RELEVANT - Issue 75 - May/June 2015 by RELEVANT Media Group

IVAN & ALYOSHA | SANDRA MCCRACKEN | ECHOSMITH | CHURCHES BREAKING THE MOLD | 11 MUST-READ BOOKS FAITH, CULTURE & INTENTIONAL LIVING

R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M

MARC MARON THE WAR ON DRUGS JUDAH SMITH THEY’VE SOLD MILLIONS OF ALBUMS & TOURED T H E W O R L D. ARE THEY READY FOR THE BIG SCREEN?

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We believe Jesus calls us to take on the greatest needs of our day

CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST IRAQ | More than 2 million displaced people SYRIA | Roughly 4 million refugees, over half of them children

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IN THE MARGINS worldvision.org/church World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, we serve alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unconditional love for all people.

A beautiful and

inspirational story about a small group of Jesus followers in Portland, Oregon who set aside their differences to live out the gospel.

ON SALE: June 2, 2015 Howard Books “An essential and challenging message for the Church.” – LOUIE GIGLIO, pastor of Passion City Church/ Passion Conferences “This book is a timely reminder that engaging culture, loving your neighbor, and serving those in need still resonate.” – BRAD LOMENICK, author of The Catalyst Leader and H3 Leadership “I’ve been amazed by how God has gifted Kevin Palau to build the body of Christ and to bring a sense of unity to the church.” – FRANCIS CHAN, author of Crazy Love

OVER THE PAST YEAR, ISIS RAVAGED IRAQ. BUT YOU CHOSE TO

LOVE FIRST. THE RELEVANT COMMUNIT Y GAVE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLL ARS TO HELP US PROVIDE EMERGENCY FOOD, CLOTHING, H E AT & S H E LT E R T O T H O S E F L E E IN G T H E V IO L E N CE . FA MIL IE S IN IR A Q A R E A L I V E T O D AY, T H A N K S T O Y O U .

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MAY/JUNE 2015, ISSUE 75 In Australia, an issue of RELEVANT can be exchanged for a free dingo. Publisher & CEO | CAMERON STRANG > cameron@relevantmediagroup.com Executive Director | JEFF ROJAS > jeff@relevantmediagroup.com Account Manager | WAYNE THOMPSON > wayne@relevantmediagroup.com Account Manager | MICHAEL SCHUERMAN > michael@relevantmediagroup.com Managing Editor | TYLER HUCKABEE > tyler@relevantmediagroup.com Web Editor | JESSE CAREY > jesse@relevantmediagroup.com Copy Editor | DARGAN THOMPSON > dargan@relevantmediagroup.com Editorial Coordinator | LINDSEY STATON > lindsey.staton@relevantmediagroup.com Contributing Writers: John Brandon, Rob Fee, Margaret Feinberg, Eddie Kaufholz, Emily McFarlan Miller, Liz Riggs, David Roark, Jo Saxton, Ron Sider, C. Christopher Smith, Allison Trowbridge, Eric VanValin Senior Designer | LAUREN HARVILL > lauren@relevantmediagroup.com Digital Designer | JOHN DAVID HARRIS > johndavid@relevantmediagroup.com Photographer and Associate Designer | RENEE TOOLEY > renee@relevantmediagroup.com Director of Audio & Video | CHAD MICHAEL SNAVELY > chad@relevantmediagroup.com Contributing Photographers: Christian Bertrand, David Broach, Veronica Coleman, Laura Dart, Duan Davis, Francois Duhamel, Jim Jordan, Jovo Jovanovic, Nicole Nodland Customer Experience Coordinator | CAROLINE COLE > caroline@relevantmediagroup.com Marketing & Circulation Manager | AME LYNN DUNN > ame@relevantmediagroup.com Finance & Project Manager | MERCEDES SIMON > mercedes@relevantmediagroup.com Facilities Coordinator | ERIC WARD > eric@relevantmediagroup.com Digital Development Director | STEVEN LINN > steven@relevantmediagroup.com Systems Administrator | JOSH STROHM > joshs@relevantmediagroup.com ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: www.RELEVANTmagazine.com/advertise

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RELEVANT Issue #75 May/June 2015 (ISSN: 1543-317X) is published 6 times a year in January, March, May, July, September and November for $14.99 per year by RELEVANT Media Group, Inc., 900 N. Orange Ave., Winter Park, FL 32789. Periodicals postage paid at Orlando, FL, and at additional mailing offices.

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A LET TER FROM THE EDITOR

WHEN GOD GOES TO HOLLYWOOD BY CAMERON STR ANG

Easter Sunday, NBC premiered the series A.D.: The Bible Continues. It’s a big-budget production that explores the political, historical and religious drama of the time after Christ’s resurrection. It shows a side of the book of Acts that Hollywood hasn’t really explored before. And it’s good. I was able to visit the A.D. set in Morocco while the series was being filmed this spring, and I was blown away at the scale of it. They built a full-size first-century Jerusalem in the Moroccan desert. (We ran behind-the-scenes photos from my visit in the last issue of RELEVANT and an interview with Downey on our podcast.) One of the days I was there, there were 340 people on the cast call sheet. A.D. is no cheesy Christian market production. And while the scale of A.D. is impressive, it’s nothing compared to the massive remake of Ben-Hur currently being shot in Rome and releasing in early 2016. It’s another story that takes place during the time of Christ, but focuses on a narrative that isn’t a mere reenactment of Bible stories. For non-Christians, these are just entertaining period dramas, not unlike Gladiator or 300. But for Christians, entertainment like this can illuminate a cultural and historical subtext of the Gospels that breathes new life into stories we’ve heard our entire lives. Seeing familiar narratives through the eyes of these writers, directors and actors (many of whom come to the content from a very different perspective than I was raised with) has brought the Bible to life for me in unexpected ways. The recent string of huge Hollywood productions dealing with biblical content—like Noah, Exodus, Son of God and Last Days in the Desert (to name a few)—is

MAY_JUNE 2015

unprecedented. For years, conservative audiences lamented the fact that Hollywood ignored faith-friendly content. They took it as an affront. Well, shocker, it turns out studios couldn’t care less about religious intent; they just want to produce entertainment that makes money. And right now, God is selling tickets. Which brings us to probably the most unexpected wide-release film yet: The one on the cover of this issue. If you had told me five years ago a major studio would hire a groundbreaking nonChristian filmmaker, Michael John Warren (who made one of the most critically acclaimed music documentaries ever, Jay-Z’s Fade to Black), to create a film on a worship band, and then would put huge money into marketing it and releasing it nationally in theaters, I would have called you crazy. But that’s exactly what’s happening. Last fall, I was at the movies when an early trailer for Hillsong’s Let Hope Rise came on. You know how after a trailer, you hear people murmur about their thoughts on it? The ladies behind me: “Wow. That’s Christian music?” The dad a few seats down: “OK, now that’s a church I’d go to.” The ladies in front of me: “Oh my word. I didn’t know religion was like that.” It was that powerful. Hillsong, a church from Sydney that has become hugely influential in the modern worship movement, has reached an unprecedented level of global renown. I mean, even the little acoustic rendition of “Oceans” we filmed with Hillsong United for our podcast last year has tens of millions of views on our YouTube channel. With their new album, Empires, coming out coinciding with the national release of this film, it’s an opportunity for Hollywood to see Christians making high-quality art that isn’t just Bible stories. It’s awesome that both types have a place in theaters. For years, Christians wanted a seat at Hollywood’s table. Now, by making great art that is also successful, thankfully they have it.

CAMERON STR ANG is the founder and publisher of RELEVANT. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @cameronstrang.

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MAR/APR 2015 ISSUE 74

INVISIBLE CHILDREN RE: END OF AN ERA

I interned for Invisible Children in the fall of 2012, and they are an absolutely amazing organization. I loved getting to work for them. The people that work there—the people who make the organization what it is and do such hard work— are all such great people. Invisible Children will forever have my heart. Kony has not won. The story is not over. And Kony will not win.

T W E E T N E S S

@ LU V MOR G ANAL E X IS

This issue of @RELEVANT mag is one for the top list of favorites. So good. Read it backwards and forwards 3 times now. @ LIN D SE Y7607

@RELEVANT I used to be a print subscriber and then started viewing the mag on my iPad. It’s flawless.

AMBER ALBREKSTEN / Via Facebook

Thank you for your wisdom in the First Word in the March/April 2015 issue. We have an opportunity to reflect and learn from the end of two influential organizations of our generation. If we don’t, history will repeat itself. I think the repetition of our failures are a testimony of our finite nature. It’s important to watch and respond with compassion and kindness.

Just read @prophiphop’s essay in the latest @RELEVANT and was blown away. Powerful words to move people of faith into action. LUKE REMBOLD / Via Twitter @ J K _TR AV E LE R

@RELEVANT So excited @brookefraser is getting some limelight. She’s a poetic force—from her independent albums to Hillsong.

VICTORIA RODRIGUES / Via email

@ RYAN J WALTE R S

Thank you @cameronstrang for an inviting, engaging, well-thoughtout opener for the new issue of @RELEVANT. Couldn’t have worded it better. @ G R E G AHE R MAN

Here’s why I love @RELEVANT, they write about things that matter. Diversity is not only evident within their magazine, it’s basically encouraged. So many different viewpoints, so many different voices, and all of them point to the one Creator. Thankful for what they’re doing. If you’re not a subscriber yet, you should be.

I went to Mars Hill in the semi-early days and stopped attending in 2007. Unfortunately, there was an attitude that Mars Hill was the only church in Seattle preaching the Gospel. That was hurtful to many churches in Seattle. I do think Mark became the savior. It’s the issue with charismatic, engaging pastors— which he is. I admire Mark for stepping down—I don’t agree with a lot of his personality but I do believe he loves Christ and desires to follow Him. I think Mars Hill disbanding is good for our city and I do not believe it’s the end of Jesus moving in this city whatsoever.

MATT HERNANDEZ / Via Instagram @mdez

ERIK A RIGGS / Via RELEVANTmagazine.com

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@RELEVANT My budget is going to be in big trouble if you keep posting such good music on The Drop. @ R E B E C CAC IC ION E

@TylerHuckabee Your story on Invisible Children is so well done. Might be my best @RELEVANT piece ever. Such engaging writing! @ JAC E E ITISWE LL

I’m so thankful for @RELEVANT magazine and their desire to inform, influence and truth bomb people for the Kingdom.

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P H O T O C R E D I T: C H R I S T I A N B E R T R A N D

2014’S BIG WINNERS SPOTIFY’S MOSTSTREAMED ALBUMS:

STREAMING MUSIC HAS TOPPED CD SALES

In March, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly broke Spotify’s single-day streaming record

THE REVOLUTION IS NOW OFFICIAL

case there were any doubters—and let’s face it, there have been some doubters—streaming music is the future of the music industry. The data from RIAA is in and, for the first time ever, streaming music services like Spotify and Rdio made more money than CD sales did.

Streaming music made $1.87 billion in 2014, a staggering 29 percent boost from 2013. Streaming music made $1.87 billion in 2014, a staggering 29 percent boost from 2013. CD sales, as you might expect, fell—12.7 percent, to be exact. CDs brought in about $1.85 billion last year, which isn’t much less than streaming music did, but it’s enough to represent a very forceful turning of the tide. Digital download sales still account for the

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1. Ed Sheeran, x 2. Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour 3. Iggy Azalea, The New Classic

biggest chunk of profit in the music industry, but even those dipped in 2014, and it’s only a matter of time before streaming services overtake them. In March, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly broke Spotify’s single-day streaming record with over 9.6 million plays on the day it released. The former record was set by Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late—which was released just the month before. That’s why the CD industry is clinging to Taylor Swift like a life raft, after she very publicly pulled all her music from Spotify in 2014 and penned a missive about how little money artists actually make from streaming services. She’s right. For example, Pharrell’s “Happy” was played 43 million times in the first quarter of 2014, and he made $2,700. If Spotify wants to lure the very powerful holdouts (like Swift, Thom Yorke, AC/DC, Garth Brooks and even the Beatles) they’re going to have to figure out how to pay them more. Don’t be surprised if you’re the one who ends up footing the bill.

4. Pharrell, G I R L 5. Ariana Grande, My Everything TOP SELLING CDS

1. Taylor Swift, 1989 2. Various Artists, Frozen Soundtrack 3. Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour 4. Pentatonix, That’s Christmas to Me 5. Various Artists, Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack

5.26.15

New UNITED album ‘Empires’ featuring ‘ Touch The Sky.’

SLICES

THE H T LIST Paul Dano as the younger Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy

BI-MONTHLY CULTURE POWER RANKINGS

GIRL POWER [HOT TEST] The new Ghostbusters are going to be women. The new Avengers are going to be women. The new MacGyver is going to be a girl.

SOCIAL JUSTICE HASHTAGS [HOT TER] If your social justice movement doesn’t have a viral hashtag, what are you even doing with your life?

ENOUGH WITH THE BIOPICS

HOLLYWOOD’S NEWEST OBSESSION IS GETTING A BIT RIDICULOUS

TIM BURTON [COLD] His next film is a reboot of Disney’s Dumbo. Could someone reboot his once-awesome career instead?

“BLURRED LINES” [COLDER] From mega-hit to widely despised ode to the male gaze to, finally, $7.3 million rip-off of a Marvin Gaye song. There are a lot of lessons to be learned here.

K-CUPS [COLDEST] The creator of K-Cups says he regrets inventing the wasteful coffee pods, as well he should.

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his June will see the release of Love & Mercy, the Brian Wilson biopic with Paul Dano and John Cusack splitting duties as the iconic Beach Boys frontman. It can add its name to the rapidly ballooning list of Hollywood’s latest craze: biopics. Biopics have sort of become to Oscar season what superheroes are to the summer. They’re an easy way for an actor to make a bid for greatness, and the films

always somehow feel important. Four of 2014’s eight Best Picture nominees were biopics, as were five of 2013’s nine. They can be very good (Malcolm X, Lincoln) or very bad (J. Edgar, The Doors) but to their credit, they’re almost always interesting. You want to see how actors bring these familiar characters to life. Nevertheless, we may be reaching biopic saturation. Here is a list of biopics slated for upcoming release:

JOBS

ICON

with Michael Fassbender

with Ben Foster

Right now, Danny Boyle is set to direct Michael Fassbender as the famously contentious tech genius.

The Lance Armstrong scandal isn’t even cold in the grave and there’s already a movie on the way.

MILES AHEAD

I SAW THE LIGHT

with Don Cheadle

with Tom Hiddleston

Don Cheadle is writing, directing and starring in his biopic of jazz musician Miles Davis.

It remains to be seen if Hiddleston can nail Hank Williams’ legendarily self-destructive personality.

GET IT WHILE YOU CAN

NINA

with Amy Adams

with Zoe Saldana

With Adams starring, this attempt to tell the story of Janis Joplin may be destined for the most success.

Saldana is putting her considerable action prowess to use playing jazz pianist Nina Simone.

P H O T O C R E D I T: F R A N C O I S D U H A M E L

IKEA [HOT] IKEA has a new line of furniture with wireless smartphone chargers. You’ll no longer have to do a squat thrust to plug in your phone.

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MUST-SEE SUMMER TV In addition to ‘Daredevil,’ here are a few more summer shows worth your time

HAPPYISH

Philip Seymour Hoffman filmed the pilot for this show, starring as an ad executive fed up with millennials. Watch the great Steve Coogan fill his shoes in the series. Charlie Cox plays Daredevil in the Netflix series

DEVIL WITH A CAUSE ‘DAREDEVIL’ LEANS MORE ON THE HIGHER POWER THAN SUPERPOWERS

“

think his greatest strength will end up superhero films are used to. But while the being his faith.” show is unflinching in its portrayal of vioCharlie Cox is talking about Daredev- lence, it’s also willing to delve into the moral il, the blind vigilante of Marvel Comics ambiguity of using violence to solve problems. fame he portrays in Netflix’s new series “I think [Daredevil] goes back and forth. of the same name. Cox has the difficult I think he battles with it,” Cox says. “I don’t task of portraying a superhero who is fraught think he’s intentionally trying to inflict pain, with a disability and has a but I think on some level he serious chip on his shoulder, understands it’s a necessity.” and whose world is decidedAs necessary evils go, vio“Always in the back lence ly darker than the shimmeris one of the oldest. But of [Daredevil’s] ing, star-studded world of Daredevil’s constant converbig-budget heroes like Iron sations with a Catholic priest mind is this idea Man and Captain America. who becomes his friend and of morality and But for all that, Cox says mentor reveal that while it’s Daredevil’s Catholicism the difficult choices he original sin, but that sets him apart the most. makes may be necessary, the also God’s will.” “Always in the back of his growth they lead to can still mind is this idea of moralbe redemptive. ity and original sin, but also “He begins to reconcile God’s will,” Cox says. “I don’t think he would what his relationship with God can be,” Cox be in any doubt as to whether going out and says. “And I think that faith will end up— beating people up is God’s will or not.” where at first it was a burden and seems like And Daredevil does go out and beat people it’s working against him, I think he begins to up, in ways much more visceral than fans of find a way to reconcile that relationship.”

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WAY WA R D P I N E S

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, this show will be worth giving a shot— particularly for fans of Twin Peaks, from which this show draws clear inspiration.

VEEP

Forget House of Cards and Scandal. The best political show on TV right now is Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ pitch-perfect satire of life on the fringe of the Oval Office.

BLOODLINE

The new Netflix series is dark, gritty and captivating, with expert acting and pacing that will keep you hooked.

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THE BOY WHO CAME BACK FROM HEAVEN (Sort Of. OK, Not Really.) IN JANUARY, ALEX MAL ARKEY, the

IS THIS CLICKBAIT? A GUIDE TO FIGURING OUT IF YOU’RE BEING DUPED TO CLICK

lickbait is one of those words that rocketed in popularity so quickly, many people started using it before they really knew what it meant. The overuse of the word is threatening

NOT CLICKBAIT. Just because something is in list form doesn’t automatically make it clickbait. Lists can be great. As long as the article actually delivers on what it promises, this headline is in the clear.

SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHICH ARE WHICH:

4 Ways You Can Use Facebook for Good

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to strip it of all meaning. So, in the interest of language preservation, here are a few examples of headlines you might see around the Internet. Some of them are examples of clickbait, some are not.

titular “boy” of the popular The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven book, recanted his story in an open letter. The now 17-year-old Malarkey (yes, his real name) wrote, “I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention.” Malarkey’s mother had outlined the ways her son—who was 6 years old when the events occurred—had attempted to set the story straight over the years. She said, “There are many who are scamming and using the Word of God to do it.”

