Thursday, March 14, 2013

Witness, Testimony, and Vulnerability

We're talking about witness and testimony this week, and we were asked to watch Jefferson Bethke's spoken verse video, Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus.


Now I'm not crazy about this video for a few reasons; it attempts to persuade using clever editing, poetry, and music, but I also don't agree with all of the theology. I do think that he makes some valid and noteworthy points, but what I want to talk about isn't his video itself, but how we respond to his video.

This week we're addressing testimony and witness, things that I think Jefferson Bethke isn't trying to do with this video. Sure, he mentions the gospel story, but largely, his commentary is about the people that comprise the church, and not the acts of God being carried out. When he's addressing religion he's witnessing what happens in out of our humanity, not what happens out of God's ability. When he starts to tell his own story, about halfway through the video, then we move into witness of God.

I showed this video to my 7th graders last year when it became a "big deal" in the Christian communities in our area, especially on the nearby university campus, because I wanted them to have a frank discussion about what "the church" and "religion" are and how they feel about what each of those bodies is doing, and how they feel about what "God" is doing. And it worked, we had an hour long discussion after watching this video that was open, and adult, and comprised of thought-provoking theological ideas and depth. I was amazed! So it was in our responding to this video that we found real witness, to what God was doing not only in our lives, but also in the community and in the life of our church.

So, we were also asked to watch Jim Gilliam's video, The Internet is My Religion.


I loved this video. I love that Jim has a humble, yet aware self-image of what he has experienced in life, and can interpret what he has done with a comical and objective perspective. It helps that my connection to the internet can be expressed as similarly as his. Jim, though probably has very distinct views about religion not very well expressed in this video, while he's talking about humanity, he is witnessing to God's action.

What's interesting to note about Jim and Jefferson's videos is that when both speakers begin to talk about themselves and their experiences we can more clearly see how God moves. It's as though our open vulnerability allows God to move. When we reach the end of ourselves, it's not surprising that someone else needs to step up. That is something to witness.

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