RELEVANT 50 | March/April 2011 by RELEVANT Media Group

Searching for the right Word shouldn’t be so difficult. Many readers struggle to understand the differences between Bible translations, but for hundreds of millions, there’s one that’s just right — the New International Version. The NIV is the clear favorite because it’s easy to understand, yet rich with the detail found in the original Scripture. Visit theNIVBible.com today for more information.

Come Closer

BE FILLED

BASIC.HOLYFRANCIS SPIRIT CHAN The BASIC film series challenges Christians to be the church described in Scripture. In Holy Spirit, Francis Chan confronts the idea that the church today is neither “super” nor “natural.” What would the church look like if we just let go and let the Holy Spirit lead? Could being filled with the Spirit lead to life as He intended? What is church? You are church. I am church. We are church.

AVAILABLE MARCH 2011 BASICSERIES.COM

IS IT

TO O L AT E ? Charles Kimball addresses the urgent global problem of the interplay between Abrahamic religions and politics to answer the question, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Is it too late to change course?â&#x20AC;?

GOD. LIFE. PROGRESSIVE CULTURE. RELEVANT magazine March/April 2011, Issue 50 Just 50 more issues until Willard Scott wishes us a happy 100th birthday! EDITOR, PUBLISHER & CEO Cameron Strang > cameron@relevantmediagroup.com

Editorial Director | Roxanne Wieman > roxanne@relevantmediagroup.com Associate Editor | Ashley Emert > ashley@relevantmediagroup.com Associate Editor | Ryan Hamm > ryan@relevantmediagroup.com Editorial Assistant | Alyce Gilligan > alyce@relevantmediagroup.com Contributing Editor | Josh Loveless > joshl@relevantmediagroup.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: John Brandon, CJ Casciotta, Dan Gibson, Adam and Chrissy Jeske, David Johnson, Jake and Melissa Kircher, Carl Kozlowski, Brett McCracken, Jessica Misener, John Pattison, David Roark, Ron Sider, Sara Sterley, Laura Studarus, Matthew Paul Turner, Pete Wilson Design Director | Amy Duty > amy@relevantmediagroup.com Senior Designer | Charles Russo > charles@relevantmediagroup.com Senior Marketing Designer | Jesse Penico > jesse@relevantmediagroup.com CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Jimmy Bender, Jeremy Cowart, Autumn de Wilde, DuckDuck Collective, Anne Fishbein, Tim Freccia, Nathan Grubbs, Polina Osherov, Brent Van Auken Chief Marketing & Finance Officer | Josh Babyar > josh@relevantmediagroup.com Advertising Manager | Michael Romero > michael@relevantmediagroup.com Director of Channel Development | Philip Self > philip@relevantmediagroup.com Promotions and Campaigns Manager | Sarahbeth Wesley > sarahbeth@relevantmediagroup.com Circulation Coordinator | Rachel Gittens > rachel@relevantmediagroup.com Marketing Assistant | Richard Butcher > richard@relevantmediagroup.com Chief Innovation Officer | Chris Miyata > chris@relevantmediagroup.com Audio/Video Producer | Chad Michael Snavely > chad@relevantmediagroup.com Systems Administrator | Josh Strohm > joshs@relevantmediagroup.com Web Developer | David Barratt > david@relevantmediagroup.com Communications Manager & Exec. Assistant | Theresa Dobritch > theresa@relevantmediagroup.com Project Manager | Austin Sailsbury > austin@relevantmediagroup.com Finance Manager | Maya Strang > mstrang@relevantmediagroup.com FOR ADVERTISING INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT Michael Romero (407) 660-1411 x 125

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RELEVANT Issue #50 Mar/Apr 2011 (ISSN: 1543-317X) is published 6 times a year in January, March, May, July, September and November for $14.95 per year by RELEVANT Media Group, Inc., 1220 Alden Road, Orlando, FL 32803. Periodicals postage paid at Orlando, FL, and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RELEVANT magazine, P.O. Box 11687, St. Paul, MN 55111-9913.

CONTENTS ISSUE 50 MAR_APR 2011 / RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

16 First Word 18 Letters 24 Slices 40 REJECT APATHY: Clothe Your Neighbor as Yourself 42 WORLDVIEW: Coming (Back) to America 44 DEEPER WALK: Stuck in Saturday 46 The Drop Playdough, Liz Janes, The City Harmonic

52 An Open Letter to This Generation from Ron Sider

60 The Hunt for Easter Looking for meaning amidst the kitsch

64 Jesus Culture 68 Distorting Love How media is corrupting our view of romance, relationships and sexuality

72 2011 New Music Guide The return of the legends, the rise of the giants and lots of yacht rock

78 David Sedaris 82 The Vanishing Church Body A growing number of young Christians are leaving the Church, but keeping the faith

88 50 Ideas That Changed Everything (At least in the last eight years) 90 CULTURE

94 FAITH

102 LIFE

106 SOCIAL JUSTICE

98 POLITICS

114 Recommends

T HE

DECEMBERIS T S

IT’S NOT ABOUT

RELIGION

“I’m speechless in trying to describe this book. I think this book will change people’s lives, and more—it can save lives, in the many senses of that word.” —Brian McLaren, Best-selling Author

New York City pastor Selmanovic synthesizes his upbringing in a Muslim-atheist household and his own conversion to Christianity to create this concise and entertaining interfaith memoir. Selmanovic imagines our religions becoming not walls we hide behind, but bridges over which we travel to find God in the other.

Full of beautiful, heart-wrenching, and hilarious stories, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details one man’s opportunity to edit his life as if he were a character in a movie. Years after writing a best-

selling memoir, Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller went into a funk and spent months sleeping in and avoiding his publisher. One story had ended, and Don was unsure how to start another.

But he gets rescued by two movie producers who want to make a movie based on his memoir. When they start fictionalizing Don’s life for film—changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative—the real-life Don starts a Now journey to edit his actual life into a better story. Available in A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details that PAPERBACK journey and challenges readers to reconsider what they strive for in life. It shows how to get a second chance at life the first time around.

WORSHIP, THEOLOGY & THE ARTS

Having a hard time choosing between call to ministry and drive to create art? At Fuller’s Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts we believe that worship informed by the arts and theology can revitalize both church and culture. Art can be ministry. Worship music requires sound theology as well as artistic excellence. Theology and culture should be intimately intertwined. Sound intriguing? Why not join our conversations? THEOLOGY I PSYCHOLOGY I INTERCULTURAL STUDIES

Pasadena • Colorado • Texas • Northern California Southwest • Northwest • California Coast • Online

For more information visit fuller.edu/emphasis

The Brehm Center invites passionate students to join visiting scholars, world-class artists, and our expert faculty to study the theories and practices of artistic ministries. Fuller offers areas of emphasis in: ■ Worship Music Minstry ■ Theology and the Arts ■ Worship, Theology, and the Arts

50/50 VISION BY CAMERON STRANG

16 / RELEVANT_JAN/FEB 11

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

S YOU MAY have noticed by the not-so-subtle “OUR 50th ISSUE” tag on the cover, this edition marks somewhat of a milestone for RELEVANT. Sure, eight years may not have built very many pyramids, or carved a very big swath of the Grand Canyon, but when you’re part of a rapidly changing generational movement, a lot can happen in that short time. When RELEVANT first rolled off the presses eight years ago, I had no idea what was in store. Our generation was

hungry for God —but increasingly beyond a fad. A resolute commitment disenfranchised with Christianity-as- to Christ-centered, lifelong social usual. We saw the need for a magazine engagement is now the norm. It’s a that would give voice to what God was defining characteristic of this generadoing in and through our generation, tion. (And it’s why we’re launching a one that reflected and challenged the new magazine to go way deeper in this shifting worldview of our genera- area, REJECT APATHY, this month. tion. We set out to make something Check out www.RejectApathy.com.) that didn’t exist—and many people My team and I are honored to get to thought wouldn’t work. see and be part of what God is doing Back then, RELEVANT was deemed in and through this generation. In edgy simply because we had the gall to just eight years, petty arguments like talk about this generation’s real-life whether Christians can listen to secuissues and interests—including look- lar music have largely been set aside, ing thoughtfully at mainstream cul- and now big questions are being asked ture—without blindly denouncing and world-changing impact is being everything outside the Christian sub- passionately pursued. culture. Back then, the sacred and secLiving intentional, selfless lives isn’t ular were battle lines, but we saw God cool. It isn’t easy, and it isn’t something moving in culture like never before, that sells magazines. But it’s what Jesus and someone needed to talk about it. talked about, and at its core, it’s what Groups like P.O.D., Sixpence None our magazine is about, too. the Richer, The Fray, Switchfoot and Our generation is on the cusp of others were having huge impact seeing God do amazing things. There making music for mainstream audi- is a brewing prayer and worship ences while still holding on to their revival poised to explode. There is a Christian faith. That opened the door commitment to simplicity and subfor other artists like Kings of Leon and stance that will change the course of Lauryn Hill to openly explore their how we relate, live and communicate. own faith, doubt and struggles in their There is a global connectedness that music. Things were changing. will forever change politics, business And as entertainment started to and the Church. take this more substantive turn, the Has our generation made mistakes? conversation also started to shift to Absolutely. We probably fall victim to social justice. Bono made caring about compromise in the name of “grace” Africa cool early in the last decade, and more than we should; we probably he unabashedly courted Christians in haven’t taken the Church seriously his crusade. enough; and we probably get too cyniThe problem was, social justice cal at times. But as we explore in our quickly became trendy. Too trendy. cover story—“50 Ideas That Changed At RELEVANT, we knew if we were Everything” on pg. 60—you’ll see going to talk about social justice and those things don’t define this generaselfless living the right way, it couldn’t tion. Passion does. Innovation does. be just because it was cool. So we Authenticity, hope and conviction do. waited a while, allowed for the faddy Our generation is giving itself to dust to settle and for people to start change the world. We’re relentless. We losing interest (which they always see things for how they can be rather do). Then, with clear eyes, than how they are. I we started looking at what hope we never lose that. a long-term, sustainable So where do we go view of social justice should from here? Much like be. If it’s not just a tempothe day the first issue of rary interest, how will this RELEVANT rolled off really reshape our worldthe press, I think I know, CAMERON STRANG is the views, and how should but I really have no idea. founder and CEO we engage these issues the But if it’s anything of RELEVANT. right way? like the last eight years, Connect with him on Twitter @ In the last few years, our I’m on board. The best cameronstrang generation’s commitment is, without question, yet or Facebook.com/ cameronstrang. to social justice has gone far to come.

[FIRST WORD]

FIRST WORD

ACCREDITED DEGREE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY EXPERIENCE

JRLC

JAMES RIVER LEADERSHIP COLLEGE JRLC.COM PH. 417 581 5433

[LETTERS]

LETTERS You Write. We Respond. [C OMMEN T S , C ONCERN S , S M A R T REM A RK S] W RI T E U S AT F EEDB A C K@REL E VA N T M A G A Z INE .C OM OR FA C EB OOK .C OM / REL E VA N T.

JAN/FEB 2011

COLD WAR KIDS There’s a lot of tension for Christians who want to be respected in their fields and not be trapped by any kind of preconceived stereotypes [“No More Secrets for the Cold War Kids,” Jan/Feb 11]. Bravo to the Cold War Kids for engaging each part of the journey and pursuing great music and authenticity. —CHRIS MILLS / Birmingham, UK

YAY HASELTINE ...

I really enjoyed the “Can Offensive Art be Christian?” [Jan/Feb 11]. It seems there is a hidden balance between resisting temptations and loving the people that are around. We make too many excuses for ourselves not to love people like we are loved. The human experience is not usually a pretty one, but Jesus makes the offer to each of us.

—Chelsea Kufalk / Eau Claire, WI

... BOO HASELTINE.

RELEVANT demographic [“A Realistic Guide to Love,” Jan/Feb 11]. I have been married 11 years and am in my mid-30s. This article swelled with wisdom, balance, grace and truth. Well done and thank you.

—Josh Bleeker / Dallas, TX

A WISE DECISION

believing Jesus is my savior comes with some guidelines. That means I have to believe all of the Bible and try my best to practice it. Just because I say I believe isn’t a free ticket in.

—Tracy Gof / North Tonawanda, NY

GET OFF MY L AWN!

I suggest you make the text for This year, my New Year’s resolu- your articles darker. People come tion has been to simplify my life, to your magazine for content. especially financially. As a part Don’t hide it. of this, I have canceled subscrip- —Ryo Chiba / Los Angeles, CA tions to a myriad of magazines and services. I was consider- Point taken. We’ve actually got a ing allowing my subscription to new font, and think it reads well. What do you think? RELEVANT to expire, but the January/February issue con- RE: THE TEA PART Y ... vinced me that the money spent We twentysomething Christians was worthwhile. grew up hearing a confusing mix

18 / RELEVANT_MAR/APR 11

Be sure to connect with us/vent at Twitter.com/ RELEVANTmag. Here is some of your mag scuttlebutt: seanseanerson: “One Day in the Slum” just changed something in me ... Possibly even my life ... Thank you. dforrest: @RELEVANTmag made my day! I’ve had Cold War Kids on replay for the last 2 months & I have a crush on James Franco. #secretsrevealed lindsaycorrin: Newly scattered throughout @RELEVANTmag are QR codes that I scan w/ my phone which link me to related audio/video online. I feel gluttonous. ithinkyoureneat: Thanks, @RELEVANTmag, for the Ra Ra Riot recommendation. It’s challenging Belle & Sebastian’s stranglehold over my iTunes selection. LucyHannah88: @RELEVANTmag has challenged & inspired me yet again. Jeff Cook’s article - brilliant. Dan Haseltine’s - brilliant. @RELEVANTmag brilliant. RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Dan needs to consider the influence he wields as a popular Christian singer before he flushes the Bible down the toilet in the name of “art.” Aren’t we supposed to be defending the truth of the Gospel against the assaults of a world whose goal is —David Allen / Columbus, OH of hatred, judgment, genuine to corrupt it? concern and love from the reli—Billy McGhee / Chattanooga, TN BELIEF AND DOUBT? I’m a bit concerned with the gious right, so I think many of us decided to protect our faith from Dan’s article got a lot of reaction, recent article written by Rachel politics altogether. We have seen and we are glad for the debate. Held Evans [“Why Faith Needs the damage that the religious right Dan is also too smart to flush the Doubt,” Jan/Feb 11]. The topic is Bible down the toilet. It would a good one, but some comments did to the American church, all in likely clog up any drain, and are not truthful if we hold the the name of protecting it. We all plumbers are expensive. Bible as truth; they are not up for have friends who have been cominterpretation. Admitting and pletely shut off to Christ’s message REALISTIC, INDEED because they have seen that mesOf all the articles you have pubsage used for worldly gain. —Rebecca Dobyns / Austin, TX lished, this may be one of the most important ones for the

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CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF A GENERATION DESPERATELY PURSUING GOD

_NO EMPTY PRAYERS _NO SINGING LIES _NO TOKEN VOWS

INFO + REGISTER \\ DESPERATIONONLINE.COM

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JUNE 22-24 \\ JULY 13-15

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DESPERATION BAND

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POCKET FULL OF ROCKS

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CELEBRATING 50 ISSUES

DON’T MISS THE NEXT 50 WWW.RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM/SUBSCRIBE

[SLICES]

SLICES

A BIMONTHLY LOOK AT LIFE, FAITH & CULTURE

photo: Tim Freccia

GEORGE CLOONEY WON’T LET YOU OVERLOOK SUDAN AGAIN The actor/activist’s new effort to keep attention on the volatile region

24 / RELEVANT_MAR/APR 11

EYES ON SUDAN Though Clooney healed quickly from malaria, it is still a deadly disease in Sudan. Here are some other issues facing the country: • More than half of the people in Sudan do not have access to clean water. • 200,000 people across Southern Sudan left their homes last year because of deadly conflicts. • Only 1 in 15 people have access to proper sanitation, increasing the spread of water-borne illnesses. • Nearly 80 percent of the country is illiterate. • More than half live below the poverty line—less than $1 a day.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

HEN GEORGE CLOONEY isn’t sure that doesn’t happen with Sudan. The Satellite appearing on the big screen, he’s Sentinel Project collects press releases, reports and speaking out on social issues—and updates a blog with news about Sudan, as well as now he’s set his sights on Sudan. The encourages people to take action. The site is a colregion was engaged in a decades-long war until laboration between Not on Our Watch, Google, 2005, when a peace agreement granted Southern the Enough Project, the United Nations UNITAR Sudan autonomy for six years. Well, it’s now six Operational Satellite Applications Programme years later, and a controversial vote earlier this year (UNOSAT), the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative could plunge the country into renewed turmoil: In and Trellon, LLC. January, Southern Sudan voted on a referendum to Returning to the States after a trip to Sudan earestablish its independence. Even before lier this year, Clooney managed to bring the votes were tallied, rebel soldiers from attention to another issue in the country Darfur had begun launching attacks on when he contracted malaria during his Sudan’s army. visit. The actor recovered quickly from Clooney’s newest endeavor, Satellite the life-threatening disease. Sentinel, is a website created to help the In a letter on the site from Clooney Watch world keep an eye on Sudan and to ensure and John Prendergast, co-founder of such violence stays at a minimum. Citing Clooney discusses the Enough Project, they write: “We the urgency of the that many in the developed world were conflict in Sudan were late to Rwanda. We were late to the unaware of other humanitarian crises on Piers Morgan Congo. We were late to Darfur. There is until afterward, the actor’s goal is to make no time to wait.” Tonight.

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE -GHANDI

[SLICES]

FAITH

THE RELIGIONS OF CONGRESS The 112th Congress was seated in early January. Here’s a look at its religious makeup:

CHRISTIAN

468 members The number of Christians (including Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox and other Christian) is the highest in the new Congress by far.

JEWISH

39 members Even though the United States only has a 2% Jewish population, approximately 7.5% of Congress members identify as Jewish.

EXTREME MAKEOVER: BIBLE EDITION

MORMON

An all-new NIV seeks to avoid (and address) controversy

15 members Though some might think they are only from Utah, there are Mormon members of Congress from New Mexico, Idaho, Nevada and Utah.

N MARCH 2011, Biblica will and gender-neutral terms (using “human” release the updated edition of instead of “man” or “brothers and sisters” the New International Version. instead of “brothers”), which some people The most widely read translation found too far-reaching. of the Bible in the world, the NIV was first The new version will keep some of the released in 1978 and is meant to be TNIV’s changes, get rid of some and a balance between formal and functake a third route of translation in tional equivalence (with an emphasis other passages. It remains to be seen on thought-for-thought translation, what kind of response the translabut no freer than necessary). tion will garner. Will it be accepted The 2011 edition seeks to steer by people who accused the TNIV of away from the controversy over the “watering down” Scripture? And will Read last update, 2005’s TNIV. it be accepted by those who appreciThe new The TNIV came under fire for ated the more inclusive language of version of its translation of gender-specific the TNIV? the NIV.

UNAFFILIATED

Read John 13:1-17

Tuesday

Read John 13:21-38

What can you learn from Christ’s actions toward Judas?

Good Friday

Read Luke 22-23

Reflect on the sacrifice of Christ and what it means for humanity.

Wednesday

Mark 14:10-12

Has there ever been a time when you’ve wanted to “betray” Jesus?

Holy Saturday Read Matthew 27:57-66

Reflect on how the disciples must have been feeling.

APRIL

Thursday

APRIL

What challenge is offered by Mary’s example?

How can you be a better servant to those around you this year?

26 / RELEVANT_MAR/APR 11

Read John 12:1-9

APRIL

Monday

Easter Sunday John 20

Thank God for sending His son and for reconciling you to Himself.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

APRIL

Reflect on why Jesus is deserving of our praise and is our King.

APRIL

Read Matthew 21:1-11

APRIL

Palm Sunday

Despite a recent poll suggesting that 16% of Americans have no religious affiliation, there are no members of Congress who say they aren’t religious.

SOURCE: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

8 DEVOTIONS FOR HOLY WEEK 17

0 members

REBEL AGAINST YOUR OWN INDIFFERENCE —BONO

REJECT APATHY

GENOCIDE IN NEW YORK CITY

1 BRONX:

of pregnancies aborted. Total Abortions: 20,221 Total Viable Pregnancies: 42,078 Total Births: 21,857

Mind-boggling new stats from the Big Apple have outraged many

CCORDING TO new statistics released by New York City’s government, a staggering 41 percent of all pregnancies in NYC end in abortion. Even more astounding: Among African-Americans, the percentage of unborn babies that are aborted goes up to 59.8 percent (ratios among other races ranged from 20.4 percent for non-Hispanic Whites to 41.3 percent for Hispanics and 22.7 percent for Asians). Remarkably, 41 percent is actually a decrease from the 46 percent recorded in the city only 12 years ago. Naturally, these new figures are setting off a fire storm between pro-life activists and pro-choice advocates. Planned Parenthood is calling for increased education and wider use of contraception, while the Roman Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan has called the figures “chilling” and points out that 30 years of contraception education haven’t reduced the abortion numbers by much. New York City’s numbers may seem shocking, but what about the rest of America? The national abortion ratio, while nowhere near the Big Apple’s, was at 23 percent in 2005, according to the most recent numbers. That means more than one out of five babies, 1.2 million in all, were aborted that year.

STATEN ISLAND: of pregnancies aborted. Total Abortions: 2,730 Total Viable Pregnancies: 8,437 Total Births: 5,707

48%

[SLICES]

[ T H E U G LY T RU T H ]

% 39 QUEENS: of pregnancies aborted. Total Abortions: 17,386 Total Viable Pregnancies: 44,760 Total Births: 27,374

32%

MISC Cocoa buyers have stopped buying cocoa from Cote d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) until the incumbent steps down and allows the presidentelect to take office …

% 38 MANHATTAN: 4

of pregnancies aborted. Total Abortions: 12,269 Total Viable Pregnancies: 32,280 Total Births: 20,011

28 / RELEVANT_MAR/APR 11

Bethany Christian Services National

Local offices across the U.S.

Catholic Charities

New York, NY Offers maternity services.

5 BROOKLYN: of pregnancies aborted. Total Abortions: 27,229 Total Viable Pregnancies: 69,032 Total Births: 41,803

Midtown Pregnancy Support Center New York, NY

Help for working women.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

ORGANIZATIONS OFFERING HELP

39%

REVOLUTION BEGINS WITH THE SELF, IN THE SELF.

—TONI CADE BAMBARA

[SLICES]

[ SUFJAN ALERT ]

CULTURE

[BY C ARL KOZLOWSKI]

SUFJAN TRIES TO

FIND HIS DAD— AND FILMS IT A new documentary (well, newish ... it was filmed in 2006) features Sufjan Stevens and brother Marzuki traveling back to Michigan to try to reconnect with their estranged father. The film is sad and poignant (and randomly funny) but, as of print date, has no distributor. Check out CrookedRiver.ch for more information and to get updates as the film seeks to make its way to viewers.

SOUL SURFER: DEEPER THAN A FEEL-GOOD MOVIE Dennis Quaid on why this role means so much to him and his family

Dennis Quaid has proven to be one of was on,” Quaid says. “I had a dim memory of Hollywood’s most durable stars, but he has her story, but to see her and what an inspiraalso undergone personal challenges: In 2007, tion she was, I [had] tears streaming down his then-week-old twins nearly died after a my face with my 2-year-olds next to me. medication error. It was while sitting with Two days later they called and asked me to them in 2009 that Quaid agreed to portray do it. It was a no-brainer. Tom Hamilton, the real-life father of world“Of course I bring my own experiences champion surfer Bethany Hamilton, in the as a father to this role. I really believe it new film Soul Surfer. It’s a role Quaid says was the prayers of people around the world helped him believe in God again. that saved [my twins]. That Hamilton made headlines in was a real life-changing experi2003 at the age of 13, when she ence for me and brings me to lost an arm in a shark attack. this and what [the Hamiltons] Her doctors and family believed went through.” she would never surf again. But, Quaid shares the screen with relying on her faith and supHelen Hunt as Bethany’s mom, port from friends and family, Carrie Underwood in her film Hamilton proved them wrong. debut as Bethany’s youth minBethany Hamilton She’s since reclaimed the female ister and AnnaSophia Robb Even after losing her world surfing championship. (Bridge to Terabithia) as Bethany. arm in a 2003 shark “I was watching the Today attack, Hamilton has Soul Surfer starts playing in Show and an update on Bethany never stopped surfing. theaters April 8.

