brians blah blah blahg

-How far is too far to go during service, in attempting to relate to those who are unchurched or unsaved?  In essence, this will be a “of” the world vs. “in” the world question.  An example would be some of our pop culture references during teaching.  A specific example that Jen and I have discussed would be one of your recent messages when your referenced a “Houswives” show, maybe Orange County?  I do not watch the show, and have only seen the commercials, so I have only a vague knowledge of it.  it came across as an endorsement of the show by you; i.e. you watch it.  Whether you do or not is not really the issue here.  What was perceived was that everyone would know the show, and it was ok to watch the show or others of the ilk.  I guess we don’t see where the line is at Cedar Ridge on some of this.  In all fairness, I love the media being brought in, and the modern feel of the services.  We just think that there should be some discernment on what is publicly portrayed from the “pulpit.”   Kind of the Philippians 4:8 thing.  If your pastor puts that stuff in his head, what is coming out?  Garbage in, garbage out.  Rom 12:2 tells us to renew our mind.  Actually, in tense, it is to be continually renewing our mind.  I suddenly sound like I am preaching, lol.  Or being self-righteous.  I’ve been accused of both   I know I am far from perfect in what I watch (or how much I watch), and I don’t want to be “that guy” at Cedar Ridge.  I just would like to hear your thoughts on this.  There are other examples that we have, but this gives you a good idea where I am coming from.

Once again, thank you for taking the time.

I think i got the question. “how far is too far?”

First off, I want to say sorry if my reference to housewives offended you. totally didnt mean to do that. and i don’t watch the show-ever. i completely dislike everything about it-even the fact that it is on and that anyone watches it. it seems to glorify self-absorbtion, greed, envy, conceit, deceit, sexual immorality, and more things that are clearly the opposite of a God honoring life. My intent in referencing it was negative not positive. I must not have conveyed that well. so please accept my apology.

I have to be honest with you though, i am a little flattered. this is going to sound weird and maybe relf righteous, but hang with me. I don’t really consider myself a “push the limit” kind of guy. and i rarely get someone that dials me up to say “I think you crossed the line with that one.” at least in terms of my teaching. so in a strange way, i approach it somewhat like snow skiing-if you are not falling down once in awhile, you’re not really skiing. Taking some risks that don’t pan out is good for me and us a church. failure is quitting or not trying. we are going to keep going and keep trying…and letting others take risks that don’t always pan out as well. we want that to be part of the culture at CRCC.

but none of that has really answered the question of “How far is too far?” and it is giving me an idea in addressing this. since you have these thoughts, then others do as well. you are just bold enough to ask them. in radio they say that 1 equals 300. depending on the market size, 1 caller represents the sentiment of 300 listeners. so this might be a great public discussion. it would be a good exercise for me, our leadership and anyone that wants to ride along to cover this in a blog format. so i am going to dial this into a series of blog entries. and you can hit me back with more questions and comments either way-on the blog or email me personally. I will pick it up and try to respond.

Cool with you?

Brian

first question on the blog

“how far is too far” what about referencing Housewives of Orange County in a sunday sermon?

Bruce

On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 10:39 AM, Brian Wright <brian.wright@cedarridge.cc> wrote:

bruce,

ask away. email is good by me. i am telling you up front we don’t have many policies and procedures.

we try to operate on

principles over procedure

and

people over policyRecently

recently, someone i respect and who is part of our church community asked me a great question. as i sat on the question a few days, the answer was and is bigger than me and my response. and the answer in many ways matters to our church family, leadership and even the movement of our church. so instead of firing off a response to settle the dust, close the file and shut the drawer… and make it go away, i decided to do what could be risky (which is ironic-you will see why soon enough). anyway, i decided to blog out the response for all to see, comment, contribute, and disagree. so what is the question, my friend asked…?

“how far is too far to go during [sunday] service, in attempting to relate to those who are unchurched or unsaved?  In essence, this will be a “of” the world vs. “in” the world question.  An example would be some of our pop culture references during teaching.  A specific example… would be one of your [brian's] recent messages when your referenced a “Houswives” show, maybe Orange County?  I do not watch the show, and have only seen the commercials, so I have only a vague knowledge of it.  it came across as an endorsement of the show by you; i.e. you watch it.  Whether you do or not is not really the issue here.  What was perceived was that everyone would know the show, and it was ok to watch the show or others of the ilk.  I guess I don’t see where the line is at Cedar Ridge on some of this.  In all fairness, I love the media being brought in, and the modern feel of the services.  I just think that there should be some discernment on what is publicly portrayed from the “pulpit.”   Kind of the Philippians 4:8 thing.  If your pastor puts that stuff in his head, what is coming out?  Garbage in, garbage out.  Rom 12:2 tells us to renew our mind.  Actually, in tense, it is to be continually renewing our mind.  I suddenly sound like I am preaching, lol.  Or being self-righteous.  I’ve been accused of both.  I know I am far from perfect in what I watch (or how much I watch), and I don’t want to be “that guy” at Cedar Ridge.  I just would like to hear your thoughts on this.”

great question from someone whose opinion and questions matter to me. glad you asked…really.

first off, I want to say sorry if my reference to housewives offended. totally didnt mean to do that. and i don’t watch the show-ever. i completely dislike everything about it-even the fact that it is on and that anyone out there watches it. housewives seems to glorify self-absorbtion, greed, envy, conceit, deceit, sexual immorality, and more things that are clearly the opposite of a God honoring life. my intent in referencing it was negative not positive. we can learn from positive example (what to do) and we can learn from negative example (what not to do) I must not have conveyed housewives reference as a negative example very well. so please accept my apology.

I have to be honest, though, i am a little flattered. this is going to sound weird and maybe narcissistic, but hang with me. I don’t really consider myself a “push the limit” kind of guy. and i rarely get someone that dials me up to say “I think you crossed the line with that one.” at least in terms of my teaching. so in a strange way, i approach it somewhat like snow skiing-if you are not falling down once in awhile, you’re not really skiing. Taking some risks that don’t pan out is a good thing. failure is quitting or not trying. we are going to keep going and keep trying…and letting others take risks that don’t always pan out as well. we want that to be part of the culture at CRCC.

Solomon said in Proverbs 3, “My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let then out of you sight; they will be life for you, an ornament around your neck. then you will go on your way in safety and your foot will not stumble; when you lie down you will not be afraid, when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.” and that verse combines the odd couple of being careful and living fearlessly.

it would be a good exercise for me, our leadership and anyone that wants to ride along to cover this in an open format.  so we will dial this into a series of blog entries. and if there are comments, I will pick it up and try to respond.

first part of the answer is: we want to be a place that operates on 1) principles over procedure and 2)people over policy. so that means that even when we are finished here, we will not likely type up a manual of what is acceptable and what isn’t.

but none of that has really answered the question of “how far is too far?”