One Girl Decided to Read One Page a Day for a Year. You Won’t Believe What Happens Next. CLICKBAIT. The phrase “you won’t believe what happens next” is a notoriously clickbaiting line, mostly because it’s almost certainly not true.

10 Photos of Laughing Raccoons That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity CLICKBAIT. If you really have lost your faith in humanity, it’s unlikely any number of pictures of raccoons will be able to restore it.

Which Mad Men Character Are You? NOT CLICKBAIT. A little stupid, yes, but clickbait is all about sensationalism. And while the quiz may be a completely inane ego-trip which will feed you a highly suspect personality breakdown, it’s not clickbait.

Shocking! Obama Tried to Shush a Reporter, but the Reporter’s Response was LEGENDARY. CLICKBAIT. Always beware superlatives like “shocking” and “legendary,” especially on the Internet where “legendary” generally means “not completely boring.”

FUNDING NASA: IS IT REALISTIC? FOR YEARS, NASA, LIKE EVERYONE

else, has been clamoring for a larger budget. Unlike most everyone else, NASA is getting one. In December 2014, Congress approved a budget of $18.5 billion—half a billion more than requested. Many feared the good times would end in January 2015, when Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) became chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness. Cruz has voted to reduce NASA’s funding in the past, but he quickly pledged support for space exploration. However, NASA’s high price tag has many voters questioning just how feasible space exploration is.

New from Brad + Rebekah All You've Doneâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;2 CD Deluxe Edition

Featuring the worship songs All You've Done and When We Gather

FREE 3-SONG DOWNLOAD at dhp.org/allyouvedone

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1. SSEKO SANDALS

www.ssekodesigns.com The vision of Sseko is to employ “high potential women in Uganda to make sandals to enable them to earn money through dignified employment.” Their collection of accessories and footwear is all designed and made by artisans in Africa.

4 2. PROJECT 7 GUM

www.project7.com Project 7 makes delicious gum and mints, and they partner with a group of nonprofit organizations so that revenue from their products helps give food, housing and education to people in need.

3. KROCHET KIDS HATS

www.krochetkids.org Krochet Kids employs women in developing countries, connecting them with professional mentorship programs. And, with Krochet Kids, you know exactly who made your clothes: Every piece of clothing is hand-signed.

4. MIIR WATER BOTTLES

www.miir.com

5 PRODUCTS ACTUALLY MAKING A DIFFERENCE A FEW OF THE GOODS PUTTING A SPIN ON MATERIALISM

F 22

or the most part, there are just too many products in America—too many things to buy, too many things to advertise. Thankfully, not all products are created equal. Some are made by great people for really good causes. Here are just a few of our favorites. After all, if you have to buy stuff, why not buy stuff that actually helps make a difference?

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Miir steel water bottles are a sleek way to carry around your hydration source, but the company is known for more than just their bright bottles. For every vessel sold, one person receives clean water through well-building projects.

5. HERO BIKES

www.herobike.org A nonprofit dedicated to ending rural poverty, HERO is known for their bamboo bikes. But HERO’s larger mission is to provide “job training, affordable housing and economic development to build strong communities.”

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I . C .Y. M . I . IN C ASE YOU MISSED IT

ENTERTAINMENT ACTUALLY WORTH YOUR TIME

Jim Caviezel from The Passion of the Christ

F IL M AUDIO TV

1 THE UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT

This new Tina Fey-helmed, Ellie Kemperstarring sitcom isn’t just Netflix’s most successful foray into comedy—it’s the best new sitcom in ages.

2 JOE PUG, WINDFALL

One of America’s finest lyricists is in rare form here. Stories to break your heart and inspire your days.

3 MCFA RLAND USA

A movie about a struggling sports team sounds cliché, but it’s smarter and more effective than you’d expect.

4 A ME RICAN CRI ME

John Ridley’s serious commentary on crime and race in America feels almost too smart for television.

PLAYING GOD: THE DEFINITIVE RANKING OF JESUS IN FILM

his year, Hollywood studios have announced the latest two actors to portray Jesus on the big-screen will be Ewan McGregor in Last Days in the Desert and Rodrigo Santoro in the new Ben-Hur adaptation. The two join a long list of Hollywood names to take on the role of Christ. Considering Hollywood is known to take some creative liberties with historical texts—and has a penchant to cast mostly white actors, despite the ethnicity of the figures who they are playing—portraying Christ is a heavy cross to bear. It’s hard to know where to begin when researching the role, which is why we’ve created this absolutely definitive, completely inerrant list of the best Jesus performances of all time.

1 2 3 4 5

SELVA R ASALINGAM (2014) THE GOSPEL OF JOHN Easily the most biblically accurate Jesus on the list. CHRISTIAN BALE (1999) MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS Not the Jesus we need, but the one we deserve. JIM CAVIEZEL (2004) THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST The Jesus that was most popular in the box office. WILLEM DAFOE (1988) THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST The most controversial Jesus. TED NEELEY (1973) JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR Jazz hands Jesus.

5 LADY L AMB THE BE E K E E P E R, AFTER

Music so natural and winsome you want everyone you know to hear the album.

6 A MO S T V IO LE N T Y EAR

Don’t miss this story of immigrants trying to survive a murder-riddled 1981 in NYC.

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THE RICHEST ONE PERCENT WILL SOON HAVE MORE MONEY THAN THE OTHER 99 A C C O R D I N G T O A N E W R E P O R T from Oxfam, global wealth inequality is set to hit a shocking milestone by 2016: The richest 1 percent of people in the world will possess more than half of the world’s wealth. Currently, the richest 85 individuals in the

world have the same amount of money as the poorest 3.5 billion combined. The director of Oxfam told The Guardian that “one in nine people do not have enough to eat and more than a billion people still live on less than $1.25 a day.”

1 0 0 ALU M NI D R , C L E V E L A N D, G A 3 0 52 8 | 70 6- 8 6 5- 2 13 4 AD M I SS I O NS @ T R U E T T. E D U | WWW.T R U E T T. E D U

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M I S C. According to the 2014 General Social Survey, 7.5 million Americans have abandoned their religion since 2012. The study also found that the number of people in the U.S. who do not attend a worship service, 35 percent, is at an all-time high. However, just 17 percent say they never pray ...

The Dress: just as mind-bending as ever.

THE ANATOMY OF GOING VIRAL EXPLORING THE SIMPLE STEPS TO INTERNET FAME 1

Hansel and Derek Zoolander are making a comeback. Paramount announced that the long-awaited Zoolander sequel will hit theaters Feb. 12, 2016. Finally, a ridiculously goodlooking sequel ...

Ringling Bros. has announced that by 2018, all elephants will be phased out of their traveling shows. The move comes after years of protests from animal welfare advocates who objected to harsh conditions imposed on the animals ...

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IT STARTS AS A GOOD IDEA

“The internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom.” — JON STEWART

• A running joke (Cats, Chuck Norris, Nickelback) • Something that will cause arguments/discussions (The Dress, Benghazi, Rob Bell) • A story that’s emotionally resonant (Joseph Kony, a deaf woman hearing for the first time, a John Oliver rant)

IT GETS SEEN

“Everyone’s an influencer.”

IT GETS PICKED UP

“Content is king, but distribution is queen.”

— YAHOO LABS

— JONATHAN PERELMAN, BuzzFeed VP

• It gets voted up on Reddit (It makes it to ‘the front page of the Internet’)

• Sites like Mashable and Uproxx carry the story

• People start sharing it (It becomes a trending topic on social media sites like Twitter)

• It becomes the subject of debate (Everyone on Facebook has an opinion about it)

• Traditional media outlets mention it

IT MAKES AN IMPACT

“Change is the result of insurmountable market pressure.” — TED COINÉ, author • Many viral trends have transcended their online presence and made real social impact.

SEPARATION FROM YOUR IPHONE CAN AFFECT YOUR BRAIN A S T UDY FROM T HE UNI V ER SI T Y of Missouri seems to indicate that being

separated from our phones can cause “serious psychological and physiological effects.” Researchers had volunteers complete a series of puzzles while they measured their heart rates and blood pressure. When the participants had to hand over their iPhones, the team observed a “significant increase in anxiety” and performance on the tests got worse. One of the researchers explained the results in a press release, “iPhones are capable of becoming an extension of ourselves such that when separated, we experience a lessening of ‘self.’”

Spiritus Immōbilis Lacking spiritual growth or movement.

Method of Treatment: Carefully remove the blockage that prevents the patient from listening to God’s voice and direction.

If I Plug My Ears, God Can’t Tell Me What to Do Home Remedy for Unclogging Ears: Close your mouth, pinch your nostrils shut with your fingers, then take a deep breath. Or for spiritual ear clogs, try this: Close your mouth, open your Bible, and inhale it deeply. If done correctly, you should be able to hear clearly what God is calling you to do. Caution: May be habit forming. Jessie Clemence’s new book, If I Plug My Ears, God Can’t Tell Me What to Do is available now at dhp.org and your local Christian retailers. dhp.org

SLICES

2015

Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys performing at Lallapalooza in 2014.

SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL GUIDE

Attending a music festival should definitely be on your bucket list—but it’s not something you want to do without knowing what you’re getting into. Here’s a look at what you can expect from this year’s biggest events:

LOLLAPALOOZA

BONNAROO

WHERE: Chicago (July 31-August 2)

WHERE: Manchester, TN (June 11-14)

BANDS: Paul McCartney, Florence + The Machine, Metallica

BANDS: Billy Joel, Kendrick Lamar, Mumford & Sons

DAY 1: Fashion

trumps functionality here. Check your outfits against a Nylon cover.

DAY 2: Pack good shoes. The Lolla grounds are a little big (roughly 50 miles).

DAY 3: If you want to

DAY 1: Bonnaroo

avoid traffic, you’ll have to leave a little early (3 a.m. should do it.)

somewhat resembles Lord of the Flies. Arm yourself accordingly.

DAY 2: The resemblance shifts to Mad Max. Enjoy the music, but watch your back.

OUTSIDE LANDS

GOVERNOR’S BALL

WHERE: San Francisco (August 7-9)

WHERE: New York City (June 5-7)

BANDS: Elton John, Sam Smith, D’Angelo, The Black Keys

BANDS: Drake, Björk, Lana Del Rey, The Black Keys

DAY 1: Ladies, make

sure to pack your best jeggings and a hat with at least a two-foot brim.

DAY 2: You’ll want to keep your metabolism up, so bring your personal sous chef along.

DAY 3: Begin the

DAY 1: Set a reason-

day with a refreshing acupuncture session. There. You are ready.

able food budget. We suggest a thousand dollars a day.

DAY 2: Did you drive? Bad news: Daily parking is about a thousand dollars.

PITCHFORK

CREATION FEST

WHERE: Chicago (July 17-19)

WHERE: Mount Union, PA (June 24-27) Tri-Cities, WA (July 30-Aug 1)

BANDS: Wilco, Chance the Rapper, Sleater-Kinney, Chvrches DAY 1: Oh, you’re

going to the Pitchfork festival? That’s cool, we guess. Yeah, it’s just whatever now.

MAY_JUNE 2015

DAY 2: Like, Pitchfork’s first festival was good, but the recent ones seem like they’re trying too hard.

DAY 3: It is only by

day three that things start to look more like The Walking Dead.

DAY 3: At least the

bag check is free. Just kidding. It’s a thousand dollars.

BANDS: TobyMac, Switchfoot, Lecrae DAY 3: Have you

DAY 1: Your youth

heard of this other festival in Raleigh? Probably not. Oh my gosh, it’s amazing.

group is easy to spot with their T-shirts that say “Savior” stylized as the Snickers logo.

DAY 2: Slip I Kissed Dating Goodbye into every backpack. Don’t want students getting creative at Creation Fest.

DAY 3: Please call us

if you see the members of dc Talk together looking like they’re about to reunite.

SLICES

M I S C.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? THE DAILY SHOW CORRESPONDENTS

To Bee or not to Bee.

fter becoming The Daily Show’s longest-running correspondent, Samantha Bee is leaving the late-night show—but not the fake news business. Bee will host a new satirical politics show for TBS that she’s also co-executive producing with her husband, fellow Daily Show regular Jason Jones. The duo is also producing and helping write a new sitcom about a family road trip gone wrong. But Bee isn’t the only former Daily Show personality to go on to bigger projects from the Comedy Central springboard.

WHAT THEY’RE UP TO NOW

STEPHEN COLBERT CORRESPONDENT FROM 1997 - 2005 Has gone on to host The Colbert Report and The Late Show, and run a half-hearted campaign for presidency in 2008

STEVE CARELL CORRESPONDENT FROM 1999 – 2005 Has gone on to star in The Office and movies including Despicable Me, Foxcatcher, Evan Almighty, The Way, Way Back and more

OLIVIA MUNN CORRESPONDENT FROM 2010 – 2011 Has gone on to star in HBO’s The Newsroom and appear in Fox’s New Girl and films including Mortdecai, Magic Mike and more

LARRY WILMORE CORRESPONDENT FROM 2006 – 2014 Has gone on to host The Nightly Show on Comedy Central—a late-night political talk show that took over the Colbert Report slot

JOHN OLIVER CORRESPONDENT FROM 2006 – 2013 Has gone on to host HBO’s Last Week Tonight, where he explores topics such as net neutrality and corruption in sports with millions of viewers

MAY_JUNE 2015

This spring, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) officially amended its church constitution to allow for gay marriage. The announcement also said, “no teaching elder can be forced to conduct a samesex marriage ceremony if they do not believe it is appropriate” ...

Nintendo has announced a new partnership with app development company DeNA to begin creating new, original games for your phone featuring classic Nintendo characters. Say goodbye to all your free time ...

According to the Public Religion Research Institute, Portland is America’s least religious city, with 42 percent of all residents classifying as unaffiliated. Seattle and San Francisco tied for second, at 33 percent ...

SLICES

STATEMENT

new triggers that will cause us to overreact. Don’t plan on responses always being rational or proportional. 4. Hear us. Learn how to listen to our story. We may not want to utter a syllable about what’s happened on one day and ramble for hours the next. We need to share our stories in our own time. Listen without trying to fix the situation or us. Listen without dismissing our experience or feelings. Listen without feeling like you have to relate.

We need to share our stories in our own time. Listen without trying to fix us.

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY BY MARGAR ET FEINBERG

omeone you know receives dreaded news. The diagnosis. The divorce papers. The freak accident. The foreclosure. The pink slip. The miscarriage. No matter what form it takes, you may feel unequipped to enter into someone’s crisis. Saying and doing nothing seems better than saying the wrong thing. In reality, your silence is one of the worst things you can give to someone facing hardship, but your presence is one of the most powerful gifts. I’ve discovered this firsthand over the last two years of battling cancer. Here are some things those facing crisis can’t tell you but wish they could: 1. Engage with us. We need you to break the silence. One of the most meaningful calls my husband and I received

MAY_JUNE 2015

was from a friend who called almost seven months after we announced the diagnosis. He confessed, “I’ve been silent, and I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?” That one call fortified our friendship and reminded us how much we were loved. 2. Stay with us. People love to hear the juicy details behind the breakup or sit in the chemo cabana, but six months later they’re nowhere to be found. Set an alarm on your calendar to check back in every 21 days. Keep letting us know that you love us and you’re praying for us. When the dark voices whisper, “You’re all alone,” and “No one cares,” your ongoing presence will remind us otherwise. 3. Extend grace. Overwhelming circumstances shift the lenses through which we see life. Details magnify. Emotions. Sensitivities. Needs. Crisis creates

5. Avoid dismissive comments. It’s far too easy to make dismissive statements like, “I know someone who has the same the thing you had.” No two losses are ever the same. Instead, look for opportunities to gently encourage us. These can be helpful and meaningful—especially if you skip phrases like, “I don’t know how I would have handled this.” 6. Celebrate the good. In the wake of the loss of a loved one, it’s appropriate to reminiscence on the good and funny times. Remember their good qualities and stories of kindness. Set a recurring calendar alarm on the person’s birthday or the day they passed away to send a special reminder that you still remember. 7. Meet our real needs. It’s tempting to think we know what someone needs without ever asking. The result is often an abundance of one or two resources and a lack of real needs being met. Instead of filling a person’s life with trinkets or yet another blanket, always ask what the person needs. 8. Play with us. Sometimes it can feel like everything focuses on the crisis. We need to get out of the house and do something ridiculous and fun. We need you to ask and keep on asking us to get together. Your invite reminds us that we’re still loved and included by you.

MARGARET FEINBERG shares her journey in the book Fight Back With Joy. Learn more at margaretfeinberg.com and follow her on Twitter @mafeinberg.

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GS F O U R S IB L IN E H T T E E M R THE POP TA K IN G O V E S RT M U S IC C H A

ever done,” Sydney says. “It’s really 7 days a week, and there aren’t a lot of off days. It’s amazing though when you think of being able to share our music around the world with people that really care about it—it is a gift that supersedes the work.” That ability to share music with fans is a driving factor behind what the band does. After all, Sydney

MUSIC THAT MATTERS

TALKING DREAMS

Echosmith’s sound is a version of upbeat pop with lyrics that dive into things like teen angst, dreaming big and learning self-acceptance. It’s also impossible not to dance to, and it has earned the band a legion of fans.

“We want people to feel better about life and to live in the moment.” insists, just because the siblings are young doesn’t mean they are unsure about what they want. “We know exactly what we want and why we’re doing this,” she says. “We want people to feel better about life and to live in the moment. We hope our music does just that.”

P H O T O C R E D I T: N I C O L E N O D L A N D

chosmith’s Top 40 single, “Cool Kids,” is the kind of song that is impossible to get out of your head. “I wish that I could be like the cool kids/’Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in,” the band’s singer, Sydney Sierota, sings on the chorus. It’s a sentiment everyone has felt at one time or another, but it’s not one the members of Echosmith need to feel any longer. The band—made up of four siblings under the age of 21—have definitely secured a spot in the ranks of pop music’s “cool kids.” It took a lot of hard work to get there, though. The siblings have been making music together since the youngest of them was only 7 years old, and with a slew of tours lately, they’ve been busier than ever. “It’s some of the hardest work any of us have

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THE DROP

ARTISTS TO WATCH

SUCCESS TO THE RAPPER IS CHANGING THE IDEA OF WHAT SUCCESS IS erek Minor says 2014 was one of the hardest years of his life. He lost close members of his family. His wife got in a car accident. A business associate stole thousands of dollars from him. “So, realistically, without the perseverance from God, there’s no way this album could have gotten done,” he says. He’s talking about his latest album, Empire, which, despite the challenges during production, landed on the Billboard hot 200 chart and hit No. 1 on the iTunes hiphop/rap albums chart. Minor’s rough year may have played into the theme of the album, on which he expertly raps about how our lives and possessions on earth are temporary— earthly “empires” will fall, and only God’s

MUSIC THAT MATTERS

Kingdom really lasts forever. Minor applies this idea to the success of his music, and the success of Reflection Music Group, the label he co-founded, too. “We’re all builders,” he says. “We create. But if it’s not rooted in Jesus and it’s not rooted in something greater than selling albums, what winds up happening is the moment everybody moves on to the next greater and better thing, then it just falls apart. But if I spend my life saying I want my records to impact people on a deeper level, that work’s going to last forever because I’ve literally changed a person’s life through the music. That’s the end goal for me. “So whether you’re a dentist, whether you work at a sandwich shop, whether you do landscaping or whatever, do it to the glory of God—because, at the end of the day, that’s the only way it’s going to last forever.”

