2005 Summer - Higher Things Magazine (with Bible Studies)

By Elizabeth Meckler

This world moves at a fast pace. One day your Tommy Hilfiger jeans are in, the next day they’re out. It seems like there’s always a new trend in the media; things are always changing. In light of all this change, we look to Christianity for a firm foundation. But lately it seems like popular Christianity is just as trenddriven as secular pop culture.

One big trend over the last fifteen years has been “See You at the Pole,” an annual prayer meeting around school’s flagpoles. Students gather at their high schools to pray for their friends, schools, and communities. There’s nothing wrong with praying for these things. In fact, we should all pray for them!

One of the problems with “See You at the Pole” is that it has become the fashionable thing to do. It is now about grandstanding and making a statement to the media rather than praying. When you go to the website, you find t-shirts, wristbands and “pole passes” for sale. You also find a section that’s specifically for journalists, complete with a history of the event and pictures of the praying students to be used in articles. Perhaps this was never the original intent of the Texan students who first prayed for their schools one night in 1990. But however you look at it, it’s not just about prayer anymore. It’s about doing the “in” thing, making a splash in the media, wearing the right merchandise.

One trend that seems to have lost its popularity is the WWJD bracelet. These bracelets, which stand for “What Would Jesus Do?,” were huge when I was in high school. It seemed like everyone had one, including me. But what does this really mean? The bracelets (and key chains and necklaces, etc.) were meant to remind the wearer to think about every action and how Jesus would act in that situation.This is a pretty hefty task. Jesus, after all, lived a perfect life. How can you or I possibly live up to that requirement? We can’t! That bracelet didn’t motivate me; it just made me feel crushed by the law. I couldn’t live up to its standards. I don’t think anyone wears WWJD bracelets anymore; they’ve been replaced with accessories from The Passion.

Christian music has its ebbs and flows as well. One major trend has been modern praise and worship songs. Some of these songs are doctrinally sound and good, but some of them are fluff and stuff, the same seven words eleven times over. Yet many churches have rushed to abandon traditional liturgies and hymns and replace them with praise and worship bands, multimedia video screens, and sometimes poorly written “updated” liturgies. However, according to one of the latest issues of CCM Magazine, modern worship is out and traditional hymns are back in, so I guess those churches are out of style again.

Like secular pop culture, pop Christianity is awfully fickle. In the scramble to find the next best trend, the real concern of the Church—the Gospel of Jesus Christ—can get lost.This shouldn’t be surprising though. As human beings, we naturally live in a world of constant change. Fashion, music, movies, life, death—everything changes. And sometimes we run after the change, seeking the next thing that will make us comfortable or cool. Sometimes change leaves us feeling tossed on a stormy sea, alone and afraid. In both of these situations, the Gospel can get lost. But thanks be to God! He has given us more than a trend; He has given us His Son to die for us. By His death, Jesus forgives us for seeking after the wrong things. He focuses our attention on an unchanging fact: His death and resurrection. We can look to that and cling to it. In it we find comfort in a changing world. The writer of Hebrews declares, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). We can rest assured that even when life is constantly changing, Jesus is unchanging.

By His death and resurrection, He has given us life, salvation, and forgiveness of sins. These gifts do not pass away with passing trends, but remain for those who have faith.

God has also given us the best “accessories” through which He imparts His forgiveness, gives us faith and strengthens it, and reassures us that He is unchanging. They are the means of grace: the Word and Sacraments. The Lord feeds us daily through His Word through which the Holy Spirit imparts the Gospel to us. In baptism, God places His seal upon us, making us His. We are reminded of this unchanging fact every Sunday when the pastor speaks the words of the Invocation, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Lastly, God gives us Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion, once again giving us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. These are unchanging gifts from God. They remind us that in a world of change only one thing remains the same: God and His unfailing love for us in Christ Jesus.

Elizabeth Meckler is a member at St. Paul’s Lutheran Chapel in Iowa City, IA. She is a deaconess student in the graduate program at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Her email address is elizabeth.c.meckler@gmail.com.