THE FIRST RULE OF FIGHT CLUB: JAZZ HANDS

30 / RELEVANT_MAR/APR 11

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

David Fincher, director of Fight Club and The Social Network, has been on a tear recently with both his films and soundtracks—especially Social Network’s score (by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and producer Atticus Ross). Now, he’s turning more than a few heads with the announcement that his next project is going to be ... a musical. And not just any musical—Fight Club: The Musical. While no details have released just yet, we do hope it retains a few elements from the film, including Meat Loaf, IKEA asides and, of course, a closing number titled “Tyler Durden Is in My Head.”

PRESENTS

A new magazine for sustainable change, sacrificial living & a spiritual revolution

Launching March 2011 REJECTAPATHY.COM

[SLICES]

CULTURE

Ethan (left) and Joel Coen

[Q&A]

FILMMAKING GENIUS:

JOEL AND ETHAN COEN have been pacesetters in American cinema for more than 26 years. Whether a big hit (No Country For Old Men, which won Best Picture) or less successful (The Hudsucker Proxy, which is well worth catching up to), their films are almost always known for originality and risk-taking. The brothers have been on a roll the last few years especially, with No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading, last year’s Best Picture nominee A Serious Man and now their Oscar-nominated take on Charles Portis’ Western novel True Grit. RELEVANT caught up with the Coens recently in Los Angeles to discuss the religion-laden instant classic.

THE COEN BROTHERS Q:

The movie seems to be less a Western than it is a really dark comedy. Did you approach it that way?

Someone pointed out that Mattie’s not in real danger until she kills a man. Was that sense of consequence important to you to relay?

So, in your view, that scene doesn’t make the movie into a morality tale? You don’t feel it’s telling a lesson about action and consequence?

The film opens with a quote from Proverbs—this does add a sort of divine sense of mission to Mattie’s revenge. Was that intentional?

Ethan Coen: There’s a lot of humor in the Charles Portis novel. It was one of the things that attracted us to the novel and the idea of adapting it. And we wanted to [let] the humor in the book sort of come through in the movie. That was important.

Joel Coen: One of the things that struck us about the novel was that, more than a Western, it [is] almost this youthful adventure story. In connection with that, you often have this kind of Perils of Pauline action at a certain point, where one thing just leads to another. So that’s closer to the way we were looking at it.

Joel Coen: Well, that’s certainly an element of the story and the novel, but I wouldn’t associate it with her killing a guy and then falling into a pit with snakes. Yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t, I don’t think that’s where it comes in.

Ethan Coen: The opening voiceover is taken directly from the book. The reference to that particular Proverb is in the beginning of the book—not as an epigraph, but in the context of her speaking and her narration. And the divine sense of mission is definitely a big part of the story.

[SEE THESE]

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Touchstone Pictures Loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey.

02. No Country for Old Men Paramount

Javier Bardem stars in this intense drama.

03. A Serious Man Focus Features

Based on the Coens’ upbringing in a Jewish, academic family.

04. Fargo PolyGram

Winning many awards, the film is about a kidnapping gone wrong.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

4 ESSENTIAL COEN BROS. FILMS

01. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

[SLICES]

LIFE

[ SAD FACE ]

4 TIPS FOR TAX NEWBIES This year, hard-working Americans get three extra days to file taxes. While most people will just take the extra time to do extra freaking out, have no fear—the Internet makes filing easy. Here’s a quick guide to doing your own taxes the right way: Gather all of your W2s, 1099s and anything else that looks vaguely tax-y. You should have received all of your W2s in the mail from every employer you worked for in 2010 (if you haven’t, call them). If you freelanced, you should have received a 1099 form from the places that hired you. Also, make sure you have all your information about savings account interest, stock/mutual fund dividends and anything else that could count as income.

Visit IRS.gov/app/freeFile for a list of places where you can file your taxes online for free. Just keep in mind a lot of the places that let you file your federal taxes for free will charge to file your state taxes.

Follow the directions. The best part of filing online is it does all the hard work for you—just enter your information and it spits out results. But it still takes forever, so make sure you set aside an evening or afternoon to work on your taxes.

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Put away the harsh chemicals and pick up some vinegar

MARCH 21 MARKS THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING. (Huzzah!) That means it’s the time of year to attack the cleaning you’ve happily forgotten the last few months. This year, many are doing spring cleaning a little differently. No longer do you need to load up on harsh chemicals that are bad for your hands, eyes, lungs and the environment. Use these tips to clean a better way—it’ll protect your house and creation, while still making your home sparkling clean.

SQUEEZE SOME LEMONS

Use lemon juice (add salt to make a paste, if necessary) to clean stains off countertops and stainless steel appliances.

MAKE YOUR OWN CLEANING SUPPLIES

To make your own allpurpose cleaner, combine two cups of distilled water, 1 1/2 to 3 teaspoons of castile soap (try Dr. Bronner’s, which is available at most stores) and 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil. You can also add essential oil for scent.

CLEAN YOUR WINDOWS WITH VINEGAR Combine 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar with a quart of warm water and use that to clean your windows. Sorry, Windex, blue is no longer needed.

OBSERVE THE MIRACLE OF BAKING SODA

Yes, you can use ye olde Arm & Hammer for more than just cooking. Use it to scrub pans. Use it to erase stains and marks from painted surfaces. And if you pour a cup of baking soda down a drain, pour a cup of vinegar in after it and seal

the drain—it’ll unclog after five minutes. (Just send a gallon of boiling water down the drain afterward.)

WHEN IN DOUBT, BUY GREEN

If you’d rather not make your own cleaning supplies, head to Target or Walmart. They have plenty of chemical-free, environmentally friendly and biodegradable options. Check out the products from Seventh Generation or Method. If you live near a Trader Joe’s, you’ll have an even easier time with your greener spring cleaning.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Wait for your check ... or send one in, depending on whether you owe taxes or are owed a refund. You’re pretty much done at this point. Until next April.

THIS SPRING, HOW TO CLEAN THE GREEN WAY

[SLICES]

TECH

VINYL 101

How to become an audiophile without breaking the bank Vinyl has once again become the coolest way to listen to music (except for you crazy hipsters who are into cassette). If you haven’t yet jumped on the bandwagon, you’re probably overwhelmed at the idea of acquiring all the equipment and dealing with snooty record store employees. But vinyl is worth it. Its warmer tones make your songs come alive in ways CDs and digital files just can’t match. Not to mention the process of listening to a record is much more tactile than hitting play on a file you paid 99 cents for. So here’s how to get started in the world of vinyl.

ASK YOURSELF HOW SNOBBY YOU WANT TO BE. There’s a wide range of products and players for first-time purchasers. You’ll need to decide how much you want to spend. Just want to dip your toe in the water? Then get a $100 Crosley player from Urban Outfitters or Target. If you want to go a little deeper, you’ll need to spend about $100 more for a higher-quality turntable (Pioneer, Technics, Sony, etc.). You can usually find one at your local vinyl store, Best Buy or a good online source like Crutchfield.com.

CHECK VINTAGE/ ANTIQUE STORES AND ETSY. If you get lucky, you can find players and audio components for less at stores that sell used items. And if you’re really lucky, maybe you’ll find a turntable/speaker combo (think Mad Men), which often have tube amps in the speakers, giving your music warmer sounds. Old is good.

MAINTAIN YOUR PLAYER AND RECORDS. You’ll need to replace your turntable’s stylus (the needle) every couple hundred hours. And if you go with a cheaper, all-inone player, your speakers will probably stop working at some point. Remember, too, that records themselves are a lot more fragile than some of your other media. Be gentle.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE OTHER STUFF YOU NEED.

ENJOY. Seriously, for all the hype, a lot of music really is helped by the vinyl experience. Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue is meant to be heard with hisses and crackling.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

If you bought a standalone turntable, you’ll also need a receiver with a built-in amplifier and a set of speakers (or headphones). The minimum is about $100 for a budget amp and at least $75 for a pair of speakers. Above all, remember sound systems are only as good as the worst component. If you want high-end stuff but don’t have the budget, try buying the pieces one at a time. Or used.

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he looks to resolve a conflict that runs deep. The Christian Atheist small group DVD study is now available. Visit christianatheist.com today.

Are you of two minds? If you profess a belief in God, but live as though He doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist, you may be more divided than you think. Join pastor Craig Groeschel as

[SLICES]

[FL A SHBACK]

CULTURE

THEN AND NOW: A LOOK AT HOW FAR WE'VE COME

Being that it’s our 50th issue and all, we’re in a bit of a nostalgic mood. So take a trip down memory lane with us, back to the long-ago days of March 2003 (insert Wayne’s World noises here):

Christians are scared of The Da Vinci Code

Freedom fries

Jesus is my homeboy

Ohio loves LeBron James

Katy Hudson

Ted Haggard is elected president of the National Association of Evangelicals

Ashton Kutcher’s trucker hat

War in Iraq

People in masks are freaked out about SARS

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2011

Christians are scared of Christopher Hitchens

French fries

Jesus is probably more than that No one does

Katy Perry

Ted Haggard appears in TLC’s Ted Haggard: Scandalous

Ashton Kutcher’s social media empire

War in Afghanistan

People in masks are ninjas

50 Cent dates Chelsea Handler

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

50 Cent dominates the charts

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

2003

<<<T I M E WA R P >>>

LOVING THE LEAST OF THESE Walking the streets with Clothe Your Neighbor as Yourself founder James Barnett BY ALYCE GILLIGAN

ot too long ago, James Barnett was a fairly normal twentysomething, with a fresh four-year degree and a stable job. Then he went to Nicaragua. “I heard once that Jesus disturbs the comfortable and comforts the disturbed. And I was very comfortable,” Barnett says. The trip brought him face-to-face with injustice and left him

BRENT VAN AUKEN

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There are a few ways you can care for your neighbors in your everyday life. Keep care packages—new packs of socks and underwear, granola bars, bottles of water, etc.—in your car. But don’t just dole them out—talk to those you give them to. Building community ensures longer-term change than simply offering a handout.

Twitter: @cynyorg Facebook: facebook.com/CYNAY Web: cyny.org

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

rattled—literally. While there, he visited a local prophetess who grabbed either side of his head, shook him firmly and said, “James, your obedience isn’t defined by that which you don’t do, but by what you do for the world your God so loved.” Fast-forward several months: Barnett returned to the U.S., quit his

job and founded Clothe Your Neighbor as Yourself. CYNY sells brightly colored T-shirts, each bearing the name of the organization. Barnett travels the country, living out of his van and using the profits of T-shirt sales to minister to and provide for the homeless. Sometimes that means buying socks and coats for them, or giving diapers to single mothers with low income. Other times it means helping them find jobs, connect with shelters and churches, set up budgeting plans or begin a new chapter in life. “I think the life of Jesus showed us what love truly is and what it looks like within the world,” Barnett explains. “In Matthew 25, [Jesus] says that it means to feed, to give, to provide shelter, to clothe people. If what Jesus commands of all of His followers put Him on a cross, I think it’s disquieting to find many of His followers glued to a pew and safely behind stained-glass windows.” CYNY encourages supporters to not only make a statement with their shirt, but to creatively live out its message and share their experiences online. “It was never really about starting a clothing organization or a trendy nonprofit,” Barnett says. “My desire was really just to go live like Jesus. With CYNY, while the name may imply it’s about clothing, our hope is to really redefine ‘neighbor,’ with small acts of great love.” Though CYNY is a young venture, their shirts (and now slap bracelets) have been popping up across the country—and so has Barnett. From Florida to California, he’s been reaching out to the nation’s homeless and speaking to churches, colleges and conferences. In November, CYNY partnered with Faceless International and Well Worth It to go to Haiti. Overall, 2010 was a whirlwind year that Barnett says now necessitates expansion of the CYNY team. Barnett hopes to use apparel to create long-term economic change globally, as well as a new understanding of what it means to be neighbors. As part of this goal, CYNY is currently developing a project in Kenya that would support the local production of school uniforms and ensure Kenyan children remain in the classroom. “I want people … to make a commitment to live differently,” he says. “Not just admiring the truth, but following the truth.”

[SPOTLIGHT]

REJECT APATHY On the Front Lines

equipping the called.

From the local church to the ends of the earth, Liberty graduates bring biblical truth and Christian love to a broken world.

Liberty baptist theoLogicaL seminary // 1.800.424.9539 // www.Liberty.edu/Lbts // Lbts@Liberty.edu

COMING (BACK) TO AMERICA BY ADAM AND CHRISSY JESKE

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RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

FTER A YEAR of eating the same rice, beans and tortillas; sleeping in a barn; contracting malaria and fleas; and riding a dilapidated tractor for transport, you’d think we’d be happy to fly home to the United States. It’s never that simple. Over the years, moving to and from the United States, Nicaragua, China and South Africa, we’ve seen much to love—and lament—on both sides of our nation’s borders. Yes, “over there,” it’s as bad as it seems—the poverty, the wars, the lack of health care. What you see on the news is the real deal, somewhere. Half of the world’s population really lives on less

than $2 a day. Sex trafficking, abuse, How, then, to live with the best of starvation—you name it—all happen, both worlds? One year into life back and they happen far too much. in the United States after seven years But what you experience overseas is overseas, we’ve concluded: Humans far from only all that. stink at remaining concerned about When a person has very few finan- what we do not see. Distractions and cial resources, God can multiply convincing logic pull our attention spiritual ones. People who exist with a away from the poorest of the poor. steady dose of danger often stop nurs- The poor do not advertise. They do ing fears that don’t matter. Patience not blog. They do not pay you to go to and perseverance thrive. People learn work every day. to trust God even in the big stuff— Community is also a hard nut to when the food runs out, or authorities crack here. Coming back, we carried torch the church building or Dad dies. eager hopes of getting to know our The United States would never win neighborhood as well as in Africa. We an Olympic competition of hospital- even chose an area with small yards ity, either. Many a traveler overseas where we thought we would easily has been blessed and awed when strike up conversations. But cars carsomeone cooks their last chicken or ried people into garages that ate them gives the one bed in the house. Such up without a chance to chat. community builds real social security. We also find ourselves spending Compare that to many neighborhoods more and accumulating stuff. It helps in the United States, where only rarely to stop and imagine a conversation will a fallen tree or a blizzard draw in which we ask a good friend from neighbors into community reliance. Nicaragua how to spend our money. Back here, too, it’s as bad as it seems. This keeps us from being overly legalThe selfishness, the waste, the shallow- istic—poor people treat themselves ness. These are still here and coming sometimes, too—but reminds us to on ever faster. spend thoughtfully. We also try to And yet there’s a reason so many practice the ridiculous generosity people around the world would love we’ve experienced, like giving away to live in the United States. We have a painting or offering to help pay off plenty to be thankful for. Take free- someone’s student loans. Whether dom, for example. You really can live they accept or not, it’s a reminder to pretty much how you want to live. not cling to what we own. Having all that freedom, and an A like-minded community helps, education system that values creativ- too. Find friends who have traveled ity, makes a petri dish for crazy—and and who live differently because of it. some wonderful—ideas. We come up Brainstorm ways you can give back to with new business models, technol- the places you have seen, and keep the ogy, causes and Lady Gaga. Ms. Gaga memories fresh by talking about them. gets a lot of stares, but most people will The starry-eyed convictions that fight for her right to party. feel crystal clear on the airplane ride Americans are also fairly unique home quickly fade, and we can end in wanting (and being able) to give up focused on work, family, Facebook free time and cash for a multitude and food like everybody else. Or we of causes. We have a history of vol- can find the same guy to bag our grounteerism and donating that makes ceries every week and ask, “How’s your possible everything from colleges, family?” We can invite over neighbors, to full-time pastors to the even if they don’t recipSave the Turtle Society. rocate or send a check to Speaking of colleges, our World Vision instead of education system is nothbuying a $200 gaming ing to scoff at. system. And frankly, we’re So raise the Stars ’n funny: Jim Gaffigan, The Stripes, and God bless ADAM AND Muppets, Community. Our Americas—both North CHRISSY JESKE now live in Wisconinformal and irreverent and South—plus Africa, sin. Chrissy is the culture leaves lots of space Europe, Australia and author of Into the Mud (Moody). for humor to spill out. Asia, too.

[STATEMENTS]

WORLDVIEW Gaining Perspective

Explore the larger human questions You develop into a different sort of professional at Messiah: by entrusting human possibility to the promise of God’s grace by defining justice and the means to secure it by thinking across cultures. You’re ready to see the broader meaning of everything you do. Messiah College. See anew. sharpening intellect

deepening christian faith

inspiring action

Students: 2,800 • Student/Faculty ratio: 13:1 • Percentage of students receiving financial aid: 97 Athletics: 22 NCAA Division III sports • Majors: 55+ • Study abroad: 41 locations

Come see us at a Spring 2011 open house • Monday, Feb. 21 •Saturday, April 16

messiah.edu admiss@messiah.edu 800.233.4220 Grantham, Pa.

STUCK IN SATURDAY BY PETE WILSON

44 / RELEVANT_MAR/APR 11

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

HE OTHER DAY I stood in an unusually slow line at my local coffee house. As I stood waiting, I watched the people in line with me—hands on hips, pursed lips, rolling eyes, a too-frequent glance at the watch—their body language said it all. We live in a day of fast everything, where waiting for anything seems like a major inconvenience. I don’t want to stand in line for my favorite cup of coffee, or endlessly flip though magazines at the doctor’s office or sit parked in traffic. And if I can just be honest with you, I don’t want to wait on God either. Renowned theologian Lewis Smedes described waiting like this: “Waiting is our destiny. As creatures who cannot

by themselves bring about what they nothing is happening. In reality, it’s hope for, we wait in the darkness for a day full of questioning, doubting, a flame we cannot light. We wait in wondering and definitely waiting. It’s fear for a happy ending that we cannot a day when we wonder if God is asleep write. We wait for a ‘not yet’ that feels at the wheel or simply powerless to do like a ‘not ever.’” anything about our current problems. This is what we often see in the anatWhile we don’t spend a lot of time omy of hope. An event takes place that talking about Saturday, so much of sucks the life out of you: a relationship our life here on this earth is lived out ends, a job dissipates, a dream dies. feeling trapped in “Saturday.” I’m tryYou’re left there standing, waiting, ing to get to a place in my life where I paralyzed by hopelessness. You start can embrace “Saturday.” I’m trying to to wonder if God forgot His prom- get to a place where I can view the wait ises. If God knows what you’re going as a type of preparation for what God through. If God even cares. might be doing in my life. In chapter 23, Luke describes You may currently be in the midst the scene of Jesus’ death. The land of a horrible, out-of-control situation. became dark, the temple tore in two You might feel as if God is not there, and an army officer praised God, say- that nothing can be done. ing, “Surely this was a good man!” But here is the message of the Throughout, His followers watched. Gospel for you while you’re stuck in Luke 23:48-49 says: “When all the your helpless Saturday-life: God does people who had gathered there to His best work in hopeless situations. watch saw what happened, they We worship a God who specialreturned home, beating their chests izes in resurrections. He specializes because they were so sad. But those in hopeless situations. After all, at who were close friends of Jesus, Easter, we celebrate that He conquered including the women who had fol- death—the ultimate hopeless situalowed him from Galilee, stood at a tion—so you could have life. distance and watched” (NCV). Jesus’ followers were dejected and Have you ever been so hopeless you dismal—then Jesus rose from the couldn’t do a thing? You couldn’t get dead. God did the impossible and mad, or fight or even cry? I believe this in a matter of hours the disciples is the emotional state of Jesus’ follow- journeyed from hopeless to hopeers. Nothing seems to be happening. filled; from powerless to powerful. They feel hopeless. They feel com- Everything changed when they saw pletely alone. Him risen. The story of our salvation We know the end of this story. We was born out of extraordinary uncerknow God was doing His best work tainty. But that’s the way hope works. yet. But there was a waiting period. And no, that doesn’t take away your Jesus was crucified on Friday. But mom’s cancer. That doesn’t erase the the paralyzing hopelessness the dis- bankruptcy you’re in the midst of. ciples experienced continued to inten- That doesn’t heal your broken relasify as they lived into Saturday. tionship. That doesn’t replace your We don’t typically talk a lot about shattered dream. Saturday in church. We spend plenty But it can remind you that while of time on Good Friday, which of life is uncertain, God is not. While course we should. Friday is the day your power is limited, God is limitless. redemption happened While your hope is fragthrough the shedding of ile, God Himself is hope. Christ’s blood. Friday is a Your world may very important day. feel chaotic, especially Nobody would argue when you’re stuck in that we shouldn’t celebrate a Saturday, struggling PETE WILSON Easter Sunday. Jesus conhopelessly and waiting is the author of quered death so we can desperately. Plan B (Thomas have life. It doesn’t get any But no doubt about Nelson) and the accompanying better than Easter Sunday. it, God is still in control. study guide. But what about Saturday? And one way or another, Follow him on Twitter @pwilson. It seems like a day when Sunday will dawn.

[STATEMENTS]

DEEPER WALK Words for the Soul

There’s a Bethel Seminary student who started a tiny church on the island of Oahu. Paradise Lost? Not to the thousands who have found Christ and a community of believers. Something’s happening. God is at work in unusual ways and places. And if He’s calling you, get ready to go at Bethel Seminary. Go online and see why.

seminary.bethel.edu

SAINT PAuL • SAN DIeGO • NeW eNGLAND • WASHINGTON DC • 800-255-8706

Get ready to go!

