METRIC
MARK DUPLASS
FIONA APPLE
FALL TV GUIDE
HOPE MOB
IS THE NATIONAL BUDGET A MORAL ISSUE?
FAITH, CULTURE AND INTENTIONAL LIVING
THE XX
RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM
ANDY SAMBERG’S NEXT CHAPTER
FA I T H + P O L I T I C S 2 0 1 2
WITH DISILLUSIONMENT AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH, YOUNG CHRISTIANS ARE RETHINKING THE WAY THEY ENGAGE POLITICS
HOW
LECRAE
IS CHANGING HIP-HOP THE NEW
ISSUE 59 / SEPT_OCT 2012 / $4.95
E C T S J& U LIBERTY FOR ALL FEBRUARY 22+23, PHILADELPHIA, PA With attendees from 44 states and over two dozen countries, come see why The Justice Conference has become one of the largest international biblical and social justice conferences and an annual pilgrimage for justice workers, students and learners from all over the world.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
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FEBRUARY 22+23, 2013 PENNSYLVANIA CONVENTION CENTER 2013 MAIN SPEAKER SNAPSHOT:
Eugene Cho Co-Founder & Visionary, One Day's Wages
Brenda Salter McNeil President & Founder Salter McNeil and Associates
Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff Prof. of Philosophical Theology at Yale
Gary Haugen President & CEO, International Justice Mission
Sheryl Wudunn Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist
Register before November 10 to receive Early Bird pricing. REGISTER NOW: thejusticeconference.com
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: facebook.com/thejusticeconference
Dr.John Perkins Civil Rights Pioneer; Founder, John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation
Chai Ling Bestselling Author, Prominent Christian Activist
Lynne Hybels Willow Creek Community Church
Ken Wytsma President of Kilns College, Founder of The Justice Conference
Stephan Bauman President & CEO of World Relief
MORE SPEAKERS TO COME! Richard Twiss President of Wiconi International
Shane Claiborne Bestselling Author, The Irresistible Revolution
Rick McKinley Church Planter; Professor; Author, This Beautiful Mess
Lisa Sharon Harper Director of Mobilizing, Sojourners
Leroy Barber President of Mission Year
Noel Castellanos CEO of Christian Community Development Assoc.
Announcing the First Annual
The Justice Film Festival We're screening films February
After premiering Blue Like Jazz for a sold out crowd at The Justice Conference in February
22-24 and will present awards in
2012 we decided this enhancement was a perfect fit with our mission by celebrating
the following categories:
filmmakers who are impacting a generation for justice through the medium of film.
• Best Feature Film
Expect to see feature films, documentaries and shorts from both well known and
• Best Documentary
emerging filmmakers.
• Best Inspirational Film • Best Short Film
Add a ticket for The Justice Film Festival to your registration today!
2 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
onething 2012 YOUNG ADULT CONFERENCE JOIN 25,000 YOUNG ADULTS
DECEMBER 28–31, 2012 KANSAS CITY CONVENTION CENTER
ENCOUNTERING JESUS
& HIS TRANSFORMING POWER
Mike Bickle, Allen Hood, George Otis, Jr., Misty Edwards, Cory Asbury, and others.
FREE REGISTRATION
REGISTER TODAY AT IHOPKC.ORG/ONETHING
The university that combines ministry training with 24/7 prayer and worship.
THE MAGAZINE ON FAITH, CULTURE AND INTENTIONAL LIVING September/October 2012, Issue 59 We approve this message. PUBLISHER & CEO | Cameron Strang > cameron@relevantmediagroup.com Editor-at-Large | Roxanne Wieman Content Development Editor | Stephanie Smith > stephanie.smith@relevantmediagroup.com Senior Web Editor | Tyler Huckabee > tyler@relevantmediagroup.com Copy Editor | Christianne Squires > christianne@relevantmediagroup.com Associate Editor | Heather Croteau > heather@relevantmediagroup.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: John Brandon, Tyler Charles, Heather Croteau, Ryan E.C. Hamm, Tyler Huckabee, Adam and Christine Jeske, Carl Kozlowski, Jonathan Merritt, David Roark, Nancy Schieggs, Maggie Shafer, Ron Sider, Kester Smith, John Taylor, Kelsey Timmerman, Kelli B. Trujillo, N.T. Wright Director of Accounts and Partnerships | Michael Romero > michael@relevantmediagroup.com Senior Account Manager | Jeff Rojas > jeff@relevantmediagroup.com Account Manager | Wayne Thompson > wayne@relevantmediagroup.com Account Manager | Joseph Musa > joseph@relevantmediagroup.com Ad Traffic & Customer Service Coordinator | Sarah Heyl > sarah@relevantmediagroup.com Design Director | Chaz Russo > chaz@relevantmediagroup.com Graphic Designer | Mike Forrest > mike@relevantmediagroup.com Multimedia and Marketing Designer | Evan Travelstead > evan@relevantmediagroup.com Production and iPad Coordinator | Christina Cooper > christina@relevantmediagroup.com Producer | Chad Michael Snavely > chad@relevantmediagroup.com Photographer | Julia Cox > julia@relevantmediagroup.com CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Justin Broadbent, Michael Buckner, Scotland Huber, Kyle Dean Reinford, Scott Wade Digital Development Director | David Barratt > david@relevantmediagroup.com Web Producer | Lin Jackson > lin@relevantmediagroup.com Web Production Assistant | Steven Linn > steven@relevantmediagroup.com Systems Administrator | Josh Strohm > joshs@relevantmediagroup.com Circulation & Fulfillment Director | Stephanie Fry > stephanie@relevantmediagroup.com Marketing Manager | Calvin Cearley > calvin@relevantmediagroup.com Partnership & Distribution Coordinator | Frankie Alduino > frankie@relevantmediagroup.com Marketing Intern | Roxana Fernandez > roxana@relevantmediagroup.com Finance and Project Director | Maya Strang > mstrang@relevantmediagroup.com Operations Coordinator | Victoria Hill > tori@relevantmediagroup.com Project Assistant | Ashante Greenlee > ashante@relevantmediagroup.com ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: www.RELEVANTmagazine.com/advertise
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[F N IERXSTT] W O R D ]
FIRST WORD A GENERATION WITHOUT A PARTY
OUR NEW DIGS
BY C AMERON S TR ANG
This summer was huge for the RELEVANT team. After months (and months) of design and development, we launched a completely new RELEVANTmagazine.com!
T
12 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
LIFE, FAITH AND MORALITY ARE NO LONGER LIMITED TO JUST A SMALL HANDFUL OF ISSUES AND POLICIES.
