"The Medium is the Message"

It is a phrase that has been kicking around in the circles I run in: "The Medium is the Message". It is a response to the claim that cultural forms are neutral and can simply be filled with biblical meaning and thereby redeemed. This claim has touched every aspect and ministry of Christ's church, especially in North America. This is not just about missions or Bible translation endeavors. This is also about worship, evangelism, church-planting, and even the color of our carpets and the glass in the windows kind of stuff. I am by no means suggesting culture cannot be redeemed. I am not neo-Amish. Indeed, the doctrine of the incarnation implies, it even insists, that Jesus redeemed all the stuff he touched and continues to do so by the Holy Spirit through his Bride. But the question is how was the stuff redeemed? The stuff of this world that Jesus touched was not neutral. The doctrine of the Incarnation must be balanced with the doctrines of the Cross and the Resurrection. Cultural seeds must die and be buried in order to be transformed into new life that bears beautiful flowers and abiding fruit. In practice this involves drawing that fine line between destructive legalism and setting constructive biblical boundaries.It is about finding that place where we can truly sing along with King David,

"The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places"(Psalm 16:6a)

It's about exercising responsible Christian freedom that does not bleed over into the licentiousness warned of in Galatians 5:1&13

"For freedom Christ has set us free...For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

It is about living out the way of discipleship Jesus prayed we would when he pleaded with His Father,

"I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." (John 17:14-16)

A short but thoughtful article Posted By Maria Boccia, Wednesday, December 07, 2011 adding to the conversation with regard to our worship practices can be found at "Every Thought Captive @ GCTS Alumni Services...

Every Thought Captive - Gordon-Conwell Alumni Services:

Here is an excerpt:

"It is a tremendous responsibility to stand in front of God’s people and lead them into his presence so that they may praise, honor, and glorify him in an act of worship. James writes "let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment” (James 3:1). This is the verse that drove me to seminary because I realized that if others were turning to me for leadership or instruction, I needed to be responsible about being adequately prepared to honor God and be faithful with the responsibility entrusted to me in the form of these people’s lives. So too should worship leaders be cautious and careful about how they lead others in worship. The medium through which we choose to express ourselves is a part of the message. It shapes the message. It is, as quoted above, symbiotic with the message"

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