46 / RELEVANT_MAR/APR 11

all through school without hearing any more new Writer Dye, he even put beats to the lyrics of some music from me.” of his favorite songs from artists like The Doors, So last year, Playdough released two albums, the The White Stripes and Modest Mouse. Bible Bus Mixtape and Writer Dye, for download on “I’m a sucker for really good writing, no matter his Bandcamp page. He says the free releases served what genre it is. I just like to drift away in somethe purpose of reaching new ears and one’s writing,” he says. reminding fans he’s “still dope, still Playdough credits time and travel growing as an artist.” The new tracks for the growth in his own writing increased anticipation for his next fullover the years, as well as his spiritual length album, Hot Doggin’, available development. this spring. But as he re-enters the hip-hop “I hesitate to say it’s not more hipscene, he neither embraces nor shies WEBSITE: hop, because I’m rapping my butt away from the expectations of being a myspace.com/ playdough off on the whole thing!” Playdough “Christian rapper.” says, laughing. “But it’s a lot more live “I’m to the point where I don’t even FOR FANS OF: L.A. Symphony, Black instrumentation. This one’s kind of all care what people call it,” Playdough Star over the place.” says. “I’m just trying to be an artist, LISTEN: This versatility is strengthened by and I feel like my faith will always be Playdough’s own diverse music taste. represented in everything I do. HipTaking time off from his writing hop has always been known for people allowed him to explore others’ work expressing themselves, whatever that outside of the hip-hop sector. On is.” —ALYCE GILLIGAN

COURTESY OF PLAYDOUGH

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

It’s been four years since anyone has heard new music from Playdough. The emcee got his start more than a decade ago as a Texas teenager with a promising hiphop talent. But three full-length albums later, he sort of just ... went away. “I’m not naïve to the fact there are a lot of people that don’t know who I am,” Playdough says. “Four years, that’s like someone’s whole [college] career. If somebody was a freshman and they didn’t have any music from me, they went

T O HE A R MORE EMER GING A R T I S T S , C HEC K O U T T HE DR OP AT REL E VA N T M A G A Z INE .C OM

[THE DROP]

THE DROP New Artists, New Music

Youth & Young Adult Movement

NEW ALBUM AVAILABLE NOW Go to www.w

d a free a lo n w o d to m o c r. orthdyingfo

song

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to in her music: the highs and lows of life. “I’ve just make sense of those tragedies is her faith. “Lately seen a million ways that peoples’ lives are turned I’ve been thinking about my faith in terms of a upside down out of the blue,” Janes says. “Whether colored lens,” Janes says. “I can’t even consider my it’s illness, or sickness, or death in the family or faith as impacting my art or vice versa—there’s no natural disasters taking everything. I see it in every separation. Everything I do, my whole life, includform. I’ve seen it touch everybody’s ing my art, is perceived through this lives that I know, so I was just sort of lens of faith. If you give that lens a processing and dealing with that.” color, it’s going to change the color of Though she deals with heavy themes everything else.” on the album, she also brings in lighter Janes says this is especially true elements. “I do have joy,” she says. “I when it comes to her art and the didn’t want to write a record that was process of creating. “[Faith] is going going to make people feel bad. I wanted to change whatever reason or purWEBSITE: the songs to be bright, and light, and pose you have for making art in the lizjanes.com full of warmth and beauty, but I didn’t first place. It’s going to change the FOR FANS OF: Rosie Thomas, Hem, want it to be Chicken Soup for the Soul. color of the content; it’s going to Feist “I feel like the songs directly address change the process of how anything LISTEN: the hardship, and difficulty and vioever gets made or comes to complelence that is just a normal part of life tion. I can’t count the little miracles without giving in to it.” that occurred for this record to even Part of what Janes says helps her get made—definitely in spite of me.” make it through the violence of life and —RYAN HAMM

POLINA OSHEROV

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

Liz Janes is surprised every time she releases an album. “I don’t think I ever assume I’m going to make another one,” she laughs. “Each one seems like such a blessing and a fluke. It’s not like I’m a full-time artist with a career. I’m completely immersed in living life.” Janes says her most recent body of work, Say Goodbye, is the perfect example of this: It’s an album made up of real life. “I was writing out of a specific spirit at a specific time of life. ” Which means she’s tackling something she’s always wanted

[THE DROP]

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begs for participation—but not by petitioning “TrueCity is a partnership of a number of you to stand and clap your hands. The Canadian churches that really work together for the good of band’s broad instrumentation sounds remarkably the city,” Dummer says. “The cool thing is it has like anthemic Brit-rock—heavy pianos, soaring actually been true.” strings, chanting crowds—except this time you’re Last year saw the release of their six-song EP, likely to get caught up in swaying and Introducing The City Harmonic, and a shouting an old spiritual. full-length album is around the corner. “The goal in worship leading is to try But the band prefers the live experito make that stage disappear,” Dummer ence to the studio, connecting heartsays. “It’s giving people something to to-heart. After all, these are the faces get lost in.” and stories behind their choruses. The collective experience has always “[Jesus] told stories with characters been The City Harmonic’s focus— in them. With people in them. With a WEBSITE: even when they aren’t making music. sense of rootedness, not just a sort of thecityharmonic.com The four members are each involved philosophical background,” Dummer FOR FANS OF: Aqualung, Sleeping in a different church in the Hamilton, says. “I wonder if as writers and as at Last Ontario, area, though their congregaworship leaders, we can use stories to LISTEN: tions collaborate regularly through tell of these ideas. It gives us something a grassroots movement known as to grab onto so we can actually underTrueCity—a community representing stand these ideas and ingest them in a the harmony these guys are so passionway we can relate to, in a way we can ate about. make our own.” —ALYCE GILLIGAN

JIMMY BENDER

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Is there a distinction between leading worship and performing for a crowd? It’s a line musicians and audiences in the faith community have long struggled to define. But instead of choosing a side, The City Harmonic would rather ignore it altogether. “The best expression of loving God is loving your neighbor, not closing my eyes and ‘loving God,’” frontman Elias Dummer says. “So if the guy in the back row with his arms crossed is my neighbor, I have to care about his expectations if I’m serving him.” The City Harmonic’s music

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FALLING UPWARD:

A SPIRITUALITY FOR THE TWO HALVES OF LIFE In Falling Upward, Fr. Richard Rohr helps you see opportunity and hope in the midst of life’s chaos. It’s essential reading for anyone at a crossroads or asking, “What now?”

A N OPEN LE T TER

TO THIS GENERATION

RON SIDER

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any would consider Dr. Ron Sider the father of the modern Christian social justice movement. He released his seminal book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, in 1977 after observing racism and poverty in innercity Philadelphia. Since then, Sider has written nearly two dozen books and more than 100 articles on social injustice and biblical discipleship, including Completely Pro-Life, which ushered in a new “holistic” thinking on what it means to affirm life in areas beyond abortion opposition, such as capital punishment, nuclear weapons and severe poverty. Here, Sider considers his legacy and the legacy of his peers as he challenges a new generation of “young, radical evangelists” in how they approach justice, relativism, marriage and homosexuality. He offers four questions, the answers to which he believes will inform Christianity in the 21st century.

Just writing that title feels a bit strange. For a long time, people called me a “young evangelical.” Actually, the adjectives were sometimes less gracious: “radical,” or “leftist” or “Marxist.” (My response to the “Marxist” label was simple: “I’m a Mennonite farm boy, for Pete’s sake. Have you ever met a Mennonite farmer who wants the government to own his land?”) So I used to be a “radical, young evangelical.” But I was born in 1939, so, however reluctantly, I have long since had to abandon the label “young.” Hence this open letter to a younger generation, many of whom are 40 years younger than I am. I have no desire to lecture you or “set you straight.” I have enormous appreciation for this generation. Forty years ago, when some of my friends and I started talking about social justice, racial justice, God’s special concern for the poor, and holistic mission that combined evangelism and social action, we were considered radical. Much is different today. Not all older Christians “get it,” but you younger ones certainly do. A special concern for the poor and oppressed is part of your DNA. Caring for creation and transcending racial prejudice is simply who you are. You cannot imagine an evangelism that only cares about people’s “souls.” You just assume, without any need for argument, that biblical Christians should love the whole person the way Jesus did, offering both spiritual and material transformation. You want to engage the whole culture—art, music, literature, politics—rather than withdraw into some isolated ghetto. For all of this and much more, I shout, “Hallelujah!” But there are four areas where I would love to have a dialogue. I have four questions I would like to ask you to ponder. Do you care as much about inviting non-Christians to embrace Christ as Savior and Lord as you do about social justice? As you understand,

thanks in part to postmodernism, that every person’s thinking is limited by his/her specific location in space and time, are you in danger of abandoning an affirmation of moral and intellectual truth? Will you do a better job than my generation of keeping your marriage vows? As you rightly seek to respect the dignity and rights of gay/lesbian people, have you considered carefully the Church’s millennia-long teaching on homosexuality? I won’t lecture you on these topics. Every generation of Christians must seek again to discern what biblical revelation means for their own time and place. All I ask is that you do that in dialogue with the whole Church—the Church of the earlier centuries, the worldwide Church today and, yes, those of us who are now “older evangelicals.” We will pray fervently for you as you do that and be most grateful when you seek us out for dialogue. Let me explain my four questions.

inseparable. They are two sides of the same coin. But they are not identical. Working for economic development in poor communities or structural change to end systemic oppression is not the same thing as inviting persons who do not now confess Christ to embrace Him as Lord and Savior. If we only do social action and never say we do it because of Christ, our good deeds only point to ourselves and make us look good. The Bible clearly teaches that persons are both material and spiritual beings. Scripture and human experience show sin is personal and social; social brokenness (including poverty) results both from wrong personal choices and unjust structures. If we only work at half the problem, we only produce half a solution. People need both personal faith in Christ that transforms their values and very person, and material, structural transformation that brings new socioeconomic opportunities. That is why holistic evangelical community development programs that truly combine evangelism and social action (think of John Perkins and the Christian Community D e v e l o p m e n t Association) work better now in this life. But persons are made for far more than a good life here on earth for 60 or 100 years. Every person is invited to live forever with the living God. Jesus died so whoever believes in Him may have a better life now and life eternal. Two other biblical truths are crucial. Jesus is the only way to salvation, and those who continue to reject Christ depart eternally from the living God. I know my generation has sometimes said these things in harsh, insensitive ways. Too often we have failed to say with the Bible that God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). But if the Bible is our norm, we dare not neglect its teaching that people are lost without Christ (Ephesians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:9). Jesus (certainly the most amazing teacher of love the world has ever known) says more about eternal separation from the living God than anyone else in the Bible (Matthew 25:41; Matthew 13:41-42, 49-50; Matthew 18:8). Surely, if Jesus is true God as well as true man, we cannot act as if He did not know what He was talking about. Instead, we should embrace His claim that He is the way, the truth and the life; “no one

EVANGELISM AND SOCIAL ACTION ARE INSEPARABLE. THEY ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN. BUT THEY ARE NOT IDENTICAL.

1 Are you in danger of neglecting evangelism in your passion for social justice? You know how much I affirm your commitment to justice for the poor and your rejection of an evangelism that focuses only on the “soul” and neglects peoples’ material needs. I have spent much of my life arguing on biblical grounds for precisely these concerns. But I have also watched some Christian “social activists” lose their concern for evangelism. Evangelism and social action are

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comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, NIV). For as Peter said at Pentecost, there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12). Of course there are tough questions about things like those who have never heard or eternal punishment. (I wrestle with those in the chapter on evangelism in my Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel.) But for most of Church history, Christians have believed and taught the biblical affirmation that apart from Christ, people are lost eternally. Those parts of the modern church that have abandoned these truths have declined disastrously. So, gently but clearly, I ask you to wrestle with the question: Do you care as much about lovingly inviting non-Christians to embrace the Savior as you do about social justice? Is there any danger that this generation of Christian social activists will repeat the one-sidedness of the old social gospel and neglect evangelism? Will this generation of young Christians spend as much time, money and effort praying and strategizing about how to winsomely invite non-Christians to come to Christ as you do working for social justice?

concern for justice for the poor and marginalized. One older Christian friend of mine told me 35 years ago that he had gone to evangelical Bible conferences for 60 years and never once heard a sermon on justice. Far too often, older Christians have made absolute claims about their theological affirmations. We failed to see clearly that every human theological system contains human misunderstanding that comes from the fact that every theologian is a finite, imperfect, still painfully sinful person. Young Christians have learned we must be far more humble in our theological claims. But does that mean truth does not exist? Sophisticated postmodernist thinkers say yes. All “truth” is simply a human construct produced by different groups of people to promote their self-interest. At the popular level, relativism reigns. Whatever I feel is right for me is “my truth.” It is outrageous intolerance to tell someone else they are wrong. But finally, that kind of relativism—whether the sophisticated or the popular variety—does not work. If truth does not exist, science and civilization collapse. If, as Nietzsche claimed, no moral truth exists, then society is simply a vicious power struggle where the most powerful trample the rest. As the famous atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell said, those who have the best poison gas will have the ethics of the future. One of the best Christian antidotes to this kind of modern relativism is Pope John Paul II’s great encyclical The Splendor of Truth. The fact that my (and every other human) understanding of truth, justice and morality is dreadfully imperfect does not mean intellectual and moral truth do not exist. God is truth. Christ is the truth. The Bible is God’s revealed truth, even though my understanding of it is very inadequate. That God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit; that Jesus is true God and true man; that Jesus rose bodily from the dead; that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection are the only way to salvation for everyone—these are unchanging truths that will always be essential for every generation of Christians, even though we finite human beings never fully understand them. Not everything must change. Contemporary culture confuses relativism and tolerance. In so many circles, it is

THAT YOUR EVANGELICAL PARENTS GOT DIVORCED AT THE SAME RATE AS THE REST OF SOCIETY IS ONE OF THE MOST BLATANT MARKERS OF CHRISTIAN FAILURE TODAY.

2 Are you in danger of abandoning an affirmation of moral and intellectual truth? My second question is about truth. You have rightly learned from postmodernism that every person’s ideas and beliefs are significantly shaped by their specific location in space and time. Do you still believe there is moral and intellectual truth? You are certainly correct to point out that Christians over the centuries, including this generation of older evangelicals, have been perversely shaped in their thinking by surrounding society. St. Augustine said dreadful things about sexuality, and Luther penned terrible comments about Jews. In my lifetime, too many older Christians were blatantly racist and homophobic. They largely ignored the hundreds of biblical texts about God’s amazing 54 / RELEVANT_MAR/APR 11

considered intolerable to say someone else’s behavior and beliefs are wrong; but I can and should respect other people and defend their freedom to say and do things I consider wrong without abandoning my assertion that some actions are moral and others are immoral. We must vigorously reject society’s equation of tolerance with relativism. My prayer for this generation of young Christians is that you learn from postmodernists the many complex ways our ideas and beliefs are shaped by our social setting without abandoning the historic Christian affirmation that moral and intellectual truth exist because they are grounded in God.

3 Will you honor your marriage vows? Third, a question about marriage. Will you young Christians be more faithful in keeping your marriage vows than my generation? I weep over the pain and agony so many of you have experienced in your homes. Through no choice of your own, you had to suffer the anguish of broken families. So few of you enjoyed the security of knowing Mom and Dad would be faithful to each other for life. It saddens me to realize some of you even fear to marry because of the pain you experienced due to your parents’ broken marriages. That your Christian parents got divorced at the same rate as the rest of society is one of the most blatant markers of Christian failure today. The widespread agony in so many evangelical homes is a striking contrast to the joy of good Christian marriages. God’s best gift to me, after His Son, is my wife, Arbutus, with whom I expect to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary this August. Of course we had troubled times. At the worst time, we needed the gifts of a wonderful Christian marriage counselor for six months. But the ongoing joy of a wife and husband growing together in mutual submission over many decades is an amazing gift of our Creator. And yes, even at 71 years of age, the sex is still a delight. The older I grow, the more certain I am the Creator’s design for sex and marriage truly works better than the alternatives. For a couple years before our marriage, I carried a note in my wallet promising God and myself to wait until marriage. At the hardest times in our marriage, when I was severely tempted to commit adultery, God’s holy commands protected me. Working through our painful struggles rather than running away from them has led to decades of happiness. I want to plead with young Christians. Please resolve now to keep your promise to

your spouse and children. Please live out a wonderful model of joyful, mutually submissive marriages that bless your children with security and goodness and attract non-Christians to the Savior. Forgiving each other for failures, working through the inevitable problems and growing together for a lifetime are better for your children, better for the Church and better for society. That is also the way to more lasting joy for yourself. One related question for you to ponder if you are not married: Can you look into the face of Christ and say, “Lord, I believe with all my heart that the way I am relating physically to others is pleasing to you”? If you cannot do that, are you willing to ask Christ to help you change your behavior so it truly pleases the Lord? If you are not willing to behave now sexually in a way that is biblically obedient, why do you think you will later keep your marriage vows and spare your children the agony you have endured? My young friends, the Creator’s way really works much better than today’s sexual promiscuity. I believe with all my heart that your generation can, in the power of the Risen Lord, keep your marriage vows, experience joyous marriages and thereby live winsome models of marital fidelity and happiness. I beg you, make that your goal and then by God’s grace do what it takes to reach it.

4 As you seek to respect the dignity of gay/lesbian people, have you wrestled carefully with the Church’s teaching on homosexuality? Finally, a question about the complex issue of homosexuality. Are you quickly abandoning what older Christians believe on this issue without carefully examining biblical teaching and the near unanimous history of the Church over almost 2,000 years? God knows the older generation of Christians have dealt with this issue almost as badly as possible. Many of us were homophobic. We tolerated gay bashers. We were largely silent when bigots in the society battered or even killed gay people. We did not deal sensitively and lovingly with young people in our churches struggling with their sexual orientation. Instead of taking the lead in ministering to people with AIDS, some of our leaders even opposed government funding for research to discover medicine to help them. At times, we even had the gall to blame gay people for the collapse of marriage in our society, ignoring the obvious fact that 95 percent of the people in this society are heterosexual. The primary

reason for the collapse of marriage is the fact that the vast heterosexual majority (including Christians) have not kept their marriage vows. I understand why you are not enthusiastic about listening to older Christians on this issue. But is that a good reason for failing to wrestle carefully with the biblical material and the long teaching of the Church over the years? I don’t have space here to discuss the details of biblical interpretation on this issue—except to note the primary biblical case against homosexual practice is not the few explicit biblical texts, but rather that in dozens of places, the Bible talks about the goodness of sexual intercourse and always the context is a married man and woman. There are many excellent books on the biblical material: Duke New Testament professor Richard Hays’ chapter 16 in The Moral Vision of the New Testament; Stanley J. Grenz, Welcoming but Not Affirming; and Robert A. J. Gagnon, The Bible and Homosexual Practice (his scholarship is solid, although his tone could be more gentle). One other fact complicates your task. The dominant media in secular culture are overwhelmingly committed to teaching everyone the historic Christian teaching on sexuality is wrong and that heterosexual and homosexual (or bisexual) practice are equally valid personal choices. Hollywood, TV, intellectual elites and major newspapers are all dreadfully biased. I pray you will let the Bible and the Church, rather than secular culture, be decisive in your thinking on this issue. And please do not be misled by the theologically confused argument that since we are all sinners (which is true), the Church cannot say homosexual practice is sin. Just because every Christian continues to fail God in some ways does not mean we should abandon biblical norms and stop speaking of sin. Rather, we should reaffirm God’s standards and walk with

Also important is careful listening to the Christians in the Global South where a large majority of Christians now live. Here, too, young Christians are well ahead of my generation in overcoming the condescending, even racist attitudes of many white European/ North American Christians. Therefore, I’m sure you will want to attach great significance to the fact that overwhelmingly, Christians in the Global South believe homosexual practice is not God’s will. (One of the more striking recent examples of white, “Western” arrogance is the way relatively small Anglican/ Episcopal churches in the West have refused to submit to the views of the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide who in fact reside in the Global South.) My prayers go with you as you dialogue with your sisters and brothers in the Global South on this and all issues. Young evangelicals could embrace the Church’s historic teaching without repeating my generation’s mistakes. Andrew Marin (author of Love Is an Orientation) is just one example of how you rightly have gay friends and seek to deeply understand them. You can oppose gay bashing, insist on proper civil rights for gay Americans and help the Church take the lead in ministering to people with AIDS. You can and should insist homosexual sin is no worse than other sins, like adultery, or racism or covetousness. You can and should insist that it is safe and acceptable for Christians to publicly acknowledge a gay orientation (orientation and practice are quite different issues) and seek the support of their Christian community for living celibate lives (such persons should be eligible for any office in the church). In short, young Christians could develop a radically different (and far more Christian!) approach to homosexual persons without abandoning the historic Christian position.

ABOVE ALL, REMAIN UNCONDITIONALLY COMMITTED TO CHRIST AND UNCOMPROMISINGLY FAITHFUL TO BIBLICAL REVELATION. each other to help each other become more and more conformed to the image of Christ. Younger Christians are listening more carefully to Church history, especially the writers of the first few centuries. Surely, therefore, you will thoughtfully weigh the fact that for almost 2,000 years, Christians have taught overwhelmingly that God’s will for sexual intercourse is within the marriage of a man and a woman.

There you have my four questions. Thanks, young friends, for listening to someone who is 40 or 50 years older than you are. On all these issues and many more, you will have to find your own way. Above all, remain unconditionally committed to Christ and uncompromisingly faithful to biblical revelation. I’ll pray for you as you seek to apply biblical faith to your complex world. RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 55

The

DECEMBERISTS Talking belief, politics and making people care about your relationship with your mom BY LAURA STUDARUS

ilm director Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth) gave a TED lecture on the power of storytelling, saying, “We are the stories we tell ourselves.” This philosophy has its holes when you try to move from mere affirmation to an attempt at actual transformation.

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Yes, people can boost their self-esteem—but positive affirmation alone can’t turn someone into a pirate, an old-fashioned gangster or a dream architect. Unless, of course, you’re Colin Meloy, lead singer and lyricist for The Decemberists.

AUTUMN DE WILDE

Meloy has etched out a name for himself since The Decemberists’ first EP, 5 Songs, debuted in 2001. The six-song collection could best be called quirky, but it was a modest beginning. Trapped in a whale? Transforming spouses to birds? Just another day at the office for the Portland-based quintet, which also includes Chris Funk (multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (keys/accordion), Nate Query (bass) and John Moen (drums). Despite his band’s larger-than-life appeal, Meloy—who studied writing at the University of Montana—sees The Decemberists’ mission as a simple one: communicating meaning through common themes, no matter how bizarre they might seem. “If you’re writing a memoir and you’re talking about your relationship with your mother, the reader doesn’t care about your relationship with your mother,” he explains. “The reader cares about their relationship with their mother. So it’s important if you’re writing in anything from your own mind, you feel like people will connect with it, that it’s important, the voice is open-ended enough that people will be able to apply their own experience to it.” A Little Less Sprawling The band’s previous albums have risen above the indie rock fray with unapologetic use of banjo, mandolin, hurdy-gurdy and the good ol’ fashioned 17-minute epic single, all laced with liberal dashes of SAT-level vocabulary. Even while mining the most basic of human emotions, The Decemberists have taken pleasure escaping the dregs of reality, creating a space where the term “geek” isn’t derogatory—it’s the highest form of praise. Grandiose photo shoots have been staged with the band taking on characters, often transforming into the marauders and thieves they sing about. Stage shows have involved both elaborate props and audience participation. A series of singles were released under the heading Always the Bridesmaid. Leading it all, Meloy may be flipping through literature for inspiration, but it’s all tongue-in-cheek. In 2009, Meloy’s cinematic intents peaked with The Hazards of Love—a multi-movement rock opera so sprawling in intent, he had to enlist the vocal assistance of My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark. While the album was a success, spawning both “A Short Fazed Hovel” tour and an hour-long animated video titled Here Come the Waves, Meloy admits the project didn’t completely jive with his writing style. “That’s not the way I’m totally

comfortable working, although my impulses a Luddite, nor prone to pronouncements sometimes run that way,” he says of Hazards’ about “the good old days.” Able to joke about conceptual sprawl, whose excesses skirted the Henry David Thoreau in one breath and ponline between indulgent and cinematic. der social networking in the next, he comes Having finally taken The Decemberists for- across as a latter-day Renaissance man. “I’m mula to its theatrical apex (at least for now) still trying to figure out the benefits of managwith Hazards, Meloy found himself ready to ing your personal relationships through social scale back for the band’s sixth studio album, networking. Crazy times we’re living in!” he The King Is Dead. A song-cycle notable not laughs. “I think we’re establishing these relajust for its uptick in Americana-style fiddles, tionships with people where in some ways banjos and percussion, but exercise in brev- [we’re] very superficially connected to them, ity, Meloy found the project’s execution more and yet we may know the intimate details of in line with his internal creative rhythms. “I their lives and completely miss out on some think to a certain degree I was just ready to of the larger picture changes.” explore different stories, or maybe was even moved to put my own thoughts down rather Stories Give Meaning than always referring to an outside narrative Though King Is Dead may suggest a shift in or outside voice—which is common for me,” structure, it’s still a Decemberists outing— he says of the shift. “There’s definitely more of complete with the trademark mix of anachromy own internal meditations on the record as nisms that allows Meloy to name-drop both well. Maybe that stands out from what we’ve chewable Ambien tabs and old-fashioned done in the past.” gangs in the course of the same album. “I still Though, if one is to look at the album as a feel like I’m trading in archetypes a lot. ‘Down direct indication of by the Water,’ the Meloy’s day-to-day idea is a gang comlife, very little could ing into a resort “IT’S IMPORTANT IF be determined on town for the sumYOU’RE WRITING IN a surface level. The mer and the heart36-year-old admits that occur ANYTHING FROM YOUR breaks to a significantly in the wake of this more pastoral existransient populaOWN MIND, YOU FEEL tence than his pertion taking over LIKE PEOPLE WILL petually conflicted the town,” Meloy characters. “We’re says. “I feel like CONNECT WITH IT.” [Meloy and wife it’s not necessarily —COLIN MELOY Carson Ellis] up anchored to any in the woods a bit, time or place.” backing up against Though King this 5,000-acre city park in Portland called is not a concept album, Meloy doesn’t deny Forest Park,” Meloy says. “Three or four days an overall guiding principle. “I think every out of the week I go for, like, an hour- or two- record should have a theme or some sort of hour-long walk in the woods. It’s been a nice concept that ties the songs together. I think meditative time.” even if there’s not one, people will apply one Meloy also keeps busy by spending time to it. Any kind of body of work typically with his son, Hank, who was born around works that way,” he says. “I think our brains the same time he was writing songs for their are just kind of wired that way.” major-label debut, The Crane Wife. Already, A recurring fascination with nature has Hank is showing signs of his father’s love of been consistently woven throughout The storytelling. “He’s pretty fascinating,” Meloy Decemberists’ work. The themes of old and laughs. “He doesn’t like to be read to, oddly new, of man and nature, play heavily into the enough. We used to read to him, but he new album. This fascination with woods or started reading very early and now only likes the ocean has been a constant since the beginto read to himself. D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek ning of the band, Meloy says, crediting the Myths is kind of a perennial favorite. It kind increased nature references to time spent at of runs the gamut.” the edge of civilization. Lyrics on The King Is This may sound like the trappings of a Dead teem with earthy visuals, while the chill bygone era, an artist seeking the solace of of winter settles in and breath hangs in the air nature for inspiration, cloistered along- as the cool gives way to June. side wife and child. But Meloy is neither During it all, humans are there, alternately