And even though the website looks entirely different, rolls out a ton more fresh content each day and boasts several new sections and features—like full access to magazine content online for subscribers—this is just the beginning. Soon after launch, we rolled out a new section called RELEVANT U, a print and web magazine for finding your college fit and thriving while there. The section includes a great directory of Christian universities, seminaries and graduate schools. We’ve launched Next, our section on creative innovation, leadership and social entrepreneurship that features visionary and practical content and spotlights Christian forerunners in our generation. We also have a Next podcast and newsletter, so if you’re one of the many leaders and creatives who read this magazine, that section is just for you. We’re also excited to debut an all-new RELEVANTstore.com, featuring not just our products but also exclusive collaborations, limited editions and curated goods from vendors we love. One exciting item at the store is the release of the RELEVANT edition of Blue Like Jazz: The Movie, featuring exclusive behind-thescenes bonus content and interviews produced by our team. We’re excited to be part of such a notable movie release. Be on the lookout for more collaborations to come. That’s just the beginning. This fall, we’ll relaunch Reject Apathy on the website, reengineered with integrated daily content, plus a new standalone Reject Apathy iPad issue every
Cameron Strang
other month. We also have an incredible new
is the founder
RELEVANT mobile experience in the works and
and CEO of
some other pretty big innovations soon to come
RELEVANT.
(especially for subscribers).
Connect with
We’ve been hard at work making a dynamic
him on Twitter
new online experience around the magazine.
@CameronStrang
Make sure to stop by the new digs—and come
or Facebook.com/
back often!
CameronStrang.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
he 2008 election season was, shall we say, illuminating. Fed up with the way Christianity had become so politicized (and polarizing), young Christian voters clamored for change. Momentum shifted toward non-Republicans like Ron Paul and Barack Obama—somewhat surprising for a Christian generation that is, by every statistical measure, more morally conservative than its parents’. That year, our generation began to redefine “pro-life” in a political sense, broadening it to a more holistic definition—being against abortion, yes, but also against the death penalty and unjust war—while fighting injustice and standing for human rights here and around the globe. Polls showed the swaying of young Christian voters toward the Democratic party, typically the party considered more friendly to social justice issues and helping “the least of these.” But then the election happened. Exit polls in 2008 showed young Christians actually cast their ballots for John McCain—and overwhelmingly so. In the privacy of the voting booth, most just couldn’t cross the abortion line. That election accomplished something important. It enlarged the scope of values this generation of Christian voters cares about. Life, faith and morality are no longer limited to just a small handful of issues and policies. We’re in a new era—and in the 2012 election, we have a chance to make our mark. Just one problem. By and large, this generation has checked out. Political apathy and distrust is rampant. Since 2008, we’ve seen nothing but extreme partisanship—a flat refusal by either party to work together for the common good. We know where the Republicans and Democrats both get things right, and we know where they get them disastrously wrong. And many of us feel we can’t fully endorse either political party or candidate, especially when they inevitably stand for policies both in and out of sync with our faith and ideals. So, we’re a generation with no political party—which is exactly why we’re tackling politics head-on in this issue. Here, we don’t just illuminate where Mitt Romney and Barack Obama stand on the issues that matter to our readers; we also delve into the larger question of how politics and faith should coexist in the public space. If neither party casts a good model for how Christians should engage politically, what do we do? Where do we go from here? Our cover story takes that on. Our hope is that a new dialogue and model for political engagement emerges. Faith and policy do not have to be mutually exclusive. But for our generation, it can no longer be politics as usual.
This education will absolutely influence and change the way you live your life. —BRENDAN MCALPINE
Academic rigor unites with Servanthood At Wheaton College Graduate School, we create a community where the culturally and theologically diverse student body engages in rich dialogue and pursues excellence in and out of the classroom. “For Christ and His Kingdom” is integral to our students’ experiences, with classes that equip scholars to become better learners, practitioners and Christians. We invite you to explore our programs and discover how YOU can become better equipped to serve the body of Christ and His worldwide church.
Check out the video viewbook at WHEATON EDU/GRADSCHOOL to hear more from Brendan, other students and faculty.
MARK RUFFALO THE SUMMER READING GUIDE
F E AT
OF MONSTERS AND MEN SLACKTIVISM WHO IS YOUR JESUS? THE FOSTER CARE CRISIS A.J. JACOBS &
CHRIS HEDGES
REL EVANTMAGAZINE.COM
GOD. LIFE.
PROGRESSIVE CULTURE.
IS
SANTIGOLD THE SAVIOR OF POP?
HOW TO SURVIVE A BAD ECONOMY
OBAMA & GAY MARRIAGE
HINT: DON’T PANIC
WHAT DOES HIS PASTOR THINK?
THE ROOTS GO DEEP—REALLY DEEP— FOR THIS INDIE-FOLK-ROCK BAND
HOW TWLOHA SPENT $1 MILLION
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM
[ J U LY/A U G U S T 2 0 1 2 ]
THE AVETT BROTHERS I seriously think this might be one of your best issues ever. The last year has been RELEVANT music cover gold. The Roots, MuteMath, The Civil Wars—and now The Avett Bros.? Thank you for such a personal look at a band that already seemed so raw.”
@Peterlublink Just got my last copy of @RELEVANT before leaving the country for a year. How will I know if beards & hipster glasses are still in this fall?
[LE T TERS]
FEEDBACK
@aaronjlugo I love reading @RELEVANT #iPad edition. Thanks to @cameronstrang and the rest of the @RELEVANTpodcast @RejectApathy peeps. #keepupthegoodwork
CHESTER HENLEY — Phoenix, AZ
ISSUE 58 / JULY_ AUG 2012 / $4.95
I’ve noticed an increase in diversity at RELEVANT and I want to say, thank you! As a black woman, I often struggled with reading RELEVANT because I didn’t feel as if you were writing to/for me … I feel like there has been a change. I’m really grateful, and I hope to see more of the same. — LATOYA TOOLES / San Diego, CA
As a foster mom of two months, your article [“Fostering Hope,” July/Aug 2012] couldn’t have come at a better time. We have been so abused and taken advantage of by the system that we want to quit at least once a day. Being reminded that Jesus did this for me brought me to resolved, humbled tears. I’m cutting this out and looking at it every day. — CHANTEL FOX / Orange County, CA
Although I appreciate Pastor Joel Hunter’s sensitive response to the issue of gay marriage [“Obama, Gay Marriage and the Church,” July/Aug 2012], I thought his comment—“Think of it—thousands of years of marriage defined in every society as [being] between a man and a woman, now being redefined in our country over a few short years”—was disingenuous. Marriage has never been singularly defined as between one man and one woman cross-culturally, or even between a man and a woman. To ignore the evolution of marriage, even from the biblical account, is to do an injustice to this very important issue. — LEIGH FINNEGAN / Fort Lauderdale, FL
I’m officially never eating a hamburger again [“Your Food Is Changing You” July/Aug 2012]. Thanks, RELEVANT. Thanks a lot. —MARCUS FOSTER / Albuquerque, NM
If you don’t already, you should listen to the RELEVANT podcast. Easily one of the highlights of my week, every week. —JOSHUA HURTH / Cape Coral, FL That is a very sad week.
