King of the Hill "Reborn to Be Wild"-- Watch and Discuss

It's a longer video, but it's still not quite the full episode-- ten minutes, but worth it.  This shorter version loses a bit of the dramatic tension, but definitely watch it until the end (where all of Hank's motives are explained).  This is one of the most well-done critiques of the trendifying of the church I have ever seen, and while I really like church to be trendy and fun and culturally-relevant, I have to respect the point that Hank ultimately makes:

There are a few pretty important scenes missing from this version of it, but it was the best I could find on YouTube.  There's a great conversation where Hank takes Bobby to talk to their Methodist pastor, and Hank gets a little steamed when he and the pastor can't find any problems with Bobby's doctrine, only his attitude.  There's also an important moment toward the end where the roadie --who is revealed to be Pastor K's dad-- pulls up his shirt to reveal a tattoo of the Ten Commandments in order to chastise Pastor K for making Bobby disobey his father.

This episode has been kicking around in the back of my mind a good bit lately, and since I found myself using it as a reference point when Erin and I talked about my Austin Stone experience last night, I figured it was time to put it on the blog and make others aware of it.  Perhaps I'm just getting older, but while I loved everything about the Austin Stone missional mindset (the nonprofit involvement, the programs to plug members in, the focus on relationships-- it's all incredible), there's something about last night's worship experience that still isn't quite sitting right with me.  I loved the music and the feel of that service, but there was one word that kept bubbling up in my mind as I looked around at the crowd of people mostly my age or younger lifting their hands to the music: subculture.  It was the same feeling of separate Christian culture that I picked up at Mars Hill in Seattle, only it was far more pronounced here.

Don't get me wrong.  The people I talked to at Austin Stone were incredibly well-grounded Christians who had been convicted by the call to serve their communities through the church, but what about the average worship attendee?  I can't help but wonder how sustainable that worship model is and how sustainable these young Christians are in their faiths-- something about it definitely reminded me of Pastor K from this video.  Still, at least I got the vibe that Austin Stone is run by Christians who have an understanding more like Hank's.  I feel like they're aware that this may be a launching point for young Christians, but they must have that relationship with Christ if they are going to continue to walk with Jesus in their adult lives.  Just as Bobby did at first, I felt more than a little out of place in the service (even though I could easily strip down to my t-shirt and jeans, don my patrol cap, and fit the look).  What unnerved me was that there was also a disconnect of emotion for me.  It reminded me of a lot of the Christian conferences I attended as a teenager growing up, and based on the number of my peers who eventually wound up putting Jesus in a box in the garage, maybe my enthusiasm for this style of youth-oriented, enthusiastic worship has dampened a bit.  Yes, I felt tremendous amounts of joy in that worship space, but I also couldn't escape the feeling of transience as we looked for ways to take the mountaintop out of the room with us (to use Erin's words).  All this to say: it was a good night and a very worshipful one, but it did raise a few questions for me about the direction we're all heading as Christians and as a Church.

Full writeups coming soon.  Just felt particularly convicted on this issue this morning and wanted to cast it out to friends and family via the blog.

Peace and Blessings,
Tom