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Watch The Decemberists perform the first single from The King Is Dead, “Down by the Water,” on Conan.

striving to save and ruin themselves and others. Opening track “Don’t Carry It All” stems from Meloy’s personal attempts to reconcile the two. “A lot of time was spent watching how the environment changed and the change of the season and daily marking the ground so we knew where we could put our vegetable plot—where it would get the best and most amount of sun,” he says of the song’s gardenheavy imagery. “Every morning I would go out to work in my studio [and] I would just check the sun and notice its arch across the horizon was a little bit higher each day. It just put in mind arches and how they’re constant.” However, the refrain—You must bear your neighbor’s burden within reason—indicates his plot is more a personal victory garden than community property. “I think while that song and the message, people might consider it to be an egalitarian—almost a Marxist— anthem, and to a certain degree that’s true, it is about caring for your neighbor, or caring for the people in your vicinity or anybody,” he says. “Each person caring for each other. Within reason. There’s a certain amount of conflict there, too. There’s a point where you have to leave your neighbor alone. Let them deal with their own things.” Sarah Palin, the End Times and Personal Belief In other tracks, nature gets the better of man—particularly the apocalyptic imageheavy “Calamity Song,” about two lovers in “the war of End Times.” “I was poking fun at the romance of disaster that you sometimes see in Christian fundamentalism,” he says, citing a famous politician as the source. “Sarah Palin saying how Alaska will be the

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that’s very relative, depending on your political outlook, your spiritual outlook. I think it’s in bad faith to think that what we might consider to be an absolute, then if it’s not seen that way by someone else then by definition it is not a moral absolute.” Of course, Meloy isn’t without opinions. “I’ve done my fair share of political benefits and trying to highlight things I think are important,” he notes, but adds: “I wouldn’t call myself an overly political or socially active person.” Instead, Meloy’s views play out in The Decemberists’ work—much of it dealing with the issue of corruption leading to downfall. Perhaps most notable is the “16 Military Wives” music video, final paradise once the leader “I TEND TO THINK OF where the lower United of a school’s Model States succumb to United Nations MORALITY AS BEING earthquake and (played by Meloy) FAIRLY RELATIVE. I flood, [and] people imitates a humanwill make their way rights bullying THINK TRYING TO to this promised campaign on the land of Alaska. I student representing PIN SOMETHING AS always thought it Luxembourg—all in BEING ABSOLUTE ... was fairly funny and the name of America. an interesting view It may come as a IS A FLAW OF HUMAN surprise of what the End that despite Times would be. I appearing at camNATURE.” think of ‘Calamity paign rallies for now—COLIN MELOY Song’ as being as President Obama, outrageous of an Meloy is not particuexploration of disaster as I could muster.” larly idealistic about the current administraBut doesn’t this sound like another—albeit tion’s work to date. “I’m sure most supporters more specific—biblical prediction of the time of Obama, we’re all scratching our heads right to come? Meloy—an avowed atheist—dis- now,” he says. “I would definitely count myself agrees. “I feel like if you’re trying to get any among the former Obama supporters who are sort of Christian parables out of any of these a little disappointed that the change that was songs, I think that whatever allusions I make being promised is not the change we’re seeing.” tend to be pretty secular,” he warns, anticipatMeloy’s music backs up this view. There ing this line of questioning. are no all-powerful heroes in Decemberists’ Earlier in the conversation, he declares his tunes—just people doing their best in extreme favorite albums are those where the listener is circumstances. “I think of all the characters allowed to bring his own interpretation to the that pop up in the songs, I think of them as table. Perhaps the same can be said for Meloy’s being fairly dynamic—not necessarily good, personal creed. “I tend to think of morality but not necessarily evil,” says Meloy, reflecting as being fairly relative. I think trying to pin on his collection of guises in song. something as being absolute, I think that, in “I think the characters I most connect with itself, is a flaw of human nature—looking for are all very conflicted and make poor deciabsolutes,” he says. sions or are tragic in some way,” Meloy admits. So, does Meloy hold any unwavering per- “But in the end I would hope they would be sonal beliefs? “I think we’re looking for some- fairly sympathetic.” If the characters are the thing that’s cut and dry, something that can be stories he tells himself, then Meloy seems preeasily digested and easily taught,” he reflects. pared to weather life’s storms—no matter what “I tend to think of morality as something metaphors the winds might blow his way.

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f you grew up going to church, no doubt there’s at least one photograph of you as a child on Easter morning. In that picture, chances are you’re dressed to the nines in something uncomfortable and/or gaudy—a polyester suit, perhaps, or something pink or yellow with more ruffles than a high school prom in the ’70s. Your parents probably put a good amount of thought into that outfit—from the paisley tie to the cutest little pair of white sandals—every detail thought and rethought in hopes that members of your church would ooh and ahh over how adorable you appeared. As odd as that might seem, for many of us, that was what Easter was all about—a Sunday that required a special shopping trip, a lecture from our parents about behaving during the church’s Easter cantata, and then a big choice between whether to eat ham or lamb at lunch. Sure, Easter was about Jesus, but it was also about looking as cute as button, a day that required us to pay attention to the holy as well as the fashionably correct. And even if you grew out of those traditions, you likely aren’t quite sure what you’re supposed to do anymore to observe this sacred day. We love Easter and at the same time are uncomfortable with it. We know it’s a very important day, yet we have trouble figuring out how to celebrate it. What is it about Easter that brings out our “Christian crazy”?

PERHAPS THE BIGGER TRAVESTY TO THE EASTER STORY HAPPENS WHEN WE TRY TO REDUCE THE UNBELIEVABLE PARTS OF THE STORY INTO SHORT, CATCHY, SIMPLE LIFE APPLICATIONS. A Sacred Circus Michelle Vincent remembers well the moment she almost fell in love with Jesus. It happened three years ago, when a large Charismatic church hired her to perform an interpretive dance for their Easter Sunday service. Though the 32-year-old professional dancer thought it was strange that a church wanted her to prance up and down their aisles wearing little more than a tutu—to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, no less—the gig paid good money, so she swallowed her pride, not to mention her agnosticism, and agreed to perform. Toward the middle of her four-and-ahalf minute routine—a dramatic spectacle that Vincent says included elements of ballet, rhythmic gymnastics and a couple of hula hoop tosses—the audience rose to their

feet in excitement. Right after she tossed and caught the hula hoop a second time, a move she’d perfectly choreographed to coincide with the soloist’s high note, the 2,000-member congregation erupted into glorious applause. Vincent says she was thoroughly enjoying the attention, especially when she began hearing people from all over the auditorium shouting proclamations like, “Hallelujah” and, “We love you, Jesus!” Vincent says that’s when she thought, “I think I almost love Jesus, too.” Though she admits her first Easter experience wasn’t exactly a conversion, she says, “it definitely felt spiritual. Plus, they paid me $900 and they bring me back every year.” Vincent’s grateful for what she calls her “annual Easter bonus” but also confesses: “I do feel sort of like I’m participating in a circus rather than a worship service. There’s a

fake Jesus hanging on a cross. Flag wavers. Some people even blow horns at random moments. It’s like Passion of the Christ meets a Japanese game show.” She laughs before adding, “But maybe it’s weird to me because I’m not Christian.” Easter Sundries Vincent has a point: believing is probably a requirement for fully grasping any church’s celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. However, it’s also true that Easter—perhaps more than other Christian holidays like Advent or Fourth of July (wait, what?)—does have the tendency to bring out a Christian’s spiritual gift of odd. Now, maybe that’s not entirely our fault. Maybe our affection for creating church pageantry—filling vases with stargazer lilies, wearing robin’s egg blue and donning a man dressed up like “Jesus” with enough fake blood to supply a second Scream trilogy—is just something that happens to us when we become Christian. You know, like sanctification or believing the band Skillet totally rocks. Or maybe our “Christian crazy” shines more brightly at Easter because it’s the Super Bowl of Christian holidays. And also because Christianity really needs Easter. Think about it: Without Jesus’ resurrection, Christianity would still be Judaism or, at some churches, a Tony Robbins seminar. The belief that Jesus is alive and well and sitting in Heaven at God’s right side is what separates our good deeds from the good deeds of Buddhists and distinguishes our Easter from the “Easter” Martha Stewart celebrates. So perhaps becoming overly excited and fully capable of going a little overboard in our attempt to bring to life the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is just something we can’t help. That might explain Resurrection Eggs— you know, the holy dozen of yolkless plastic eggs you can only buy in the springtime at Christian bookstores. Unlike the godless sugary contents of the eggs the Easter bunny lays, each one of God’s pastel eggs contains a small religious item like a purple cloth, a tiny thorn, a sponge and a small rock that, if you’re so inclined, you can roll away. Many Sunday school teachers use Resurrection Eggs because their contents help to remind little ones of the true reason for the resurrection season. And some use the holy eggs to warn their young, impressionable flocks that the Easter bunny is little more than Satan’s plush toy. Either way, RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 61

using a combo of Christ and bunny to emphasize Easter’s holy message sends a rather mixed message and, to many, is just plain weird. “Resurrecting” Jesus Computer technician Jonathan Granger probably understands better than most the oddities involved in resurrecting the Easter story. That’s because at his church, the 29-year-old is the star of the annual Passion play. And with good reason: In addition to being born Baptist, Granger was also born with the natural godly good looks of Jesus.

be making his cheeks and neck itch like they’re infested with hives, and his skin sporting a warm, UV-kissed brown—Granger looks like America’s version of a perfect “Jesus.” However, looking like Jesus is one thing; “being Jesus” in five sold-out performances is quite another. “I try not to take myself too seriously,” Granger says. “Which is easy, since I spend the majority of the second act wearing what looks like Depends. And yes, that’s weird, and I’m not a big fan of parading around on stage mostly naked. But it’s Easter, and as cheesy as some of this is, I do it because I know some people who find a lot of joy and comfort in seeing the story of Jesus come to life.” And isn’t that sort of the point of Easter—to see the story of Christ come back to life? Sure, that doesn’t make it any easier resisting those human urges to snicker while watching a male member of the church choir don a crown of thorns and a diaper, then proceed to die, get buried and resurrect to the sound of an earthly host, singing, “Christ the Lord is risen today, Hallelujah!” But for many of us, that is Easter: an odd mix of Good News, old hymns, a papier-mâché empty tomb and a sincere desire to connect (or reconnect) with the greatest story ever told—even when the retelling is mediocre and the dude playing Jesus has love handles.

WITHOUT JESUS’ RESURRECTION, CHRISTIANITY WOULD STILL BE JUDAISM OR, AT SOME CHURCHES, A TONY ROBBINS SEMINAR. At least, that’s what he’s been told since he turned 16 and started growing a beard. When he was in high school, looking like God’s only son was a novelty, a topic of discussion that usually came with lighthearted sarcasm or Scripture references. Occasionally, somebody jokingly inquired if his holy good looks were anatomically correct. Not surprisingly, being “just like Jesus” had its drawbacks. For instance, it didn’t always help his dating life. “A couple girls I went out with broke up with me because they felt weird making out with ‘Jesus,’” Granger says. “It’s funny now, but back then it sucked.” But four years ago the Pennsylvania native began embracing his natural Christlikeness. That’s when the creative arts pastor at Granger’s church coaxed him into accepting the “starring role” in the church’s Passion play, a role his pastor says Granger was “born to play.” Still, in an effort to enhance his immaculate presence, each year Granger stops cutting his hair on New Year’s Day, and a few weeks later he stops shaving. Three weeks before his first performance, he starts visiting the local tanning salon a couple times a week. “Skin tone is important,” Granger says. “And achieving a first-century Jewish tone isn’t easy.” Granger readily admits in his first appearance as “Jesus,” his skin tone featured more of a “Matthew McConaughey orange” as opposed to the ideal “Galilean glow.” But each year by Palm Sunday—with his hair dangling several inches over his ears, his beard long enough to 62 / RELEVANT_MAR/APR 11

“Truth” Stranger than Fiction? Adam Ellis, a Church of Christ pastor in South Carolina, has another theory as to why Easter can sometimes accentuate our strangeness. “I think it’s because the story of Easter is strange,” the 34-year-old says. “Let’s face it: The very idea of a man, one we believe was God, sacrificing Himself on a cross and then resurrecting three days later is weird. It’s illogical. While I believe it, I have to admit it’s unbelievable. There’s no getting around that.” However, Ellis says that just because the story of Christ possesses many strange threads, its oddities aren’t an excuse for us to sensationalize it or retell it any way we see fit. “We should handle God’s story with grace and care,” Ellis says. “Because more often than not, it’s not the weirdness of the resurrection story that pushes people away; people are pushed away by our sad little attempts to take an impractical story and make it practical or applicable to every single detail of our lives. And if we’re honest, that’s

truly odd, and in a lot of ways, misses the point of what Easter is about.” Maybe Ellis is right. All our special effects, smoke and mirrors, choreography and songs fail because it’s impossible to re-create the true miracle of resurrection. But perhaps the bigger travesty to the Easter story happens when we try to reduce the unbelievable parts of the story into short, catchy, simple life applications. When the miraculous is taken out of the story—either by a song and dance that comes with streamers, or when it’s contained in a dozen plastic toy eggs or when pastors diminish it into three sermon points all beginning with the letter “p”—perhaps that’s when Easter becomes just another holiday. A weird one that can be celebrated with bunny-shaped chocolates and shimmery green grass. But that’s not what we want, right? Even if our church isn’t the kind that reproduces the resurrection story with drama, lights and a pulley, we still have a desire to “see” the story of Jesus come to life. That’s because, for a lot of us, Easter Sunday is like Christmas morning for the soul. Or at least that’s what we want it to be. It’s why many of us go to such crazy lengths to ensure our minds are focused and our hearts open (and praise hands ready!) for Easter—so we don’t miss it. To that end, some of us practice Lent. And some of us quit Facebook for 40 days. Many of us spend time praying and meditating. I know Christians who have traveled to the Holy Land or the Vatican in hopes of “seeing” the story. Heck, Christians in the Philippines strip down to their underwear and let people dressed up like Roman soldiers flog them with whips and hang them on crosses—all in an effort to engage a story they believe has miraculously (and yes, oddly) affected their lives. While the majority of us would never portray Jesus on a church stage or let a Filipino man dressed as a Roman soldier beat us to a pulp, we do understand the desire to connect with Easter. Furthermore, most of us possess a longing to discover our own role in Jesus’ story; we just hope and pray it’s one that doesn’t come with a costume. Still, isn’t it in finding our role in the Easter story that we experience resurrection? Isn’t that why we find hope in such an odd story—because we believe that somehow the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection brings parts of our own story back to life? Isn’t that the unbelievable grace of Easter? Perhaps believing in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection is enough to make anybody seem odd. Adding hula hoop dancers just makes it a punch line.

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THE MAKING OF A

MOVEMENT THE STORY OF JESUS CULTURE

BY CJ CASCIOTTA

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esus Culture’s multiple albums, numerous conferences and viral international impact is the result of a few ordinary teenagers and twentysomethings with one very simple motivation: to encounter God’s presence. This should be no surprise; the explosive combination of raw passion and youthful idealism seems to be the genetic makeup of movements throughout the years. Jesus Himself chose average young people to lead His ministry—outcasts that society had given up on, headstrong kids brimming with unrefined passion and energy. Following suit is Jesus Culture, an international movement incubating revival among countless thousands through its unique worship experiences. In 1999, the thought came to Bethel Church youth pastor Banning Liebscher to put on a

small youth conference for their community in Redding, Calif. At a time when phrases like “subculture” and “counterculture” were becoming popular catch-phrases in many churches, Liebscher and his leaders (including worship leaders Kim Walker-Smith and Chris Quilala) desired a generation whose culture didn’t reflect an institution, music style, bracelet or T-shirt, but rather the attitude and posture of Christ Himself. They named the conference Jesus Culture, with the hope that God would show up, worship would transform and revival would begin. Over the next several years, Liebscher and his band witnessed the growth of a movement that surpassed their expectations. In 2005, the group came up with enough funds to record a CD, hoping album sales would allow them to do a conference on the east coast. “We didn’t even know if the CD would sell,” Liebscher

NATHAN GRUBBS

says. “We had no idea what we were doing at all, but we felt God was telling us to share what He was stirring in our community with an entire generation.” Liebscher didn’t know it, but Jesus Culture was about to become an internationally recognized movement. And it would happen through YouTube. Many people’s initial encounter with Jesus Culture came through a YouTube video featuring worship leader Kim Walker-Smith performing John Mark McMillan’s “How He Loves Us” at a conference. The video now has more than 3 million views. “We didn’t even stick that up,” Liebscher says. “Some kid put that up. We didn’t even have the idea. None of us even knew about it until someone finally got a hold of us and told us it had gotten 250,000 plays.” Walker-Smith remembers first hearing the

“WE WANT THIS GENERATION TO BE JESUS TO THOSE RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM.”—CHRIS QUILALA news. “My little brother, who was only 10 years old at the time, called me and told me I was on YouTube. I didn’t even know what YouTube was. It was crazy because none of us expected anything like that to happen at all. In fact, the night that video was taken, I walked off the stage and felt embarrassed. There had been this really awesome presence of God in the room unlike any night prior, and I felt like I couldn’t find the words to convey the magnitude of what was happening.” Hundreds of thousands of people later, the movement’s mission remains the same.

“Everything we do is meant to send people out to their own community,” says Chris Quilala, the worship leader whose voice threads through each Jesus Culture album along with Walker-Smith’s. “We want this generation to be Jesus to those right in front of them. There’s always been a strong focus on local outreach and there always will [be].” While many are quick to label this generation as apathetic, Quilala and the Jesus Culture team hold up a mirror to a different kind of tribe made up of young, motivated revivalists passionately pursuing Christ's call

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and mission. Liebscher, who has encountered hundreds of thousands of young people through Jesus Culture, views this generation as one massively marked by passion, creativity and innovation. “This generation is growing up in the smallest world ever,” Liebscher says. “The world has become so connected that they’ve been given permission to dream bigger. Back in the day, the thought of changing the world was somewhat hard to wrap your brain around. Now, the ability to impact the nations through something as simple as a website is perceivably tangible.” Liebscher adds that these qualities extend to young people globally, refuting rumors that the spiritual climate in regions such as Europe is bleak and decaying. “We were doing a conference in Berlin where 2,700 people showed up and sold out the entire venue,” Liebscher says. “We had to turn away hundreds more.

Christianity. In many churches, community and acceptance is based on looking and acting a certain way all the while presenting a very controlling, angry God. I believe if we can bring people into a true encounter with the God of the Universe, they will encounter a God who is passionately in love with them, not angry with them, and they will give Him their lives. That’s what Jesus Culture tries to do.” So, why do people disregard this generation as spiritually detached? Liebscher suggests that while passionate and idealistic, this generation is also very entitled. “They’re not like the World War II generation who understood what it meant to sacrifice in order to save a nation, or build a company. They’ve grown up in a world where things are given to them ... fast. We encourage students to start revivals, and when it doesn’t happen in a week, they’re thrown off. There’s a short-term mentality.”

expands. “When all of a sudden money is coming in, there’s a staff relying on me or when iTunes doesn’t launch our album like we thought, it’s evident to a lot more people,” Liebscher says. “I find myself constantly wrestling and processing, reminding myself this is God’s deal. If He wants to dismantle this whole thing, then that’s up to Him. I’m going to do the best I can. I’m going to keep pursuing Him. I’m going to continue carrying out my assignment from Him. But if He wants to take this whole thing away, that’s OK. I’ve found an immense amount of freedom in that.” While they’re ready for whatever God has in store, Walker-Smith is also looking to the future and how Jesus Culture can grow—both personally and musically. “As worship leaders, I’m looking forward to becoming more established in our own songwriting,” Walker-

“I CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE WHAT IT’S GOING TO BE LIKE WHEN WE REALLY FIND OUR OWN VOICE AND SING THE SONGS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF OUR HEARTS.” —KIM WALKER-SMITH The passion in these young people’s worship and pursuit of God that night was inspiring. I didn’t even have time to preach because they were pursuing God so passionately through worship. Hope is alive and well in Europe, and it’s alive and well in the States. The generation we are seeing rise up is honestly embracing a lifestyle of holiness that is willing to consecrate fully to the Lord.” Jesus Culture is defying expectations of this generation, as thousands of young believers attend their new breed of “Christian” conferences, and numbers continue to increase every year. “Young people are on the search for the genuine,” Liebscher says. “I think the American church hasn’t been the best representation of authentic, genuine

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ON THE RECORD

After 11 years of making music together, Jesus Culture has held more than 70 conferences and released nine albums. Here are their most recent releases: Come Away Kingsway Music, November 2010 Consumed Kingsway Music, July 2010

My Passion Jesus Culture Music, June 2010

Watch Kim WalkerSmith singing “How He Loves Us.”

Walker-Smith and Quilala also offer a desperate plea for mentorship inside and outside the Church. “We’re fortunate to have [spiritual] mothers and fathers who have a very influential voice in our lives,” Walker-Smith says. “They’re the kind of people who aren’t just going to sweet-talk us all the time and tell us how awesome we are. The moment we get out of line, they’re the first ones there with a strong voice to help steer us back on track.” “We desire the same for those we influence,” Quilala adds. “We’re living in the midst of a motherless and fatherless generation who need the guidance and direction to maintain focus on what’s most important: pursuing Christ.” Maintaining focus on what’s important isn’t always easy as Jesus Culture’s impact

Smith says. “I think it’s pretty incredible that God has brought us this far doing songs that are other people’s voice. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like when we really find our own voice and sing the songs that are coming out of our hearts.” The group is helping give a voice to other worship artists through their record label, Jesus Culture Music, which they started a few years ago. “Another thing we’re working toward is expanding the label to bring in other worship artists we believe in and want to support,” Walker-Smith says. “We recently added Jake Hamilton and Kristene MuellerDiMarco, who are like family to us. I want to see Jesus Culture grow in raising up worship leaders.” Eleven years since they began, Jesus Culture has more than 70 conferences and nine albums (their most recent, Come Away, released in November 2010) under their belt. It seems the more they abandon, release and give to others, the more God moves, reveals and gives to them—a colossal response to a couple of kids who set out to “encounter God’s presence.”