WHY WE L OV E HIM: We’re living in a great time for Christian hip-hop, and Derek Minor is one of the artists helping take things to the next level. His music is deep without being preachy, epic without being out of touch. More than just an album, Empire is a complex, layered world of hip-hop.

DEREK MINOR’S EMPIRE

FOR FAN S OF:

Andy Mineo, Swoope, Canon, Tedashii

NOW S T R E A MING

These albums (& more) are streaming on The Drop at RELEVANTmagazine.com. Listen in!

T HE REL EVAN T C O L L EC T I O N

Volume 16

J O N L AW L E S S

Out One Night

ODESSA ODESSA ROSE JORGENSEN DIDN’T ORIGINALLY set out to have her own act. A

WHY WE L OVE HER:

musician since the age of 4, she got her start playing violin for bands like Old Crow Medicine Show and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. But for her, writing music is a compulsion, and she recently decided to dedicate herself to making her own album, crafting a sound that is a fresh mix of pop and folk. “I’ve never just sat in a room with a guitar and said, ‘OK, I’m writing a song now,’” she says. “I feel an urge to do it. I sit down and listen to that. That’s completely out of my control. But what is within my control is to live with intention and really be present in everything that’s going on, even if it’s uncomfortable.”

Odessa pulls the best elements of pop and folk together into a seamless, beautiful whole. FOR FAN S OF:

Birdy, Lana Del Rey, Ellie Goulding, Ezra Vine

VO L U NT EER

P H O T O C R E D I T: D U A N D AV I S ( D E R E K M I N O R ) ; L A U R A D A R T ( O D E S S A ) ; W I L L B U T L E R ( S E L F P O R T R A I T )

The World Will Begin Again

WILL BUTLER TO SAY WILL BUTLER’S TASTES ARE ECLEC TIC THE VESPERS

Sisters and Brothers

SERYN

Shadow Shows

would be an understatement. In our conversation, he quotes the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and mentions Russian novelist Dostoyevsky, the new Amazon show Transparent and reggae music. Those influences combine into the Arcade Fire member’s first solo album, Policy, which keeps listeners guessing from song to song. And he says it won’t be the last of his solo work: “My goal is that the stuff I do now is good enough that people will pay attention to the stuff that I make in my 70s and 80s, which hopefully be the best stuff—the Yates model of art.” WHY WE LOV E HIM:

Butler is one of those artists who is impossible to slap a label on. His songs range from upbeat and danceable to almost ballad-like, to bluesy—but they’re all enjoyable. AARO N S T RU MP E L

Bright Star

FOR FAN S OF :

Arcade Fire, Courtney Barnett, Avi Buffalo

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THE DROP

CONVERSATION

Q +A

SANDRA McCRACKEN ON HYMNS, HARDSHIP AND GETTING REAL WITH GOD andra McCracken isn’t interested in writing the “next big worship song.” The singersongwriter has long been fascinated by the hymns, and several of her albums and projects have been devoted to reinterpreting old hymns or crafting new ones. She’s currently working on two albums, one of hymn-like songs based on the Psalms, and one with, as she puts it, “more singer-songwriter, introspective storytelling.” We talked to her about modern worship music, the role of tragedy in songwriting and being honest with God.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HYMNS YOU’VE BEEN INTERPRETING AND MODERN WORSHIP MUSIC?

I feel like [modern songs] are highly individualistic and emotionally based. Whereas the older hymns, they’re emotional, but they take you through a range of emotions. One verse will be about doubt, one is about maybe an external storm—they kind of take you through a journey somewhere. A lot of the contemporary ones tend to stay in one moment and just keep talking about that one moment. So if you’re not in that moment when you’re singing that song, it’s hard to find your way in. I think some of it is just that the older hymns have been tested. Ideally, if you write a new song of any kind, you could zoom out enough to try to address the 200- or 500-year questions and that is when the human experience becomes that universal quality. It’s challenging work, honestly.

“You have the choice to either live in the shallow end or you can take those risks and go more deeply into the things we’re afraid of.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE GOING THROUGH DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES HAS MADE YOU STRONGER AS AN ARTIST?

I think the disruption is part of what allows you to see or have some illumination. It doesn’t mean you have to have crisis to make beautiful art. Like say you move, or have a baby, or you get married—these big

MUSIC THAT MATTERS

ON THE TABLET EDITION Listen to the longer audio interview with Sandra McCracken.

life changes show us a lot about who we are. We have a new way of looking at ourselves because we’ve never really had to stand in this place to look at ourselves. It can be a really powerful moment to make art. There’s a point, though, where it’s too much or too overwhelming. I went through a season where I really couldn’t sing for a while. I just didn’t have it in me. It was a strange thing to experience, but it’s all part of the journey. DO YOU EVER WORRY ABOUT YOUR SONGWRITING GOING TO A PLACE THAT’S A LITTLE TOO DARK AND COULD ALIENATE SOME OF YOUR FANS?

I don’t think about it when I’m writing as much. I do think about it when I’m deciding what songs go on the record. I think all of that needs to be made, and there’s quite a precedent in the Psalms themselves for going to the dark place—really going all the way there. There’s not any pretense at that place, and I think that’s actually really healthy. Being able to say and ask [hard] things feels really important to any conversation about faith, because if you don’t really ask the questions, I don’t think there can be real intimacy. You have the choice to either live in the shallow end or you can really take those risks and go more deeply into the things we’re really afraid of and the things we really desire. But it is safe to ask those things and it is safe to go there—you just may not get the answers you expect.

DOES WEARABLE TECH GO TOO FAR?

OTHER WEARABLE TECH

G OOG LE G LASS

It’s not by accident that we’ve started using “unplug” as a synonym for “relax.” During their keynote announcing the Apple Watch, Apple trumpeted the device as “the most personal device we have ever created.” That is almost

CREATE. INNOVATE. LEAD.

undoubtedly true, but there is reason to question whether that’s a good thing. Since the dawning of the digital age, “rest” has become associated with getting away from our phones. It’s not by accident that we’ve started using “unplug” as a synonym for “relax.” Of course, it’s in tech companies’ financial interest to make unplugging as counterintuitive as possible, and wearable technology is a massive step forward. You don’t put your smartwatch in your pocket when you’re not using it. You don’t take if off when you drive or even necessarily when you sleep. And wearing something like a smartwatch or Google Glass is tantalizingly close to making your smartphone a part of your own body. Are there benefits to it? Of course. New health-monitoring technology like Nike’s fuelband, while just slightly creepy, could very well save lives. But if tech companies aren’t asking tough questions about the necessary line between reality and our synthetic world, then we may have to do it for them.

P E B B LE

Apple Watch is not the first smartwatch. Pebble kicked off the trend back in the summer of 2013.

JUS T IN SUL LI VA N

April 24, Apple’s long-awaited Watch landed on the market, bringing with it an astonishing array of questions: Does it cost too much? Is it a technological game-changer, or just a novelty? Do you feel like a ’60s-era spy when you wear one? The answers to all those questions will take some time to answer (except for the last one: the answer is yes). But there’s one important question tech companies like Apple seem to have hardly thought about: Is all this healthy?

Google’s high-tech glasses didn’t find success. Google shut the program down in January.

FU E L BAN D

Nike’s “smart pedometer” is mostly for fitness geeks, but it has done well with consumers.

P H O T O C R E D I T:

OUR OBSESSION WITH PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY MAY BE GETTING UNHEALTHY

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MAKER

IT’S JUST BUSINESS HOW A NEW GROUP OF ENTREPRENEURS ARE USING THE FREE MARKET TO ADVOCATE FOR JUSTICE BY ALLISON TROW BR IDGE

hen EmilyRose Pumfrey set out to launch Bliss Co., she wasn’t thinking about exit strategies and investors, as most first-time entrepreneurs do. Her mind was set on things like bloating, fatigue, 3 p.m. sugar cravings and what blended herbal teas could do to help. It wasn’t long, however, before Pumfrey’s vision for impact extended beyond what she could do for her customers.

CREATE. INNOVATE. LEAD.

A 22-year-old specialist in naturopathic herbs, Pumfrey began by mixing and packaging small batches of tea in her bedroom in Australia and then, armed with Instagram and a beautiful story, she started showing the world her products. Meanwhile, Pumfrey was monitoring the ethical sourcing of her ingredients, accounting for the people involved at every step of her supply chain. Once she saw she had created a sustainable company, she dedicated a permanent portion of sales to fight human trafficking. Pumfrey represents a new generation of young business owners and entrepreneurs, members of the largest generation

in history. There are over 75 million millennials in the U.S. alone, making up onethird of the current workforce, according to Forbes. By 2025, millennials—roughly those born between 1980 and 2000—will be 75 percent of the workforce. Millennials are the most educated, connected and studied generation to date. And they’re changing the way the world does business.

PROFIT AND PURPOSE According to a 2015 report by Deloitte, millennials overwhelmingly believe that businesses today are focused on their own agendas, rather than helping to improve

the state of society. Millennials have inherited a world where forced labor is on the rise in supply chains, climate change throws devastating storms at the poorest economies and air pollution leaves children with lung cancer. No wonder everyone from Bono to Beyoncé is buzzing about social impact. For centuries, Western society has divorced profit from purpose. Businesses have set up structures incentivizing individuals to act for immediate financial gain, rather than sustainable common good. As Dan Pallotta outlined in his TED Talk on philanthropy, the Puritans believed business was inherently evil, and thus penance had to be done. What emerged was a “take with your left, give with your right” way of doing business: For-profits and not-for-profits. There are more nonprofits today than ever before. Over 90 percent of them were created since 1950, most in the last several decades. Millennials believe in nonprofits like they believe in hospitals; both play an essential role in meeting the needs of billions of people. But most experts agree that it is business—not the nonprofit sector—that will drive healthy economies and societies.

P H O T O C R E D I T: L U M I N A

NEW IMPACT AND NEW MODELS Despite negative perceptions of “business as usual,” most millennials list a sense of “cause” as one of the top three reasons they choose a job. If companies want the brightest young talent, they have to offer some higher calling in the benefits package. Millennials aren’t just going to work for others, either. They’re starting their own businesses and social enterprises, employing new models of profit and purpose. When Rachael Chong left the corporate world to found Catchafire, which connects professionals to nonprofits as volunteers, she didn’t limit her enterprise to the not-for-profit world. Instead, she saw a business opportunity and founded a B Corp, or Benefit Corporation, allowing her to both generate returns and serve a greater good. Other millennials are deploying this hybrid model with dizzying success. Ben Rattray, the founder of Change.org, recently raised $25 million from an allstar roster of investors (Richard Branson

and Peter Thiel among them) to grow his platform of 80 million users campaigning for social change. Samasource, a social enterprise founded by Leila Janah, bridges people in the developing world to outsourced tech jobs at major corporations. She connected a business need to an untapped area of human potential, and has impacted thousands of lives as a result.

COMMUNITY AND CONNECTION Millennials are arguably the first generation of truly global citizens, with the advent of social media redefining the concept of one’s neighbor. When a factory collapses that sources their favorite brand, they see it in their news feed. And when a company makes impact, they can share that story again and again. For millennials, being connected means far more than just liking posts on Facebook. It also means a sense of place and purpose amid the people in their physical communities. For Caitlin Crosby of The Giving Keys, this meant seeing her homeless neighbors in LA and finding a method to employ them through dignified work. In so doing, she has been able to sell an inspiring product with cult-like devotees, while dozens of people have transitioned off the streets. One of the most notable traits of millennials is their sense of connectedness to one another. This includes an understanding of the people making their tablets and harvesting their food, and it has resulted in a growing market for ethically made, sustainable products. Being connected also means sharing resources, which is why millennials are developing and using tools to share homes (Airbnb), cars (Uber) and dresses (Rent the Runway). There is a collective feeling of over-consumption and a desire to live together in more efficient and meaningful ways.

LEADERSHIP AND LEGACY For a generation that has grown up speaking technology, seen wars unfold before their eyes, and watched a supposedly bulletproof economy collapse around them, the game has dramatically changed. Businesses don’t just have an opportunity to create impact: Businesses

SHEER BLISS Emily-Rose Pumfrey started Bliss Co. in 2012 using ethically sourced ingredients to make products promoting healthy living.

create impact, always. Yet the kind of impact each business creates—whether it negatively affects people and the planet, contributes to greater sustainable good, or is some mix of the two— depends on leadership. According to Deloitte, more than half of millennials aspire to become the leader or senior-most executive of their current organization. Millennials aren’t just shaping up to fill the workforce— they’re shaping up to lead it. After three years and thousands of success stories, Emily-Rose Pumfrey is still expanding her mission at Bliss Co.—not only to new products and new sales channels, but to greater impact, as well. She has spent time on the ground in Thailand, visiting the formerly exploited children her product now helps support, and she is forming collaborations to create an even more transparent supply chain. Pumfrey believes “giving back” alone can never be a sustainable substitute for innovating to create the common good. She is just one example of how millennials have an opportunity and a collective will to prove that profit is not only compatible with purpose—but can be driven by it. ALLISON TROWBRIDGE is an author, producer and partner at Just Business, a venture capital fund that invests to create social impact. Follow her journey on Twitter @Alliebridge.

RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

MAKER

4 CHURCHES CHANGING EVERYTHING A LOOK AT SOME OF AMERICA’S MOST INNOVATIVE CHURCH BODIES B Y E M I LY M C FA R L A N M I L L E R

is easy to bemoan the current state of the Church in America. People are leaving at record rates. The 2014 General Social Survey found that 7.5 million Americans have abandoned their religion since 2012. And research from the Barna Group shows that nearly six in 10 millennials who have grown up in Christian churches will walk away from the Church at some point in the first decade of their adult lives. But there are churches that are doing things differently—that are reaching out to those hurt by religion and engaging issues of faith and justice in new ways. There are churches that are inspiring faith in the Church again. Here’s a look at a few examples of those churches in the U.S.—big and small, denominational and non-denominational—and what they’re doing right.

CREATE. INNOVATE. LEAD.

EMBRACING CREATIVITY MOSAIC CHURCH, Los Angeles, CA

One of the five core values of MOSAIC, a faith community of about 3,000 in Los Angeles, is this: “Creativity is the natural result of spirituality.” But Erwin McManus, principal visionary and primary communicator of MOSAIC, says when he first introduced that core value 20 years ago, creativity “was largely seen as an enemy of orthodoxy and, at best, only a utilitarian tool to advance the Gospel.” But, he says, he doesn’t see a page it isn’t reflected on in Scripture. And while MOSAIC emphasizes creativity, design and artistry, that’s not the point. Its power lies in seeing “all humanity as artists involved in the creative process.” “While the Church has historically focused on sin management, MOSAIC focuses on awakening and unleashing the uniquely human capacity to create what is good, beautiful and true,” McManus says.

REACHING OUT TO THE NEIG HBORHOOD REDEEMER LUTHER AN CHURCH

Minneapolis, MN

Redeemer Lutheran Church has about 100 members, but it functions “as a church of 4,000,” according to Pastor Kelly Chatman. That’s because, the pastor says, he decided to view all the residents in the church’s neighborhood as his congregation. The church runs several projects powered by neighborhood residents through its nonprofit, Redeemer Center for Life, including after-school programs, housing programs and even a bike and coffee shop. “Those things are a visual to a neighborhood that is stigmatized,” Chatman explains. “It’s a statement to both the neighborhood and the larger church community that we’re there.”

W E L C OMING THE S P IRITUAL REFU GEE GALILEO CHURCH, Mansfield, TX

“You’d be hard-pressed to find somebody in Texas who hasn’t heard of Jesus, but there are lots of people who think Jesus isn’t for them,” says Rev. Dr. Katie Hays. That’s why Hays started Galileo Church: to seek spiritual refugees, rally spiritual health for all who come and fortify every soul with the strength to follow Jesus without pretensions. “You can be the same person on Sunday or with your church friends as you are other places. You can be fully engaged as your whole self,” she says. But, she says, her congregation doesn’t want to be the mission, they want to have a mission. The church takes its name from Galileo’s discovery that the sun did not revolve around the Earth—“We are not the center of the universe,” Hays says.

F IG HTING F OR DIVERSITY FAITH CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, Baltimore, MD

Faith Christian Fellowship was founded in 1981 with “a vision to be an urban church to bring reconciliation in the body of Christ,” according to Co-Pastor Stan Long. Faith Christian now has about 350 members; of those, about 55 to 60 percent are white and 25 percent black, he says. One of the most important things the church has done, Long says, is “we have a black man who preaches—and I say that humbly.” Also important, he says, is that the church is very intentional about its music, including gospel songs and “a little more volume, a little more jazz.” Still, Long says, the church doesn’t have any “illusions” it’s going to come in and solve all society’s problems. But that’s not what it’s called to do, he says, pointing to the words of Micah 6:8, “God calls us to do justice and love mercy and walk humbly.”

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REJECT APATHY S U S TAIN AB L E CH AN G E. SA C RIF IC IA L LIVIN G .

Security camera footage obtained by the Istanbul Police Department shows three missing British girls at a bus terminal in Turkey before possibly traveling to Syria

WHY ARE SO MANY TEENAGERS JOINING ISIS? ack in February, Saturday Night Live found itself in hot water for a skit that featured an Army-ad spoof in which a tearful father drops his reassuring daughter off at an ISIS recruitment camp.