—TRAVIS COOPER / Lakeland, FL
—HOSEA BILYEU / Springfield, MO
[G O T F E E D B A C K ? F E E D B A C K@ R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M , F A C E B O O K . C O M / R E L E VA N T O R T W I T T E R . C O M / R E L E VA N T.]
16 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
@bwhughes2 Really enjoyed reading the article about @theavettbros in @RELEVANT! @edenmart11 @monstersandmen has become one of my faves. Thanks for the great article @RELEVANT. @hayray13 I need @RELEVANT to have an iPad giveaway b/c all this talk of the iPad edition is killing me. #helpmeimpoor #mayahateshashtags #sorry @ModernFolkMusic Got my first @RELEVANT magazine in the mail today after succumbing to the @cameronstrang guilt trip. @RELEVANTpodcast #11%? #lovefromcanada @Y_ adeli @RELEVANT Just subscribed to the mag. Super excited to get it. It’s been 3 years since I last read it!
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
Holy cow. Subscribing to the [RELEVANT iPad edition] is worth the money. Ridiculous app.
I appreciated Cameron Strang’s “First Word” in the July/August edition [“Two Rails on a Track”], and it reminded me of something Ron Dunn taught us when he came to our church: “Good and evil run on parallel tracks and often arrive at the same time.” Thanks for your excellent work.
@Christiiine13 Sucre is in the new issue of @RELEVANT. Everybody, check it out!
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[SLICES]
SLICES A BIMON T HLY LOOK AT LIF E, FA I T H & CULT UR E
[ B Y T H E N U M B E R S ]
40 The number of Millennials—in millions—currently in the workforce
50 % Percentage of Millennials who’d rather have no job than a job they hate
MILLENNIALS: THE MULTI-TASKERS J
obs used to be functional. You’d add “-er” to the end of what you did, and you’d be set. Lawyer. Teacher. Photographer.
18 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
Scratch, told Forbes, “Millennials aren’t just position players. They don’t just play first base or left field. They are ‘athletes,’ and their external hard drives are wired to do many things at once.” There are a few reasons for this. For starters, this generation has a lot more on its mind than stability, with a steady paycheck holding less appeal than the freedom to pursue goals. Also, ideas of what constitute a “career” have trended broad and loose in recent years. “Life isn’t all about work to them,” says Sandy Thompson of Young & Rubicam advertising agency. “They aren’t working just to get a paycheck, but to make a difference.”
Of course, the difference they make just might be how people perceive jobs.
83 % Percentage of Millennials who want a job where their creativity is valued
93 % Percentage of Millennials who want a job where they can be themselves. *Sourced from statistics compiled by MTV.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
For Millennials, career paths are a bit more complicated. Jobs are less functional and more symbolic of who Millennials are as a whole. They’re as complex as we humans are. According to DeVry University and Harris Interactive, 22 percent of Millennials expect to work for six or more companies during their professional careers. They will often be found working more than one job at once. They spend an average of two years at a company, and only 7 percent work for Fortune 500 companies. Ross Martin, from Viacom’s trendspotting division,
This generation is reshaping what it means to have a career
SLICES
CU RRENT [SLICES]
[ M I S C ] For the first time since IQ testing began, women have outscored men. So, men, next time anyone accuses you of acting like a girl, thank
10 things that are happening right now
10.
Austin City Limits Music Festival
ACL’s non-headliners are unusually
them for the
hip this year. And the headliners
compliment ...
aren’t too shabby, either.
Bryce Kingsley Quilley, a 29-year-
9.
iPad Mini As far as size goes, it’s
rumored to be halfway between
old man
an iPhone and an iPad. As far as
from South
price goes, somewhere around
Australia, got
$249. And as far the future goes,
so mad at his
we predict this will be it.
Internet service
BAD ECONOMY = BAD GIVERS?
FLAVOR OF THE BIMONTH
provider that he hacked into their offices.
8.
Labor Day You don’t have to
understand why this holiday
How the financial situation is killing support for nonprofits
No—hacked.
exists to get a day off of work.
Like, with an
Fortunately.
Conversations about the anemic state of the economy have mostly focused on the disappearing middle class, but a recent study from the Barna Group has brought another unexpected casualty to light: charities. Americans not only have less money to spend; they also have less to give away. According to the study, 41 percent of Americans have cut back on giving to nonprofit organizations, and 34 percent have stopped donating to their church or religious institution completely. For Christians, the results are slightly more dramatic, with 46 percent saying they’ve reduced how much they give to nonprofits and 6 percent saying they’ve had to stop giving to their churches altogether. David Kinnaman, president of Barna, says he expects these numbers to climb in coming months as the recovery continues its gradual trek. “For faith leaders and fundraising professionals,” Kinnaman says, “this means planning on modest donation levels and capital campaigns and the need for clear, compelling and consistent information to donors.”
axe ... Great news! Cinema chains in South Korea have begun experimenting with theaters that emit smells during key movie scenes, like
7.
ocean spray or
favorite is going to tough it out
flowers ...
on Friday nights. Good luck. PLAY Community trivia relm.ag/59community
Hollywood’s surprising new source of inspiration
6.
Monday Night Football
At long last, Mondays are awesome again.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
20 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
really feature stories or characters at all. From 2009’s He’s Just Not That Into You to this year’s What to Expect When You’re Expecting and Think Like a Man, plus the upcoming Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, the criteria for good movie source material seems to have gone from “Hey, this would make a good movie!” to “Hey, people have heard of this.” Tsk, tsk, tsk.
“Troy and Abed on a
Friday.” NBC’s longsuffering cult
Self-Help Heads to the Cinema The desire to adapt a book into a movie is certainly understandable—somebody else has already done the heavy lifting of writing a (hopefully) interesting story with compelling characters, and if anyone read the book, then the movie comes with a built-in audience. What’s not to love about that? Less clear is the reason for Hollywood’s recent move of making movies out of books that don’t
Community
SLICES
CU RRENT
Molecule is New York City’s newest—and only—water cafe: a cafe that serves only tap water, run through a $25,000
Forget bad country music and cowboys. Nashville’s got a cost of living you’ll be hard-pressed to beat. Add to that one of the country’s highest concentrations of nonprofit charities, and this place will be the last fresh start you’ll ever need.
work ethic to artistic use. Check out its bevy of hip, affordable housing and the exploding creative job market. You’ll feel right at home in no time.