HOW ME DI A IS CORRUPTING OUR V IE W OF ROMA NCE, R EL ATIONSHIP S A N D SEXUA LIT Y BY JAKE AND MELISSA KIRCHER

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people’s hopes for romance—and, in turn, cause disappointment in the mundane drone of the day to day. “A real relationship is one where you take out the garbage, pay the bills and talk about your kids,” says Reid Daitzman Ph.D., practicing clinical psychologist and CEO of Foursight Game Systems. “A lot of it is really boring. What people don’t realize, though, is that the best day of their lives includes all that boring stuff. Because when people don’t have it, they really miss it. A guy who just had an affair really misses his wife and would love to be back with her talking about trivial things.” This concept can be hard to swallow when the love media portrays seems more desirable than what is experienced in reality. Shannon Martin, a young, married mom in Connecticut confides: “Romantic movies make you think your relationship is supposed to be so amazing, passionate and exciting all the time. My marriage isn’t like that, and sometimes I wonder if something’s wrong.” Adults should be able to tell the difference between over-romanticized love and healthy, realistic love. But in YOU EVER WONDER WHAT A CULTURE VALUES actuality, peoples’ lives are beginning to just echo the stories they see onscreen. The problem is, movies usually end AND HOW IT’S SHAPED, JUST LOOK INTO just as a relationship is beginning. THE LIVING ROOM OF AN AVERAGE HOME. As people consume the media’s view of love, it’s becomEVERY CULTURE IN EVERY ERA HAS BEEN CENTERED ing more common for relationships and marriages to be based on a desire for happiness and personal AROUND SOMETHING THAT COMMUNICATES VALUE TO primarily fulfillment. When these feelings fade, people think love AND INFLUENCES THE COMMUNITY. is gone and become an emotional train, moving from one lover or spouse to the next. It’s become such a problem “A colonial house was centered around a fireplace to keep warm. The that some have begun to refer to this mediated view of romance as fear was being cold,” says Derek Melleby, the director for the College “emotional pornography”—insinuating that popular expressions of Transition Initiative at the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. love and romance rewire the brain in ways that recall the damage done “Living rooms today are centered around a TV. The fear is being by visual pornography. Just as visual pornography sets up unrealisdisconnected.” tic expectations for sex and physicality, the media’s fanciful stories of In other words, American culture values connection and intimacy love wire consumers to expect Hollywood-style kisses in the rain and above all else. Because this culture’s greatest fear is being alone— constant, epic moments of dramatic love. How can real life compete? according to the media in which Americans are constantly immersed. “One of the things that [has] Can technology and media aid intimacy? In many ways, yes. However, struck me is the formative power of they also have a polarizing effect on relationships. According to recent consumerism,” says Mark Powley, studies, the average American takes in about 3,500 to 5,000 marketing author of Consumer Detox and comessages a day and spends about 41 hours per week using technology founder of the Breathe network. “We such as cell phones, TV, video games, music and the Internet. are shaped in ways that reach beyond Everyone is spending vast amounts of time engaged in mediated our shopping habits. As consumers, reality and less time engaged with each other. Experts are only at the our identity is changeable: We’re not very beginning of understanding how this fast-changing electronic accountable to anyone, and we’re free culture will impact human love and relationships in the long term. to disengage whenever we feel like it. Because of media and technology, the ways in which people fall in More and more, these patterns are love, connect within relationship and experience sexuality are differaffecting our relationships. We move ent than any other generation before this one. How does one navigate around more, we connect with many these uncharted waters and discern what real, healthy marriages and people, but we’re not so good at comromantic relationships should look like? mitting to them.” A study by Barna Group on divorce The Love Delusion confirms that ideas about love and The root of any romance today is love, but it wasn’t always so. In past marriage are changing. “Interviews cultures, people came together because their parents arranged it or they with young adults suggest they want wanted to join lands or kingdoms; love was secondary. Today, love is their initial marriage to last, but are the only thing that matters. This over-emphasis on love is encouraged not particularly optimistic about that by media that tells stories, sings songs and writes books about how possibility,” the study reports. “There is also evidence that many young true love conquers all, is ultimately fulfilling, brings a never-ending people are moving toward embracing the idea of serial marriage, in wealth of happiness and is rarely marred by significant conflict. which a person gets married two or three times.” Sure, everyone knows real love doesn’t work this way, but that Of course the media sells the most exciting parts of love. But there’s doesn’t mean those tantalizing (and insistent) images don’t affect more to love than just excitement—there’s also God-given purpose.

POPULAR EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE AND ROMANCE REWIRE THE BRAIN IN WAYS THAT RECALL THE DAMAGE DONE BY VISUAL PORNOGRAPHY.

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AMERICAN CULTURE VALUES CONNECTION AND INTIMACY ABOVE ALL ELSE.

“Your life as a believer in Christ is to strategically give yourself away for the Kingdom of God,” says Paul Sorensen, the executive director and founder of the Greenwich Center of Hope and Renewal. “Our world says here and now is the greatest good and making myself happy is paramount. Biblically, love is about loving the other person and giving to them.”

Cultivating Connection Just as media impacts how culture views love, technology also impacts the capacity to stay connected. Melleby notes that the screen, which even in previous generations of Americans was contained to the living room, “is in your hand, on your phone.” That means the majority of your life is being mediated by something. Sorensen, who counsels couples, explains: “All the best research would say sustainable marriages and relationships are built on secure attachment.” The ability to create and sustain attachment in any relationship has everything to do with how accessible you are to the people around you. Healthy relationships need partners to pay attention to each other and spend time engaged and communicating. Technology, however, is fast consuming the awareness of others and the world around us. “The impact on attention spans and time devoted to technology has already made headlines in various ways, including an increase in texting while driving,” says Jillian Holmes, a marriage and family therapist in Massachusetts. “The other impact technology has made, but has not been as frequently covered, is the impact on communication within relationships and marriages. “Instead of talking, we are texting, checking email, watching YouTube and Twittering,” she continues. “It’s odd that people talk less to each other but post second-by-second status updates on Facebook so everyone can know what they’re up to. Most of these same people are desperate for connection within their relationships.” This generation uses technology to connect with extensive social networks of people, but that very same technology can prevent people from connecting with a girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse in the next room. And everyone only has so much attention to give. “When there are disconnections within your most intimate relationships because you’re not available, the people around you aren’t going to want to be available to you,” Sorensen says. “And when that happens, [cheating, addictions and divorce] just naturally occur.” The Changing Expectations of Sexuality Contemporary consumer culture utilizes media and technology to surround the culture with sex. It sells products, promotes businesses, bolsters movie ticket sales and simply grabs our attention. Many people don’t realize how this constant exposure can develop subconscious expectations about sexuality. Thus, many unrealistically believe sex should never be awkward, always be passionate and that both people will have fantastic, simultaneous satisfaction with a minimum of effort. Many young adults, especially Christians it seems, enter marriage and wrestle with their sexuality. “Sex was a struggle when my wife

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and I first got married,” says Danny Jenkins, who’s 27 and recently married. “I was taught that sex before marriage was bad. At the same time, I had this idea from movies and the church that sex would be an erotic fantasy when it did happen. It was confusing in our first year of marriage to understand that sex was ‘good,’ but that it wasn’t just automatically mind-blowing like the media tells us. We ended up seeing a counselor to help us sort through it all.” Social media, online dating, chat rooms and pornography also muddle things by creating new avenues for sexuality that move sexual experiences from the physical realm to the metaphysical. This becomes a huge gray area as this generation grapples with how to find balance and healthiness in the midst of an onslaught of opportunity for all kinds of new sexual experiences. “Now people can get what they want online that they used to get in physical reality. I think that sense of power and control is a positive thing in terms of mental health, but it might not be that positive in terms of the quality of the [relationship],” Daitzman says. Christians most often point the finger at visual pornography, but pornography is only part of the issue as a whole. Technology allows people to be in total control of their personal sexual experiences rather than enter into a sexual partnership. People perceive that there is little risk or harm when engaging in electronic forms of sexual expression. In actuality, the harm can be very great. The hurt caused by an online flirtation, affair or addiction can rip apart relationships and cause lifelong suffering. When society urges people to utilize technology to take control and get what they want sexually, when media says love is never-ending happiness and when gadgets pull everyone away from loved ones rather than bringing them together, how does anyone find a measure of balance and healthiness in their love life?

elleby suggests that for Christians, the response is not a simple one. He thinks people should be concerned with the kind of person media shapes them into being. “For someone with an unhealthy desire to be liked, Facebook should be turned off or used cautiously,” he suggests. “This kind of discernment requires deep discipleship within a community that is willing to ask tough questions and respond appropriately.” This community could be comprised of one’s church, small group or close friends. The key is to have support and accountability in learning how to use technology in healthy ways. Powley takes a similar path, recommending people pay attention to the overall shape of their lives. He suggests Christians try to find a middle ground that doesn’t condemn society as a whole but finds transformative ways to live within it. “One of the key concepts we’ve come to work with is the idea of rhythm. You can learn to manage media using the rhythm of fasting and feasting,” he says. “We can fast from television for a period and notice the effect this has on us. Then we can feast on something good to watch. Another rhythm could be the habit of watching, then evaluating what we watch with others. We can be free to watch, or not to watch. That’s the grace-filled freedom of Christian living.” The truth is, media and technology affect relationships. And in sometimes harmful ways. But relationships, in turn, affect people’s response to media and technology. When communities, churches, families, couples and friends can be honest with each other, share their lives and work on healthy uses and boundaries for media and technology together, it creates the power to shape the culture rather than being shaped by it.

“This is a school that will ask you to ‘live your questions now.’ As a therapist and as a songwriter, I often talk with others about how we choose to walk in the world: with our stories, our particular familiarity – with our part of the universe in context of a larger one.

MY COUNSELING DEGREE FROM MARS HILL GRADUATE SCHOOL HAS EQUIPPED ME WITH THE STRENGTH AND SKILL TO LIVE INTO LIFE’S QUESTIONS.” Deb Montgomery MACP Graduate, 2009 · Therapist & Singer/Songwriter

“WHEN I CAME TO SEATTLE, I FOUND TO MY SURPRISE AND DELIGHT THAT MARS HILL GRADUATE SCHOOL WAS A COMMUNITY THAT AFFIRMED DOUBT AS A WAY INTO FAITH. The faculty was not afraid of the questions I was asking nor of the anger and hurt I brought with me. My classmates were present to journey along with me, as I did with them, into the darkness – not to flip on the lights, but to huddle around a small flame with care and hope.” Phil Nellis Master of Divinity Graduate, 2009 · Pastor & Freelance Artist

mars hill graduate school is a progressive, multi-denominational institution located in Seattle, Washington. As persons created in the image of God, we seek to honor relationships as sacred and adopt a way of thinking and being that is filled with curiosity, awe, gratitude, and hope.

Our calling is to face the beauty and brokenness of our own stories as we move toward reconciliation and restoration in the stories of others. Mars Hill Graduate School offers three accredited degrees: master of arts in COUNSELING master of

PSYCHOLOGY

DIVINITY

master of arts in CHRISTIAN

STUDIES with concentrations in creative arts & theology global & social partnership interdisciplinary studies

Learn more about Mars Hill Graduate School at mhgs.edu.

Music previews are alternately the best way to look incredibly smart and the easiest way to look kind of dumb. It’s really fun to predict the ways the music industry will change and shift in the next year—especially when it turns out you’re right. It means your musical knowledge is clearly the best in the world and everyone else isn’t as cool as you. And sometimes those predictions are even easy—if you said High Violet would probably be great at the end of 2009, it’s not like that was a hard leap. It’s kind of like saying, “Radiohead’s new album will likely be good.” But sometimes predictions fail. Then you scrape the egg off your face, muster up your courage and admit that M.I.A.’s album wasn’t as good as you wanted it to be. And there are always those albums that come out of nowhere—who knew Mumford & Sons would take the world by storm in 2010? That’s part of what makes these previews so fun. You might be wrong, but if you’re right, it’s all the better. We’re not trying to read tea leaves, predict fortunes or be the Miss Cleo of music. We’re excited about the music of 2011, and we think you should be, too. So here are some of the trends, movements and bands that are certain (and by “certain” we mean “pretty likely”) to make the next musical year one to remember.

THE RETURN OF THE LEGENDS, THE RISE OF THE GIANTS AND LOTS OF YACHT ROCK

BY DAN GIBSON

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L A ROUX

T H E B EAS T I E BOYS

R AD I OH EAD

HELLO, OLD FRIEND Every year, we see long-lost bands make another run at success. In 2010, Guided by Voices, Pavement and Soundgarden came back and played a bunch of shows, but none of them really recorded anything new (the one track Soundgarden tacked on the deluxe edition of their greatest hits album doesn’t count). This year, the reunions might be a little more meaningful as bands we’ve missed for years return with new material, big festival dates and (hopefully) tours as well. We’ve already heard a single from one of the most anticipated albums ever: “Kush” from Dr. Dre’s Detox ... and the world didn’t exactly stop in its tracks for the Akon and Snoop Dogg-assisted track. When

you’ve waited this long for something, the anticipation is nearly impossible to live up to, but it’s possible the hip-hop world has passed Dr. Dre by while he’s been selling Dr. Pepper and branded headphones. Although, considering Dre’s resumé and notorious perfectionist tendencies, maybe the single is an aberration and the rest of the album is amazing. Regardless, since he announced the album was going to be out in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010, if it’s not an instant hip-hop classic, it’ll be disappointing. It’ll also be nice to see albums from the Beastie Boys, Fiona Apple, Missy Elliott, The Human League and even bands that haven’t been away for very long, like Coldplay, Radiohead, The Strokes and R.E.M.

IT’S AS IF THE NEW TREND IS THAT THERE IS NO TREND.

And if Australian cut-and-pasters The Avalanches actually put out new music, that’ll be the music news of the year. Since I Left You came out in 2001 and since 2005, there have been annual reports of a follow-up. Instead, there have just been a bunch of cryptic messages and no new music. But they started a Twitter feed in 2010, so maybe that means something. Otherwise, just cue up the “Frontier Psychiatrist” video on YouTube again. Watch Lupe Fiasco’s “I’m Beamin” Video Rap-alicious.

WHERE DOES HIP-HOP GO FROM HERE?

LU PE FIASCO

Here’s the supposed line-up for 2011: there’s the Dr. Dre album, the long-delayed Lupe Fiasco album, Lasers, some sort of Drake album, probably 20 Lil Wayne discs or mixtapes or combination of the two, and a Kanye/ Jay-Z duet album. Hopefully, Andre 3000 will get music out, but it took so long for Big Boi to work out his label stuff, so who knows? That’s a lot of random music ... but where is hip-hop at as a genre these days? Obviously, there are still huge hip-hop albums and artists—Eminem, even though Relapse was terrible, sold tons of copies and reestablished himself as a star—but more than ever, it’s strange little artists who come out from nowhere, drop a few massive singles,

tour a bunch and then go who knows where. Waka Flocka Flame? Wiz Khalifa? Curren$y? Gucci Mane? Yelawolf? Even though the big stars still make some good stuff (even the T.I. album that slipped under the radar before he went to jail was pretty good, if you remember to skip over the track with Chris Brown), the young guys are making great music. It’s as if the new trend is that there is no trend—new hip-hop “legends” seem to come and go almost daily. Though that might be because some of them tend to go to jail as quickly as they’re released. It means there’s not really a new “movement,” but it also means we’ll get some pretty good singles from all over the place.

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THE

RETURN

Yes, the RELEVANT podcast crew has been advocating for the return of yacht rock since 2007, but this year it will finally hit mainstream palettes. There have been hints, including 2010’s Gayngs record (featuring Justin Vernon of Bon Iver), but this year, popular music will just give in to being almost entirely influenced by Peter Cetera songs. References to Hall and Oates have wormed their way into interviews for a while, and Hot

Y A C H T R O C K :

PETER CETERA

Chip threw Michael McDonald-era Doobie Brothers songs into their DJ sets. It took some time, but we knew the Time Life infomercial for soft rock classics featuring Air Supply was bound to influence some insomniacs. The chillwave surge of 2010, with bands like Washed Out and Ducktails dominating blog talk for months, could have been the signal for bands to go ahead and embrace their Sea Breeze-drinking, cardigan-wearing

CHRISTOPHER CROSS

DARYL HALL

sides. Even the new Iron & Wine album has remarkably Bread-like moments. After years of deeply angry, sexual or disgruntled music dominating the airwaves, maybe it’s time for some soothing sounds—and for the kids who wear polo shirts to once again rule the school. MICHAEL McDONALD

21%

BY T HE N UM B E RS These percentages are very scientific and were discovered after exhaustive studies by science folk in Belgium.

JOHN OATES

KENNY LOGGINS

THIS YEAR’S INDIE POP GIANTS (PUN FULLY INTENDED) Every year has its indie pop phenoms. 2009 was Phoenix. 2010 saw Vampire Weekend hit number-one on the Billboard charts. So in 2011, we think Young the Giant will be the next to fill the toe-tapping power-pop shoes previously filled by Granddaddy and Fountains of Wayne. Hailing from Irvine, Calif., Young the Giant have spent the last few years opening for a strange collection of bands from the Brit post-punks Futureheads to nu-arena-rockers Steel Train, but they’re a band that make an impression on everyone who sees them. Their self-titled debut has been available digitally since October, but the sunny upbeat hooky pop is bound to catch on and blow up to make these guys 2011’s Weezer or whatever. Pick a song off their album. Listen to it twice in a row. You will be singing the chorus later in the day. This is a guarantee.

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You’ll have a hard time finding a more likable band, both in sound and in outlook. Yes, yes, every band is going for that “summer-y” sound heavy on harmonies and bright instrumentation—but Young the Giant pull it off, so it’s more of a question of how these guys aren’t bigger already.

Young the Giant Video for “Strings”

YOU NG T H E GIAN T

WE MADE YOU A

MIXTAPE. T H E- DR EA M

ELECTRO-POP TAKES OVER THE RADIO (OR OVERSATURATES THE MARKET AND GOES AWAY) Synthesizers have a long, proud relationship with R&B, but there’s always a battle between the perceived authenticity of Motown/Stax-style soul (complete with lush instrumentation or stark, funky minimalism) and wild, synthed-out explorations of the future. Evidence of this conflict between the “real” and the “fake”: when Cee-Lo’s single that cannot be named in this publication spread through the Internet last year, you probably had a Facebook friend who sent it to you and wrote something along the lines of, “This is what R&B should sound like!” That’s because it reminded them of Motown, back before R&B tussled with disco and funk. But, while there will always be standard-bearers for traditionalism—remember Amy Winehouse?— for now, R&B producers are putting together tracks that take a lot from the dance floor. In 2011, it might not be Taio Cruz and Usher, but someone will be putting out Euro-influenced tracks that weren’t too far off from the anonymous pop-house tracks of Black Box and Haddaway. Though it’ll probably come with a guest appearance by Pitbull. That’s sort of the genius of the mini-genre: The star is often a producer cranking out hit after hit like cloned sheep from a lab. You probably don’t know what Dr. Luke looks like (we assume he’s not a real doctor, but who knows?), but you can pick out one of his songs on the radio by its relentless hooks and sing-along-ability (think Katy Perry and Ke$ha). Beyond that, however, we should be happy TheDream is going to keep making music. Although wildly profane, his album Love King didn’t sell nearly as many copies as it should have based on its musical brilliance (the sales on each of his albums end up smaller and smaller, which is often the fate of someone as well reviewed as he is). He even threatened to quit making music under his own name entirely.

That would be bad, considering his production work is generally stellar. Thankfully, though, he announced another album to be released on June 7. There’s no way to say what The-Dream will come up with for his fourth album, but his mix of heavy sentimentality, sensuality and out-there, futuristic musical tributes to Prince’s weirder moments will at least make it interesting. It’s hard to make much of an argument for The-Dream as an artist who gives us glimpses into the glories of redemption, but it seems like in 10 years, we’ll look at The-Dream as someone who made music that predicted the future of pop. That doesn’t even take into account actual Europeans making more straight-ahead pop music with an eye toward the dance floor. Hipsters loved Robyn, and La Roux had a big hit with “Bulletproof,” so is it possible that a big Europop star will hit it big in America in 2011? We say yes. It’s happened before, almost entirely with Swedes playing wildly hooky pop music, like Roxette, Ace of Base and, well, ABBA. So it seems fair to assume someone from the Scandinavian country is sitting around their apartment working on the perfect pop song for 2011. We just might not have met this person (or people) yet.

( Y E A H , W E ’ R E T H O S E G U Y S ) DOWNLOAD THESE AND IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS: “It Happened Today,” R.E.M. Old friends return.

“The Show Goes On,” Lupe Fiasco Yes, yes, it’s supposed to sound like “Float On.” “The Gaudy Side of Town,” Gayngs The smoothest song since“Careless Whisper.” “My Body,” Young the Giant Power-pop for the people. “Take Me Over,” Cut Copy Australia’s danciest lads return. “Down by the Water,” The Decemberists The latest “indie band” to hit #1. “Bones,” Hillsong United Even if CCM dies, great worship music lives. “Cast It at the Setting Sail,” Danielson An old favorite from the wild-eyed folkster.

Download This Mixtape You will never regret it. Unless you hate it. relevantmagazine.com/2011NMGMix

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THE END OF MAINSTREAM INDIE As of our publishing date, Arcade Fire received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year, but we’re guessing they didn’t win. Still, take a minute to think about the very idea of Arcade Fire being nominated for a Grammy. There was once a time before there were alternative radio stations all across the country, before the Internet was around to make the weird kids who didn’t like mainstream pop music feel like they weren’t alone. A time when seeing a weird, lyrically dense Canadian band on an indie label in a mainstream news magazine like Time would have been unthinkable. But now, listening to Arcade Fire doesn’t seem like a secretive act of rebellion, especially when “Wake Up” appears in promotional material for the NFL, the most jock-ish of professional sports. The divide between the popular and the “alternative” probably died a long time ago, with its eulogy an ad for the new iPod. There used to be a 1-to-10 range of indieness, with 1 being “totally not indie” (any group assembled as part of a reality show) to 10 standing for “so indie they have their own slang” (we would come up with an example, but you wouldn’t have heard of them), but that’s been obliterated by polarization. Now, your grandmother probably knows NPR loved The Suburbs. The point is that these days, Spoon is popular with soccer moms, Phoenix had an actual hit outside of the powerpop crowd that supported them for years, Vampire Weekend songs blast from commercials and toddlers are grooving to Of Montreal and MGMT on Yo Gabba Gabba! There really isn’t an “indie” anymore. It’s not so much that indie has moved mainstream, but that the mainstream has dissolved enough to include the indie. In 2011, give up on trying to hold the cool music for yourself. It belongs to everyone now, which is tough for our collective aesthetic elitism but probably means the music playing in grocery stores will be more listenable— which helps a little.

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ARCAD E FI R E

YOUR GRANDMOTHER PROBABLY KNOWS NPR LOVED THE SUBURBS. MORE COMMUNIT Y-FUNDED ALBUMS

$ David Bazan raised funds through his own site so he could focus on recording, sans the pressure of touring. So, good and bad for us.