Over the past few months, there has been a rash of teenagers—particularly teenage girls—leaving their homes to join the ranks of ISIS. In 2014, Samra Kesinovic (16) and Sabina Selimovic (15) fled their homes in Austria and are believed to have joined ISIS

So far, the only thing that the girls lining up to join ISIS seem to have in common is their complete normalcy. Much of Twitter reacted with somewhat predictable outrage, perhaps not aware of how on the nose the skit actually was.

in Syria. Little is known of their whereabouts, though the UN believes one of them may

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have been killed in conflict. Last September, authorities stopped two others girls, aged 16 and 14, from trying to sneak out of the country, as well. But it’s not just Austria. In February of this year, three teenage girls fled London and are believed to have landed in Syria. They may have been recruited by a 20-year-old woman named Aqsa Mahmood. Mahmood was known as a bright, popular student in Scotland, where she grew up, but she ran away from her home in 2013 and today is thought to be one of ISIS’ chief recruiters. So far, the only thing that the girls lining up to join ISIS

seem to have in common is their complete normalcy. They all seem to be intelligent, wellliked and driven to succeed. In 2015, the old lines about being careful who you talk to on the Internet can seem downright quaint, since most of us spend a good deal of our day-to-day talking to total strangers on the Internet. But it’s worth noting that the Internet remains a very twisted minefield of influences. And while many of us are justifiably concerned about our information slipping into the wrong hands, we need to be equally cautious about the ideas slipping into ours.

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THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION IS RECRUITING FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

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have to believe that nonviolence will always prevent war. All they must do is implement their own rule that war must be a last resort. Pacifists have claimed they have an alternative to war. But that claim remains empty unless they are willing to risk death, as soldiers do, to stop injustice and bring peace. A century ago, prominent American philosopher William James wrote that the struggle for nonviolent alternatives would be a long and costly battle, because violent instincts are deeply embedded in the human heart. Anyone seeking to reduce violence, James argued, must realize that, in some respects, violent warfare represents human nature at its best. War draws out virtues such as cour-

Nonviolent resistance demands courage and daring of the highest order.

IS CHRISTIAN NONVIOLENCE REALISTIC? BY RON SIDER

omething historic but still largely unnoticed has happened in the last few decades. Nonviolent action to overthrow dictators and promote peace and justice has again and again proved stunningly successful. Earlier this year, Selma reminded us of the way Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent civil rights movement changed American history. In 1986, the nonviolent People Power movement in the Philippines overthrew the decades-long dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. In 2003, the women of Liberia led a daring nonviolent campaign that overthrew a vicious dictator and led to democracy. According to the book Why Civil Resistance Works, “Nonviolent resistance campaigns were nearly twice as likely to achieve full or partial success as their violent counterparts.” In addition, nonviolent campaigns are more likely to lead to a democratic future. We certainly need an alternative to violence. Eighty-six million people died in wars fought between 1900 and 1989. That’s 2,500 people every day, 110 people every hour for almost 90 years. And today too, dozens of wars in many places continue to kill vast numbers of people. If there is a way to substitute nonviolent action for violence, even part of the time, our world desperately needs it. Furthermore, the central ethical arguments of both pacifist Christians and those who believe in war as a last resort demand an exploration of using nonviolent action. In order to engage in a large-scale test of nonviolence, just-war Christians do not

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age, self-sacrifice and dedication. It disciplines the slack, rewards the daring, evokes one’s last ounce of energy and breeds loyalty to the larger community. How, James concluded, can any peace movement succeed unless it offers meaningful substitutes for the glamour of war? If James’ essay poses a valid question, then vigorous nonviolent action offers the answer. Nonviolent resistance to tyrants and oppressors is not for fools or cowards. It demands courage and daring of the highest order. It requires discipline, training and a willingness to face death. It produces collective pride in the group or society that successfully stands together and overcomes a brutal foe. Today’s young Christians have the courage to lead the way in a massive expansion of nonviolent action for peace and justice. They could lead large numbers of Christians to do what has never happened before in Christian history. And in the process, it would help Christians—both just war and pacifist Christians—to practice what they believe.

RON SIDER is the founder of Evangelicals for Social Action and professor of theology, ministry and public policy at Palmer Seminary at Eastern University.

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BY T Y L E R H UC K A BE E

THE PORN INDUSTRY ISN’T JUST IMMORAL, IT’S UNJUST helley Lubben remembers the first time she shot a porn scene. “I show up for my first scene and I am so nervous and scared. I don’t even understand why, but I could just sense this was going to be a really dark experience.” It’s not like her life had been easy up to that point. Prior to getting involved in pornography, she had been kicked out of her home for partying and gotten involved in prostitution and stripping. But the adult film industry had seemed like a line she wasn’t willing to cross. This was the early ’90s—the online porn revolution was in its early years. “It wasn’t so accessible,” Lubben says. “It was more secretive.” But when she heard what kind of money was available, she decided to give it a shot. “I was really nervous,” she says. “Because I was like, how do I greet someone? ‘Hi, I’m so-and-so and I’m about to have sex with you.’ I was a wreck. I wanted to run out of there.” But she didn’t run. Quite the opposite, she determined to make a name for herself. “I was this really creative, artistic person who was never developed. I always felt stupid and stuck and very frustrated. I’ve always been talented in a lot of different areas, but I could never really use it, so I just unleashed all this rage. I was like, ‘Finally,

I’m going to be the best at something.’ So I began to go up in the ranks very quickly, from doing amateur porn to professional porn with the big porn stars. And I was like, ‘Wow, I’m big-time now.’” Lubben’s career blossomed, and she became one of the stars of pornography’s early Internet years. The money was good. The perks of fame were plenty. But there were problems. “They would do horrific things,” she remembers. “Suddenly, a girl would start screaming and crying because she can’t take the pain, and they would look at me and say, ‘You take her place.’ I’d say, ‘No, I just did my scene.’ ‘You take her place right now. If you don’t take her place, I’m going to sue you.’ “They threaten you: ‘I’m going to physically harm you and your daughter.’ The abuse was so horrific. And the pornographers, the way they would treat you on the set, I couldn’t believe it. Is this legal?” Lubben wouldn’t get the answer to her question for some time, but the answer is no, it’s not legal. Although pornography is one of the most lucrative industries in the world, pulling in approximately $4.9 billion annually, it’s also one of the least regulated, and although the effect it has on producers and consumers alike is poorly understood, what we do know is troubling. Like most major religions, Christians tend to frown on pornography. When asked why, most Christians would probably respond that watching porn falls outside traditional biblical standards for sexuality. However, many Christians would be hard-pressed to explain why that should matter to someone who doesn’t share their convictions. And while most Americans retain some level of moral unease about pornography, the current level of porn saturation in our society has led to a functional apathy about our porn habits. Case in point: Studies show that about 77 percent of Americans say they watch porn at least once a month, but only 29 percent actually believe watching porn is morally acceptable, according to the Public Religion Research Institute. So most people would agree with actor-turned-activist Russell Brand who noted his own distaste for porn (“I don’t put that laptop lid down and think, ‘There! What a productive piece of time spent connecting with the world!’”), but few people could articulate why they feel that way. If we’re really living in a new age of sexual liberation and freedom, why does pornography remain such a squeamish issue? The answer may lie in our own hearts, and the natural human instinct to avoid danger. The damaging effects of pornography are not simply a matter for Christian sexual ethics. The science is pretty conclusive: Anyone who has any concern for their well-being and the well-being of others should avoid pornography.

MIND CONTROL Strange, but true: Every time you view pornography, your brain slightly mutates. On its own, that’s not such a bad thing—your brain is a constant state of transition, evolving and reacting to circumstances. But porn’s effect on the brain is troubling. Watching pornography releases dopamine into your brain—it’s the reason it feels so good, and why porn is so addictive. And as with most addictive substances, your mind automatically evolves to compensate for the onslaught of dopamine it is receiving—meaning achieving that same high will take something new and even more intense. To put it plainly, pornography makes it more difficult for your brain to experience pleasure. Your mind will begin to seek out more intense dopamine levels to achieve the same high, which can eventually result in porn addiction. Some porn addicts find that even actual sex doesn’t

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satisfy their sexual desires the way viewing pornography does. Their brains have been trained to think of sex as a spectator sport—and unfortunately, it’s a very rough sport.

HEART ATTACK Porn’s damaging effects aren’t limited to your neurons. In fact, they get even more severe when it comes to your perception and experience of love. A study in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that men and women who looked at porn were less likely to be satisfied with their partner’s appearance and their sex life as a whole. And that study was conducted in 1988—well before the Internet made brought instant porn access into every home in America and the average age of a person’s first exposure to porn dropped to 11. A more recent study by the Center for Innovative Public Health Research, conducted in 2011, found that teenagers who view violent pornography are six times more likely to engage in “sexually aggressive” behaviors, such as sexual assault or harassment. This is particuShelley Lubben started Pink Cross in 2007.

“I SHOT SCENES WHERE THEY SLAPPED ME AND SPIT ON ME AND CALLED ME HORRIBLE THINGS. I THREW UP AND HAD TO KEEP SHOOTING.” —Emily Eve larly disturbing given the fact that studies suggest about 88 percent of all online porn includes violence. All of this is bad, but it’s not exactly conclusive. At this point, porn could be compared to smoking or obesity—not healthy, but permissible in a free country. But porn’s effect on the viewer is far from the worst thing about it.

THE HUMANITY “You are a number. You’re bruised. You have black eyes. You’re ripped. You’re torn. You have your insides coming out.” Jersey Jaxin was porn star until 2007, when the abuse became too much for her to bear. “You may see a 45-minute set that took us 13 hours,” she says. “We’re tired. We’re sore. We’re bleeding. We’re cut up.” One may be able to rationalize pornography’s effect on the viewer, but it is difficult to justify the toll taken on the other side of the camera. Shelley Lubben’s website contains a vast collection of (largely anonymous) quotes. It’s her way of spreading the truth about the world of pornography—the one edited out of porn movies. There are dozens and dozens of quotes—a catalog of stories of rape, abuse, manipulation and feelings of emptiness. “I shot scenes where they slapped me and spit on me and called me horrible things,” says Emily Eve. “I threw up and had to keep shooting.” “I honestly felt that if I had to have another strange man in my face, his hands all over me, him calling me his baby and having to exude some sort of forced passion for the world to see, I probably would have exploded,” says a porn actress called Ashlyn Brooke. “And what would have been stuck to the walls would have probably been nothing, just pieces of skin, bone and the brain of a robot, and what would have been

SUSTAINABLE CHANGE. SACRIFICIAL LIVING.

left of a once huge and warm heart.” And these are the porn actresses lucky enough to get out. Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to say these women speak for all porn actresses. Some well-known porn stars have spoken positively about their experiences in the industry. But in any given scene, it’s impossible to tell what the actress is actually thinking. There’s a real risk that you may be viewing an actual rape.

THE OTHER SIDE Lubben’s story is long, but right now, it’s on the upswing. She started the Pink Cross Foundation, which seeks to support porn actresses leaving the industry. In 2010, she spoke to members the U.S. House and Senate about the dangers of pornography. She’s married and has a daughter. And perhaps best of all, she has sense of a purpose. “In my recovery, I asked God, ‘Why would You let this happen?’ And He would say, ‘Shelley, don’t ask me why right now. You can’t bear it.’ Now I understand why He allowed me to go in the direction I went: I’ve got millions of people who are able to see and hear the truth about porn from me and from ex-porn stars. There are four Pink Crosses around the world. We’re internationally known ... God has given me all these things. He just can’t stop blessing me.” Her escape from the industry has been a happy one, but the demand is still high— and both those supplying and viewing porn are paying the price.

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really thought about religion actually for, like, 20 years. So when this came across, I was like, ‘Oh, this is something I never would have even thought of doing.’” Philosophically, Warren may not seem like the obvious fit to document a praise and worship act. But professionally, he’s almost overqualified. He made his name as a hip-hop-centric filmmaker, having crafted compelling, intimate documentaries about everyone from Nicki Minaj to Drake. His film about Jay-Z, Fade to Black, is considered a classic of the genre. Warren is a gifted storyteller and a fearless interviewer. He speaks in vivid, full sentences, clearly a crafter of compelling narratives. But one thing he is not—and he’s very clear on this point—he’s not a Christian. He uses the term “searcher.” “I don’t necessarily believe, but I also don’t necessarily not believe,” he explains. “My point is that I’m not so sure. I’m just open to it all.” Being spiritually skeptical, it’s no surprise he didn’t exactly jump at the chance to direct a movie about a church worship band, no matter how successful. It’s hard to say why he decided to even give Hillsong United a shot in the first place, but once he did, he was all but sold. “Once I realized the music was actually good, it was a big step in the right direction for me,” he says. “Then I went to one of the services in New York and I was really impressed at how multicultural the attendance was and how warm the vibe was. Then the service started and it started with about 20 minutes of music.”

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“I walk in the door and there’s all these cameras and I’m just like ‘Oh my gosh, what’s happening?’” Taya Smith is recounting a time she walked into the studios at Sony where she was recording with the rest of her band, Hillsong United. Smith is the voice behind “Oceans”—yes, that “Oceans,” the song that, as of this writing, is America’s fourth most popular worship song, despite being released in 2013. In person, Smith crackles with energy, positively bursting with a charming sense of being gung-ho for just about anything. Still, finding your music studio flooded with cameras would set just about anyone back. Including her. She approached Hillsong United’s guitarist, Michael Guy Chislett, and asked him what exactly was going on. “And he’s like, ‘Oh yeah. You know that movie thing? It’s happening.’” “That movie thing” is Let Hope Rise, a big-budget documentary coming to theaters in May. Smith had heard rumors about a movie—most of the band had—but they had all considered it a distant pipe dream. When asked about their initial reaction to having a big-budget documentary released about their band, each member of Hillsong United says the exact same thing: “Who would want to watch a movie about us?” It seemed like an incredible longshot.

But, remember, this is Hillsong United. Their last album, Zion, debuted at No. 1 on iTunes. Their last tour sold out the world’s biggest and most iconic arenas. They were described on the front page of The New York Times as a “phenomenon.” They are, by almost any measurable standard, the most successful Christian act in the modern recording industry. They’ve been dealing in longshots for the entirety of their career. But still. A movie?

A DIFFERENT DIRECTION The band wasn’t the only one who met all this with skepticism. It was also the first reaction of Michael John Warren, who was approached with the task of directing the documentary by a friend. According to Warren, the idea of a Hillsong United movie had been “kicking around in Hollywood for a few years,” but nobody could decide on a director. Warren’s name was put on the list, and even he’s not entirely sure why. “A friend of mine called me up and said, ‘Hey, have you heard of Hillsong?’” he says. “And I was like, ‘Nope. Never heard of them.’ “I was raised very Catholic, actually,” he explains. “I was an altar boy and went to Catholic high school and got confirmed. Then, when I was a teenager, I told my parents ‘I’m not doing this anymore.’ I hadn’t

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L-R: Jonathon Douglass, Simon Kobler, Benjamin Tennikoff, Jad Gillies, Taya Smith, Joel Houston, Michael Guy Chislett, Dylan Thomas, Matt Crocker

To people familiar with Hillsong’s brand of worship, it’s easy to forget just how unusual it all is to an outsider. But unusual doesn’t mean off-putting, and, in Warren’s case, it piqued his interest. “It was hands in the air, people singing every word,” Warren says. “It was a very moving environment, and that’s when I first started thinking that this was going to

“ WE RE ALIZED [ THE FIL M] PRESENTED SOME OPPORTUNITIES THAT WERE FULLY IN LINE WITH WHAT WE’RE ABOUT.” —Joel Houston

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be a pretty compelling movie. You start to understand the church and what the band has done and you realize that there’s a lot of story here. That was critical for me: making sure there was going to be a plot more than just music. That started to reveal itself to me.” Warren set up a meeting with Hillsong’s leadership team, including Hillsong United frontman Joel Houston. Houston remembers the meeting well. “He didn’t understand anything about us or really about faith or Jesus,” Houston says, laughing. “I just told him we’re going to share a lot and he was all about it. He said he’s just going to be a fly on the wall and I said, ‘That’s great. Except the problem with the fly on the wall is that it’s a six-person production team with a giant camera.’ It was hard to ignore it.”

BE YOURSELF Taya Smith had a different reaction. “I know this sounds really rude, but I just ignored them,” she says. “I wasn’t trying to be someone I’m not. Whether you have cameras on you or whether you’re on platform or off platform, what I believe in is what I’m living all the time. I felt

like the guys were themselves as well, and hopefully that’s part of the appealing nature of the film. We’re just ordinary everyday people.” She pauses, and laughs for a second. “I trip over things all the time, so hopefully that’s in there.” Smith refers to the rest of the band as her older brothers (“whether they like it or not”) and, in truth, that is very much their dynamic. Smith is the carefree little sister, who took to the documentary crew with ease, despite her initial surprise. Houston played the part of a more protective older brother. When asked if he had any hesitations about the film, Houston answers with a firm, immediate, “absolutely.” “I think we started off and we were like, ‘This is not going to happen,’” he says. “You know, we didn’t make the movie so we didn’t really control the narrative or how it was going to be depicted, and that is a scary thing in some respects. Because in the same way, whenever we do CNN or whatever, they’ll take whatever they want from it, and we were aware that could happen on this scale.” “But the more we talked to the producers about the ideas they wanted the film

“The movie we came up with is really compelling,” he says. “I think the fact that it’s told through my lens almost opens this film up to a bigger audience than just people who have heard of Hillsong. Because you can hear my questions. We’re very real with each other about all that. The way they’re explaining stuff to me is basically like explaining stuff to a non-believer.

“I WAS HOLDING ONTO A LOT OF OLD PRE JUDICES ABOUT ORGANIZED RELIGION. [HILLSONG] WAS A VERSION OF ORGANIZED RELIGION I COULD S TAY OPEN TO.” —Michael John Warren

to present, we realized it presented some opportunities that were fully in line and consistent with what we’re about and trying to get the message of Jesus out, and His grace and His desire—His plan for all people regardless of where they’re from or what their path as been. “If the film can bridge that gap and humanize us in a way that makes God and the way He works more evident, then I thought it was certainly something we could entertain. Over time, our excuses were trumped by the opportunity of it all. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.” “Interesting” is the same word Warren uses to describe the movie and his role in it. “I think that was an interesting choice by the church and by the producers—to put someone like me at the helm,” he says. “Because they could have gotten someone who would have toed the company line without blinking. That would have been great, I guess, but it wouldn’t have been the movie we came up with.” About the movie itself, neither Warren nor the band want to give too much away (Houston himself hasn’t watched the final cut, and says he has no plans to.) But Warren is genuinely excited about it.