Assassin’s Creed III Ubisoft’s beloved vigilante
leaves his Eastern roots for the land of the free in this new game release. “Give me your tired,
just the thing
your poor, your assassins ...”
drink but don’t
Nashville, Tenn.
5.
Sounds like
go for a cool
Few things hold more intrigue than a fresh start—packing everything you own into your car and driving off to a totally new city to make a name for yourself. But if you don’t have a plan, you’re going to end up living out of your car in some border town. Start over the smart way: with our help. Here’s a list of our best picks for where to begin again.
10 things you need to know right now
water filter.
when you could
THE 5 BEST CITIES FOR A FRESH START
FLAVOR OF THE BIMONTH
[SLICES]
[ M I S C ]
4.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
want to go to
It’s the film most likely to make
the trouble of
us pretend we’ve read the book.
pouring your own glass ... Stubbs, a cat, has been the mayor of a small Alaskan town for 15 years. He won the candidacy
WATCH
through write-
The Perks trailer
in votes, and
relm.ag/59-
nobody has
wallflower
found either the heart or the brains to challenge his
3.
Election Season Forget Mad Men and
Breaking Bad. There’s no spectacle
Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.
mayorship
fraught with more drama than the
Double the cities, double the opportunity. Minneapolis and St. Paul are twin pillars of cool, each boasting armies of indie businesses and thriving churches. And with one of the nation’s highest volunteer rates, you’ll know you’re never far from a kind soul.
since ...
race to the White House.
A $25,000 pet wedding
2.
Avengers Halloween Costumes
is being called
Word to the wise: If you’re not a
the most
superhero, don’t dress like one.
expensive pet wedding ever. So, apparently, there’s more than one on
Omaha, Neb.
Pittsburgh, Penn. The recent influx of creative talent into Pittsburgh has put the city’s famous
22 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
record ... A lady bought an old painting at Goodwill for
Austin, Texas
$10 and, after
Believe every last word of hype you’ve heard about this city. It has good music, good art and good food, and its job market is growing faster than any other in the country—with no sign of slowing. So get in the car and start driving south already.
researching
1.
iPhone 5 Apple’s lips are sealed on
this as of press day—which is
the painter,
a small mercy, considering
realized she
nobody will be able to shut up
could sell it for
about it once it drops.
$15,000 ...
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
This city’s got some of the country’s lowest unemployment rates and a rich supply of young, local farmers eager to put their harvests to good use. Best of all is its wildly robust independent music scene—along with its profusion of interesting venues.
SLICES
CURRENT [SLICES]
[ M I S C ] Introducing ”Edifi,” the world’s first “Christian” tablet. It comes equipped with a Bible app and a porn-proof web browser. And these virtuous e-readers will have the longest-lasting battery on the market. Abundant life does seem fitting for a
MUST-SEE B-I-B-L-E
“Christian”
Mark Burnett, the executive producer of Survivor, The Voice and Celebrity Apprentice, is moving on to bigger and better things this year with The Bible, a 10-hour miniseries he’s made for the History Channel. Burnett and his wife and co-producer, Roma Downey (of Touched by an Angel fame), filmed the series in Morocco and say they’ve paid important attention to detail, both in terms of creative production and biblical accuracy. “It’s the most important sacred text,” Burnett said. “Without this, Shakespeare wouldn’t have existed—let alone Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.” He also notes they’ve made a concerted effort to ensure the series will appeal to people of all walks of faith. “We’ve worked for three years on this,” Burnett says. “We love it. We believe in it. There’s a responsibility to the world to bring fresh life into this.” Downey will play Mary, the mother of Jesus, but the rest of the show is made up of relative unknowns. The role of Jesus went to a Portuguese actor named Diogo Morgado who, apparently, was all but cast on sight. Burnett hasn’t given the exact budget he’s working with but says, “This looks like a feature film. It looks like a $100-million-dollar feature film.”
recently-
tablet ... While cleaning out his deceased uncle’s house, Karl Kissner found a baseball collection valued at $3 million dollars—at least. Everyone, go clean your attic ... A new study says Game of Thrones and The Hunger
EAU DE NEW BOOK
24 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
the new baby name books of choice, spawning names like Cinna, Decimus and Theon. It makes sense when you think about it—the content of those books is just so babyfriendly, after all ...
A new Gallup poll says that Americans’ confidence in the Church or organized religion is at 44 percent, an all-time low in the slow, continuous decline that began in the 1980s. In many ways, Gallup’s poll speaks to how much attention society pays to religion and religious authorities. In 1973, organized religion outranked even the Supreme Court as America’s most-trusted institution. It enjoyed steady popularity until the mid-1980s, when Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart suffered very public sex scandals. Then public trust of the Church plummeted below 60 percent. Trust in religion slowly climbed through the 1990s, until 2001, when the allegations of child abuse and mass coverups rocked the Catholic Church, sending confidence in religion into a tailspin that shows no signs of slowing. This public posture toward the Church follows a trend of national feelings about institutions, with record lows recorded for the education system, banks and TV news, as well. And while Americans have expressed distrust of organized religion, the number of Americans who say they are religious has not changed significantly since the 1970s.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
Any book reader will tell you that reading is a multisensory experience, citing the grit of the pages and the crisp blackness of the letters. But maybe nothing is more hallowed than that new book smell—a smell so fond and fleeting, you may just want to bottle it up. At least, that’s what the folks at Wallpaper* magazine are counting on. They’re releasing “Paper Passion,” a perfume that, yes, smells like a new book. Karl Lagerfield dreamed up the idea with one of the Wallpaper* publishers last year, and the company hired Geza Schoen, a well-known perfumer, to handle the job. So now buyers can get the perks of buying a new book without actually having to read anything.
Games are
U.S. Confidence in Religion at a Low
START YOUR CINEMA CAREER AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY.
liberty.edu/cinema
Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center
SLICES
CU RRENT [SLICES]
TO THRIFT OR NOT TO THRIFT? A first-rate list of secondhand items you should avoid at all costs every cash-strapped twentysomething knows, thrift stores are a treasury of cheap goods and unexpected finds. But while you might take home a rare record, a funky chair or the perfect outfit for your next ’80s party, a few common thrift store items ought to be avoided for sure. How do you know which items to thrift and which are worth buying brand new? Here’s a thrift list of items you absolutely, completely want to avoid.
AS
Mattresses. The price tag can run high on new
mattresses, so it’s tempting to go the secondhand route. But trust us: go new. Over time, mattresses get heavier and heavier. Ever wonder why? The mysteries of used beddings are better left unsolved.
Blenders. The question of whether or not to thrift your kitchen appliances can usually be answered on a case-by-case basis, but there’s a hard, fast “no” when it comes to blenders. Unless, of course, you like today’s smoothie seasoned with yesterday’s mold. Undergarments. No exceptions, no excuses and no further explanation required.