So, we’ve clearly established that people don’t care all that much about paying for music, right? This is partially because if someone has the option of paying or not paying, it’s somewhat predictable what quite a few people will choose. But it’s also because consumers have come to the realization that buying a CD is often a lousy way to put money in the pocket of your favorite musician. It’s great that some bands have the positive cash flow to both record their next album and pay their rent or mortgage, but one of your favorite musicians is probably trying to figure out how to walk that tightrope. While most bands dream of signing with a label, doing so is often similar to putting your name on paperwork for an oppressive set of student loans, borrowing against a future that’s wildly uncertain. Until somewhat recently, bands who didn’t want to pawn their stuff or sell their (metaphorical) souls to record music professionally and the fans who want to hear their music were at a bit of a stalemate. Thankfully, sites like Kickstarter and PledgeMusic have allowed bands

to cut out the middleman, offering them an opportunity to sell unique experiences (from names in the liner notes to going to a restaurant together). Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls used this method to raise all the money she needed to record an album of Radiohead covers, and David Bazan recently used a similar fundraising technique through his own site to allow him to focus on recording instead of taking three years to piece together time between touring. This deal is such a win-win for the artist and the fan that this might be the easiest prediction of all: More groups will go this route for their projects. After all, why not? Watch David Bazan Play a Living Room Spoiler: it’s still very sad.

2011 COULD BE THE YEAR

WHEN CCM AS WE KNOW IT D I S A P P E A R S ( E X C E P T

W O R S H I P

M U S I C )

IT’S 2011 AND DANIELSON HAS A

DAVI D CROWD E R BAND

THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO EXCLUSIVELY LISTEN TO CHRISTIAN MUSIC GETS SMALLER EVERY DAY. Watch Bifrost Arts’ Isaac Wardell Talk Worship Music It’s thought-provoking and incredible.

There’s always going to be some sort of Christian music around, although the question is more in what form. It’s been a good run for the Nashville-based mainstream, but it’s looking like the streak is on a permanent downward slide. Take as evidence, if you will, the relative sales disappointment of MercyMe’s The Generous Mr. Lovewell. MercyMe is about as big as any Christian band, performing sold-out shows, responsible for one of the biggest songs in the genre’s history, and they’d put out an album that featured another giant single, but then ... the album died off sales-wise. It’s nothing the band did—it’s possible the market is just disappearing around them. Where’s the youth market for Christian music? There’s still Tooth & Nail, obviously, but how much of their music is specifically marketed to Christians anymore? Does anyone buy music just because it carries the T&N brand as being Christian-approved? Half the popular acts on a Christian station like Air1 aren’t even exclusively “ours” anymore, if they ever were. Anberlin, the Fray, Lifehouse, NeedToBreathe and Switchfoot have equal footing in the mainstream. The number of people who exclusively listen to Christian music gets smaller every day, which takes some of the security out of solely being a musician in the industry. You might not be able to make money just off Christians anymore, which sort of spells doom for the business model as it currently exists. There is, however, an exception: worship music. Worship music keeps getting bigger and bigger, and probably in 2011, it’ll eclipse its sanctified pop music counterpart. Artists like Jesus Culture, Hillsong United and David Crowder are holding conferences to discuss music, performance, theory and theology; encouraging each other to do better and to think bigger. And that competitive/cooperative spirit seems to be working as the stereotype of a goateed guy strumming a guitar alone fades farther into the background. It makes sense. Many Christian consumers are saying they want to engage music with a spiritual message, and they want it to be vertically focused. Worship music provides a connection positive pop just can’t. Someone in the worship business will put out a groundbreaking record in 2011. At the very least, something big is far more likely to happen coming from that side of the business.

NEW ALBUM OUT

Danielson is back with a new album called Best of Gloucester County. We spoke with Daniel Smith, the mad genius behind the pioneering Christian rockers, to find out what has changed with this release: RLV: Do you feel some pressure re-introducing yourself to your audience? DS: I love the re-introduction when plenty of time has passed since the last re-introduction. To me this is all an exciting building process. The real struggle that has come with Danielson is the realities of loved ones having to come and go because the music business is no life for any sane person. Many a day I have one foot out the door. RLV: How would you describe the album’s sound to someone unfamiliar with your music? DS: Danielson music is hopefully always changing and staying the same. I mostly write the songs the same way, alone with an acoustic guitar and facing my fears, for better or worse. But also I’m interested in different sounds at different times, and the instruments that friends and family play sometimes dictate the instrumentation, too. But the music that shaped me will always be rock ‘n’ roll, gospel, punk, psychedelic, sing-along, folk, jazz. So it’s always gonna sound like that.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 77

D The Curious, Hilarious Neuroses of Author

DAVID

SEDARIS

AMERICA’S TOP LITERARY HUMORIST TALKS POLITICS, WRITING AND RELIGION BY CARL KOZLOWSKI

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AVID SEDARIS’ droll, honest essays are making America laugh— and at a time when the country is sorely in need of some humor. Since exploding on the scene with SantaLand Diaries—his account of 45 days spent toiling as an elf at Macy’s—and his reading of it on NPR’s This American Life in the mid-’90s, he has gone on to share the most awkward, intimate and hilarious moments of his life with readers and listeners. In a string of New Yorker essays and books that have included Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim and When You Are Engulfed in Flames, he’s chronicled his family’s deepest secrets and his most crippling neuroses, which at turns is hilarious, cutting, cynical and touching. But with his latest book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, Sedaris has taken a different approach to his work. There are no personal essays here, but rather his own take on classic African fables centered on anthropomorphic animals who shine a light on the human condition. It’s a stark difference in his approach, but after 15 years of highly personal essays, it’s a change he feels he’s earned. Sedaris recently finished a national tour to promote the book, and sat down with RELEVANT to talk about being an expatriate in Paris and England, his opinions on a broad range of sociopolitical issues and figures, and why he doesn’t share his parents’ Greek Orthodox faith.

Why did you decide to do a collection of animal fables as opposed to your usual essays about your personal life and people you know? Somebody gave me a collection of South African folk tales on audio, and I was really looking forward to listening to it. But it was really awful and lame, and I thought, “I can do better than this.” So I wrote a story about a cat who goes to a baboon [to get groomed] for a party, and I enjoyed it. So I wrote another one, and another one and another one. And I go on these lecture tours every fall and every spring, and if I’m going to read in front of an audience for an hour, I won’t read one single thing that takes an hour—I’d rather read five or six things. So every tour I’d write two or three of these and maybe read them out loud and all three of them or two of them would work, and I thought, “Someday I’ll use them all in a book,” and so it’s happened now.

In the new book you’re dealing with human foibles in the context of animals. Was there a theme or subject you most enjoyed? Or one that was the most difficult? I’m not a big plotter, so there was a story called “The Faithful Setter” in the book. I just wrote a sentence, then another sentence. If someone said, “I want you to write a story about a dog that, for some crazy reason, is married and is cheating on his wife, but not cheating on her,” I wouldn’t have known what to do if you gave me that as an assignment. There were a couple of instances, like I’ve always been irritated by people who blame people for being sick and wanted to write a story about that. I thought lab rats were the logical characters because lab rats are not the least bit responsible for what happens to them, and sick people aren’t either. That was a case where I knew I wanted to talk about a particular subject and that I’d use lab rats as the characters.

“I CAN ONLY READ NEWS THAT VALIDATES MY ALREADYFORMED OPINION, AND HOW IS THAT ANY DIFFERENT THAN MY DAD ONLY WATCHING FOX NEWS? IT'S NOT ANY DIFFERENT, AND IT'S NOT HEALTHY.” You found your success a little later in life. You were an apartment cleaner and did odd jobs, including being a department store elf. Do you feel your writing came out better from having all these experiences? I started writing when I was 20. My first book came out when I was 35. But I never expected that it would happen quickly. I’d been reading out loud on the radio since I was 28, had been doing it for six or seven years by the time I had a book. The largest audiences I’ve had, in Chicago, I was sometimes performing at [the popular Chicago variety show] Milly’s Orchid Show with 900 people listening. Then [This American Life host] Ira [Glass] put me on the radio for an audience of 10 million. All of a sudden, when you’re exposed to a large audience like that, I think they think you just started writing that day, but I started years before. I look back at things I wrote then and I’m so embarrassed—the writing seems so blocky and choppy to me, and I wouldn’t have wanted success any sooner because the writing was even worse. I’m not embarrassed by the stories, but the writing itself seems choppy.

You used to live in France, and now you live in England. How has living overseas affected your perceptions of America? It does make you see the United States differently. It makes you aware of how American you are when you’re living in another country. When you go to that other country, you realize that in France and in England you don’t ask somebody what they do for a living when you meet someone. A lot of the obvious things, the shortcuts we take in America—in America you can talk about money all you want. You can ask how much they make, rent they pay, how much their house costs and how much their car costs, and they’ll feel comfortable telling you. But it’s scandalous to ask anyone in England or France a question like that. In America, if your next-door neighbor has a Rolls Royce, you want one, too. But in England, if your neighbor has a Rolls Royce, you want him to die in a fiery accident. That’s a quote from someone else, but there’s something about American optimism, that feeling you can do anything if you’re at least middle-class in America. If I can have a writing career, anyone can. There’s nothing special about me.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 79

hideous-looking. But I thought: “I have to listen to that. I have to hear that.” I didn’t want to be that person who is going to deny anything complimentary said about somebody just because I disagree with them. You were raised in the Greek Orthodox church. How did that upbringing shape you, and how do you feel about God today? I never got the idea of a punishing God, just a really boring one. To see people growing up in the Carolinas who were Baptist, I knew there were others who felt God was going to send them to hell for any little thing, but not me. I didn’t feel like it, or like it influenced my writing style.

How do you feel about the major cultural shifts in the United States in the last couple years, with the election of Obama and the rise of the Tea Party? Does that affect your perspective in any way? I was very excited about Barack Obama, but it was very discouraging to see the midterm elections go that way. I can get my British passport whenever I want to. I have my green card right now and can get my passport anytime. I can’t make the emotional break with the United States. After these elections, I wanted to say, “OK, you know what, I’ll become a British citizen and you can go to hell.” But I can’t do that, I just can’t. America’s politics seem to ping-pong. Do you have hope that we can change it back to a healthier state? It always seemed like a pendulum to me. But it just seems so many things now, the Republicans are against it when it could have been they were for it normally. But because Barack Obama endorsed it, they were suddenly against it. Maybe it was the same way

80 / RELEVANT_MAR/APR 11

under Bush, I just didn’t notice or pay attention as much. To tell you the truth, if George Bush was for morning, I would be against it. Every day that begins with a morning, I would say, “F--- you” and think each day should begin with an afternoon. I just got the Internet a few years ago—I’m the last person to get the Internet. I can only read news that validates my alreadyformed opinion, and how is that any different than my dad only watching Fox News? It’s not any different, and it’s not healthy. Someone told me something recently about Sarah Palin, someone I trusted in the book business. They said, “I worked with Palin, she did an event at my bookstore, and she was really, really nice and even more beautiful in person.” I really didn’t want to hear that. I wanted to hear that she was awful and

It’s rare to have two siblings who become offbeat pop culture icons. But that’s what happened with you and your sister Amy. What gave you such unique voices? We’re not unique in our family. We’re more ambitious, but we’re not special. I’m not funnier than anyone else in my family. It’s just that we wanted more than Raleigh had to offer. If my brother wanted more than Raleigh had to offer, you would know his name. My sister Lisa has a really unique and different voice, but she doesn’t want that. She was a fine writer but never said, “I want a book, I want that kind of attention.” I’m not an actor, and I don’t even feel like saying: “Let’s give it a try. I’m free ESSENTIAL SEDARIS next Tuesday.” I’m not comfortable in television at all. Between essays about family dining furniture, French EasWhen a book comes out, ter traditions and a baboon you have to do some telehairstylist, these books are vision, but I dread it. Last Sedaris at his best. night I went on [The Daily Show with] Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel [Live!]— Squirrel Seeks lovely guys who you know Chipmunk aren’t out to screw you. But Little, Brown and Company, when I’m done, I’m done. 2010 Sometimes a magazine will call and say, “We want you to stow away on a ship.” Me Talk Pretty I say it’s hilarious, if it hapOne Day pens organically. I don’t Back Bay Books, 2001 like to put myself into [a] situation unless it happens organically. I’ve had five essays in the New Yorker since Flames, so I haven’t When You Are Engulfed in stopped. I don’t know what Flames else is next, and that can Back Bay be great. Books, 2009

ANNE FISHBEIN

BY BRETT McCRACKEN

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DUCKDUCK COLLECTIVE

A GROWING NUMBER OF YOUNG CHRISTIANS ARE LEAVING CHURCH, BUT KEEPING THE FAITH

in grew up going to church regularly with her three siblings and parents. She fondly recalls the hard wooden pews, kneeling at the altar and feeling the pastor’s hand on her head as he blessed her while her parents participated in communion. She remembers drinking Kool-Aid and eating hot dogs at church potlucks. These are precious, faithfilled images in her memory, of a time and place she holds very dear. Now in her early 30s, Gin hasn’t attended a church regularly for about four years. The last one she attended was a seeker-friendly Baptist church in her Canadian town. While she maintains her Christian faith, church has lost its luster for Gin. “It’s as impersonal as the gym I go to twice a week and lacks all the things that made it central growing up,” she says. For Gin, the way church is viewed in today’s American Christian culture (as “a building with programs, services and tax-deductible receipts”) doesn’t fit with her faith. In order for the idea of church to fit, it has to be more than a gathering, she says. It has to be more about the Body, the community, the “other,” rather than just a place people go once a week. “Being in community is so much more than attending a service or associating oneself with a particular congregation,” Gin says. “It’s living life together, in all the ordinary ways, in all the common things. Does this include gathering together? Sure. And to be honest, I miss intentional gatherings. I miss hearing public prayers, I miss the ritual of liturgy and feeling connected to history. But the gathering is only one piece of rich spirituality; when it’s gone it doesn’t take with it all the other dimensions.”

WHY WE’RE LEAVING Gin’s gradual disenchantment with church is a common refrain these days for twentysomething Christians who grew up in the faith. Most have heard all the facts and figures. More young people than ever are abandoning church in their 20s. Some two-thirds of young people who attended a Protestant church regularly during high school will stop going once they leave high school (Lifeway). Young Americans are dropping out of religion at five to six times the historic rate (Pew). A huge amount of ink has been spilled in recent years exploring the reasons why this is happening. Widespread are the perceptions that religion is too narrowminded, legalistic, homophobic, judgmental, hypocritical, anti-art, anti-intellectual, anti-a-whole-lot-of-other-things. For those who grew up in the Church, it might feel increasingly antiquated and out-of-touch in a world full of problems and discourses the Church seems hardly to pay attention to. Others have been personally wounded by the Church and left it out of spite or resignation. A pastor had an affair, the church developed factions based on petty gossip, everything seemed to be about getting more money so fancier light fixtures could be installed. Some just gradually get out of the habit of church or decide that, for them, at this moment in their journey, church doesn’t make sense. There are a litany of reasons why traditional churchgoing has become irrelevant in the lives of many twentysomething Christians, and all of them are important to consider. The following are four of the most prominent. It’s Boring and Irrelevant David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group and co-author of unChristian, has thought a lot about the reasons why young people might quit going to church. So many of them, he says, feel as though the Church has very little vitality, energy or spiritual purpose. “They feel as though God is missing from the Church,” he says. In a recent Barna survey, 83 percent of evangelicals 18-39 agreed that a growing number of people they knew were “tired of the usual type of church experience” (as opposed to only 35 percent of evangelicals over 40 who agreed).

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If they aren’t bored to death by church, many young people simply find it to be irrelevant to their life or the concerns of the culture. In his upcoming book, You Lost Me, Kinnaman explores in depth why young Christians are leaving the Church and rethinking faith. In the Barna research that

more distant from the community of faith,” Kinnaman says. For these Exiles, the changes in their life and in the world create a widening gap between “church life” and “everything else,” ultimately creating a dissonance that is hard for them to reconcile.

Experimental psychologist Richard Beck, who teaches at Abilene Christian University, agrees with Rand that Facebook has in many ways replaced the social-networking function of church. In his article “How Facebook Killed the Church,” Beck proposes Facebook is a contributing reason for Millennials losing

Community Found Elsewhere For many young people, church no longer provides one of the central benefits it once did: community. In former eras, one’s church provided a locus of social connection in which you found your community and, at least once a week, fellowshipped with them. But these days, with technology providing easy access to relationships of all sorts, across great distances, who needs to socialize at church? In his research, Kinnaman has observed that today’s young people are less likely to participate in group or social activities of faith, even though their private religious practice has remained strong. “Their social experiences of Christianity are losing out to Facebook and social media,” he says. In her 2009 Christian Century piece, “The Church on Facebook,” Lenora Rand reinforces this idea that social networking sites like Facebook have in some ways filled a social void the Church used to fill. At any given moment in its status update feed, Facebook provides users with things the Church used to provide: “tidbits of honesty, introspection and vulnerability, confessions of hurt, need and sin.”

interest in regular church attendance. “Mobile social computing,” Beck writes, “has replaced the main draw of the traditional church: social connection and affiliation. “Church has always been about social affiliation. You met your friends, discussed your week, talked football, shared information about good schools, talked local politics, got the scoop and made social plans. … But Millennials are in a different social situation. They don’t need physical locations for social affiliation. … Already connected Millennials have the luxury to kick the church to the curb. This is the position of strength that other generations did not have. We fussed about the church, but, at the end of the day, you went to stay connected. For us, church was Facebook.”

FOR MANY YOUNG CHRISTIANS, THE WHOLE IDEA THAT CHURCH IS P RIM A RILY A T HING SOMEONE GOES TO ONCE A WEEK I S INC R E A S INGLY UNATTRACTIVE.

will accompany the book, Kinnaman breaks down the young leavers into three groups: Nomads, Prodigals and Exiles. Nomads are the most common type and account for about half of all young Christians who go through a phase of wandering away from church, Kinnaman says. They leave church more out of a slow fade or gradual drift away, as opposed to Prodigals, who leave the faith intentionally out of anger at God or the Church. Exiles, on the other hand, are optimistic about faith and really want Christianity to have relevance for their generation but feel stuck between two worlds and have sneaking suspicions about how much Christianity actually has to offer. While Nomads and Prodigals are fairly typical of any generation, Kinnaman says, Exiles are a particular kind of being lost that is a direct response to the changing culture. “I think there are factors in our culture that are creating a different social structure, a different technological world, a different spiritual narrative that are causing young people to feel

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It’s Too Much of a Show One of the legacies of the seeker-sensitive movement was a concerted emphasis on the part of churches to craft their services to be glossy, highly produced music and light shows that could compete with anything in the marketplace of amusements. As a result, churches became more performanceoriented, investing in concert-caliber sound

equipment and video screens, and hiring “producers” to make sure the service run sheets were packed with thrills and diversions for all ages. But in spite of its intention, this “show” emphasis has turned off many young people, says Sarah Sumner, author and dean of A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary. Sumner is sympathetic to the disenchantment many young Christians have with overly structured, performance-centric churches that turn the congregation into an audience. The problem, she says, is an anemic ecclesiology that views the church experience as not substantially different than a trip to the movies or a concert. “Once you divest the church of the Word and sacraments as central, then you have the young people going: ‘Why would I want to go to that? I don’t want to come to just a show,’” Sumner says. “It reduces the church to a club, and no one wants to join that club. They’d rather just have God without the club.” Part of the problem with the spectacle of “showy” church is that it takes away from the true meaning and mission of the Church. When a church spends the majority of its budget keeping its own laborious operations running (a litany of programs, exorbitant building overhead, staff salaries, etc.) and has little left over to fund missions or serve the needy in the community, some start wondering: Should churches be massive mini-colonies that emphasize programs and attractions, or should they be simpler, nimbler communities of discipleship with an outward focus? For many young people who have grown up being sold things and marketed to, the last thing they want a church to be is a product for a consumer. Rather, they want something truly transformational, unsatisfied with the status quo and not afraid of ruffling feathers in the pursuit of truth and growth. Desire for Something More Authentic For many young Christians, the whole idea that church is primarily a thing someone goes to once a week is increasingly unattractive. In a Barna survey, 74 percent of evangelicals 18-29 strongly agreed with the statement, “It is more important to be the Church than to go to church,” compared with 52 percent of evangelicals 40-plus years old. This desire for a more organic, authentic, people-defined church experience has led many young people to trade the traditional church experience for things like pub churches or house churches. They want the opposite of

the impersonal, easy megachurch. They don’t want church to be a Sunday morning, wear-afrilly-dress cultural event; they want it to be a biblical event—something that looks and feels more like Acts than 21st century suburbia. For Brady, a twentysomething banker and part-time seminary student who joined a Southern California home fellowship with some friends in 2007, the experience in a house church helped energize his faith after having grown increasingly ambivalent about the churchgoing experience. “The house church model represented a fresh start for me where it was equal parts growing in knowledge and studying the Word, but also getting in the trenches, so to speak, and really growing in community with a group of people who were serious about pursuing God’s will,” says Brady, whose church had 12-16 members. But even as house churches offer a healthy, enlivening alternative for those young people desensitized to the traditional church, Sumner warns they can be hard to maintain. The Church has historically been marked by three things, Sumner notes: the proclamation of the Word, the administration of the sacraments and church discipline. But when a church is primarily a community of peers or friends, it can be difficult to do church discipline. “Typically what happens is that as soon as there is a big conflict or a need for discipline, the thing just falls apart,” Sumner says. “Or if several of them move.” This was the case with Brady’s church, which finished its short run soon after a number of people (a little more than half the group) moved away. But even though it didn’t last, the experience helped Brady gain perspective on how difficult and yet rewarding it is to make church work, whether it’s a house church or a big institutional church. “It gave me new appreciation for what it means to labor together with the Body and to share in the joys of being the Church,” Brady says. “I now can see through firsthand experience that really digging into being actively a part of a church is very integral to the Christian walk.”

WHY WE SHOULD STAY The reasons why church is a frustrating experience are not limited to the four mentioned above. The list could go on and on. For many, church can be hard to stomach, and the

LIKE PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY There are plenty of books on why young people love Jesus but hate the Church. Here are three books on why Jesus and church are inseparable: GIVING CHURCH ANOTHER CHANCE By Todd Hunter (IVP Books)

Hunter chronicles his journey through several denominations and investigates nine church practices that bring grounding to our spiritual lives.

WHY WE LOVE THE CHURCH By Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck (Moody Publishers)

A defense for the purpose of church in the life of the believer and in God’s mission on earth.

LIFE TOGETHER By Dietrich Bonhoeffer (HarperOne)

The seminal book on Christians living in community and “doing life together.”

reasons why are difficult, complex and not easy to answer. But no one said Christianity was easy, or that being part of the Church would be a breeze. Despite the fact that it can be enormously frustrating and maddeningly imperfect, the Church is what followers of Christ are called to be. The Church is described in Scripture as nothing less than the body of Christ on earth. It’s not a slight, optional activity. According to Scriptures like Romans 12:5 and Ephesians 3:6, it’s the one body with many members, each an important and crucial piece of the mission of Jesus Christ. Why should twentysomethings not give up meeting together as the Church? The short answer is that the Bible says not to (Hebrews 10:25). But there are plenty of other practical arguments for the necessity—and ultimate privilege and thrill—of being a part of the Church. A Head Must Have a Body The body is one of the most commonly used metaphors for the Church in the New Testament. In places like Colossians 1:24, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4-5, Scripture compares the intimate bond between the Church and Christ to the necessary union of a body with its head.