“You could play this film in New York City where the nucleus of jaded American culture exists and I think half the people would maybe stop and think a little bit—and I think the other half would stand up and praise. “I find that really compelling, and I’m really excited about that element of it. It sort of dances this line, and I think the film has landed in this really interesting position where a non-believer can watch it and walk away being like, ‘Maybe I don’t believe everything they believe, but I really respect their mission and what they’re after.’” This could all sound like the words of a director trying to sell people on his movie but for one very key fact: Warren himself. “I was holding onto a lot of old prejudices about organized religion,” he says. “Some other organized religions where ‘You can’t do this’ and ‘If you do that, Jesus isn’t going to love you’ come from a negative, disciplined place. Hillsong is the opposite of that. They’re like, ‘Jesus loves you no matter what. Come as you are.’ I thought that was a version of organized religion that I could stay open to and that I felt good about.”

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TAKE WHAT YOU WANT If you’re thinking this all ends with Warren praying the prayer of salvation while tears stream down his face, well, you’re not alone. “People’s first question is, ‘Have you been saved?’” Warren laughs. “And they ask optimistically. Kind of like, ‘Have you lost your mind?’ I tell them, ‘No, I haven’t been saved, but I have learned a lot this year.’” Warren admits some of his colleagues are “a bit weirded out” by the movie. In fact, on the way to our interview, he says a friend stopped him to ask about what he’s been working on lately. Warren told him about the movie and asked if he was interested in watching it. “He said, ‘No, I’m not,’” Warren says. “I’m like, ‘I think you should! Look, believe what you believe, but there are lessons in this film on how to have a better life. Whether you take these lessons as Jesus taught it to us, or humankind has lived long enough to come up with some set of rules on how to love and how to serve other people and how that leads to happiness—take what you want and leave the rest behind.’” Warren’s take on the film is that it is not terribly evangelistic (although he readily acknowledges that watching the movie could cause someone to, in his words, “get saved”) but Hillsong United sees the film as an opportunity to not only showcase the greatness of their God, but their own flaws. “I guess what appealed to me the most about doing the whole thing was that we could present what it means to be absolutely passionate about Jesus and who He is and what His grace looks like, and we can just kind of avoid all the pretenses and the illusions,” Houston says. “Christians, I think, look at people sometimes who are in ministry and feel like you have to be a super Christian,” he continues. “My experience is that God touches very ordinary people and He loves

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ABOVE: Taya Smith, BELOW: Jonathan “JD” Douglass

to operate most through very broken vessels. I think [the movie] can amplify the fact that He’s going to use anybody who would make themselves available. “For God, it’s not about how good we are or how good we aren’t. That’s not what God’s after. God is not looking for perfect. He’s not looking for a flawless performance. He’s just looking for a broken spirit and people who are willing to allow God to do whatever He wants to do. And I think that’s what the story has been for us over many years, our church, and many other churches and Christians around the world and that’s all God’s looking for. At some point we just have to go, ‘Look, we look stupid and we’re making mistakes and that’s OK.’” On this point, Houston and Smith are in total agreement. “To be there with Hillsong United and how they are as individuals, it’s kind of nice that people actually get to see them be themselves and see them be real,” Smith says. “They struggle with some things and they’re not perfect. They’ve got kids to look after, and still maintain marriages and all this stuff. Watching it just made me love them more.” Warren takes a higher view of the band. “Yeah, sure, on some level, they want to sell albums and they want to be applauded. It’s human nature,” he says. “But the real, real, real thing they’re after, when you really get after it and you talk to Joel and all of them, you realize this is because they believe in heaven and hell and that everyone needs to know that Jesus loves them, so when the end times come they’re bringing as many people as possible to eternity to sit by Jesus. They are trying to save souls for eternity.” T YLER HUCK ABEE is the managing editor of RELEVANT magazine. Find him on Twitter @tylerhuckabee.

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here’s a book on the prophets in here somewhere,” Marc Maron says, perusing one of the several bookshelves in “the garage,” which is actually more of a glorified shed in the backyard of the twobedroom house on the hills of Highland Park that he refers to as “The Cat Ranch.” The garage serves as a home studio, where multiple times a week for the past six years, Maron has produced the innovative and beloved podcast, WTF with Marc Maron. Guitar cases, several bookshelves and rock posters cover all available wall space. They surround a modest desk in the center of the room that is overrun with wires, microphones, books, gifts from fans and various kitsch. It’s hard to tell if everything has

its place or nothing does. Either way, Maron sits comfortably in the midst of it. The podcast itself inhabits a DIY rock ethos befitting, well, a garage band. Maron books his own guests, chooses only sponsors he feels comfortable shilling for and allows his entire personal life to filter into the programming. The addictions to cocaine and booze, the two failed marriages, the love for vinyl and stray cats—everything is on the table. As WTF nears its 600th episode, it’s tempting to wonder if the podcast has any topics left to explore. Anything that hasn’t been said on the podcast is likely covered in Maron’s 2013 book of essays, Attempting Normal, as well as the semibiographic IFC show Maron, in which Maron plays a slightly exaggerated version of himself. What keeps the content fresh is the malleability of Maron’s opinions and daily outlook. He analyzes his own life daily, attempts to hone his philosophies and then articulates his findings to the world.

P H O T O C R E D I T: D AV I D B R O A C H

ATTEMPTING MAYHEM Before the WTF era, Maron was known primarily as a stand-up comic from the lineage of controversial, brash comics like Lenny Bruce and Sam Kinison, whose pensions for self-revelation and personal freedoms were rivaled only by their need for narcotics. Maron’s comedy in his twenties was firmly planted as a counter-culture voice in the wilderness to the conservative Reagan ’80s. Maron, with his own well-fed addictions, was working on and off the stage to keep some mayhem alive. “I was angry and guarded and volatile and defensive and provocative,” he confesses. “You know, provoking audiences. But I think all that really is sort of about trying to figure out how to let myself be loved or accepted, because I don’t think I accepted myself.” Maron realized he couldn’t keep up with those who came before him. He started hearing voices and recognized the strain of addictions on his relationships. He joined AA and has been sober since 1999. The past 16 years could be seen as a retraction of his former self. From 2004 to 2009, Maron hosted three separate talk radio shows on Air America Radio. Despite positive fan response, all three shows were short-lived due to contract disputes or cancellations, and by the fall of 2009, Maron found himself out of work, still struggling with the ending of his second marriage and occupying a lower rung of the comic ladder than the peers he came up with like Jim Gaffigan and Louis C.K.

What he did have was the ability to churn constant thought into oratory. A friend told him about podcasting, and after learning how to operate some basic recording equipment, he pressed record and began talking to himself in the garage. Twelve episodes in, it had turned into an interview show, and by 2013, the podcast had obtained 100 million downloads.

TALKING RELIGIOUS “I have a religion section somewhere,” Maron says while eyeing a shelf below what appears to be the philosophy section. He pulls down the book The Prophets by Abraham Heschel, a heralded philosopher and theologian in 20thcentury Jewish thought. He clears some clutter and plants the book squarely on his desk.

“I WAS ANGRY AND GUARDED. BUT I THINK ALL THAT IS SORT OF ABOUT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO LET MYSELF BE LOVED OR ACCEPTED, BECAUSE I DON’T THINK I ACCEPTED MYSELF.” Maron, himself culturally Jewish, went to Hebrew school and had a bar mitzvah, but as he puts it, “I was never taught what God meant other than, ‘Hey, God made everything.’” However, his background is important to him: “Jews are interesting in this kind of ongoing conversation about meaning and God’s presence. There’s a little more poetry to it. I mean, there are life lessons, but it’s a little more cryptic. I think I come from that tradition.” It’s far from the first time religion has been discussed in the garage. During a typical WTF interview, Maron will delve into a guest’s background and unpack any topic, especially religion. He pushes for the all the details, despite the fact that, as he says, “I believe man created God. I think it has to go that way.” Over the past few years, listeners have been privy to conversations like Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo giving Maron tips about Eastern meditation, The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi opening up about his period of being a practicing Muslim resulting in getting beat up for praying to

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Allah, and Silicon Valley’s Martin Starr going to great lengths to explain the benefits he has found as a Buddhist. Perhaps the most memorable conversation regarding faith occurred with comedian Norm MacDonald, whom fans know generally as a guarded instigator with an aloof grin—which hints at his ability to self-destruct an interview or performance at any moment. In the interview with Maron, MacDonald breaks character and candidly reveals his long-standing gambling addiction he confesses has rendered him penniless three dif-

THE BENEFITS OF RELIGION It’s these transparent moments between two human beings that endear listeners to Maron. He regularly gets books, vinyl records and hand-drawn pictures in the mail from fans. The comments section on the WTF website seems devoid of the standard vitriol, replaced with genuine thanks and admiration. Maron attributes his ability to connect with his guests to lessons he learned while in the 12-step program. “With AA, the idea is that you reach out to somebody else to get out of yourself—

“I WAS TRYING TO COME TO TERMS WITH MYSELF. A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN SOMETHING OUT OF THAT, AND IT’S VERY GRATIFYING IN A WAY I CAN’T EVEN EXPLAIN.” ferent times. Maron tries to understand the “how” of this type of addiction, and the two eventually land on the conclusion that, like any escape, it allows MacDonald to avoid the real fears in life. The final 10 minutes of the episode feature MacDonald recounting that he’s “trying to get to God” to deal with the emptiness and fears of life. He confesses that he thinks “the only salvation is through faith,” particularly the smart faith of literary greats like Tolstoy, but he “doesn’t know how to get it ... It’s the hardest thing to believe.” Maron has noted in the years since the interview that he was surprised at how real the conversation got. Despite going into the conversation as total strangers, he and MacDonald ended up genuinely connecting.

you know, go help somebody else, go listen to somebody else’s burden. And then, you’re out of you. And I think that happens a lot in here with the podcast.” He calls the 12-step program a “slightly gutted Christianity.” Recounting the program’s founding intent, he suggests, “They realized that if you start telling a bunch of aggravated, angry, belligerent drunks that they need God in their life, they’re going to resist that. So, how do you make that as vague as possible without taking away what religion offers?” In this vein, Maron also sees the benefits of some Christian teaching without the need for including God: “A lot of the lessons I’ve learned about trying to minimize the ego, doing charitable actions—I imagine

that if you were brought up in the Church this is something they taught you early on,” he says. “Another thing that’s compelling and attractive about Christianity is community. I mean, I get that. I get church. Every week, we’re going to go and see those people. We’re going to eat with those people and we know those people and we know their kids. That’s a good thing, if it’s not too tribal.”

BIG QUESTIONS In his last comedy special, Thinky Pain, Maron does a bit on the perils of atheism versus Christianity. In a sort of backhanded compliment, he concludes that while many atheists see Christians as delusional, the fact remains “there are no atheist soup kitchens.” But as easily as he offers praise to Christianity, he brings up what he feels are Christianity’s greatest shortcomings. “You can have God without believing the biblical interpretation of history,” he says. “I think that’s going to be the biggest leap. To accept God without that baggage of having to believe the mythology of creation, that’s the real trick. That’s where I think God could maybe work for more people.” And, he argues, people don’t necessarily have to be Christians to live with purpose. “Me not having Christ, I’m obviously serving some purpose. I’m creating something that gives people some sort of relief and some sort of feeling of not being alone,” he says. “It wasn’t my agenda. I was trying to survive and also come to terms with myself and self-acceptance. Through that journey, a lot of people have gotten something out of that, and it’s very gratifying in a way I can’t even explain. But I still am wary to say I’m doing God’s work in any way.” Maron acknowledges that he does

MARC MY WORDS The archives of Maron’s WTF podcast are full of great conversations with celebrities and thinkers. Here are a few of the most notable:

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EP. 202: AMY POEHLER

EP. 111 AND 112: LOUIS C.K.

E P. 530: JAY BAK K E R

Poehler and Maron reminisce about their career beginnings and gender equality in comedy.

The pair have a heart-to-heart about how success ruined their friendship—and how to move on.

The son of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye talks about faith, addiction and the Church.

recognize something outside of himself is at work. But he fails the need to define anything further. “There is this idea that you’re supposed to turn yourself over to a power greater than yourself. And what I’ve grown to realize is that can remain vague for me.” When questioned about what or who ultimately is responsible for his own recovery, he offers, “I’ve had to seek psychological explanations for my pain. In the program, it’s called outside help. I would imagine that within church, there are certain sanctioned avenues you can go on in doing that research.” But while psychology has been working as a solution overall, he recognizes there are questions that remain unanswered. “My struggle is understanding what is the joy of giving? What is the joy of being alive, really? What constitutes happiness? How do you hold onto that feeling?” he says. “When I feel joy, I find it a little overwhelming. But I get very moved by other people’s stories. I get moved if I am there for somebody else, to the point where it’s unusual. I don’t think it should be that unusual.”

P H O T O C R E D I T: B R A D B A R K E T

IN FLUX In former generations of Christianity, Maron would almost certainly be relegated as a secular outcast, an opponent of the faith. His podcast’s name alone would likely incite protest. Yet, evidence can be found in the blogosphere of Christians and even pastors from varying denominations pronouncing themselves fans of WTF. This comes in spite of regular use of Christianity by Maron as comic fodder, though his bits often have more of a problem with practicing Christians than with actual theology. He scoffs at the fundamentalism that believes “there were no dinosaurs, or that men and dinosaurs walked the earth.” And while it may be understandable for Maron and the Church at large to remain in separate camps, forging their own paths, the fact remains that Maron will continue to listen to Christians, attempting to understand what makes it all work. Conversely, Christian leaders may also have something to glean from the way Maron connects with those around him. We may be “a city built on a hill,” but the palatial views often seem to prevent the kind of intimate interactions and vulnerability Maron regularly encounters. Henri Nouwen, the Catholic priest

Marc Maron performs stand-up at a show with John Oliver in New York.

whose writings have influenced generations of pastors, discusses what it means to have a pastoral conversation in his book The Wounded Healer: “Pastoral conversation is not merely a skillful use of conversational techniques to manipulate people into the Kingdom of God, but a deep, human encounter in which people are willing to put down their own faith and doubt, their own hope and despair, their own light and darkness at the disposal of others who want to find a way through their confusion and touch the solid core of life.” Maron seems to have stumbled into this type of conversation without the influence of the Church. Christians would certainly argue that God is a necessary part of the humanity Maron seeks to understand through personal

experience and psychology. But, he says, the suspension of disbelief is something he’s never been able to achieve. However, his future belief, like the ever-moving pieces of clutter on the desk in the garage, seems to remain in flux. “I’m not willing to commit to not believing. I’m not willing to commit to believing—so I live in that place,” he concludes. “I feel like I’ve contributed something to the world. I think that I do something good for the most part. But I know I have my own personal struggles and problems and lapses of good behavior. I don’t know what happens now.” ERIC VANVALIN is a writer and filmmaker living in LA. Find his musings on film, God, and pop culture at his blog, pickingupshells.com.

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B Y E D D I E K AU F H O L Z & JO SAXTON

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on dates? And when guys do ask, why don’t women say yes?

REASON #1: THERE’S NO REASON JO: I got married at 29 after eight years of

FRIENDZONES. DTRS. LEAVING ROOM FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT. WHY IS IT SO HARD TO ASK SOMEONE OUT IN CHURCH?

E ver since mankind first set foot in church, dating has been weird. That may not necessarily be true, but it feels true. After all, the Song of Solomon features a young man attempting to woo a woman by comparing her navel to a goblet, which couldn’t have been much more romantic then than it is now. Now, however, it can still be very awkward. People have strong feelings about chauvinism, friendzones and, above all, kissing dating goodbye. In an attempt to clear up a few of those troubles, we turned to Eddie Kaufholz—a former pastor and RELEVANT’s current advice columnist—and Jo Saxton—co-pastor of Mission Point Church—to answer a simple question from two perspectives: Why don’t guys in the Church ask women

single living. “Why isn’t this happening for me?” was my big question. It just didn’t make sense. There were some lonely years; the time when a roommate found me sobbing in my room, angry with God and ashamed that it all mattered so much. There were the times when self-doubt threatened to wear me down. There were also some amazing times where life was an adventure. I was growing with God, I had some awesome single and married friends and enjoyed them all. Sometimes it feels like it’s happening for everyone but you. And sometimes, there is no concrete reason. It doesn’t make sense. It’s hard, and it hurts. But there are a few things to remember as you work through it: There’s nothing wrong with you. I mean it. You’re not too tall, too small, too large, too thin. You are enough and you are not too much. You are certainly not “damaged goods” (seriously). When it says in the Bible that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” that truth was not dependent on your dating life. Some moments of singleness are vulnerable and raw, but you’re not less of a person, you’re not an incomplete person. If you want to guard your heart, don’t guard it from being open to relationships, or from healthy vulnerability. Pain is painful, but avoiding it creates a relational paralysis of its own. If you want to guard your heart in this area, then guard it from bitterness, cynicism, unforgiveness and judging others. Guard it from a disappointment that erodes your faith in God. Your life, your calling is not waiting to start; it’s happening now—so live it. This is an obvious statement, but it bears repeating: You can be single and have a totally fulfilled and purposeful life. EDDIE: So often, when a guy makes the

brave attempt to ask a woman out and she says no, the logical brain begins to take over. He says, “Well, I love Jesus, I have a great job, I’m acceptably handsome and we’re already friends, so why wouldn’t this work?” Essentially what’s happening is that men’s brains become very confused when

something that looks good on paper ends up not being great in real life. What confuses us is the simple fact that there isn’t always a reason she said no. She just did, and she’s not obligated to have a reason. It is in our confusion that we so often play the God card (“But wait, I think God told me we should be together!”) and forget about good-old-fashioned unrequited love. It happens. Maybe you’re wonderful, maybe she’s wonderful, maybe you’d be wonderful together—but now is not the time. The sooner you accept that logic doesn’t always apply to affairs of the heart, the quicker you’ll be able to respect her choice—not mentally chastise her for being wrong—and continue to be a kind and honest friend to her. God’s got this, and if we believe that, then when she says no and there doesn’t seem to be any “logical” reason, we’ll lean on God and let Him do whatever it is He’s doing—in her, in you, and in the grand narrative we’re just not privy to.

REASON #2: YOU’RE THE REASON JO: Some women won’t even consider the

guys in their church because they want to be swept off their feet by a Jesus-loving hipster version of Prince Charming. Created by a potent combination of their favorite romantic movies, love songs and late-night chats with the girls, they’re waiting for the ideal guy that doesn’t exist—because they made him up. I get it; and I did it, because I wanted to avoid the messiness of past encounters. I didn’t want to make another mistake. I didn’t want my heart broken again. Still, dreams aren’t reality. That guy who serves at the back of church who’s simply a godly guy with a good job, fun friends and a good personality is no match for the man of your fantasies that you’ve fallen in love with and written about in your journal. (And ladies, is it OK to say please don’t write love letters to the husband you haven’t even met and started dating yet? Or am I touching a cultural nerve?) “But wait!” I hear you cry. “I can’t help what I’m attracted to! Surely there needs to be a spark?” However, what if that attraction, that spark, is based on those fantasies? Or if you’re attracted to a guy to “fix” him because you need to feel needed? Or what if the spark that ignites your attraction for that edgy bad guy is because you’re competitive and like the challenge? Those aren’t values to build healthy relationships on. He

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diss him to your girlfriends, because when he marries one of them five years later, it’s going to be awkward. And why don’t you be brave and ask a guy out for coffee? It’s totally fine. It’s just coffee. It’s a chance to get to know someone better. And it’s better than obsessing over him and giving all the girls around him the side-eye. (I know I’m not the only one who did this.)