[ M I S C ]
CDs. Used CDs are really only for those who like their ’90s alt-rock peppered with infuriating skips.
A new study says athletes who go into games psyched with
Bicycle helmets. If you stop to think about it, your life is worth way more than the paltry $12 you’d spend on a used helmet.
a healthy dose of confidence process information faster. Good advice for your next
Make-up. That $2 Sephora
eyeshadow might look like a steal. But whether it comes in midnight blue, dusky gray or cocoa brown, you can be certain it also comes in the most radiant shade of pink eye.
swim across the English Channel ... The Game Show Network has announced a new show American Bible Challenge. A game show about the Bible? Sounds so respectful ...
26 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
In July, Berlin hosted the 2012 “Hipster Olympics,” in which selfprofessed hipsters gathered to determine 2012’s Hipster of the Year. Events included a “vinyl marathon,” “bubble tea dives” and something called a “skinny jeans fight”—about which we’re sure the less said, the better. None of the events sound particularly strenuous, but the real challenge had to be trying to win the gold without appearing too keen. When interviewed, participants said this year’s Hipster Olympics were OK, but not nearly as good as last year’s.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
called
THE OLYMPICS, IRONICALLY
SLICES
Q &A What’s unique in our films is that we create the feel and tone of a doc[umentary] and put it inside a well-structured narrative about people you can relate to.
[SLICES]
A
Q
What’s the best advice you can give aspiring filmmakers? Our biggest piece of advice is if you don’t know what you have to offer or your voice, go make a cheap movie with your friends every weekend. Once you find your voice—and it may take 10 years; it’s OK—you can move on to your first feature film. Do it too early, and it’s a painful failure—expensive and exhausting. Making films is very hard, and making good films is impossible. A movie is a monster that gobbles up your energy.
A
WILL WORK (HARD) FOR HOLLYWOOD AND SELF
Q
Renaissance filmmaker Mark Duplass on brotherly love, making movies and characters who conspire with the universe
A
Jeff has a very strong spiritual side. How did you get that into a movie put out by Hollywood?
BY CARL KOZLOWSKI
28 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
Q
Did you and Jay ever compete like the brothers do in Do-Deca?
A
We did not. The story was based on two brothers we grew up with. We always observed them and the hilarity that ensued. Jay said, “What if they did it again as fat adults and ruined a big family weekend?”
Q A
Q A
You write a lot about family dynamics. Why is that?
We’re not making statements on families. We just observe and explore. You can break up with or ditch a bad boyfriend or friend, but a bad brother or mom is going to keep showing up at Thanksgiving.
Q
“CHARACTERS WHO BELIEVE DEEPLY ARE COMPELLING TO WATCH.”
WATCH The trailer for The Do-DecaPentathlon
What’s the magic of a Duplass film?
relm.ag/59do-deca
What are you two up to now?
We’re writing five different movies right now—some for studios, some for us—and they range from $20,000 to $20 million budgets. I’m producing others, and I’ll be acting in the FX series The League. [We’re] maintaining our ethic of one foot in the Hollywood system and the other in the microbudget sphere, where nobody can mess with us.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
Most filmmakers are happy doing a movie every two to three years, but Mark Duplass blows those lightweight expectations out of the water with no less than eight—yes, eight—films released this year. In fact, he has three movies out right now, with some art house theaters playing all three at the same time. He’s the male lead in Your Sister’s Sister, and he’s the mysterious man in the middle in Safety Not Guaranteed. He’s also the co-writer, co-director and coproducer with his brother, Jay, on the new comedy The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, about two middle-aged brothers who recreate a boyhood Olympic competition to win the title of World Champion Brother. On top of that triple-threat accomplishment, the brothers also released the critically acclaimed Jeff, Who Lives at Home earlier this year. Just learning how Duplass finds time and energy to keep up this pace would make for a compelling conversation. But add his take on the rich, moral themes laced in his films and how they’re connected to Catholic roots? We’re mesmerized.
We were raised Catholic. I’m not sure if it had an effect on the film or not, in terms of Jeff ’s belief in the universe and its plan for him. Characters who believe deeply are compelling to watch. I hadn’t made a movie like that yet. You think you know Jeff as the stoner who lives in Mom’s basement, but he’s not a slacker and has the utmost integrity. He’s suspended chasing life because he thinks the universe will deliver it to him.
SLICES
D EEPER WALK
BY ADAM AND CHRISTINE JESKE
W
30 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
WHO DOESN’T FEEL SORT OF TRAPPED? WHO ISN’T ASKING, “IS THIS ALL THERE IS”?
Adam and Christine Jeske have just released This Ordinary Adventure: Settling Down Without Settling (IVP). Connect with them at @adamjeske and @christinejeske.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
hen you’re 10, you look forward to car keys. In high school, you just want the freedom of leaving home. When you get to college, you can’t wait to change the world after graduation. When you land your first job, it’s all about getting a better job, going to grad school, buying that first home, proving you’re a grown-up. And then one day, you find yourself in a terrifying place. You land. You are where you will be, at least for the foreseeable future. You could be there until retirement or death. And that means you won’t be in the dozen other places you’d like to be. You won’t live every alternative life you’ve envisioned for yourself. This is terrifying. We’ve been fortunate to live several alternative lives for the past dozen years—working on refugee resettlement, teaching English in China, growing organic vegetables for a CSA farm, photographing weddings, preaching in a dirt-floored Nicaraguan church, writing books and magazine articles, teaching about economic development and riding motorcycles across southern Africa. But now, by all external appearances, we’ve settled. We’re putting down roots. We moved back to the U.S., bought a home and started jobs we expect to keep for 10 years or more. The word “settling” often precedes those ugly words “for less.” It carries that frightening connotation of compromise, like letting the person you love slip away while you marry somebody else. Is it inevitable we settle like that? The world (or is it the Church?) tells us we can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone. But the reality is, we have limits. We are in this place, doing this thing, being this person. In these particularities, we become ordinary.