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In their book, Why We Love the Church, Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck describe the attempts to have a church-less Christianity as an act of what they call “de-corpulation”—not the cutting off of the head (Jesus), but the cutting off of the body (the Church). They suggest that to live a Christian faith without the Church is as impossible as trying to have a head walk around without a body. The Church’s weak sense of identity in relationship to Christ comes from a misunderstanding of the body metaphor and the idea of “headship,” Sumner says. Sumner, who specializes in the theology of marriage, points to Ephesians 5:21-33 as an area where some have misunderstood “head,” taking it to be a synonym for “lord” rather than an image of union with a body. “Ephesians 5:23 doesn’t say the husband is the head of the house; it says the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church, His body. We’ve morphed ‘head’ into a definition that means ‘authority over,’ but it’s not a definition. It’s a picture. The husband is the head and the wife is the body, and the head plus the body equals one flesh. A head plus a house doesn’t equal one flesh. And so it’s not a leader plus an assistant, or two equal colleagues. It’s a head and a body’s oneness, and that’s what we see with Christ and the Church. Christ is the head; the Church is the body. There’s a oneness.” Sumner believes this image of a head and its body is the ultimate invitation into the Church because it makes clear that participation isn’t meant to be passive, but rather active, participatory and crucial, like the various parts of the body that work together so the whole thing can function well. It means being a Christian cannot be done in isolation. Believers are called to be connected not just to Jesus, but also to the living body known as the Church. “I would argue to young people that if you think you can be connected to the head without being connected to the elbow and the foot, you need a basic lesson in anatomy.” Unity and Mission Another argument for the importance of church has to do with Christian witness in the world. If more Christians start abandoning churches and living their faith independently, as individuals become more comfortable on their own or with a small band of like-minded believers, what sort of message does it send the world about the unified mission of Christians? On the other hand, if what the world sees is churches that bring together a diverse

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cross-section of humanity, people putting aside differences for the sake of the Gospel, how much stronger a witness would believers have? Though many churches are age-segregated or racially segregated, the promise of the Church is one of boundary-defying unity amidst diversity, which can be beautiful and profound, Kinnaman says. “Church is a place that is meant to be very different from anything else we may experience—other institutions of family, or workplace or social clubs—because it connects people across boundaries,” he says. “It’s a beautiful expression of what human relationships ought to look like, between people of different age groups, genders, racial and ethnic backgrounds, vocational arenas. It’s a great example of why we have to keep pursuing the church in its ideal form.” Church Is a Gift The churchgoing experience can often be taken for granted by those who grew up in places where steepled structures are literally on every corner. They can become unfamiliar with the persecution Christians face in other parts of the world, where believers in churches might be gunned down by terrorists, as was the case with recent Iraqi and Egyptian church massacres. Young American Christians are so used to church being easy and accessible they lose sight of how precious a gift it is to be able to meet together, unafraid, in public. Kinnaman thinks it’s important that Christians get outside their comfort zone and, if possible, experience what the Church looks like in other parts of the world. “I try to encourage both younger and older believers to find ways of traveling, both literally and spiritually, to encounter other Christians in their native environment,” he says. “I think travel can often show us what the

cost of disloyalty can be. What does it mean to be loyal within a completely different culture or setting where you actually have to stick together to survive?” In his classic book on Christian community, Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer notes that the “unspeakable gift” of fellowshipping with other believers is often taken for granted and not recognized as the blessing it is. “It is by the grace of God that a congregation is permitted to gather visibly in this world to share in God’s Word and sacrament,” Bonhoeffer wrote. “Not all Christians receive this blessing. The imprisoned, the sick, the scattered lonely, the proclaimers of the Gospel in heathen lands stand alone. They know that visible fellowship is a blessing.” Bonhoeffer reminds believers it’s “by grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.”

IT’S AN UPHILL BATTLE TO OVERCOME A DE E P LY INGRAINED CONSUMER MENTALITY AND FICKLE TENDENCY TO ABANDON A CHURCH THE MINUTE IT BECOMES TOO D IF F I C U LT.

It’s An Invitation Into Something Bigger, Something Beautiful Sure, the Church can be a royal pain. But to abandon it because of its faults is to miss out on something gargantuan, gorgeous and Christordained—something way beyond what one person might accomplish on his or her own, while nevertheless involving each believer in a paradoxically personal, intimate way. In the current have-it-your-way, consumer culture, the default choice is usually the one that seems easier, more convenient or more preferable to individual whims and fancies. Investing time and energy in the life of a local church is usually none of those things. Is it easy to attend a church where there’s always going to be an annoying song, personality or carpet color? Is it convenient to forgo a few hours a week to participate in a community that might be at times painful and awkward?

No. It’s much easier to just stay away and not even bother. But that doesn’t mean twentysomethings shouldn’t still try, says Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University. “Part of following Christ is having a rugged commitment to a community of believers, warts and all,” he says. In his new book, One.Life, McKnight argues that while no local church is perfect, it is nevertheless the local church in which Jesus wants His followers’ Kingdom life to take root. “I owe my primary commitment to my local church, not because it is what I want and not because it is the ideal place, but because the only way for Jesus’ dream Kingdom to take root is when local people commit to one another to strive with one another for a just, loving, peaceful and wise society, beginning at home, with friends, and at their local community of faith.” Part of the difficulty people have with committing to a local church is that society has for centuries been on an egalitarian trajectory of asserting individual rights over institutions, Sumner notes. “We’ve been in a long revolt against authority ever since the Reformation,” she says. “The whole trajectory is about me and my power. We have authority problems.” It’s an uphill battle to overcome a deeply ingrained consumer mentality and fickle tendency to abandon a church the minute it becomes too difficult. But the truth is, no matter how long someone shops for the perfect church, they’ll never find it. Instead of succumbing to inclinations that churchgoing is about “me” and it must meet “my” needs, believers should instead look at churchgoing as a chance to get outside of self-serving bubbles and join in something bigger and grander. The Church is this mind-boggling, mystical, relatively new phenomenon of history in which the God of the universe, through His Son and with the power of the Holy Spirit, inaugurated a revolutionary new Kingdom on earth. A Kingdom not of kings ruling by force, but of pockets of people united by selfless love, charity and a steadfast hope in rejuvenation and renewal. This Church welcomes everyone into its arms so that, together, they can join Christ in the bringing of light to a dark world. It’s a proposal, a partnership, a commitment: to embrace this mission and identity as the bride of Christ, warts and all.

Available March 8th, 2011 The debut solo record from Aaron Gillespie (The Almost, Underøath)

& 2011 BEC Recordings

E C U L In March 2003, we set out to make a magazine that gave voice to the conversations defining the lives and worldview of our generation. We wanted to show how God is moving today, but also grapple with big faith questions. We wanted to deal with the real-life issues college students, twentysomethings and thirtysomethings were facing but no other magazine would touch with a 10-foot pole. And we wanted to dissect the most innovative parts of culture, particularly the areas where God kept popping up. It’s now 50 issues later. And those are the conversations we’re still having—things have just changed and evolved along the way. The past eight years have surprised us, saddened us and given us hope, often all at the same time. The following pages show the 50 big ideas we think have changed everything since our first issue. They span what we’ve always covered—from social justice to pop culture, and from faith to politics to life. In the past 2,922 days, everything has changed. Here’s how.

Culture pg. 90-93

Faith pg. 94-97

Politics pg. 98-101

Life pg. 102-105

Social Justice pg. 106-109

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T U R

Introduction

Simply put? In the last eight years, the Internet changed everything— and faster than ever: the way we watch TV, buy music, learn about movies and even read books. But that’s not the only thing that’s changed. Here are 11 other ways culture has rapidly evolved.

02 PEOPLE CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE’S STORIES— A LOT In recent years, memoirs have dominated the best-seller list like never before. Books like Blue Like Jazz and Plan B put a generation’s fears, beliefs and hopes on paper and became the novel of the 21st century.

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We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Label

When did the major record labels die? Was it in 2004, when the “Big Five” (Warner, EMI, Sony, BMG and Universal) became the “Big Four”? Was it the rise of Napster? iTunes? When copies of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s

self-released debut reached the shelves of Target? Regardless, it’s pretty obvious the music scene is vastly different now than it was in 2003. Smaller, niche labels have claimed a much bigger slice of the music world— it’s why both Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend

hit number-one in 2010. Bands are also using sites like Bandcamp and SoundCloud to release music directly to their fans—with or without a label. There might never be another artist who sells a million albums in a week, but it’s hard to argue that 2011 isn’t an even more exciting time for music than 2003.

50 IDEAS TH AT CH AN GED E V E RY T H I N G

DEAR TV: GROW UP

Like it or not, television is called “the idiot box” for a reason. But the past few years have seen new shows that are making TV into an art. Here are three:

03.1 MAD MEN A subtle, devastating look at sin, redemption and consequences. Also, rampant alcoholism.

Let’s Make Movies for Other Hipsters

03.2 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA If you think this show was just sci-fi, you’re missing all of its political/ religious/social/economic/moral commentary.

APPARENTLY, VAMPIRES (AND HOBBITS, PIRATES AND ZOMBIES) ARE SEXY

05 03.3 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Through its five criminally underwatched seasons, FNL showed us family, faith and football as well as any show ever has.

Since 2003, it’s clear the nerds have won. Lord of the Rings won 11 Academy Awards. The Harry Potter books and films went from being “for kids” into an inter-generational phenomenon. Zombies took over the world, and pirates were all the rage. And Christians were excited at the prospect of Narnia films ... until they actually saw them.

Films have never been cheaper to make. And “indie culture” has never had more money to spend. The past decade has seen the rise of “hipster cinema”— studio-backed movies made by hipsters, for hipsters. To be sure, many of them are great films. Wes Anderson has been around since 1996’s Bottle Rocket, but his subsequent films, especially Royal Tennenbaums and The Life Aquatic, have solidified his status as the auteur of ironic detachment, family drama and sudden poignancy.

Oscar nominee Sofia Coppola took the indie world by storm, particularly with Lost in Translation, which was both beautiful and about twentysomethings’ search for connection. Perhaps the most hipster movie of all was Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, which combined a tale of parental love, childhood nostalgia and Karen O music into a sad, meaningful movie about the pain of growing up. These films made twentysomethings think, feel and, above all, told the stories they were living.

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I’m a Christian Artist; I Don’t Make Christian Music

06 REBELLION AGAINST AD CULTURE BECOMES MAINSTREAM “The people who run our cities don’t understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit. The people who truly deface our neighborhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses, trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. ... Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours; it belongs to you, it’s yours to take, rearrange and reuse. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.”

In 2003, the number of artists who were Christians and making music outside of CCM was pretty small. You had people like MxPx and Sixpence None the Richer who would talk about not wanting to be labeled a “Christian band,” but not many others. Then in 2005, Sufjan Stevens released Illinois and suddenly Christians were seriously considered as artists. Christian artists seem to be popping up everywhere—bands like Cold War Kids, Mute Math, Shad, the Avett Brothers, the Civil Wars and Switchfoot have all had critical and commercial success. Christians have successfully moved out of the faith ghetto and into artistic merit.

HOLLYWOOD HATES YOUR CHILDHOOD Don’t believe us? Witness the following films, made in the last eight years:

08.1 STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES Easily the worst entry of the series, this movie destroyed the imagination of any male born after 1976.

08.2 INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL Five words: Shia LaBeouf swings with monkeys. MONKEYS.

Banksy London Street Artist Wall and Piece, 2007

08.3 YOGI BEAR The first significant misstep of Justin Timberlake’s career. This was worse than that one Punk’d episode.

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50 IDEAS TH AT CH AN GED E V E RY T H I N G

09 LIVE TV IS A HASSLE News flash: you don’t need to watch live TV anymore (except for sports). First came TiVo, with its charming bleeps and bloops and ability to make your favorite shows watchable all the time. Then DVR took off. And now there’s Hulu, Crackle, Netflix, YouTube and a host of other Internetdependent options. TV will never be the same ... but who said that’s a bad thing?

WE’RE FREE FROM ALBUM TYRANNY Back in the late ’90s, everyone was captive to the album. That’s why you owned albums by Nine Days, Vertical Horizon and Eve 6. Well, thanks to the wonder of MP3s and iTunes, those days are over. Now you don’t own a whole Snow Patrol album—you just have “Chasing Cars.” While there’s something to be said for the album as an art (especially ones by Radiohead and Arcade Fire), it’s nice to have other options. Take that, Blessid Union of Souls.

Video Games Aren’t for Kids Anymore

Somehow, in the last decade, video games moved out of the toy room and into the living room. Here are three things that hastened the transition:

11.1 HALO 2 At the time, it was the highestgrossing entertainment release of all time, beating Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

11.2 PORTAL This puzzle game/shooter pulled people into gaming who wouldn’t normally get anywhere near it. To try it is to be addicted.

11.3 NINTENDO WII Because your grandma has one.

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Introduction

Eight years is not exactly a long time relative to 2,000 years of Church history. And yet, a lot has changed since 2003 when it comes to Christians’ personal and corporate faith. There were new trends, a rediscovery of old trends and a whole lot of blending. Oh yeah, and “authenticity” came up quite a bit.

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MEDITATING AND FASTING AND CONFESSING, OH MY! The last eight years saw a renewed interest in spiritual disciplines, as twentysomethings moved on from college ministries and sought ways to make faith their own. Popular books, such as Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight and The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg, contextualize the traditional disciplines for today’s culture. As in most movements of this generation, the pursuit of spiritual disciplines is a morphing of ancient and future—with a priority on authenticity. You might be fasting or setting aside a day for prayer, but it’s just as likely you’re fasting from Facebook as food, and your prayers are a mix of ancient creeds and free-form conversation with God.

50 IDEAS TH AT CH AN GED E V E RY T H I N G

13 MODERN WORSHIP GETS EVEN MORE MODERN

Let’s Get Coffee and Talk about God’s Sovereignty and Human Free Will! John Piper. Mark Driscoll. Joshua Harris. These pastors share more in common than bestselling books. They are part of a growing Reformed movement that has attracted young people across denominations. In 2009, Time magazine named new Calvinism the number-three biggest idea changing the world. “In a day when the world is big,” Driscoll said in 2010, “and there is terrorism, chaos and confusion, to know God is sovereign—that God is in control, that God is good—is practically and pastorally really helpful.”

Remember when it was controversial to put drums on a church stage? We’ve moved past that, obviously, but even modern worship has gone through a few evolutions in the last eight years. Here’s a look at where worship has been, and where it is now:

13.1 FIRST WAVE Delirious? took the world by storm. British anthem rock worship became the style of choice.

13.2 SECOND WAVE The Passion conferences took off, and Matt Redman’s and Chris Tomlin’s songs were in every church.

13.3 THIRD WAVE Today’s worship has several streams, represented by John Mark McMillan, Hillsong United, Jesus Culture and Misty Edwards.

WE CAN PRAY AND PROTEST

“The Christianity of private piety, affluent conformity and only ‘God bless America’ has compromised the witness of the Church while putting a new generation of Christians to sleep. Defining faith by the things you won’t do or question does not create a compelling style of life. And a new generation of young people is hungry for an agenda worthy of its commitment, its energy and its gifts.” Jim Wallis Author of God’s Politics and editor of Sojourners, 2006

JUST ADD SPIRIT

Like Reformed doctrines, beliefs and practices once considered Charismatic became more accepted across denominations. According to a 2008 Barna survey, a majority of born-again Christians (51 percent) reported Charismatic beliefs, including being “filled with the Holy Spirit” and/or believing “the Charismatic gifts, such as tongues and healing, are still valid and active today.”

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17 Old is the “New” New This generation can’t get enough old stuff. It’s the reason “ancient-future” became an actual term and “vintage” is now the highest form of praise. This fascination with all things old has been brought to bear on the Church in a number of ways. It started out with lots of candles, the occasional framed stained-glass window and some out-of-place icons. In other words, it started out as a fashion statement. But soon it began to influence the Church’s liturgy (which is why you now know what “liturgy” means). Twentysomethings started singing old hymns, reciting the Doxology, walking through labyrinths, buying The Book of Common Prayer and joining mainline denominations with high-church traditions.

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EMERGENT COMES AND GOES—BUT ALSO KIND OF STAYS

In the early 2000s, Christians were talking about this whole “postmodern” thing and what it meant for the Church. If people had started to inherently think differently and approach truth, culture and identity in a different way, then maybe traditional means of evangelism and church would no longer work. These are the ideas that birthed the Emergent Village—a group of Christian leaders and academics wrestling with church and cultural context. “This isn’t about generational styles,” said Brian McLaren, a leader in the emergent movement, in 2009. “This is about something deeper, a profound shift from a modern, colonial, industrial, organizational world to a postmodern, postcolonial, postindustrial, ecological world. People started talking about a number of issues as a result—evangelism, leadership, worship, spiritual formation, theology.” And “talking” is, of course, the key word. The movement didn’t see itself as such—their desire was to remain fluid and outside structure. Their manifestos and various statements came in the form of blog posts, articles, conferences and books such as McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity and Tony Jones’ The New Christians. Though the conversation has seemingly died down over the past few years, McLaren posits that this was always the goal. That the emergent conversation was meant to last while it was needed, and that eventually the emergent values would simply melt into the common ideals of Christianity. “I suppose the greatest sign of success,” McLaren said, “would be that the ideas and values we have been pursuing would become such an unspoken part of Christian identity that nobody needed to use a term like ‘Emergent Village’ again.”

Introduction

When RELEVANT started in 2003, George W. Bush was in his first term as president. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected on a platform of change, ushering in a marked shift in the American political landscape from Right to Left (which shifted back in 2010). Through it all, the young Christian vote became one of the most sought-after in politics. Here are the political trends that have most affected young believers since 2003.

I’m an Indedemopublitarian Who Sometimes Votes Green “I think you’re going to see the next generation of evangelicals, unlike the last generation, unwilling to be an interest group of either party or either movement. Evangelicals will be concerned about the unborn, the orphaned, the widowed, the immigrant and enslaved, and [they] will be drawn to issues ranging from the right-tolife, to creation care to AIDS relief in ways that don’t fit the easy categorizations.” Russell Moore Dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2010

Republicans In 2007, 40% of young Christians said they identified with the Republican Party

Democrats 19% of young evangelicals reported an affinity for the Democratic Party

Independent 32% of young believers said they were tied to no party or a third party, up from 25% in 2005

SOURCE: 2007 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

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PRO-LIFE SHOULD BE MORE THAN JUST ABORTION OPPOSITION Over the last eight years, young Christians have embraced a more holistic definition of “pro-life.” Though they are still opposed to abortion (a 2007 Pew Forum survey found that more than 70 percent of young evangelicals say abortions should be harder to get), that’s not where

“pro-life” stops now. Instead, this generation has adopted a whole-life ethic, which means they are opposed to unjust war, torture, the death penalty, oppression and the crippling poverty that can be a death sentence for people around the world. It’s why you see a 25-year-old on the Supreme Court steps, speaking out against abortion ... and then see the same person walking in a peace march ... and then see his or her name later that year on a petition to stop torture. While there are legitimate concerns that abortion is being de-emphasized, the newfound popular commitment to a wholelife ethic has changed an entire group of Christians and made them more aware of how easy it is to see life thwarted at every turn.

25 GAY MARRIAGE GETS CONFUSING WHEN YOUR BEST FRIEND IS GAY Gay marriage has been one of the most polarizing debates in the American political landscape. But twentysomething Christians have remained largely silent on the issue. That’s probably because:

Younger Christians have gay friends. According to a 2008 Public Religion Research poll, 37% of evangelicals ages 18-34 said they have a close friend or relative who is gay. Only 16% of evangelicals 35-plus said the same.

Young Christians support civil unions for gay people ... but not necessarily marriage. According to the same Pew Forum poll, only 22% of white evangelicals from 18-49 and only 27% of black Protestants support gay marriage. But Protestants overall favor civil unions by a slight margin (49% to 45%).

Younger Christians still think homosexual activity is morally wrong. Sixty percent of all Protestants (and 76% of white evangelicals) believe homosexual behavior is morally wrong. Even among younger people, regardless of religious belief, 38% of people aged 18-29 believe homosexual activity is morally wrong.

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28 WAIT, SO CARING FOR CREATION ISN’T JUST A VAST LIBERAL CONSPIRACY? In the last eight years, the Christian environmental movement has gone from fringe to mainstream. Now, everyone from Southern Baptists to Pentecostals has embraced the movement to take seriously God’s desire for His people to be good stewards of the Earth. While people might disagree on exactly how to take care of the planet (carbon taxes? consumer-driven environmentalism? global warming?), it’s clear care for the planet is no longer some fringe thing. This was never more apparent than with the 2006 release of the Evangelical Climate Initiative, which brought together Christians from all over the denominational and political spectrum to affirm God’s command to Christians to take care of the Earth. Creation care has become less of a suspicious activity and more of an outward action in the service of a God who declared His creation good.

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Introduction

Life in the 21st century is fast. Very, very fast. Trends die almost as quickly as they start. Science, technology and art have all changed at the fastest rate in history— each one impacting the other. This generation has responded to these changes with a mixture of hope and cynicism ... often at the same time.

SO ... WHAT IF WE SOLD PEOPLE MUSIC LEGALLY OVER THE INTERNET?

If you were a music lover in the early ’00s, you didn’t have many ways to get your music digitally. At least, if you wanted to do it legally. Then, in 2003, Apple created the iTunes music store—and made iTunes available to PC customers. With that (and Amazon MP3, eMusic and Rhapsody), music changed forever—and we’ve never looked back.

WE SHOULD TOTALLY SHARE OUR MOST INTIMATE THOUGHTS WITH EVERYONE

In the last eight years, almost everyone started (and abandoned) a blog. Whether you used Blogger, Xanga or LiveJournal, or you waited to use now-cool programs like WordPress or Tumblr, at some point you’ve likely joined the millions of people who moved their personal journal to the most public forum of all.

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The Suburbs Are So Bourgeois ... If you’ve lived in a city over the last eight years, you know urban areas have begun to attract twentysomethings like a wolf T-shirt attracts hipsters (see #34). Whether it’s Brooklyn, Wicker Park or Silver Lake, every city has an area overrun with people in their 20s and 30s. It seems the majority of them grew up in the suburbs, but have rejected that lifestyle. The U.N. says that by 2030, 87 percent of the U.S. population will live in cities—and young people moving in (whether it’s to chase a job, seek out cultural opportunities or just be with other twentysomethings) will continue to have a lot to do with that.

50 IDEAS TH AT CH AN GED E V E RY T H I N G

32 WAIT, WE DON’T NEED THREE CARS, FOUR TVS AND 16 PAIRS OF SUNGLASSES? There’s been a huge trend toward living more simply. Here are three ways people tried to simplify:

32.1 DITCH THE CAR Since more and more people live in cities, a bike/public transportation combo proved hard to beat.

IF WE FIGURE OUT WHY DISEASES EXIST, WE CAN STOP THEM

In 2003, one of the biggest events of the 21st century occurred: principal mapping of the human genome was completed. Scientists had been working toward the goal for almost 15 years, and the full mapping of it has only begun to reveal its benefits. Most observers believe knowledge of human genes will help them treat and identify the causes of many diseases.

34 I Will Be as Unique as All of My Friends The early ’90s had grunge kids. The late ’90s had proto-emo kids. But the ’00s was the decade of the hipster. “Hipster” became a dirty word, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re sincere about what you’re into—if you genuinely love fixed-gear bikes, your local farmer’s market, local food, your local zine or [fill-in-the-blankwith-hipstery-activity]—more power to you.

32.2 GROW A GARDEN Grow your own organic veggies—it saves money and it’s good for you.

Obligatory Spectacles And they don’t even have to be real. Facial Hair Bonus points if it’s ironic. American Apparel $30 for an undershirt never seemed so reasonable. Wolf, Bear and/or Shark Apparel Chicks dig animals.

32.3 GO THRIFTING For many twentysomethings, thrift stores are the only mall they need.

Pocket Full of Sunshine Or cynicism ... whatever. Skinny Jeans How else to point out such skinny legs?

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35 I DON’T REALLY LIKE THIS, AND THAT’S WHY IT’S COOL Since 2003, you’ve been able to ingest, buy, wear, listen to, watch and read things that are awful, but you can get away with it because you know they’re awful. Someday, historians will look back at the age of irony and wonder why on earth it ever happened in the first place. Then they will see the video for “Hooked on a Feeling” and they’ll remember.

35.1 FOOD The ironic will happily consume things like Taco Bell, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and PBR. Not because they like those things, but because those things are gross. Which is funny—and totally worth the palate sacrifice.

35.2 CLOTHING If you’ve ever seen a twentysomething dressed in something horrifically ugly, there’s at least a 76% chance they mean to be dressed like that. As a joke. Sort of.