IF YOU WANT TO GUARD YOUR HEART, DON’T GUARD IT FROM BEING OPEN TO RELATIONSHIPS, OR FROM HEALTHY VULNERABILITY. might (to paraphrase Taylor Swift, Our Lady of Perpetual Singleness) be “a nightmare dressed like a daydream.” Ladies, it’s time to stop looking for the man of your dreams. EDDIE: Gentlemen, it is time to take a hard

look at yourself. Seriously, stand in front of a mirror (preferably not in a public restroom, or this will get weird) and ask yourself: “How am I perceived?” “Have I gotten any consistent feedback over the years that may point toward a truth?” and finally, “What kind of man am I?” Additionally, start asking others those questions—others like good friends that have known you a long time, leaders/mentors/pastors who know you and know your character, and yes, God. Then, once you’ve asked some people who really know you—listen. Because there’s something you may be missing about yourself, and that something may be contributing to your lack of dating luck. Women, and people in general, are pretty good at sniffing out immaturity, neediness, insecurity, anger, weirdness or one of a hundred other issues that plague us and keep people at bay. And because of that, likely the best thing you can do to turn the tide on your dating woes is not to blame those who reject you—but rather work on you. For starters, have the aforementioned conversations with people that know you well. Then, place yourself in healthy and challenging community settings (Bible studies, recovery groups, etc.). Additionally, find a good counselor, pray, read the Bible and, if

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needed, stop trying to date for a while. This will be hard, but it will be worth it, and certainly more successful than pining away for love and getting beaten up by rejection. Now, a caveat: If you’ve had little luck in the dating world, don’t just use the “I’m the problem” theory to beat yourself up. Instead, here’s a little litmus test: If you’ve read this section and had some visceral, gut, even angry reaction to the idea that you may be the problem, well then I’d be paying special attention right about now. Because while we all need to be refined in many ways, it’s often those of us that can’t imagine that we need refining that actually need it the most. And even if it turns out the problem isn’t you, but just that it wasn’t right, the occasional period of self-reflection and examining where we may have blind spots is a good idea for everyone.

WELL, WHAT DO WE DO NOW? JO: If you are broken, seek healing. Life is

messy and we’ve all taken a few hits. But we have a healer, a redeemer, a Savior who makes all things new. Talk with someone, pray with someone, get counseling if that is what is needed. Be proactive about getting the help you need. Ladies, pray for a new perspective on the guys in your church community. Choose to be open to date someone who doesn’t fit the list—even if he’s not a worship leader. If a guy asks you out on a date, give it a try! Give it two tries, for that matter. And if you don’t want it to go further, that’s fine. Be honest with him, and then speak well of him. Don’t

EDDIE: This isn’t complex and I’m not going to overdo it with explanation. You’ll know what I’m talking about and you’ll know the first step in actually making progress is learning to do this well. So, I’m going to give it to you and let it hang there. Ready? Here we go: Settle. Down. Please quit blaming the Church, declining church attendance among males, millennials, “girls that are all messed up,” society, Western culture, Eastern culture, Obama or anything else for your lack of luck in dating. From cavemen to the robot overlord men of the future, dating has and always will be fraught with mystery and heartache. The real problem is that we repurpose our frustration into blame and get mad at the women, society, even God—all of which are firmly outside of your scope of authority. And that begs the question: What is inside our control? The answer is the ability to allow Christ to transform us more and more into His image. That’s what’s within our control. For both your single and married days, passionately assume the mantle of someone who deeply loves God and trusts Him for the next season. Because guys, here’s the secret: Women are attracted to confidence, but not confidence as the world defines it. Rather, women are attracted to the kind of confidence that comes from a man who knows that all he needs won’t come from even the best woman. Your job is to look more and love more like Jesus. Do that for a while and see what happens when you honestly trust God with your relational well-being. JO: I know we’re asking you all—men and

women—to take some brave steps. It is vulnerable and daunting and who knows what will happen. But standing on the sidelines overthinking it, feel frustrated and judging each other isn’t working for you, either. So go on. Be brave. Get to know one another and grab a coffee sometime. You know you want to.

Lacey Dugas @laceydugas

If you’re not listening to @RELEVANTpodcast online while eating alone in your office, YOU’RE DOING LUNCH BREAK WRONG! #snortlaughingalone 03/19/15, 1:32 PM

T H E R E L E VA N T P O D C A S T

GET THE NEW EPISODE EVERY FRIDAY RELE VANTmagazine.com /podcast

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BY ROB FEE

G oing on a short-term mission trip can be an incredible experience and a great way to introduce yourself to mission work. Organizing a short-term mission trip is a great way to stress yourself out for months while developing a deep resentment for members of your church because they can’t seem to remember to make their payments on time, so you have to call every other week like a Jesus-loving collection agency. I’ve been on both ends of the trip, so I’ve learned a few tricks along the way. To help you get the most out of your trip, here’s a little cheat sheet of things you’ll need:

1. SNACKS It doesn’t matter if you’re staying in the country or going into a jungle in South America; you’re going to need some snacks on hand. The last thing you need happening is your group arriving to your host’s place only to learn that an exquisite dinner of local cuisine will be ready in just under six hours, but the last time you ate was at 7 a.m. when you shoved a sweaty McGriddle into your face while sprinting to the plane. This isn’t the time to call an impromptu fast for your group or to teach the importance of Matthew 4, when Jesus didn’t eat for 40 days. Tuck away some granola bars in your bag so everyone’s blood sugar doesn’t drop and your associate pastor’s wife doesn’t get irritable and yell at an orphan.

2. EVERYONE’S CELL PHONE NUMBER It’s easy to assume that you’re covered because you have almost everyone’s number, but if you do that, the one person whose number you didn’t get will decide to do some last-minute shopping at that store in the airport that only sells neck pillows and mints. You’ll be at the gate making sure everyone gets on the plane, then someone will

say, “Hey, where’s Eric?” Nobody noticed Eric wander off, but now that he has Carmen Sandiego’d the group, he’s the most popular person in the world. You have to go back and look for him, and your pastor’s son just posted, “Already lost a kid and we haven’t even gotten on the plane yet lol” on Facebook, so now your phone is blowing up like you’re a radio station giving away Supertones tickets in 1997.

3. AN AUXILIARY CABLE If you’re driving to your mission field, you can’t forget your aux cable. That way you can make a family-friendly Spotify playlist or use the music on your iPhone. Depending on the radio is a nightmare because at least one of the following will happen: A) Just when you start getting tired, you’ll hit a barren wasteland in Texas where you couldn’t get a radio signal with a NASA satellite. Everyone else is asleep, so you’re dumping Red Bull into your mouth and sticking your head out the window like an excited beagle in an attempt to stay awake. B) You’ll find a Christian station, but it’ll be during their pledge week, so for every Sandi Patty song you get, there will be 25 minutes of soft-spoken DJs asking for donations. C) You’ll finally find a station that seems safe, especially since no one’s paying attention, but at the perfect moment, everyone will go silent and the one song with a curse word in it will come on. You’ll quickly change it, but the older ladies from the women’s ministry already heard it and now they’re praying that God will deliver you from the snares of secular music. Thanks a lot, Sheryl Crow.

4. CLOTHES YOU DON’T MIND GIVING AWAY It won’t take long to realize how much you have compared to the people you’ve come to help on your trip. Don’t bring anything you can’t live without, because you’re going to end up giving away everything you possibly can. That village will look like a Forever 21 opened down the street by the time you’re done with it.

in one of the vans like DiCaprio snuck onto the Titanic, so we didn’t realize he was there and also didn’t have a ticket until we were 45 minutes away at the airport. Did I want to leave him at the airport alone with a note of his mom’s cell number attached to him? Sure. Who wouldn’t? But I ended up having to buy a ticket for him at the airport, which used up pretty much all the petty cash I had for the trip. You may not run into that scenario, but someone is going to end up spending their entire trip fund on the second day buying candy at a gas station. Bring cash, because you’re going to need it and you’re probably not going to find an ATM branch for your local credit union in Haiti.

6. A DECK OF CARDS Phone batteries will die, DVDs will get played out, but a deck of cards will always bail you out of those boring moments when you’re stuck waiting for what’s next. Pulling out a deck of Uno cards can generate more excitement than when Charlie Bucket found his golden ticket.

7. A LARGE HOODIE It doesn’t matter if you’re doing a mission trip on the surface of the sun, for some reason, it’s going to get freezing cold at some point and the only thing you packed were shorts, ratty T-shirts and a suit, just in case this village in the jungle had a traditional Baptist service and required business attire to attend. There’s also a 100-percent chance it’s going to rain one of the days you’re there, so prepare for that, too.

8. A MOBILE WIFI HOTSPOT Believe it or not, most Chilean orphanages haven’t upgraded to a wireless broadband connection yet. Grab a mobile hotspot, because how else are you going to get all those pictures and video clips back to your media guy so he can edit them into slow-motion clips set to Ray Boltz’s “Thank You For Giving To The Lord”?

5. WHATEVER CASH YOU THINK YOU NEED—TIMES FOUR

There. Now, assuming you’ve also packed a good attitude and some good intentions, you should be all set for a memorable trip.

I took a youth group on a mission trip to New York City several years ago. Apparently, one of the parents decided to send three of their kids on the trip instead of just the two we knew about. The third one slipped

ROB FEE is a writer and comedian best known for writing and telling jokes. You can follow him on Twitter @RobFee to read more jokes or go to Del Taco. He’s probably there.

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BY T YLER HUCK ABEE

THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED INDIE ROCK BAND WON’T SETTLE FOR ANYTHING LESS THAN PERFECTION

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dam Granduciel is a man out of time. That’s not a surprise, if you know anything about his work. The 36-yearold is the frontman and most visible member of The War on Drugs. His band sounds out of time too—like a group of travelers from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s fell into the same space/ time rip and decided to pool their musical resources. If you’ve heard The War on Drugs—particularly 2014’s stunning Lost in the Dream—you understand. It’s an album that harks back to a different time in music, which isn’t to say that it sounds dated—it sounds timeless. Just like Granduciel. “It’s not a conscious thing,” Granduciel says of his propensity to play old rock and roll. “But I’d be stupid if I said I never listened to Dylan. He’s my favorite. But honestly, I’m not trying to do anything like that as much as I’m just writing naturally. I like writings songs, and this is the way I write them.” He does like writing songs, and the way he writes them seems to be working. Lost in the Dream was named the best album of 2014 by dozens of publications (including this one). It catapulted Granduciel and The War on Drugs to a sudden and dizzying new array of indie acclaim. It reached top 30 in the United States and top 20 in the United Kingdom. The band went from playing small clubs and bars to selling out huge venues and playing major slots at festivals. It was a lot of acclaim for one album, but then, for Granduciel, it feels deserved. It’s the result of a truly painstaking recording process, in which patience was taxed and emotions drained to the breaking point. Was it all worth it? Well, that’s a question for Granduciel.

THE PRESS FOR PERFECTION “When I was making it, there was a lot of selfdoubt and stress,” Granduciel admits. If the rumors are true, that’s a bit of an understatement. Granduciel pushed himself to the limit in his Philadelphia home, straining over every sound and beat, trying to push his creation in line with his vision. “I was obsessed with it to the bitter end,” he says. “When I look back and think about how scatterbrained I was and just how difficult it seemed at the time, I’m just happy that I went to those lengths. When I got the physical copy and just looked at it

... It all looked awesome. It all matters. All the way from the art to the sound of the snare on ‘Under The Pressure’ that I kept remixing and remixing. It all ends up contributing. None of it’s in vain.” Listening to Lost in the Dream, Granduciel’s words ring true. Most albums aren’t put together carelessly, but you know obsession when you hear it. Every track on the album sounds precise and studied—you can practically hear Granduciel playing each second of it over and over in his studio, in search of perfection. “It was tricky,” he says, sighing a little. “It was the first time that my job was to make a full record, on top of thinking about expectations and setting the bar high. You have to get to the point where you are trusting instincts without second-guessing yourself. It is difficult.” That bit about this being the first time the band has made a full record isn’t actually true. The War on Drugs has recorded three full-length albums since 2008, but Granduciel isn’t speaking technically, he explains. In his mind, Lost in the Dream was his first real album—in that it felt like the first album that had any weight tied to it. “I just wanted to live up to the high standards people have,” he explains. “Not every band has the vibe around it that the whole album is something to be looked forward to. That’s a special thing. I wanted to make sure I respected that place we were in. I wanted to make something I thought was really above where we were before, and something that was for our fans. It was definitely a lot of pressure I put on myself.” What you might not realize from listening to the album is that his quest was not fueled by an unquenchable inspiration, but a lack of it. “This record is about a lot of things,” he says. “But this was the heart of a lot of it: How do you find inspiration when it’s not readily available? How do you tap into something when it’s not obvious?” It’s an interesting admission, especially considering the fact that Lost in the Dream feels like it’s positively bursting with inspiration.

THE SEARCH FOR MEANING Granduciel says he conceived of Lost in the Dream as a soundtrack for driving alone at night. “Most rock and roll records, driving is a good space for it ... That’s the only reason I say ‘driving by yourself,’” he says. “[The album] is full of selfreflection. I want people to take in the whole thing.” That is pretty standard rock fare. How many times have you seen a commercial with some guy in a leather jacket driving around to dime store rock

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The War on Drugs has been around for almost a decade, but it took a while for the band to shape their current sound, with each of their albums getting better reviews than the last.

WAGONWHEEL BLUES (2008)

S L AV E A MB I E NT ( 2011)

L O S T I N TH E DRE A M (2 0 1 4 )

The War on Drugs’ Bob Dylanesque debut album featured folksy guitars and harmonica.

The band’s sophomore fulllength developed their ability to create ambient layers of sound.

Granduciel’s latest project was named the best of 2014 by many publications.

“IT ALL MATTERS. ALL THE WAY FROM THE ART TO THE SOUND OF THE SNARE THAT I KEPT REMIXING. IT ALL ENDS UP CONTRIBUTING. NONE OF IT’S IN VAIN.” music? That’s what compelled Granduciel to keep digging for deeper themes. “A lot of it’s about your purpose in life,” he says. “What it means to be happy with yourself. Trying to get to the point where you can just be, you know what I mean? There’s no answer. But trying to get to that point of living.” For Granduciel, being happy has been an elusive goal, an itch he has tried to scratch a number of ways. For right now, that looks like continuing to perfect his craft. “I’ve tried, in the past, to have a band that was more of a certain thing. Like going, ‘I want this band to be a cross between Pavement and the third Velvet

MAY_JUNE 2015

Underground record’ or whatever. But I figured out how to just write whatever comes naturally. And I felt like I was getting a lot more enjoyment out of making music.” This is where the whole idea of Granduciel being out of time starts to show. He’s an old soul—one who still seems to be in the music game for the pure love of it. “I’ve put out double LPs,” he says.” I’m not going to make a ton of money off it, but I want people to pick it up and hold it. I want people to spend money on what’s going to last. I want people to not mind buying my music.” That’s a noble ideal, but it feels a little idealistic in the world of Spotify and

surprise album releases. For that matter, it sounds odd in an age where most albums leak online before they ever appear in any sort of legal format. It happened to Lost in the Dream too, some four weeks before the album actually released—a fact Granduciel is surprisingly nonplussed by. “I don’t mind,” he says dismissively about the album’s leak. “You get it exposed to a lot more people. I went online and I found a bunch of the blogs where people were talking about it. The comment I kept seeing was ‘I can’t wait to buy my copy on vinyl.’” Here, his voice lights up notably. It’s understandable for someone with his level of dedication and his devotion to his fans. Appreciation is a gratifying thing. “They heard it, they were into it, and they can’t wait to go buy the physical copy!” he says. “People don’t give the consumer enough credit. People are stoked to get stuff for free. They don’t want to spend money on things they’re not sure about. They want to be sure about what they’re getting.” As far as Granduciel is concerned, that means delivering on something beautiful. He has churned out an album many critics hail as one of the better albums of the decade, but he retains a commitment to improvement. “I try to be more disciplined. I’m not trial and error anymore,” he says. “I try to get at the heart of whatever I write about. It’s important to work on stuff every day. Put on the headphones and play with sounds. Keep exploring. Evolve. Try to always find new things to write about and new ways to express it.” Perhaps Granduciel isn’t a man out of time at all. Maybe he’s just a little ahead of the curve.

P H O T O C R E D I T: D U S D I N C O N D R E N

BATTLE SOUNDS

EDUCATING doers • changers •

LEADERS

Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary educates followers of Jesus Christ for God’s peace and justice. Ground your leadership in dedicated study of Scripture, vibrant learning community and passionate witness. Study where you are with Master of Divinity Connect. Or immerse yourself in campus life with our Master of Divinity Campus and Master of Arts programs. Photos: God’s Shalom and the Church’s Witness class. Students assemble relief kits for Iraq and witness locally after Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Mo. Credits: Jason Bryant, Mary E. Klassen, Alex Pletcher.

Special information for Relevant readers ambs.edu/welcome

Learn more at www.ambs.edu. Or call 800.964.2627 to visit our campus in Elkhart, Ind. 73 RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM

THE WARM MONTHS HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED. HERE ARE 11 ES SENTIAL RE ADS TO FILL THEM.

ur fast-paced, technology driven culture has changed the nature of reading. We read 140-character summations of news. We read humorous lists interspersed with cat GIFs. But taking the time to sit down and read an actual book is a lost art. It’s an art worth reviving, however, even if it takes a retraining of our attention spans to do so. Books can

P H O T O C R E D I T: J O V O J O VA N O V I C

BY C. CHR ISTOPHER SMITH

transport you to different worlds and give you new perspective on your own. They can teach you more about God and what it looks like to live out your faith. We’ve selected a mix of stories, memoirs and spiritual reflections for you to choose from the next time you head to the beach or sit down for a lazy summer afternoon read. You can thank us later.

