Recently I've really benefited from listening to these MP3s by David Zahl of Mockingbird Ministries. They are unlike anything I've ever listened to and at heart that is because, as he repeatedly says, the motivation behind the series is to look at reality, not just Christian reality.
That works itself out in two striking things about the series:
- Christian jargon is avoided and it is dominated by clips and stories from 'secular' culture. 10min clips from films, songs, poems, celebrity biography are all brought in, but not as a mere springboard but as something to really look at. David Zahl really believes that the Gospel has something to say to all of life.
- Five out of the six talks are on the some of the darkest parts of our lives: self-involvement, judgment, depression, addiction, and death. It is a course which focuses on the diagnosis rather than the cure, and in some sense that is a weakness. But the strength is that David Zahl believes that the good news comes through the bad news. Unlike most of society and the church, he believes that it is through facing up to reality that resurrection life can be found.
Have a listen and see what you think.
- "Starting with the Man in the Mirror: Self-Involvement and Suffering" starring Michael Jackson, Jack Kerouac and Woody Allen.
- "It’s Not You It’s Me and Other Lies: Judgment, Guilt and Identity" starring George Costanza, Flannery O’Connor and T.S. Eliot
- "Check Out Any Time You Like (But You can Never Leave), Part 1: Anger, Depression and Christian Hope" starring Whit Stillman, Emily Dickinson and David Foster Wallace
- "When I Get to the Bottom I Go Back to the Top: Addiction, Anxiety and Recovery” starring Bill Wilson, Nemo’s dad Marlin and Wes Anderson
- "Getting Out of Jail Free: Death, Despair and Sacrifice" starring Bob Dylan, W.H. Auden, Leo Tolstoy and Clint Eastwood.
- "What Would Uncle Scrooge Do? Gratitude, Honesty and Astonishment" starring Kermit the Frog, John Lennon and Thornton Wilder
Thanks Dave, really helpful resource to spot.
ReplyDeleteStarted with the freedom one, enjoyed it, although was a little surprised how existentialist it was; that's not necessarily a bad thing, I'm looking forward to the rest but I guess I'll be starting at least to listen with a few reservations about the potential direction as it's easy for me to head in that direction and unwittingly reinvent christianity in christian terms but with new meanings (eg Heidegger), but I'll be certainly interested to see - which'll help me to stay alert & listen well - the best kind of good recommendations should make you feel like that I guess. ps Given his/your interest in film you may already know of the BBC film network which I've only just discovered, a real wealth of cultural resource.
The "what we talk about when we talk about freedom" one?
ReplyDeleteGood call on where you'd end up if this was all you imbued. I wouldn't want to go all the way with their approach at all. Or even sit under the preaching week-in week-out.
It is quite existential. I would say more psychological, but then I don’t know much about existentialism apart from a couple of Camus novels I read ages ago.
Christianity has a lot to say to psychological issues so it is good to go there, but it is dangerous if you limit it to that. I think that would be my biggest concern, that they reduce the Gospel to the psychological dimension, which is only one of many.
Take what is good, leave the rest.
It is partially deliberate, but I also think they are light on the riches of the Bible. So I think colour and God’s personality are more absent than I would like.
I didn’t know about the BBC film network. I love films, but I don’t watch as many as people think. I think I like church, people and books more! I used to go to cinema every fortnight but my cinema-buddy moved away, so I go less regularly now :-(