John Hagee's church, it is representative of a significant minority in evangelicaldom.

My second comments is that Hagee, his followers and their ilk are still a minority in evangelicaldom and this article once again proves the prescience of James Davidson Hunter in his epochal work - Culture Wars.  Hunter points out that the culture wars are, by and large, fought by extremists on both sides, or I should say it is the extremists who get noticed by the press.  While it is true that not all who take a side are extremists, it is equally true that only the extremists get noticed by the press.

I wish these folks would send an undercover journalist to follow the folks at one of the ordinary, run of the mill, smallish churches of America, like mine.  And I wish they would follow the folks for a few days in their normal everyday lives.  What they would find is that most evangelical Christendom is made up of ordinary people, living ordinary lives, doing their best and trying to please God in the midst of it.  I have no doubt a reporter would probably uncover some sin and some greatness, but for the most part he wouldn't uncover much weirdness.  Then again, I guess such a story would probably be too boring to sell.

Comments

[Headless Unicorn Guy]

Your quotes, my thoughts . . .

"One of the implicit promises of the church is that following its program will restore to you your vigor.... That's one of the reasons that it's so important for the pastors to look healthy, lusty and lustrous — they're appearing as the "after" photo in the ongoing advertisement for the church wellness cure."

I believe either you or Totem to Temple coined the term "Shiny Happy Christians (TM)" for this kind of makeover.

"Taibbi spends some time on the import of the macho, coulda-beena-contenda military/sportsman leaders, and it's an interesting perspective. As a guy who grew up in a youth ministry culture that propped up all manner of Christian ex-athletes..."

I got my fill of that in high school. I was the skinny kid genius that always got stomped on. Need I say more?

And now we have Just Like Al Bundy from /Married With Children/ ("I was a football star in high school..."), except CHRISTIAN? (Why not the Christian Celebrity du jour -- Just like Paris Hilton, except CHRISTIAN!) If there's a church with a place for my kind, it isn't here.