“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:9-10).
How Postman Saw It
Neil Postman (1931-2003) was an educator and cultural critic who saw things more clearly than most. In the introduction of his highly acclaimed and criticized book Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, Postman demonstrated that he had his finger on the pulse of our culture in a way most others did not. This comparison between the pessimistic visions of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley is worth quoting at length:
“We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn’t, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves…Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares.
“But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another—slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.
“As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny ‘failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.’ In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
“This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.”
The Distraction Factor
While the Church has been pre-occupied with attempting to be “relevant,” it has missed a more important growing influence – entertainment and its capacity to distract us. As Postman suggested, we are amused to death.
Let’s be clear: the problem isn’t worship, music, skits, teaching, preaching, books, videos, movies and the like. The problem is the death of truth on the altar of amusement. Rather than the items on the above list serving their God-ordained purpose of clarifying scripture in relation to life, they are being reduced to a narcotic-like replacement for truth whose purpose is to serve our passions. When this sort of entertainment becomes a defining component of a church ministry, then depth is replaced with sensation, excellence with popularity, dialogue with embodied axe-grinding, and reflection with distraction. The same is true in society.
One need only look at current political dialogue and our fascination with celebrity to see Postman’s analysis in action.
Shall We Be Distracted, Too?
If Postman is correct then certain of the dominant “Christian” strategies will not do. The most common strategy is that of substitution, which consists of offering “Christian” versions of popular entertainment as replacements. If pop divas are popular, we’ll discover a “Christian” one. If hip-hop is popular, we’ll offer “Christian” hip-hop. If loud music is popular, we’ll crank up the volume of worship. If comedy is popular, we’ll make sure it’s found in our skits, teaching, and preaching.
There are several problems with this strategy. First, there is no such thing as “sanctified” distraction. We are to have hearts and minds that are active and engaged in God’s word as it relates to life and the world. Christian entertainment is as distracting from what really matters as is the entertainment of the world.
Second, if – according to Postman – entertainment dumbs us down, then Christian entertainment makes us dumbed-down Christians. If the pastor doesn’t entertain us, we conclude he has nothing worthy of our attention no matter his content. The “praise” songs need not be theologically sound or musically excellent, as long as they make us feel like we are worshipping (whatever that means). Speakers with nothing of depth to say and writers with nothing of depth to write are made megastar leaders despite the drivel they offer. The church’s prolonged use of entertainment has neutered our minds and trivialized our hearts.
Finally, making sinners feel good isn’t Christian. Pursuing happiness over holiness isn’t Christian. Promoting unconditional acceptance and approval isn’t Christian. Drawing crowds by means of entertainment to the weakening of their minds and the dulling of their hearts to the truth isn’t Christian. The Christian message is not the “the positive alternative,” but a two-edged sword that brings life through the cutting away of death.
A Way Forward
What does a distracted church need? In short, it needs “ears to hear” and “eyes to see.” But it also needs more preaching in the way of A.W. Tozer, Charles Finney, John Bunyan, and Jonathan Edwards. It needs more worship in the tradition of G. F. Handel’s Messiah – worship that leads us to think deeply about the greatness of God. It needs more portrayals of truth like J. R. R. Tolkein’s, The Lord of the Rings – where we graphically see the immense struggle and cost of doing what is right.
However, the responsibility lies not only on the shoulders of those who lead, but also on those who are led. Far too often, those of us who come to receive are, to borrow a phrase from C.S. Lewis, “far too easily pleased.” We will need to become better at watching, listening, reading, and avoiding what passes as truth but is actually distracting entertainment. Mindless reception has no place in Christian life and worship.
Christians talk often of revival. We wish for revived witnessing, praying, devotion, and piety. We ought also to wish for revived imagination, for renewed minds, for sanctified thinking so that we may love God and others better, approving and living what is excellent.