Everything I ever needed to know about ministry I
learned from... MTV?
by David Hopkins
A few weeks ago, I had a rare day. I reverted to my
inner-teenager and turned on the television. Not TV actually, MTV to be more specific. I
was raised on MTV as an adolescent. I would be lying to say I avoided its effects. For
better or for worse, MTV played as much of a role in my life as a favorite high school
teacher or inspirational book. Everyday after school, I’d flip on the television and
take it in. I watched the first season of The Real World. When MTV newscaster Kurt Loder
announced the death of Kurt Cobain, I was watching. I never missed the annual MTV Music
Awards. I had my favorite commercials, my favorite videos, my favorite MTV personalities,
my favorite superstars.
On this particular day, MTV was broadcasting the "I
wanna be a MTV VJ too!" auditions. For those who are pop culture illiterate, a VJ is
a "video jockey." This person announces the upcoming videos, does the
interviews, and serve as MTV poster child. They are fashion. They are what’s cool.
People from around the country have come to New York City to audition for this VJ
position. The auditioning ran like a game show. The viewers could call in and vote for who
they’d like as VJ. I ended up watching the show from beginning to end. The show
lasted five hours! Blood-shot eyes and a pile of empty coke cans at my feet, MTV once
again welcomed me home: "We’ve missed you, David. How have you been?"
Is MTV evil?
I realize good Christians have been raised to avoid MTV at
all costs. MTV is evil, carnal, worldly, and superficial. Right? Yes and no. MTV is as
moral as the audience it’s marketing to. If MTV likes Marilyn Manson, it is only
because a million teenage consumers have spoken. MTV is economically driven. A few
Christian bands claimed MTV air time after hitting the required dollar mark-- bands like
DC Talk, Jars of Clay, and recently Sixpence None The Richer. Does media shape life or
does life shape media?
MTV creates/represents a culture we can reach for the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we desire to incarnate this ministry, to wrap the Word in flesh
(John 1:14) and communicate Jesus to the world, we must know our surroundings and inquire
of those who know our surroundings best. You may not like MTV. You may not have been
affected by cable television like I was. But MTV has something to teach the Church of the
21st century, if we are willing to listen.
Know your audience
MTV knows its audience. They know what their audience
likes, what they dislike. They know their fears, hopes, and dreams. Many parents cannot
boast this sort of insight of their children. MTV has devoted itself 100% to learning
everything about its audience.
Many kids would seek sex advice from Dr.Drew on MTV’s
Lovelines, before they’d ask their own parents. Lovelines represents a safe and
protective atmosphere where kids can be messy and honest. The show gives professional
advice, but then follows with humor. Underneath, the humor says "You’re normal.
We’ve been there before." or "You need help, but it’ll be okay."
The show has transformed the biblical concept of "speaking the truth in love"
(Ephesians 4:15) to mass media.
How many Churches know their own communities at this
intimate a level? Unfortunately, congregations are sometimes the last people to bring up
the subject matter found in the Song of Solomon. Do we allow people to be messy and
honest? The Church of the 21st century needs to devote more energy to knowing its
audience. To such a degree that sociologists and anthropologists would seek us for
knowledge and insight.
Why? Because Jesus knew his audience. He knew their needs
and met them where they were. People who encountered Jesus marveled at how well He knew
them! The Apostle Nathanael asked Jesus, "How do you know me?" (John 1:48) The
woman at the well testified to the Samaritans, "He told me everything I ever
did." (John 4:39) Psalm 139 puts it best: "O Lord, you have searched me and you
know me... you are familiar with all my ways." Generation X yearns for identity. They
ache for someone to know them intimately and completely. We have the opportunity to
introduce them to the Savior who knows all our ways and loves us no less.
How many parents have heard their children say they feel
unknown to mom or dad? "You don’t know me, not the real me. You don’t
care." If we don’t take the time to know who we are reaching out to, then it
won’t matter. They will only reply: "You don’t care about me."
The Real World is not real
The MTV’s Real World has a simple concept. The
producers select a small group of young adults from vastly different backgrounds to live
in house together for one year with a camera in their face. When I first watched the show,
I felt for these people. I enjoyed getting to know these people. It was real life. Yeah,
right.
Once upon a time, people used to be on television because
they were famous. Now people are famous because they are on television. Follow me here?
Real World could not help but make celebrities. The camera took the real people and
changed them. The very act of observation made them actors. They stopped being themselves
(the very novelty of the show) and they became character-types.
Did this destroy the show? Hardly. It wasn’t the
reality of Real World that made it popular, but the greater illusion of reality. The show
became self aware of its show-ness.
We live in a Real World world. People are concerned hidden
motives. Real World does not play "candid camera." The camera is in your face.
The Church needs to allow the world "to be in our face," so we be honest with
our motivation. We cannot trick people anymore with tricks. This generation requires a new
level of self evaluation in order to gain respect and trust. If we skirt about the real
issues, if we put gloves on, if we try to market Jesus, then we come across as nothing
more than a salesperson peddling another facsimile of abundant life. What makes the Real
World real? The recognition of the camera’s presence is to admit your point of view.
Image is not everything, it’s the only thing
MTV discovered judging a book by its cover is actually a
good bet. Today, the cover communicates volumes. MTV practically hands out doctorates in
the field of cover-analysis. This generation know how to read the signs. They are
pop-semioticians.
MTV witnessed the shift of our value system from pragmatics
to aesthetics. What is good is not always what works, but what is beautiful. MTV creates a
good image. When teenagers turn on MTV, the sounds, clothes, colors, and setting instantly
drawn them in. MTV has pioneered the ‘90s creed: "Image is everything."