THE FELLOWSHIP BY PHILIP AND CAROL ZALESKI

Q +A THE FISHERMEN

lthough recognizing that the Inklings were a wider circle of scholars and writers, this new history focuses on the four whose works were the most original: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and Owen Barfield. The Fellowship examines not only the lives of these authors and the gatherings of the Inklings community in Oxford, but also the common themes that shaped their work and wove together a distinctively Christian vision of the ways in which story can form us. The Fellowship is vital and life-giving reading, especially for artists and scholars in the Christian tradition, as it challenges us to imagine ways of living and being that are in greater harmony with the intentions of our Creator.

By Chigozie Obioma Drawing upon the rich history of Nigerian storytelling, this novel is a myth of sorts, reminding the reader of tales of the Greek gods or the biblical story of Cain and Abel. The four oldest brothers of the Agwu family encounter a religious madman who prophesies that the oldest brother, Ikenna, will be killed by one of his brothers. This prophecy haunts Ikenna, who is gradually undone by it. Obioma combines a stark, mythic narrative with lavishly descriptive writing that depicts not only the Agwus’ life in their town, but also the rapidly modernizing culture of Nigeria in the 1990s.

DEAD WAKE ne hundred years ago this spring, the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland, killing almost 1,200 people. In Dead Wake, Larson takes readers inside both the Lusitania and the U-boat in the lead-up to the disaster, painting vivid pictures of those involved on both sides. As in his other books, Larson’s carefully researched details bring history to life and make for a fascinating read.

ERIK LARSON The saying “truth is better than fiction” certainly applies to Erik Larson’s writing. His historical narratives such as Devil in the White City and In the Garden of Beasts have landed him at the top of best-sellers lists. We talked to him about his latest, Dead Wake, which details the sinking of the Lusitania. W H AT C A N W E L E A R N F R O M T H E S I N K I N G O F T H E L U S I TA N I A ?

If there’s any lesson, it’s that over-confidence and hubris are dangerous things. If we ever think for a moment that weapons will not be used to their fullest potential, we are deluding ourselves; which gets a little scary when you think about chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. H O W D O YO U K N O W W H E N YO U ’ R E F I N I S H E D R ESEARCHING FOR A BOOK?

Discoveries wane. Archival sources start to repeat themselves. And, more important, the accumulated material just starts pushing you to start writing. For Dead Wake, my chronology came to 165 single-spaced pages. The beauty of this is that it also serves as a de facto outline, because chronology is the single most important tool at a writer’s disposal. W H AT H AV E YO U L E A R N E D A B O U T H U M A N NAT U R E F R O M R E S E A R C H I N G YO U R B O O K S?

The thing I find over and over again is that people are nuanced creatures. There are no unalloyed heroes. Heroes have warts, villains have good sides (with the exception of Hitler). In writing history, one has to resist the temptation to paint people in monochromatic terms. Nuance is far more interesting. D O YO U T H I N K YO U ’ L L E V E R R E L E A S E A FICTION BOOK?

I’m not sure I’m cut out for fiction. To write good and compelling fiction, you have to visit really bad things on good people. I have a hard time doing that. History, on the other hand, does it for me. I just have to capture what happened in as vivid and fresh a manner as possible.

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2015 SUMMER READING GUIDE

R EDEEMING SEX

By Debra Hirsch

Hirsch draws upon her own experience in and around the LGBT community to write this gracious exploration on sex and the Church. Hirsch calls for churches to extend hospitality and embrace the LGBT community, but stops short of arguing that churches should affirm samesex marriages. This

book demonstrates an unwavering Christ-like love for all humanity and carves out a space for open conversation about sexuality. It flies in the face of the escalating culture wars of our day and invites us to imagine a Church of the future that is shaped by the Gospel virtues of love and unity.

DIVINE ANIMAL BY SCOTT RUSSELL SANDERS

cott Russell Sanders is an award-winning essayist and novelist whose work, filled with themes of faith and care for creation, is in a similar vein as that of his friend Wendell Berry. Divine Animal braids together the stories of a diverse cast of characters who we come to find out are united by a traumatic event in the past. Once the past has been unearthed, the characters begin the journey toward healing. Ultimately, this is an extremely hopeful story, and in a similar display of hope in imagining economic alternatives, Sanders is giving away this novel in ebook form as a gift to readers.

SLOW PILGRIM BY SCOTT CAIRNS

oetry may not exactly be your preferred choice of summer reading. In fact, we in the 21st century are formed by fast culture in ways that may make poems nearly impossible for us to read. Poetry, however, can open the gates for the journey toward a slower and more meaningful life. There is no better guide for such a pilgrimage than Scott Cairns, a psalmist of our day, whose spirituality immerses us ever deeper into the realities of everyday life. His poems, as Gregory Wolfe notes in the book’s intro, heal the gaping wound between our hearts and our minds, and in the process make us fully human.

MAR_APR 2015

Q +A

RACHEL HELD EVANS Rachel Held Evans’ Searching for Sunday is a love song of sorts for the Church—warts, brokenness and all. She writes, “All we have is this Church—this lousy screwed-up, glorious Church— which by God’s grace is enough.” We sat down with Evans to discuss the book and the Church. W H AT L E D YO U T O L E AV E YO U R C H U R C H ?

A lot of people bring secrets to church, and the secret I brought was my doubt. I had serious questions about our church’s teachings on gender roles, sexuality, evolution, climate change, and a host of other issues. As kind and gracious as the people in that church were to me, it became clear that I no longer “fit” in that community. It was a painful decision to leave, but my husband and I agreed we both needed a little space to process these big changes happening in our faith. W H AT B R O U G H T YO U B AC K T O C H U R C H ?

The sacraments of baptism and communion, confession and anointing reminded me that Christianity isn’t meant to simply be believed; it’s meant to be lived, shared, eaten, spoken and enacted in the presence of other people. When I’d all but given up on church, the sacraments reminded me that, try as I might, I can’t be a Christian on my own. I need a community. I need the Church. YO U W R I T E T H AT T H E C H U R C H M I G H T N E E D R E S U R R E C T I O N . C A N YO U U N PAC K T H AT ?

It’s become popular in recent years for folks to fret about the “impending death of Christianity,” based on statistics that show a decline in church attendance here in the U.S. and in Europe. But death is something empires worry about, not something resurrection people worry about. Maybe this is an opportunity to die to the old ways of dominance and control and be reborn into the way of the Cross, the way of sacrifice and service.

2015 SUMMER READING GUIDE

A CURIOUS MIND

By Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman For years, Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer has been sitting down to talk with notable figures in entertainment, arts and politics. This book is a captivating mix of stories of these conversations, Grazer’s own experience, and reflections on curiosity. The real strength of the book lies in Grazer’s exploration of curiosity and the ways it energizes and transforms us.

THE ROA D TO C H A R AC T E R

By David Brooks Many people desire to do great things—to be influential leaders, artists or thinkers. But becoming an influencer starts with having a strong character, which is what best-selling author and New York Times columnist David Brooks explores in his latest book. He examines some of his heroes and their moral fiber—what it consisted of and how they got it. Reading the book can’t make you a better person, he says, but it can provide a roadmap for some ways to develop character.

Q +A

BY JA M I E A R P I N - R I C C I

he modern T age has been marked by a spirit of invulnerability. Our Christian faith has, to a large degree, been formed by this spirit. Drawing upon the story of Ireland’s St. Patrick, this book reminds us that the way of Christ is ultimately a way of vulnerability. It is a profound and gripping work that challenges us to be attentive to the faithfulness of those who have gone before us and to dive deeply into the vulnerable way of Jesus.

I was motivated by various experiences of love. Love plows open hard ground, exposing soft soil below. It exposes the workings of the heart. I came to realize I had a clearer idea of how to do well in the world than I did of how to cultivate a deep inner soul. I decided I would look at people who had admirable inner lives, who had gone from shallowness to depth, selfishness to surrender. I wasn’t sure I could follow their road to character, but I wanted to see what it looked like. YO U W R I T E A B O U T “ T H E C U LT U R E O F

DAVID BROOKS

BY TONI MORRISON

VULNERABLE FAITH

WHAT INSPIRED THE ROAD TO CHARACTER?

Q +A

GOD HELP THE CHILD

B I G M E .” W H AT D O E S T H AT L O O K L I K E?

There was once a sense that we are splendidly endowed but also deeply broken. That common

God Help the Child is Morrison’s first novel set in the present day, but it still features the richly developed characters and themes of redemption after violence that have marked her previous work. At the heart of this story is a woman struggling to find a meaningful life after being neglected by her mother. Her story, along with those of several other characters, highlights the great damage childhood trauma can wreak upon our lives, even as adults. God Help the Child is a profound work that is vitally important for understanding our times, even if its message is not always easy to hear.

understanding of our nature faded away and was replaced with the idea that we are good inside. You should follow your passion, trust your desires, be true to yourself. All of this has made us less humble. We all praise humility, but the culture does not encourage it. But humility is the seedbed of the other virtues, and pride leads to bloated ego and self-deception. W H AT D O YO U H O P E F O R P E O P L E W H O R E A D YO U R B O O K ?

I think many people are inarticulate about how to develop character and about their own spiritual longings. I thought it was important to modernize and define words like sin, grace, redemption and soul, just so people could think more clearly.

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BY LIZ R IGGS

MAY_JUNE 2015

HE’S A PASTOR, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR AND HE LEADS A BIBLE STUDY FOR THE BIGGEST STARS IN THE WORLD. EVERYONE SEEMS TO HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT HIM. SO WHO IS

P H O T O C R E D I T: J I M J O R D A N

JUDAH SMITH REALLY?

first glance, it might be easy to mistake Judah Smith with some famous indie musician. His t h i c k- r i m m e d glasses and skinny jeans call to mind Ben Gibbard or maybe the lead singer of Fall Out Boy (you know, the one who isn’t Pete Wentz). But the 36-year-old Seattle-ite is no indie rocker, though many might consider him a rock star in his own field. The pastor of The City Church in Seattle and Los Angeles, Smith is articulate and passionate, a gifted speaker. And although his aura of cool lends him an air of prestige, he is having a very real impact on the people around him. And some of those people are very high-profile. “Judah has impacted my life deeply through his way of pouring God’s word into my everyday life,” says actress and singer Selena Gomez. “He has a voice, a way of communicating in such a relevant way, speaking truth into our generation.

I’m grateful for his constant reminders of how much God loves me and the power of using my voice. He is, in my definition, a true leader.” Smith knows Gomez through her occasional squeeze Justin Bieber, who met Smith several years ago during a tour that sent him through the Seattle area. (In fact, it was Bieber’s mother who called Smith up to see if he would meet with her son.) But while Smith may keep a relatively famous entourage while he and his wife split their time between LA and Seattle, he actually spends the majority of his time being a pretty normal pastor.

FILL IN THE BLANK “I signed up to pastor anyone and everyone, and that includes people that are in the limelight,” Smith says. “It is an honor. For me to be able to help anyone is a thrill. The vast majority of my life is not pastoring high-profile people.” The City Church has been around since 1992, when Smith’s father started the church with his wife. Their first gathering had only 21 people. Now, the church welcomes over 6,000 people to its weekend services. Judah himself took over the

position as senior pastor in 2010 after his father passed away. As if pastoring a church of 6,000 people and being buddies with Bieber isn’t enough to keep one man’s plate full (not to mention his wife and three children), Smith has also just released his second book, Life is _______, a follow-up to his 2013 book, Jesus Is ______. “I was definitely unsure how [Jesus Is ______] would unfold to see people receive it,” he reflects on his first book. “It’s not the best-selling book of all time, not even close. But in my little world, it did pretty well, and I was pretty floored and overwhelmed at the reception of it.” Life Is ________ makes an attempt to take the conversation to the next level, and Smith is adamant about this point. He wrote Jesus Is _______ to start a dialogue with Christians in Seattle, hoping that he would open up a conversation for those who might not know how to start it. “Christians are famous for monologues, and we wanted to have a dialogue and just engage people that don’t know God or are unfamiliar with Scripture or even really the story of Jesus,” he says. “So that’s how the blank came about. It was just to get people thinking: ‘What goes in that blank for you?’”

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RELATIONALLY MINDED One of the ways Smith fills in the blank in Life is ______ is “to be loved.” “I think so much of the pursuit of mankind and so much of the grappling and the grasping and the ‘rat race’ or whatever is predicated upon this necessity to feel valued, to ultimately feel loved, to feel like you matter,” he explains. This innate desire to be loved is a huge part of reaching out to people, Smith says. He desires to build relationships with anyone and everyone—even those our society deems sinners. “You can really add value to someone so dramatically by engaging in conversation and listening to them,” he says. “People just want to be heard. They just want to know that somebody cares enough to stop talking and let them talk and hear their journey.” Smith acknowledges that kind of reaching out can be difficult. “I’m not saying that I’m great at this or that I’ve got this nailed by any means,” he says. “I think the most challenging part is that you have to prepare for a mess. You can’t control it. Engaging in conversation with people who don’t think like you can get messy.” Along with pouring out in relationships with others, Smith also has a team of strong believers who surround him in his everyday work, and he is committed to being poured into by that community, as well. “I don’t think we can underestimate the significance of being surrounded by people who are committed to rehearse and revisit and remind one another that it’s finished, we’re righteous,” he says. It’s something he confesses that church leaders aren’t always good at. “Leaders and pastors are really good at standing on platforms and talking. They’re really bad at engaging relationally and being surrounded with friends. I’m committed to do just the opposite. I just want to be a man with a lot of relationships that I get to certainly encourage and give out to, but also get to receive the benefit of being encouraged and reminded who I am.”

FOLLOWING THE CALL A big part of who Judah Smith is is a man who knows he was born with a gift and a calling to preach. As a seventh-generation-

MAY_JUNE 2015

HEY, JUDAH Judah Smith’s famous friends have a lot of good things to say about him:

“Judah’s way of translating to everyone is incredible. He has no other motive but to help people. The best guy I know.” — J U STIN B IE B E R

“Judah has impacted my life deeply through his way of pouring God’s word into my everyday life.” — SE L E NA G OME Z

“Judah is the most compassionate and giving person I have ever met. His teachings are full of truth.” — B U B BA WATSON

“Are you satisfied, do you know what God wants for you? Judah reminded me of these things in a powerful follow-up to Jesus Is __.” — JASON K E N N E DY

pastor’s son, the whole thing seemed to be in the cards, but he’s thankful, nonetheless. “I made a decision when I felt like God wanted me to do this, this is what I was going to do with my life,” he says. “I pinch myself almost every day in the form of talking to my wife or friends and saying, ‘Can you believe we are doing this? Can you believe we get to serve people and love people and share the message of Jesus?’” Sharing the message of Jesus is Smith’s primary work. He speaks and writes about the love of God on an almost daily basis, but his enthusiasm doesn’t seem to wane. He reiterates several times how “thrilling” his work is. He gets to speak to thousands of people every Sunday, personally disciple individuals and impact people across the world through his writing, but he is humble about his role in it all. “I can’t convince someone to follow Jesus,” he says. “I can’t talk them into it. My role in the whole equation is to just engage people and love people. Hopefully they see the love of God in my life and that intrigues them and they desire that. But ultimately, that heart change and life change is completely up to God.”

CRITICIZED COMPANY Smith’s passion and talent make it hard to believe he’s only 36 years old. He has gained the sort of name recognition and influence of someone twice his age. To outsiders, though, it’s easy to look at Smith, his church and the company he sometimes keeps and raise eyebrows. Throughout recent history, there have always been pastors and thinkers who have risen to a level of “celebrity.” From Billy Graham to Rob Bell, pastors from many generations have risen to acclaim and kept friends in high places. But with the Internet and social media now tracking every move, it’s difficult for any celebrity move to go without speculation. And when a pastor spends time with “famous” people, the speculation only grows. Why is Justin Bieber at a Bible study? Is he actually a Christian? Does Selena Gomez really believe in God? Celebrities are judged more for their flaws than their strengths, and it puts extra scrutiny on their pastors. “Celebrities are people, too,” Smith says. “They need to be loved and cared for. And

“Christians are famous for monologues, and we wanted to have a dialogue and engage people that don’t know God.”

Judah Smith preaches at Hillsong NYC.

maybe the scrutiny even adds to the agony and the pain and the difficulty of journeying to live and look like Jesus. So, I’m just completely unwilling to compromise. I believe everyone deserves a fair shake, everyone deserves a fair shot at being pastored and loved and cared for.” While society may sneer at the idea of Justin Bieber attending a Bible study after being photographed exiting a South American brothel, Smith recognizes the biblical nature of the type of relationship he has with Bieber. “The truth is, I’ve been hanging out with students and young people who are in the journey of how to live like Jesus,” he says. “But they’re not going to bat a thousand. It’s just that there’s not people with phones recording them at a restaurant or recording them at a club or recording them at an outing or event.”

Our standards for the rich and the famous are often higher than we realize, and Smith recognizes the irony of this. He also deeply understands the need to be cautious of getting “too close to the fire.” “The life of following Jesus oftentimes morally, socially, ethically seems like you’re climbing uphill,” he says. “I get that. And loving people that, at times, maybe are coasting downhill—people can perceive that maybe so am I. “As a Jesus follower, that’s a genuine concern. So for me, there are boundaries, there are parameters, there are safeguards I’ve put in my life, whether it’s pastors and leaders that surround me and keep me accountable or never going into certain environments by myself where, contrary to my better judgment, I might make a decision that would compromise who I am or sacrifice my ability to serve and help people.”

Smith has every intention of continuing to serve anyone and everyone who walks through the doors of The City Church— whether they’re a celebrity, average layperson or social outcast. For him, the work is in the people—loving them, connecting with them and continuously teaching and serving them. And he says he feels truly blessed to do this work. “It’s unbelievable. I’m about to go have breakfast with all of our pastors here on our team and staff, and I’m sure that’s how the breakfast will start, that we’re just so blessed that we get to do this. For me, that keeps me sane. It keeps me from getting selfish and thinking, ‘Woe is me and my life is so hard’ ... You know, it’s amazing. It’s the absolute thrill of a lifetime.” LIZ RIGGS is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tennessee. Follow her on Twitter at your own risk @riggser.

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THE RAPID PROGRESS OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE HAS SOME ASKING: HOW FAR IS TOO FAR?