35.3 ENTERTAINMENT Everyone has had a “so bad it’s good” favorite. It’s just that hipster culture has taken this to a new extreme. Sorry, but Two and a Half Men is just awful, and not “ironically funny.”

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What if I Had the Option of Knowing Everything at All Times? Even though smart phones entered the popular consciousness in 2002 with the BlackBerry, it wasn’t until the iPhone came out in 2007 that everything changed. Suddenly, a full Internet (not a broken one like the BlackBerry) was in your pocket. Trying to remember that actor from Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place?

Wikipedia in your purse. Looking for movie times? No need to call. Want a dinner recommendation on the go? Yes, there’s an app for that. That’s because there’s an app for everything. Thanks to the proliferation of iOS and Android devices, we’re always plugged in— for better or worse.

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Why Pay for Stuff When You Can Get It for Free? Oh Yeah ... Morality

MAYBE IT DOES MATTER WHERE YOUR FOOD COMES FROM Maybe it’s because of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, or Fast Food Nation or Food, Inc. But this will be remembered as the decade when people, on a mass level, began to care again about where their food came from. When big chains like Chipotle start touting their local cred, it’s obvious a movement is afoot.

HEY, HONEY, LET’S LIVE WITH 12 OTHER PEOPLE

“When it’s all said and done, living in community seems to be as honest an approach as you can get to living out the Gospel. Those who go down that path experience joys and sorrows in a whole new way, finding a deeper level of living. The most I could want with my life is to live as authentically for the Gospel as I can. For us, communal living is the way to be faithful to that calling—intentionally placing ourselves in a position to be challenged and united together in a common mission.” Matt Conner Founding pastor of Mercy House and member of an intentional community, 2008

Perhaps it’s just an extension of the rampant entitlement of this generation, but there’s never been a time in history when people have wanted more stuff for less money. Almost everything can be obtained for free, mostly thanks to the Internet. Movies, music, books, works of art, computer software—all of these and more are out there and available for free, as long as you have the know-how and don’t have any moral qualms. There are good arguments for both sides of the “free our media” debate, but it’s obvious things have changed forever—and no one is still quite sure how culture will adapt.

MAYBE ABSTINENCE MESSAGING NEEDS SOME TWEAKING ...

40 In the past decade, thinkers like Lauren Winner have challenged how the Church approaches sex. Here are some of her thoughts from a 2005 interview: Why do you think some of the Church’s teachings on this are naïve or untrue? A theme that runs through many Christian conversations is the insistence that if we have premarital sex, we’ll feel bad about it. To be sure, that is sometimes true. You feel ashamed, or alienated, or lonely, or down in the dumps. But sometimes, it is not true. Sometimes, even after sinful sex, a person will feel fantastic, or neutral. Or hungover. There is a sneaking suspicion our bodies are bad, or they don’t matter very much. How does this affect our view of sex? Too often, Christians’ aching discomfort with bodies gets transmitted into how we do sex; our anxiety about bodies morphs into an anxiety about, or repugnance of, sexual desire and sexual acts. This anxiety about bodies runs counter to the radical embodiment of the Christian story—which unequivocally proclaims that we were created with bodies, that God called our bodies good, that Jesus came as a

body, and saved us with His body, and He and we both will be resurrected as bodies. What do you think about abstinence movements like True Love Waits? Those programs, of course, are extremely well-intentioned, but recent studies show they may not be effective. One study showed that 61 percent of students who signed sexual-abstinence commitment cards broke their pledges. And of the remaining 39 percent who kept their pledges, 55 percent said they’d had oral sex and did not consider oral sex to be sex. What other ways can the Church support people in their efforts at purity? One of the limitations of programs like True Love Waits is that they are framed as matters of individual will. I think the Church needs to recover the notion that chastity is a discipline for the whole community, that the Church is a community where transformation is expected and supported.

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42 Not Your

Introduction

This generation has heard the call to care for the least of these, and in the last eight years has dramatically increased its focus on social justice. Twentysomethings are dedicating their time, energy, money and voices to the causes and people they are passionate about. However, this renewed vigor toward social issues is not merely a revival of the social gospel of a century ago. Today’s social justice movement is characterized by trends unique to this age of social networking, advanced technology and simplified travel. Here are 10 of the ideas that changed the landscape of faith and justice.

I SUPPORT CAUSES YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF

Social justice has gone niche. Gone are the days of supporting one organization dedicated to large and vague issues like “poverty.” The past eight years saw the rise of the cause. Possibly in an attempt to feel more connected to the work and the results, volunteers and donors now give to specific initiatives like clean water, AIDS research, rehabilitating child soldiers and/or fair trade farming.

Mama’s NGO Today’s nonprofits are, in some ways, direct reactions to financial scandals and vagaries amidst charitable organizations in the past. Here are a few key characteristics of the new, young non-governmental organizations:

42.1 FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY Financial records are visible and many, like charity: water, send 100% of donations to the field.

42.2 ONE CAUSE Often single-cause-oriented, they specialize in one unique area.

42.3 SOCIALLY NETWORKED Facebook, Twitter and flash mobs are the marketing tools of choice.

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ACTUALLY, THERE REALLY IS A WRONG WAY TO HELP PEOPLE

43 Charity organizations are no longer created equal. As access to media in various forms increased, so did Christians’ awareness of how their charity actually helps ... or, in some cases, hurts. Conversations about how to do justice right have become common as experts address sustainability, local leadership, financial transparency and long-term goals for development. Everyone now talks about breaking cycles and the difference between a handout and a hand up.

SOMEONE DESERVES CREDIT FOR THIS IDEA ...

One response to this holistic development strategy has been an increased focus on microfinancing. Organizations like Kiva, World Vision and Opportunity International offer small loans with little to no interest to help entrepreneurs start businesses. “Microfinance is a proven method for helping impoverished communities move toward economic self-sufficiency,” said Rich Stearns, president of World Vision, U.S, in 2010.

JEREMY COWART

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SOCIAL JUSTICE 45

I WEAR MY CAUSE ON MY SLEEVE

I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane— Back in Two Weeks Perhaps one reason so many twentysomething Christians are interested in social justice is because they’ve actually seen the developing world with their own eyes. It isn’t uncommon for a young Christian today to have been to a dozen countries before turning 30. According to a 2008 Barna study, 12 percent of American Christians aged 18-34 have been on at least one mission trip (contrasted with just 7 percent of Boomers), and an additional 10 percent said they definitely plan to go on one within the next three years. “These journeys allow people to put their religious beliefs in action by taking people to areas of great need to serve the poor or disadvantaged,” said David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group.

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What happens when an increased interest in social justice meets a consumer culture? It’s what some have dubbed “compassionism,” and the recent

phenomenon garners mixed reactions. (“It’s a win-win.” “No, it encourages selfish consumerism.”) While it remains to be seen whether the approach will be helpful or harmful in the long run, commodified activism comes in many forms—and serves a variety of purposes. A few examples:

Handmade Paper Beads Jewelry with meaning.

TOMS Shoes Classic TOMS are worn Stateside and overseas.

AWARENESS: Organizations like To Write Love on Her Arms and Invisible Children sell T-shirts, bags and hats with their logo in order to spread the word about their cause—and some profits are donated to continue that consciousness-raising. MICROFINANCING: Nonprofits like Light Gives Heat and Hello Rewind offer jobs making products such as necklaces or bags to help rehabilitate former sex slaves or impoverished women. ONE-FOR-ONE: Popularized by TOMS Shoes, this model offers to donate one product (e.g., shoes) for every product you purchase. FAIR TRADE: Stores like 10,000 Villages and Intelligentsia Coffee work with distributors to sell fair trade products—so consumers know the producers received a fair wage.

50 IDEAS TH AT CH AN GED E V E RY T H I N G

I’m an Activist/ Journalist/ Documentarian/ Fundraiser

As access to professional equipment and ease of travel increased, so too did the independent journalist. In particular, the documentary blossomed over the last eight years as the medium of choice for young, ambitious artists wanting to tell the hard stories. More interesting, though, is the number of those documentarians who became involved in their stories.

48 47.1 INVISIBLE CHILDREN After filming this documentary on child soldiers, the filmmakers began an advocacy and fundraising campaign for rehabilitating rescued soldiers.

START A BAND? HOW ABOUT A 501(C)(3)?

Remember when young, disgruntled twentysomethings started bands in their garages? Not anymore. In a rejection of suburban, consumer-driven, mecentered culture, young Christians used those erstwhile refuges for a new rebellion: starting nonprofits. Products of a do-it-yourself era, these earnest Samaritans saw a cause and wanted to fix it. So they made T-shirts, set up websites and filmed documentaries in an effort to spread the word and change the world.

47.2 THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK Former Marine Captain Brian Steidle was sent to monitor the cease-fire in Sudan. The unjust violence he saw there spurred him into advocacy.

47.3 AS WE FORGIVE Laura Waters Hinson captured the struggle to forgive as Rwandans learn to live with one another again after genocide. She now tours regularly, speaking on forgiveness.

I ALREADY BOUGHT A SHIRT/DONATED VIA TEXT/ RETWEETED/BLOGGED

Thanks to the Internet, documentaries, news, social networks and their causepassionate friends, young Christians were made aware of every terrible thing happening in every far-flung locale. “Compassion fatigue” became a concern as nonprofits and aid organizations worked to combat this weariness and to instill hope.

LET’S GET TO KNOW THE LOCAL POOR Two things happened in the last eight years: everyone started going global ... and going local. As a result, many young Christians began to ask what it would look like to live missionally at home—to move to the underdeveloped parts of their cities and intentionally live and serve in the same place. One of the leaders of this movement, author and activist Shane Claiborne, put it this way: “The tragedy in today’s church is not that the rich don’t care about the poor, but that the rich don’t know the poor. It is easier for us to talk about the poor than to talk to the poor. ... Jesus did not come to set up a program but modeled a way of living that incarnated the reign of God, a community in which people are reconciled” (2010).

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As Christ welcomes all, we welcome you. We welcome your advocacy. We welcome your curiosity. We welcome your compassion. We welcome your theological journey.

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MUSIC /// HILLSONG UNITED AFTERMATH SPARROW

LISTEN: Don’t know what this thing is? Check out page 6 for instructions.

> When Christ died on the cross, Heaven and Hell collided, creating a spiritual aftermath: His sacrifice set us free. On the latest Hillsong United release, the Australian group has reconnected with that outlook—everything we are is in Him. The opener, “Take Heart,” is surprisingly forlorn until the explosive bridge: God our justice, God our grace, God our freedom. Joel Houston, the son of the Hillsong pastors, produced this studio album by himself and wrote most of the songs. You can hear the improved production values—there is more power and not as much frenzy. Well, at least until the last song, “Light Will Shine,” which taps the same energy of United classics and adds a few twists from The Killers, or maybe even a more antiseptic Wolf Parade.

CUT COPY ZONOSCOPE (MODULAR) > Dim the lights and put on your

parachute pants: Cut Copy wants you out on the dance floor, stat. On Zonoscope, they mix their usual techno-trance dalliances with a more pop-infused sound, something like Duran Duran with better Pro Tools programming. Only fans of experimental techno will get this, but the new sound is a bit more Nova Social and not as much Moby. (Whew, thanks for that.) Wait for the final 15-minute track, “Sun God,” as the Melbourne four-piece, led by former graphic designer Dan Whitford, use cow bells and fuzz-rock guitars to create a mostly instrumental closing epoch.

DANIELSON BEST OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY (SOUNDS FAMILYRE) > “Follow your hearts,” sings Daniel

Smith on the opening track to his latest release, which is not a “best of” in the usual sense. Smith enlists the help of a new band, including pal Sufjan Stevens and other local luminaries from New Jersey. The result is a more accessible mix of songs, many featuring an electric guitar, drums and Stevens on banjo. One of the best songs, “Grow Up,” sounds like someone stuffed the lead singer from Foghat into a closet and punched him silly until he coughed up a ‘70s-rock chorus. It’s psych-rock-meets-Journey—and it actually works.

If you see this symbol, it means we’re featuring a song from this project on RELEVANT.fm. We’re cool like that.

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LUPE FIASCO LASERS (ATLANTIC)

JAMES BLAKE SELF-TITLED (ATLAS)

THE KILLS BLOOD PRESSURES (DOMINO)

BRIGHT EYES THE PEOPLE’S KEY (SADDLE CREEK)

> Lupe Fiasco asks for substance

> James Blake accomplishes the

> Jamie Hince plays a chainsaw like

> The new Bright Eyes starts out

on his latest release and he gets it: distant echoing synth on “I’m Beamin,” luscious swirling piano on “What U Want,” sound-bite spiritual asides (“Love God, go to church,” he sings on “Army Girl”) and a brilliant duet with John Legend on “Never Forget You” add up to one of the finest rap releases of the year. “Resurrection” is a self-referential ode: passion and joy obfuscate impoverishment, he sings, and you get the sense he has lived that out in real time. Fiasco doesn’t shy away from complexity, either: breaking out of the ghetto might depend on which voices you obey.

near unfathomable on his debut record: he creates a remarkably innovative sound (which iTunes calls “post-dubstep”) that catches you off-guard. There are bleeps and squiggles, vocals that sound like a slightly deranged Frank Sinatra at times, and a haunted vibe—like the soundtrack to the movie The Road infused with techno accents. Check out “Wilhelms Scream,” a song that, for about four seconds, could work for a PlayStation game until it completely implodes. The next song staples a few disparate sounds onto the whiteboard: jazz, techno and (why not?) Mario Brothers.

no other. On the latest Kills release, he and Alison Mosshart—known for her stint alongside Jack White in The Dead Weather—cobble together crunchy guitars and other buzz saw sound effects into twitchy, gothic arrangements. Mosshart says she learned a lot while recording for The Dead Weather, so this influence makes sense. Blood Pressures is mostly the two of them and programmed drums, à la Sleigh Bells or The White Stripes. There’s a big sound here, aided by a full gospel chorus on two songs and rampant sonic texturing. Oh, and a solo turn for Mosshart on “Last Goodbye.”

with a long, spoken-word monologue about the super universe. Then things get weird. Conor Oberst, fresh off his duties in Monsters of Folk, sings about learning new words, drinking cherry cola, riding on a motorbike and being abnormal. I saw a hologram at the theme park/ She looked as real as me through the white fog, he sings on “Firewall,” in full transcendental mode. Musically, there’s less country swing and more pop complexity. Thankfully, the melodies are not so preciousgood-guy-rock and more like classic Pavement, Paul Westerberg or maybe mid-period R.E.M.

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DVDS/// 127 HOURS (FOX SEARCHLIGHT, R) > Danny Boyle’s latest spins the true story of outdoorsman Aron Ralston, who amputated his arm after getting it wedged beneath a boulder and spending five days in a Utah canyon. Boyle makes 127 Hours aesthetically stunning and spiritually affirming. Stylized with untraditional sound and visuals, some sequences come to the screen like a music video, while others settle into subtler, cinematic grandeur. Playing Ralston to the bone, James Franco lends the film a sense of humanity through a blend of humor and sincerity. Isolated from civilization, Ralston realizes it was his pride and disconnect that put him there. Boyle confirms our desperate need for connection, community and love, as Ralston changes through the experience. In the finale, when Ralston cries out, “I need help!” his words are more than literal—they signify his transformation and the grace extended to him. 127 Hours is a spiritual monument.

THE TOWN (WARNER BROS., R) > Set in Charlestown, “the bank

robbery capital of America,” this adaptation of Chuck Hogan’s novel Prince of Thieves nearly perfects the classic crime story of the gangster who wants out. The story follows veteran thief Doug MacRay, who falls in love and plans to do one last job before going straight. As Ben Affleck’s second directorial feature, The Town never ceases to entertain. Gripping performances, sleek action sequences and flawless pacing make it a satisfying crime drama. Affleck again proves he knows what he’s doing behind the camera, looking to perhaps someday become Boston’s answer to Scorsese.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1 (WARNER BROS., PG-13) > Instead of returning to Hogwarts

for another year of classes, J.K. Rowling’s three heroes set off into the world on a life-or-death mission to find magical objects, which they must destroy to defeat Lord Voldemort once and for all. The third Harry Potter helmed by director David Yates, the film is one of the most mature installments of the series, exploring themes of suffering and death. Its intimate, weighty tone makes it the perfect setup for the rousing finale that fans of the series have been waiting for since the first movie was released back in 2001.

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GET LOW (SONY PICTURES CLASSICS, PG-13)

LAST TRAIN HOME (ZEITGEIST FILMS, NR)

> Looking like an Old Testament

plays as social commentary on the divide between Chinese laborers and global consumerists, as well as the harsh realities of Marxism. Through the three-year story of one family, the documentary looks at the world’s largest human migration. More than 130 million Chinese workers travel annually, by train, from their urban workplaces to their home villages to celebrate the new year. Fan shoots the film like intimate, solemn fiction, giving us an up-close and personal glimpse of what it’s like for the pawns of a machine that so many of us, in one way or another, empower.

prophet, Robert Duvall plays a fiery old hermit named Felix Bush. After spending 40 years of his life hidden deep in the woods, where people knew him as a murderer and a friend of the devil, Bush returns to society. He demands a living funeral, during which the local townspeople gather and tell interpretations of his life. As his identity unravels, we meet a wounded soul punishing himself for sins of the past. Director Aaron Schneider’s subtle and suspenseful gothic tale becomes a story of redemption and forgiveness.

> Lixin Fan’s Last Train Home

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (OSCILLOSCOPE LABORATORIES, R) > The most fascinating aspect

of Exit Through the Gift Shop is that no one knows whether it’s real or a hoax. The film, by British artist and activist Banksy, follows larger-than-life Frenchman Thierry Guetta, who has dedicated his life to videotaping underground street artists. As Guetta, characterized by a dashing mustache and overthe-top accent, prepares to sell his work for a fortune, we start to ask important questions: What makes art, art? Where is the line between pop culture and art? And this leads to another question: Does the film’s artistic value hang on it being real?

RESTREPO (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, R) > In a culture where anti-war films

continue to play off liberal guilt and devalue the sacrifice of American soldiers, Restrepo is a breath of fresh air. Made by photographer Tim Hetherington and journalist Sebastian Junger, it follows a single platoon as they spend a year in Korengal Valley, which is considered one of the deadliest war zones in Afghanistan. As realistic as a war documentary gets, with real-time footage of the combat, Restrepo causes us to let go of our political agendas for a moment and empathize in gratitude with those laying down their lives for their country, day in and day out.

RECOMMENDS

BOOKS/// THE LOST ART OF READING DAVID L. ULIN

(SASQUATCH BOOKS) > Not long ago, David L. Ulin noticed he was having trouble reading. He was easily sidetracked, constantly suppressing the urge to check his BlackBerry. For Ulin, who makes a living writing about reading (he is a book critic for the Los Angeles Times), this was more than an annoyance. The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time is both the story of how Ulin learned to cultivate the stillness required to read well, and a meditation on the importance of books “in a distracted time.” At its best, literature offers “a slicing through of all the notice and the ephemera,” Ulin writes—and our world offers nothing if not ephemera. Real reading, he says, draws us “back from the primacy of the instant [and] restores time to us in a more fundamental way.” In an age characterized by distraction and alienation, reading becomes nothing less than an act of resistance.

AN OBJECT OF BEAUTY STEVE MARTIN (GRAND CENTRAL PUBLISHING)

LONG, LAST, HAPPY: NEW AND SELECTED STORIES BARRY HANNAH (GROVE PRESS)

> To Steve Martin’s bio—actor, musician, screenwriter, essayist— add: novelist and art enthusiast. An Object of Beauty, Martin’s first full-length novel, is set in the New York City art world of the 1990s and 2000s, and revolves around Lacey Yeager, an intern at Sotheby’s who inveigles her way into the industry’s upper strata. Martin, himself an avid collector, guides us through galleries, museums and auction houses, as well as the egos of artists, dealers and collectors. He seems to take the art seriously but not the “scene”—the opposite of his ambitious protagonist.

> When Barry Hannah died unexpectedly last March, we lost a great master of the short story, from a lineage that includes Flannery O’Connor and Raymond Carver. Like O’Connor, Hannah was a thoroughly Southern writer, and during his life he published (along with eight novels) four collections of short stories. The best of these, as well as an early unpublished story and four new stories, make up Long, Last, Happy. Hannah’s prose is brutal and unflinchingly honest. Go to your local bookstore and give “Water Liars” a try. We bet you’ll keep reading.

Is the God you see In your lIfe not the God you hear or read about? Is the God you hear In your heart not the God that others seem to experIence? If the God you know Is Good, kInd, optImIstIc, and consumed wIth lIfe...

you’re not wronG. you’re Thinking BrillianTly.

God thinks you’re brilliant. It’s time to start believing it.

www.thInkInGbrIllIantly.com

COMMON PRAYER: A LITURGY FOR ORDINARY RADICALS VARIOUS (ZONDERVAN)

THE DEATH OF THE LIBERAL CLASS CHRIS HEDGES (NATION BOOKS)

> Warning: Chris Hedges’ new book > In our virtual world, there are will unsettle you. In The Death of those who have found a different the Liberal Class, Hedges, a Pulitzer way to live. Known as new Prize winner, cites the War on monastics, the lives of these folks Terror, the recession and mounting beat to a different pulse. Now, populist anger as evidence liberals three of the leading voices from have failed to prevent a “corporate this movement (Shane Claiborne, coup d’état,” resulting in the Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and disenfranchisement of America’s Enuma Okoro) have put together most vulnerable citizens. Hedges is a book of daily readings that taps at his best when recording the plight into this ancient rhythm. Common of individuals, which he does with Prayer journeys through the the eye of a seasoned journalist and liturgical calendar and is designed a heart for America’s underclass. to be experienced in community. Though his pessimism is excessive, Practiced faithfully and thoughtfully, Liberal Class should be read and it will “disrupt our reality and soberly considered. Relevant x 4.98 8/3/09 10:39 AM Page 1 refocus it on2_3.65 God.”

Live The Language • Stay with a host family • Native Spanish professors • Gain more fluency • Seville and beyond is your classroom

www.semesterinspain.org/rm spain@trnty.edu or call us 800.748.0087

SECTS, LOVE, AND ROCK & ROLL: MY LIFE ON RECORD JOEL HENG HARTSE (WIPF & STOCK PUBLISHERS)

THE VIEW FROM LAZY POINT CARL SAFINA (HENRY HOLT AND CO.)

> This comparison is a little

> Unlike most conservationist manifestos these days, Carl Safina’s The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World paints a beautiful and hopeful picture that “the world still sings.” Safina chronicles his journeys over a year’s time both around the world and in his own backyard off the coast of Long Island, in which he repeatedly discovers the interconnectedness of man and nature. This is ultimately a story of one man’s love for his home and, therefore, makes a compelling case for each of us to conserve and protect the places we call our own.

simplistic, but if you’re wondering if this book is for you, think of it as a Christian (and nonfiction) version of High Fidelity. In the same way Nick Hornby’s book is more about our emotional response to music than about the music itself, Sects is a look into why someone might have had a love affair with Christian music in the first place. Even if you never saw dc Talk in their back-up dancer days, the humanness of Joel Heng Hartse’s story shines through the Plankeye references.

CONTENTS ISSUE 50 MAR_APR 2011 / RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

52 An Open Letter to This Generation from Ron Sider

60 The Hunt for Easter Looking for meaning amidst the kitsch

64 Jesus Culture 68 Distorting Love How media is corrupting our view of romance, relationships and sexuality

72 2011 New Music Guide The return of the legends, the rise of the giants and lots of yacht rock

78 David Sedaris 82 The Vanishing Church Body A growing number of young Christians are leaving the Church, but keeping the faith

88 50 Ideas That Changed Everything (At least in the last eight years) 90 CULTURE

94 FAITH

102 LIFE

106 SOCIAL JUSTICE

98 POLITICS

114 Recommends

T HE

DECEMBERIS T S