This obsession with image frustrates older generations to
no end, it seems vain. But the Boomers birthed a generation tired of things not working,
particularly their families. Image is not vanity, but a sanctuary. Just as many Boomers
use money and their careers to hide, this younger generation uses image as a comfort.
Somewhere along the line, the Church ceased to comfort people.
The Church of the 21st century needs to reclaim her image.
MTV’s Unplugged epitomizes what this generation considers an intimate experience: not
in-rows, but in-the-round. Churches need to stop arguing from standpoint of what works,
but what is most pleasing to the eye, to the ear, and to the touch for a more meaningful
worship. With MTV, sound becomes sight and sight becomes sound. The music incarnates
itself as video, so the experience becomes more accessible to the viewer. The word becomes
flesh. (John 1:14)
God knows the importance of image. We are made in the image
of God. (Genesis 1:27) God made us to look like Him, to have His style. Paul goes on to
say "For all of you who were baptized with Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ" (Galatians 3:27) Ephesians 2:8,9 gives the death blow to pragmatic
salvation-- its not by works that we are saved, but by faith. Are you clothed in Christ,
do you wear his name? We may laugh about how much this generation will pay for the label
on a pair of jeans; but they know the importance of claiming a name, even if it is Calvin
Klein.
Identity is meaningful, transitional, and communal
After watching the five hour special "I want to be a
MTV VJ too" I turned off the television and put down the remote. The entirety of this
special focused on the lives of the five semi-finalists. By the end, I knew more about
these semi-finalists than some of my own friends. I had my favorite semi-finalists. I
cheered for them. I identified with them. It was virtual contact, me to them via TV.
MTV understands not only the need to identify with its
audience (as mentioned earlier), but how to give the audience identity. The teenagers are
yearning for heroes, role models, teachers, and protectors. This search is ultimately to
discover who they are as people. If they do not find these roles in meaningful friendships
and in their family, they will turn to the glowing screen for identity. Watch five hours
of MTV, who wouldn’t want to be a VJ?
MTV emphasizes that identity is meaningful. Identity allows
us to communicate on a deeper level with people. Psychologists claim the primary
foundation to forming healthy relationships is a solid concept of self. MTV preaches this
three point sermon: 1) know who you are, 2) be who you are, 3) love who you are. This
message is not an altar call to humanism, but a plea for healing from depression and
feelings of worthlessness.
With MTV, identity needs to be transitional. My parents
were raised in an era when identity was something that lasted. When someone was told they
"have character," it meant their ways were unchanging. It was synonymous with
"integrity." And it’s no surprise, people had jobs that lasted from the
time they graduated to the time they retired-- now we live with the transitional 401K.
Back then, it was a compliment to call a person steadfast, unmovable, unshakeable, and to
be "like a rock." Today, those words are closely associated with a person who is
close-minded or stubborn.
Identity is now seen as something in motion. MTV mastered
the five second camera shot. The videos change angles, perspectives, colors, and subjects.
For this very reason, music videos drive my parents crazy. They move too fast.
Interestingly enough video games move too fast for me, but not for my younger sister. We
are speeding up. While the quest for identity can be a rat race, it is also very
forgiving. If you need to, you can change.
Most importantly, MTV teaches that identity is communal.
MTV do not stand for the rugged individualism American society has long been cursed with,
instead they value supportive kindredship. Everything works in teams. MTV’s Real
World and especially Road Rules (it’s the Real World on wheels) are living lessons in
team work. If the cast is to survive the series, they must learn how to deal with their
differences and be a family. The VJ always work with a partner, special guest, or the
studio audience in front of the camera. MTV has built its culture on viewer feedback,
requests, and interaction. At one time, the MTV website allowed viewers to type in
comments on a video that was airing. These comments appeared while the video played!
Like MTV, Church must not only identify with people, but
give them identity. Too many believers love Jesus, but hate to associate with the Church
or "organized religion." We can learn from MTV to strengthen our identity, one
that must be meaningful, transitional, and communal. Has the importance of Church identity
been taught and caught? Are we forgiving to communities in transition? Do we allow for
style and trends to adapt themselves to the surroundings? The Church is a warm blooded
creature. Yes, we can adapt a changing climate. We need not hide away.
Jesus Christ did not come to kill our identity. He came to
complete our identity by joining us to Himself. "I have given them the glory that you
gave me, that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:22) Jesus the Son prayed these
words to God the Father. Jesus gave us glory that we may have true eternal identity. Not
that we will become spiritual celebrities, but that we will only experience the love of
Christ in the Body of Christ. "To be one" is to experience holy love.
Everything the MTV culture needs to know about the Gospel
MTV is reaching this generation in amazing and sometimes
frightening ways. The Church of the 21st century should ask: "What would MTV do if it
was asking ‘What would Jesus do?’?" One important disclaimer: At its core,
MTV is nothing more than a economically driven entertainment company. The Church is not in
the business of being in business. We are not motivated by the sheep crying "Feed
me!" but by Jesus commanding "Feed my sheep." (John 21:17) We minister
because Jesus says to, not because anyone else does. We are not in the entertainment
industry. Or if we are, it is to entertain God-- to give Him great pleasure by doing His
will.
 DAVID HOPKINS [www.bigfoot.com/~davidhopkins] is program
director at the
Wesleyan Campus Ministry in the small college town of Commerce, Texas. David attends the
university there as an English/Philosophy major. After completing his undergraduate,
David plans to go to Fuller Theological Seminary. He eventually hopes to be involved
in Church planting and development. David was raised in the Methodist tradition;
however, currently is part of the Axxess Community at Pantego Bible Church [www.axxess.org].
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