[SLICES]
SETTLING DOWN WITHOUT SETTLING
Our minds echo with fresh memories of Nicaraguan chicken buses, Chinese banquets and three-hour Zulu church services under a corrugated roof. We try to make community in a dry and weary suburbia, everyone spread out and busy. We make decisions about buying a new washing machine, a nicer couch or an electric toothbrush, any of which we might own for the next decade. We stick with a church even when we don’t like everything about it. We try to figure out how to keep our kids from becoming Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. We look around at people who have been on this normal route for longer than we have, and it’s scary how many are disappointed. Many are married, many have homes and several have children. Many wish their jobs paid just a little more. Some struggle to stay afloat, needing two wage-earners in the home even when one spouse would love to stay home or volunteer more. Others feel lonely and wish they could move closer to a church, friends or family. Who doesn’t feel sort of trapped? Who isn’t asking, “Is this all there is”? Our commitment as we enter this season of settling is to make the ordinary into an adventure. We want to choose to live and notice amazing days, right in the here and now. And so while Chrissy pursues her Ph.D., she also makes granola every couple weeks, plants asparagus and apple trees, and finds ways to keep our food budget low, fair and local. Adam brings some joy to the workplace by inventing celebrations with elaborate molded Jell-Os and Nerf weaponry. We bike a lot and try to spend more evening hours talking to people than watching stuff on Netflix. Our kids hatch butterflies and play in the huge treehouse Adam built. We help lead a great new church. We’re getting to know our neighbors and patching together a community. In all this, we remember inspiring voices of people we’ve met in stricter circumstances who live out the same values of community, generosity and intentionality. We think of our friend in South Africa who built and settled into a house to care for her mother and her 10 orphaned nieces and nephews. We think of Chinese friends who moved to remote villages where they’re the only Christians for miles. We think of Nicaraguan shopkeeper friends who slip extra vegetables to their poorest neighbors. They remind us that settling down doesn’t have to mean settling for less. We owe it to people in the hard places to not settle for a comfortable status quo here. We owe it to them—and to ourselves—to live intentionally, to live generously, to live an adventure in the everyday ordinary.
Join us this October as 13,000 young influencers come together for the leadership experience of the year.
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SLICES
FALL TV GUIDE [SLICES]
A GUIDE TO
FALL TV IT’S
a sad truth that not every show on TV can live up to Modern Family or Mad Men. Each fall, a bunch of new pilots are thrust onto the airwaves, and you’re faced with the overwhelming task of picking the shows worth your time from the duds. (Is it too soon to bring up last season’s Whitney?) Luckily, we spent hours screening the new show pilots so you don’t have to. Here is a guide to the most notable entries of the 2012-2013 season, split into three categories. Happy viewing!
B Y H E AT H E R C R O T E A U
1
2
SURE BETS 1. Last Resort (ABC)
2. Elementary (CBS)
Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way: If you’re a die-hard Sherlock fan, you’re probably not going to be enthusiastic about another Sherlock Holmes series. Once you’ve been 32 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
3
3. The Mindy Project (FOX)
Remember when you thought Zooey Deschanel was the most lovable thing to happen to television? Meet Mindy Kaling. You know her as the ditzy, clingy Kelly Kapoor from The Office, but Kaling was also one of the show’s main writers, and the only criticism here is that she wasn’t given her own pilot sooner. Kapoor plays Mindy Lahiri, an unlucky-in-love OB/GYN (think Bridget Jones delivering babies) who is just quirky enough to be endearing and yet totally relatable. It’s comedic gold to watch her try to find Mr. Right—not just Mr. Right Now. Deschanel, take note.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
Dare it be said? Last Resort might be the best new show on television. Consider the plot: In the near future, the world sits on the brink of nuclear war. The crew of the fictional USS Colorado submarine has, over a radio channel designed to be used only if their homeland has been wiped out, been ordered to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan. When Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) refuses to fire without an explanation, U.S. forces fire cruise missiles at the sub, crippling it in the middle of the ocean. Chaplin manages to steer the sub to a remote island with a NATO station and declares the vessel the smallest nuclear nation in the world. Admit it: you’re hooked. And you should be, because Last Resort boasts the kind of original storytelling that could make it the next Lost. Considering that the sequence of events indicates corruption in Washington trying to spur on World War III, there’s definite room for longevity in the show’s lifespan. Last Resort doesn’t look like anything else on TV—and that’s a very, very good thing.
Cumberbatched, you don’t go back. That being said, it’s likely Elementary will find a following of its own. The show stars Jonny Lee Miller (Dexter) as detective Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. (Yes—you read that correctly. A female Watson!) CBS has managed to give timeless Holmes a modern-day update that gives the BBC’s Sherlock a run for its money. It also might be the first American TV character transplant since The Office’s David Brent to land on its feet. Miller’s Holmes is a twitchy, recovering addict evoking the charm of Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of the character, and the romantic chemistry between Miller and Liu is surprisingly magnetic. You’ll want to give this one a chance.
DVR-WORTHY 4. Save Me (NBC)
It’s been a long time since a TV show aired that mentions God without actually make fun of Christianity. This single-camera comedy stars Anne Heche as Beth Harper, a down-on-her-luck woman who, after a brush with death via choking on a hero sandwich, comes to realize she has a direct line to God. Yes—she has a near-death experience and becomes a veritable prophet. The concept is absolutely bizarre. But there’s something charming about Beth’s new lease on life. For a pilot, the story wins you over and is surprisingly non-preachy—exactly the opposite of what you’d expect from a network show about a woman who hears messages from God, right? Save Me won’t be the show you rush home to watch at 8 p.m. on a Thursday evening, but it’s definitely worth a slot on your DVR schedule to provide a few light laughs in between loads of laundry.
5. Go On (NBC)
Matthew Perry—like the rest of the Friends cast, minus Jennifer Aniston—has been bouncing around without any real direction since Friends went off the air in 2004. Finally, NBC has wooed him back in a plot that’s not just quirky à la Chandler Bing, but looks like it actually may be built to last. Perry plays Ryan King, a workaholic sports radio personality and recent widower forced to
attend 10 sessions of counseling before he can return to work. (You’re starting to get the double meaning of the title now, right?) So, Ryan reluctantly joins a support group with one goal in mind: Get in, get out and get back on the radio as soon as possible. But he quickly discovers the unlikely group of mourners in therapy might be exactly what he needs to move forward in his grief—and that he might be the comedic relief they need to move forward in theirs. Go On very much has a Community feel to it, but it’s different enough that fans can watch both without feeling it’s redundant.
4
6. How to Live With Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life) (ABC)
Let’s just get this out of the way: How to Live With Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life) officially has the longest title of any show on television. If it has any post-pilot-season staying power, ABC is going to have to do something about that name. That being said, 2012 seems to be the year of the “woman reclaiming her life” script, and How to Live is no exception. Polly (Sarah Chalke, of Scrubs) is an uptight single mom who’s been divorced for almost a year. The transition wasn’t easy, especially in this economy. So, like a lot of young people in that new reality do, she and her daughter, Natalie, move in with Polly’s parents—for whom the word “eccentric” does not suffice. How to Live is worth watching, if for nothing else than to see Sarah Chalke in a post-Scrubs role that’s not Cougar Town.