MAR_APR 2015

primary beneficiary of tens of millions of dollars of Ice Bucket Challenge donations— “is involved in the use of embryonic stem cells for its research practices and has long been recognized as a research organization whose practices conflict with pro-life values.”

doctors and missionaries have played a key role in bringing formalized medical care to the far corners of the world. In his series of lectures at Yale University on the “Evolution of Modern Medicine” in 1913, William Osler—a man who is often called “the father of modern medicine”—

“The care for the sick and those things are a good, they’re not the ultimate good. The extension of life is not the ultimate good.” — Dr. Michael Sleasman

BY JESSE CAR EY

The ALS Association soon responded to the claims, clarifying that only a small portion of their budget went to the controversial form of stem cell research, and offering concerned donors the ability to specify that their donation not be directed toward it. But in many ways, the damage was done. What started as an innocent way to use YouTube stunts to help fight a debilitating disease turned into a debate about medical research and the limits of the prolife movement. The blowback not only caused prolifers—many of whom were Christians— to examine why they were against stem cell research in the first place, but to also engage in a much larger debate about how far people should be willing to go to heal the sick.

CALLED BY GOD OR PLAYING GOD?

uring the summer of 2014, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was an inescapable feature of every Facebook newsfeed and morning talk show. The movement united people across the world in a goofy trend of dumping buckets of ice water on their heads to raise money and awareness for ALS research. But not long after the trend started to pick up steam, a pro-life group threw some of their own cold water on the Ice Bucket Challenge, and many Christians became vocal opponents to the cultural movement. In a press release, the activism group Live Action wrote that the ALS Association—the

In many incidents throughout the New Testament, “healing the sick” is positioned beside “preaching the Good News” in verses discussing the ministry of Jesus. Matthew 9:35 says “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” In James, the Church’s role in offering spiritual assistance is directly linked to taking care of physical needs: “Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” The history of modern medicine bears out this connection between spiritual salvation and physical healing. Christian

even spoke of the Gospel’s role in calling for caring for the soul as well as the body. Referencing the early church, he said, “He who went about doing good was a physician of the body as well as of the soul, and could the rich promises of the Gospel have been fulfilled, there would have been no need of a new dispensation of science.” In other words, as long as there is a need for the Gospel, there will be a need for Christians to care for the sick. But as technological advancements have allowed deeper insights into the science of medicine, new questions have been raised about how far Christians should be willing to go to heal the sick. At the center of the debate surrounding most bioethical issues within the Church is a spiritual dilemma: In an age of radical technological innovation, when does heeding the call from God to heal cross the line into playing God ourselves by tinkering with His creation? “There are a lot of things people in the past said we were ‘playing God’ with and now we all just take it for granted,” says Dr. David VanDrunen, professor of systematic theology and Christian ethics at Westminster Seminary California and author of the book Bioethics and the Christian Life (among several others). “So I think we need to be very careful about drawing clear lines in the sand on that.” VanDrunen says ultimately, the big questions of bioethics—whether they’re related to some current issues like stem cell research or futuristic concepts like experimental life extension technologies—often

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come down to motivation: “Are we seeking to gain a kind of control over our lives where we don’t need to rest upon God? Are we setting our hope upon earthly attainments when we’re instructed as Christians to be setting our minds on the things that are above, to be storing up our treasure in heaven?” he asks. “If we’re trying to, in some way, conquer death, are we then trying to construct a solution for the problem of death for which God has established a solution in the resurrection?”

THE POWER OVER DEATH Before Christians can understand the nuances of an issue like embryonic stem cell research, it’s important to look at an uncomfortable conflict resting just beneath the surface of the debate: Where do Christians’ pro-life convictions actually cross the line into becoming anti-death? At what point does the honorable pursuit to preserve life at all costs circumvent God’s design of birth, death and eternal life? To truly understand the principles of this conflict, Dr. Michael Sleasman, managing director and research scholar for The Center for Bioethics

“How do we understand aging, and how does that function within God’s creative intention and the fact that we live in a fallen reality?” — Dr. Michael Sleasman

MAR_APR 2015

& Human Dignity and professor of bioethics at Trinity Graduate School, suggests going back to the beginning—the very beginning. “For me, looking at the book of Genesis is a guide for issues of what it means to be human: This notion from Genesis 1 that there is God and then there is everything else,” he says. “Humans are created beings. We’re physical beings. That physicality matters.” Essentially, one of the key things that separates humans from God is the physical, limited bodies that house our souls. And along with created, temporary bodies come natural cycles of aging and death. “How do we understand aging, and how does that function within God’s creative intention and the fact that we live in a fallen reality?” Sleasman says. “This is where the theological depth needs to come in: That the care for the sick and those things are a good, they’re not the ultimate good. The alleviation of suffering is not the ultimate good. The extension of life is not the ultimate good.” Restoring someone’s health is an exciting prospect. Not many Christians would argue against treating someone who is ill and could benefit from treatment. If someone is sick or injured, the goal is to do things that will make them better. If doctors can prevent someone from dying, they should, right? When it comes to the end of life—and science’s potential to delay it, perhaps indefinitely—when do Christians start to re-examine their pro-life values? What kind of extreme measures are humans willing to take to keep ourselves alive? And at what point are we circumventing God’s design of aging and death? “I think we need to be very careful from a moral perspective about setting our sights upon certain types of goals that are certainly difficult to analyze morally,” VanDrunen says. “Where do you draw the line between healing and enhancement? It’s not always entirely clear on how to understand that. But at least I think we need to have very serious moral conversations about those things.” It’s a discussion that should already be happening in churches if researchers

like Dr. Aubrey de Grey are on to something. The chief science officer of the SENS Research Foundation, de Grey believes that the research field of cellular regeneration is advancing so rapidly, the first person to live to 1,000 years old may be born within 20 years. His thoughts may sound like the sort of TED Talk-speak (actually, he has a very compelling one on the science of preventing aging) that leads to more wide-eyed, optimistic speculation than actual results, but de Grey isn’t alone in his pursuit of eternal life. In 2013, Google announced its latest venture, a division called “Calico” that seeks to solve the “problem” of aging. In a press release announcing the launch of the “California Life Company,” Google CEO Larry Page said, “Illness and aging affect all our families. With some longer term, moonshot thinking around health care and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives.” This “moonshot” thinking involves more than just creating new medicines. Calico was founded on the idea that humanity can unlock secrets hidden in our body’s cells that can stop—or radically slow—the aging process and ailments that come with growing old. On the surface, ending or preventing the diseases associated with aging through technology seems like a noble pursuit. But as Sleasman notes, this is where it’s important to closely look at motivations. “When we get to the end of life, then we start seeing this problem, because we are so pro-life and an anti-culture-of-death that we think we need to put off death at all costs,” he says. “This has given rise in the last decade or two toward an attitude of what we refer to as vitalism. That’s replacing the goal of preserving life and making it an ultimate goal. “The extension of human life becomes something we pursue at all costs. We have this kind of implicit—almost semi-Christian—pursuit of radical life extension, because we will do anything and all things just to keep someone alive, even if it’s just for a few minutes.”

THE GREATER GOOD Taking extreme measures—even at high energy, time and financial costs—to keep someone alive for a few extra days is, on the surface, a positive reflection of pro-life ethics. But what happens when the cost of treating the sick means potentially violating other convictions? What if to improve and save

some lives, other lives would have to be destroyed? This is the question at the center of the embryonic stem cell debate. In the late ’90s, doctors were first able to isolate what are known as embryonic stem cells: They are the handful of cells in each human embryo that go on to form every part of the body. In other words, these are incredibly powerful cells. They are not just the building blocks of human life, they’re also the construction workers. But, in order to be studied, embryonic stem cells must be thawed from their cryopreserved state, destroying the embryos in the process. At this state, the embryos are only clusters of cells, but for individuals that hold to the conviction that life begins at conception—the fertilization of the egg by a sperm that creates the embryo—in these petri dishes are tiny human lives, frozen, but still able to be fully formed. Destroying them would destroy a life. For scientists though, studying the cells could allow for miraculous advances in the field of regenerative medicine. If stem cells are what make the human body, then they could potentially be harnessed to trigger radical healing, curing countless diseases and injuries that affect millions of people. Does the prospect of healing millions of people justify the destruction of embryos— some of which will be disregarded anyway? What is the cost we are willing to pay to alleviate suffering? Fortunately, in the case of stem cell research, this dilemma may not be an ethical concern for too much longer. Recent advancements in isolating and researching other types of stems cells—which don’t require the destruction of embryos—is rapidly under way. Stem cells taken from the breast, umbilical blood, embryonic fluid, the placenta and other sources may yield the same benefits as embryonic stem cells. But, just because the advancements in stem cell research may allow us to not have to consider the ethical ramifications of the research in the near future, similar technology is opening up the possibilities of more, increasingly complex issues Christians must soon face.

THE DILEMMA OF BIOTECHNOLOGY Finding the framework for developing opinions about futuristic-sounding ideas within a text that was written thousands

of years ago isn’t an easy task. Christians believe God has given people minds to explore His creation, invent new technologies and to find ways to help the hurting, but the Bible isn’t exactly crystal clear on issues like biotechnology. God gave people reason, but He also gave moral guidance. The key is finding where they intersect. “God did give us reason. He gave us minds in order to understand the world, to understand options and to make real decisions,” VanDrunen says. “He didn’t give us reason to create our own world and to create our own authority structures and our own conception of morality.” Future realities like cognitive uploading (creating digital clones of our brain’s consciousness), nanobot injections (micro-

ideas—looking at bigger, scriptural principles is key. “The approach I advocate personally is one I would call Christian wisdom,” he explains. “So where Scripture speaks clearly, we need to see those as guideposts for us. But then where Scripture does not speak as black and white on issues, that’s where we need to seek: Where does the weight of biblical worldview take us?” Long before the discovery of stem cells or the advent nanobots, Jesus addressed the truth of what this worldview is supposed to look like. In Mark 8, He tells His followers, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever

“God gave us minds to understand the world. He didn’t give us reason to create our own world and conception of morality.” — Dr. David VanDrunen scopic robots that mirror functions of natural healing cells) and biotechnical body modification (mechanisms that will merge natural bodies with man-made devices) may all seem like science fiction ideas, but they are all closer than we think. Culture and technology are about to pose some big questions to Christians. And some of their answers, ironically, may actually lie in one of the Bible’s most famous ancient texts: The book of Proverbs. “Here’s a book that talks a lot about the use of one’s mind, the use of one’s reasoning, the observation and coming to conclusions based upon those observations,” VanDrunen says of Proverbs. “But the whole point of that wisdom we are to gain is that we understand ourselves by living in a world we didn’t make and living within a moral order that someone else, namely God, has put into place”. According to VanDrunen, the starting point to finding the answers to moral dilemmas presented by technology is understanding who created that morality. Sleasman agrees, and says that beyond clear instructions—like the command to not murder that informs many pro-life

loses their life for me and for the Gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” His words aren’t a direct comment on bioethics or even radical life extension— but they can serve as guidance for developing a proper motivation for trying to understand these things. Following Jesus is about following His example—and that means caring for the sick and the hurting as well as being agents of healing. But ultimately, Jesus says it’s about more than just about preserving the body—it’s about preserving the soul. Humans have the ability to think, reason, create and discover, but Christians also have the obligation to do it within the context of God’s eternal perspective outlined in Scripture. “That’s the proper context for our reason to be exercised,” VanDrunen says. “God’s given fish the ability to swim, but they need to swim within water.” JESSE CARE Y is RELEVANT’s web editor and a mainstay on the RELEVANT Podcast.

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THE RISING FOLK ACT ON THEIR NEW INSPIRATION

im Wilson is having a very good day. You can feel it in the way he talks—slowly, and without any hint of urgency. There’s a lot in his manner to suggest that he generally talks in this fashion—yawning out every word with an easy, unhurried laze. But today, he insists he’s especially laid back. He’s taking a much-needed break from

MAR_APR 2015

touring with Ivan & Alyosha—the band he’s served as a frontman for since before 2009’s The Verse, The Chorus first made waves. He’s a songwriter at heart—he says it’s his favorite part of the gig—but lately, he says he’s had to be involved in other, less romantic parts of his job: the promoting, the hype, the social media. “I sometimes joke around with people and say that 90 percent of the time, we’re not doing anything as far as the music goes,” he says. “You’re doing everything else.

You’re tweeting, skyping, doing the books or a photo shoot or video or talking on the phone. Then it’s like, for an hour and a half every night, we get to play our songs.” The songs are, of course, the meat of the work, and people love the songs. Ever since their 2010 SXSW show catapulted them onto the national stage, Ivan & Alyosha (yes, bookworms, the band is named after two of the Karamazov brothers) have endured a whirlwind of popularity. They’ve toured the world, opening for the likes of Aimee

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Mann and Needtobreathe. Now, they’re prepping for their biggest album yet: It’s All Just Pretend. So you can’t blame Wilson for enjoying a day off. Especially when, as he will tell you, getting this far has been no picnic.

HITTING A WALL

L-R: Tim Kim (electric guitar), Tim Wilson (lead vocals), Cole Mauro (drums), Ryan Carbary (guitar, vocals), Pete Wilson (bass)

IT’S ALL JUST PRETEND

The band’s new album is a more collaborative effort than past works.

Ivan & Alyosha actually began back in 2007, when Wilson and his pal, Ryan Carbary, met in Seattle and started goofing around in the studio. What started as a pastime became a career after NPR took notice of their live performance. Since then, Ivan & Alyosha has gone through a bevy of lineup changes, but the band still managed to release 2013’s All The Time We Had, which quickly solidified them as a band to watch. Unfortunately, their career started to take off about the same time their personal lives did, as well. “Back in the day, I was writing all of the songs for the first couple records, and then I hit a wall when my wife and I started to have kids,” Wilson explains. “The band was obviously traveling more and when I would get home, the last thing I wanted to do was to pick up a guitar and write, nor could I due to time constraints and family.” Given his role as a father, a husband and a band leader, Wilson has delegated some of Ivan & Alyosha’s songwriting duties to Carbary and newer member and Wilson’s little brother, Pete. It makes Ivan & Alyosha a more collaborative affair than it once was, something Wilson is very enthusiastic about. “I’m not obsessed with my own writing or hopefully my own agenda or opinions in my writing,” he says. “When Pete or Ryan show me a song—like the title track, ‘It’s All Just Pretend’ from the new record—Pete played that and I was just like, ‘Holy smokes, I want to sing that song!’”

OTHER PEOPLE’S WORK For Wilson, there’s a palpable energy around being able to sing

other people’s work. He gushes over the writing abilities of others and is appropriately modest about his own. “At the end of the day, I’m a singer,” he admits. “I mean, I feel like I can write a song that means a lot to me and that’s great and all, but these guys are super strong writers. When you hear something

switching to just saying something about the world around you or saying something that connects more broadly and universally, rather than saying something about myself that no one really cares about. “The whole singer-songwriter thing ... it’s good and has its place, but it’s not something I’m all that interested in anymore as a writer.

“I LIKE SONGS THAT USE SIMPLE LANGUAGE BUT CONNECT AND SAY SOMETHING ... PROFOUND IS WHAT COMES TO MIND.” really inspiring—like a song that Ryan wrote called ‘Tears in Your Eyes’—it’s just amazing and beautiful. I could sing that every night.”

NEW INSPIRATION Inspiration comes easily for Ivan & Alyosha these days. Wilson has found songwriting material in his family and marriage, of course, but he says he’s found even more things to write about in the people that flit in and out of his life at random. “People inspire me,” he explains. “I feel like in the songs I write, I’m trying to articulate some goodness or some sort of universal struggle or looking at the world and seeing if there’s something I see that’s wrong with it and trying to articulate that in a three-minute, 30-second pop song. I like songs that use simple language but connect and say something ... profound is what comes to mind.” One thing he’s not into are songs too obsessed with their own depth. “I feel like I used to write with this, ‘What can I say that would be super vulnerable and people would be like ‘Woah, that’s so deep’?” Wilson chuckles. “Or just say something that will get people thinking, ‘That’s kind of strange.’ I feel like I’ve lost a little bit of that wanting to be strange or wanting to be annoyingly vulnerable. I’m

“For the most part, I guess we’re trying to err on the side of inspiration. Don’t necessarily make it about you, make it about them. I would err more on that side, what’s going to connect rather than what’s going to shock and depress.” There was a time when Wilson was in bands that were being courted by the contemporary Christian music scene, and although he remains candid about his faith, he doesn’t regret not being a part of that particular scene. “We know good people in that world, certainly,” he says diplomatically. “People that have befriended us who I have a lot of respect for. But for Ivan & Alyosha, it was never an option to pursue that world specifically.” The decision to stay in the lane they’re in had less to do with an aversion to CCM itself than it did a belief that their message had a broader potential. “I think a band can just be a band and sing about what they want to sing about, and if it’s good, I don’t think people really honestly care,” he says. “If your worldviews don’t align, people don’t necessarily care. They want to know that it’s coming from an honest place. If they connect to the music, I don’t think any music needs to be categorized as one thing or another.”

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MARC MARON The comedian is famously skeptical about religion, but his podcast features some very honest conversations about faith.

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SUMMER MISSION GUIDE A few essentials for your short-term trip.

THE WAR ON DRUGS The indie band’s latest album is about as close to perfection as possible, but getting there wasn’t easy.

HILLSONG UNITED A new documentary about worship music phenomenon Hillsong United may give the band new opportunities to spread their message. We talk to the band and the film’s director about why the movie matters.

SUMMER READING GUIDE A carefully picked selection of must-read books to pack in your beach bag this summer.

JUDAH SMITH The 36-year-old pastor on discipling celebrities, leading a thriving church and the motivation behind all he does.

THE SCIENCE OF LIFE Innovations in medicine pose tricky questions about how far Christians should go to preserve life. What should we make of it all?

60 MARC MARON

FIR ST WOR D

FEEDBACK

SLICES

TV shows to watch this summer, the anatomy of going viral, products that make a difference and more.

MAY_JUNE 2015

70 THE WAR ON DRUGS

THE DROP

The indie folk band has a new way of doing things.

R E J E C T A PAT H Y

The non-religious case against pornography, how ISIS is recruiting teenage girls, a plea for Christian nonviolence and more.

Echosmith, Derek Minor, Will Butler, Sandra McCracken and more. 40

IVAN & ALYOSHA

MAKER

The new wave of justice in business, churches that are changing everything, wearable technology and more.

R E L E VA N T R E C O M M E N D S

Music, movies, books and digital media you should know about.

BILL HYBELS

SHEILA HEEN

SALLIE KRAWCHECK

JIM COLLINS

ADAM GRANT

ALBERT TATE

BRIAN HOUSTON

HORST SCHULZE

No matter where you lead, the Summit is a world-class experience to help you get better as a leader and embrace your grander vision—the reason God called you to lead.

ED CATMULL

DR. BRENÉ BROWN

SAM ADEYEMI

LIZ WISEMAN

CRAIG GROESCHEL

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