Am I the only one who has been noticing lately that it seems that everything that comes out of the entertainment industry (movies, tv and even music), seems to be either a remake, a sequel...or in the case of TV...reality tv? Now, there are a lot of exceptions (in fact this past weekend the top 3 movies at the box office were all original movies, Inception, Salt and Despicable Me), but it seems that generally, everything is either being remade with a modern twist, or a movie franchise that was thought to be long dead comes up with another sequel or 2 (Toy Story 3, Shrek 4, Predators, Twilight, Harry Potter, Dumb and Dumberer...the list is almost endless). Music even has gone in this direction. Do you notice how a lot of artists now are doing covers or classics, or are adding in parts of other songs to their original song. Think Mariah Carey singing "I want to Know What Love Is", or Flo Rida using the chorus of the catchy song "Blue" by Eiffel 65 in his song "Sugar". Now, to be honest...as much as this kind of bugs me, I also have to admit that a lot of the remakes and sequels (and yes...even the reality tv in some cases) are actually pretty good. I don't want this blog to be about bashing hollywood for not coming up with original ideas (it's inevitable...eventually ideas are going to run out, there are only so many good movie ideas left). This blog isn't even really about the entertainment industry anyway, actually. It's actually about the Church.
I feel that, like Hollywood, TV, and music...the Church has bought into the "remake" idea. How often do you hear people talking about being like the church in Acts, or wishing that we were more like the church in the letters...the Ephesians, Phillipians, Colossians, Galatians. Or how often do we hear people in the church complain that "That's not how we used to do it". It seems that the Church has been simply trying to remake the biblical church instead of attempting to be original and relevent for today's culture. I think we forget that, while the churches in the Bible seemed vibrant and exciting, they had a lot of problems too. There has never been a perfect church, nor will there be (until heaven). Why are we stuck in the rut of trying to remake something..or just sticking with one simple formula that used to work, and we wonder why it doesn't seem to work anymore.
I think in Hollywood terms, the Church has to be more of a sequel than a remake. We need to stop trying to just "redo" things, and actually progress the story along. We have to look at the biblical church, the churches of the past, and see what works and would still work. We also have to see, what needs to get cut out. And we need to progress. The point of a sequel is to progress a story that is unfinished...we are part of this unfinished story. We need to continue it, in a new way. Often sequels take things in different directions. Characters that were good, turn bad, people that we fell in love with in the first, die in the second...the plot twists and turns, and new ideas are formed. The same needs to be done in the church. We have to change some of our ideas, change the plot. Theology, Ideas, knowledge all progress and change. Why do we so often feel that the church has to stay the same? Why does it seem that things are always done the same way, ideas and thoughts never evolve and questions are never asked or answered. The church should be a place of change, a place of spiritual evolution. Now, don't get me wrong...I think that there does need to be some consistincy. There are basic pillars of faith that MUST remain the same (Jesus, the Cross, Salvation)...but all I'm trying to say is...let's look at our churches, look at what we believe, what we teach, how we present our knowledge, how we worship...and see what needs to change. What is obsolete, what needs to evolve? Let's start the sequel...progress the story, possibly change the plot up a little bit and throw in some curveballs. Let's stop with the remakes. Stop with just the same 'ol, same 'ol...and actually move along!
I hope this actually made sense, and you guys understand what I am trying to say here. If its really obscure and makes no sense, let me know, or if you completely disagree with what I am trying to say then tell me too. What do you guys think? Should the church keep making "remakes" or should we move on to the "sequel"?
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