5
6
WILD CARD
[ M I D - S E A S O N S H O W S ]
Revolution (NBC)
Arrested Development
J.J. Abrams has a reputation for creating out-of-this-world plots—Lost, anyone? Super 8? That’s why we want to give Revolution a fighting chance. Like most of Abrams’ work, its storyline exudes interesting. In the first five minutes of the pilot, the power goes out across the globe. Cars stop working, all electronics stop functioning and—plot twist!—the script basically jumps out and tells you a very select few people know why. Jump ahead 15 years, and we’re in the current setting of the show. Here, life is back to what it was long before the Industrial Revolution. Families live in quiet cul-de-sacs, and when the sun goes down, lanterns and candles are lit. Life is slower and sweeter—that is, until the militias show up. Full disclosure: Revolution’s pilot is a bit hokey. In the single episode, you’ll witness both a shootout and a swordfight, and the script is mediocre at best. If anyone but Abrams were behind the series, we probably wouldn’t give it another glance. But there’s a chance (a really, really slight chance) that Revolution might just turn out to be the next Lost. We’ll give it five episodes before we pull the plug.
You’ve waited eight years for its return. 2013 is the year of the Bluth.
The Following Two words, and you’ll be sold: Kevin Bacon.
The Bible Not the book—the Mark Burnett creation. WATCH The trailer for NBC’s Revolution. relm.ag/59revolution
Do No Harm ER meets Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And it’s brilliant.
RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 33
[THE DROP]
MUSIC NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Rock the Boat
A FIRST: OLD RECORDS ARE OUTSELLING NEW ONES For the fir s t time since Nielsen SoundScan s tar ted tracking record sales, classics are selling bet ter than new releases
N
34 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
doing better in 2012 than it did when it released last year. Catalog albums got a big boost from the surge in sales after Whitney Houston’s death. Also, albums from the Black Keys and Taylor Swift, as well as Guns n’ Roses’ Greatest Hits (sure!), have made deep cuts in catalog sales this year. Of course, labels usually sell catalog albums for significantly cheaper than their current counterparts. Buyers can pick up legendary “Best Of ” collections for a cool $7.99 at gas stations on road trips, while brand-new releases cost upward of $16. But there’s another, even stronger advantage catalog albums have: There’s just more of them. While current albums are subject to the whims of the industry, catalog albums keep coolness—like that Led Zeppelin box set—forever.
[SOUNDTRACK OF FALL]
This summer was a scorcher. Here’s a playlist to help you forget the heat and get in the mood for falling leaves.
CHECK OUT Some tracks for your changing seasons. relm.ag/59-spotify
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
ielsen SoundScan began charting album sales in 1991, and it couldn’t have picked a worse time. Few industries, if any, have seen more upheaval, been the subject of more controversy or taken on such generational symbolism as the music industry—and the purchasing of music, in particular. So, it’s no small news that, for the first time in its history, Nielsen SoundScan has reported older albums selling better than new ones. In industry speak, there are “current albums,” which are albums less than 18 months old. And then there are “catalog albums,” which is everything else. In the first half of 2012, 73.9 million current albums sold, while 76.6 million catalog albums sold. This is particularly notable, given the huge boost current albums got from Adele’s 21, which is
Since its 1999 inception, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Annual Festival has been on the short list of music festivals to see before you die, underpinning their ever-hip lineup with a healthy dose of spectacle, à la this year’s Tupac hologram. But even that futuristic mind-candy pales in comparison to their newest stunt: a floating festival. The S.S. Coachella will set sail for two back-to-back voyages this year—a threeday trip to the Bahamas on December 16, and a four-day, Jamaica-bound cruise. With room for almost 2,900 guests, plus 12 restaurants and entertainment provided by Pulp, Yeasayer, Sleigh Bells, Girl Talk, Hot Chip and a motley crew of other high-octane acts, these voyages ought to be worth their $500-and-up price tags. Admittedly, indie acts and cruise ships make for strange bedfellows, but Coachella has conquered the traditional festival experience and probably just needs a new challenge. This year’s festival brought in almost $48 million—a single concert event record.
THE DROP
ARTISTS TO WATCH [THE DROP]
[RELEFAVORITES]
Sugar & the Hi-Lows SUGAR & THE HI-LOWS
Why we love them ... Thirty seconds into the first song, you realize the band’s name fits—sweet melodies and harmonies that keep you
FOR FANS OF Fitz and the Tantrums, vintage R&B and rock WEBSITE www.sugarandthehilows.com
36 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
Glen Hansard The former Swell Season frontman is single and ready to sing about it.
Mount Eerie Nature lovers, you’ve found your poet laureate in the haunted, naturalistic musings of Phil Elverum.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
bouncing up and down.
S
ugar & the Hi-Lows are the kind of band that make you wish you lived in a different era, when all music was this easy and relaxed. Their self-titled album is a split personality—half-full of Elvisinspired classic rock-and-roll tracks that dare you to keep your toes from tapping, juxtaposed with another half packed full of soft melodies and songs built for the slow dance—the kind any good DJ plays at the end of a wedding to close the night with a swaying goodbye. Either way, you’re moving. “My father always listened to Stacks and Motown music growing up,” says vocalist and guitarist Trent Dabbs. “He made a blanket statement to me one time that music is no good if you can’t dance to it. So this is kind of us trying to make music that we were influenced by growing up and that people could dance to.” And dance, you can. The project is largely the collaboration of Dabbs and vocalist Amy Stroup (who also shakes a mean tambourine for many of their songs), with various musicians brought along for different tracks. “We just asked, ‘Why isn’t there that type of music now?’” Stroup recalls. Their first song arrived two hours later—and the swing hasn’t stopped since.
[ M I S C ]
GET SOME
Death Cab for Cutie frontman
Enjoy some of
Ben Gibbard
our favorite
has announced
current tracks.
his first solo album, Former Lives. We’re not certain, but chances seem slim the album will
Sugar & the
include a duet
Hi-Lows
with Zooey Deschanel ...
“Two Day High” KYLE DEAN REINFORD
relm.ag/59sugar
An Oregon woman is suing Justin Bieber for $9 million after claiming she lost her hearing at
YELLOW OSTRICH Why we love them ...
one of his
Alex Schaaf is a New
concerts. But
York City transplant by
let’s be honest:
way of rural Wisconsin.
Losing her
His itchy feet provide
hearing might
inspiration for
have been
Strange Land and ask
the best thing
the question: What
that could’ve
happens when the
happened to
grass isn’t greener on
her at that
the other side?
[Strange Land is] about all those pent-up feelings of anticipation you carry throughout your life and what happens to those feelings when imagination becomes reality and you see things maybe quite aren’t as magical and easy as you thought they’d be. When your future becomes your present, an explosion happens—that’s where a lot of this came from.
Glen Hansard “Philander”—the official video relm.ag/59hansard
Yellow Ostrich STRANGE LAND
FOR FANS OF Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Youth Lagoon, Wye Oak WEBSITE www.yellowostrich.com
concert ...
Mount Eerie “O My Heart” relm.ag/59eerie
Ladies, get out your fringed dresses.
MR. LITTLE JEANS
Fellas, get out
Why we love her ...
your beards.
Norwegian new-wave pop that’d be a
Fleetwood
guilty pleasure if it wasn’t so good.
Mac has announced a 2013 reunion tour ...
Monica Birkenes’ hooks don’t just get stuck in your head. They make you smarter while they’re in there.
Yellow Ostrich “Marathon Runner”—the official video relm.ag/59ostrich
Snoop Dogg is releasing an album of reggae songs, called Reincarnated, under the name Snoop
Mr. Little
Mr Little Jeans MR. LITTLE JEANS
Lion. Uh, good luck with that, Snoop ...
Jeans “Runaway”—the official video
FOR FANS OF Robyn, Karen O, Regina Spektor
relm.ag/59little-jeans
WEBSITE www.myspace.com/mrlittlejeans100
RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 37
THE DROP
Q &A [THE DROP]
wordplay. When I came to the studio and played it for Jimmy [Shaw], he told me the song was amazing but what was I talking about at the beginning of the song? We had a heated argument, where he pushed me to say what I actually meant instead of hiding behind words. Eventually, I broke through: “I’m saying I’m f****d up, OK? I know I’m f****d up. I’m not perfect and never will be. Ahhhhh!” Jimmy cracked a huge grin and said: “There’s your first line. Now go sing it.”
Q
Why do you think it’s so hard to admit we’re not OK?
A
JUSTIN BROADBENT
Emily Haines and Co. are yelling it like it is. B Y R YA N E . C . H A M M
Listening to Synthetica, it’s easy to forget this is Metric’s fifth go-round. The band plays with the energy and adventurous spirit of angst-ridden teen rebels fresh out of the gate, crafting fiercely addictive indie-rock that takes lots of sharp corners and sudden, surprising detours without letting up on the gas pedal once. In keeping with Metric’s youthful drive is its apparent fury—evident from the very explicit first line of the first song. We caught up with frontwoman Emily Haines to talk about that line, her bands’ latest album and her feelings about church picnics. A lot of lyrics on Synthetica talk about the collapse of people or societies. It sounds personal. My writing process is a meditative thing. I sort of bow down at the piano and see what it reveals. I’m not a fan of
A
38 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
—EMILY HAINES
Q
Some of your other lyrics (like, “I’m just as f****d up as they say”) seem to be about growing comfortable with your own brokenness.
A
Yeah, that statement was very difficult for me to make. Actually, in my original version of “Artificial Nocturne,” the very first line was a really vague and obscure bit of tricky
WATCH Metric’s video for “Sick Muse”
Q
“Youth Without Youth” mentions some pretty strange scenes at church. Did that stem from personal experience?
A
I’ve never had any particularly bad experiences with religion, other than being told when I was in kindergarten at the church picnic that my parents were sinners and I was a sinner, too, but that’s pretty standard stuff, right? I have always felt that the hold religious zealots try to get on children is creepy and overreaching. I was pleased when the line “apathetic to the devil’s face” came to me while I was writing “Youth Without Youth.”
Q
What do you hope people get from Synthetica?
A
Energy to act.
relm.ag/59metric
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
Q
overly preachy or obvious lyrics, and yet I find the most incredible, timeless songs ever written often convey a world of meaning using very plain, honest language. I’m quite obsessed with the craft—the architecture —of a transcendent three-minute song.
“WE’RE AFRAID OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF HONESTY.”
I think it’s because we’re afraid of the consequences of honesty. Rightly so. But what we all so often forget is that cruelty from others is inevitable and, ultimately, the consequences of our worst-case scenarios are not as bad as life lived in an emotional jail. Maybe this is why music is so important to people. It’s an abstract yet structured expression of emotion.
Photo: Nikole Lim
Jacqueline is worth more than your charity.
$
Find out why www. .org $
generated at BeQRious.com
Watch Jacqueline’s story
[NEX T]
CREATE. INNOVATE. LEAD.
THE NEW INTERNET T
ON-THE-GO Get this: 1.5 billion people in the 40 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
world have personal computers, but the globe boasts 6.5 billion mobile users. (Yes, you read that correctly.) All the slick design that programmers shove into their websites is for naught if users can’t access those sites on the go. The future of the web isn’t at your desk or on your lap; it’ll fit into your pocket. Expect web programmers to design accordingly.
FAST MOVES The most immediate of the Internet’s big changes is an evolution in speed. Recent innovations have made it possible for the Internet to run 250 times faster than its current top speeds, and the National Science Foundation is asking tech-heads to build apps with an assumption of zero load time. Zero load time. In the very near future, waiting for a website will be a thing of the very distant past.
PAY UP It’s impressive that the vast majority of the Internet’s content thus far has been free or almost-free to pretty much every single user. Well, that was fun while it lasted. For the Internet to start delivering on its dreamy, sci-fi potential, expect the phobia of charging for online content to fade. This will be the toughest shift, but the result will be ad-free, plus services that provide true value. LOOK MA—NO HANDS The day we’ll laugh about how weird it was when we had to use our hands to browse the web is closer than we think. Voice recognition software is just the first step (thanks, Siri), but this is one aspect of Internet life we’ll be seeing more of—and soon.
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he Internet as we know it is going away. And looking back, it’s odd how little the online experience has changed since its origins. Sure, we’ve seen the advent of social and streaming media—and better design—but those are tweaks compared to the massive overhauls churning in the guts of the Internet right now. The “new Internet” won’t just bring a shift in content and functionality; it’ll bring an entirely different experience. It’ll become a more streamlined, seamless part of your life. And you’ll be surprised how little of it will take place in front your computer screen. What changes can we expect?
Four ways the web is chang ing rig ht before our eyes
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LEAD [NEX T]
SCOTT WADE
RAISING HOPE, ONE STORY AT A TIME The only way to accurately describe HopeMob is to envision Kickstarter, WorldVision Micro and a flash mob combined into one website. Shaun King started the grassroots campaign in early 2012 on a simple premise: The magnitude of a global need doesn’t sink in until you make it personal. For the past six years, King has
devoted his life to raising money for people and causes all over the world through telling their personal, powerful stories—and now he’s doing it through the vehicle of HopeMob. Here, we talk with King about his unique approach to social media, HopeMob’s vision and why they focus on just one campaign at a time.
Q
How does HopeMob handle social networking?
Q
With every platform that raises money, you have to bring your own social network to the table. If you don’t have a well-developed network, [the effort] will fall flat on its face. [We] decided that we were going to first build a community, and out of that build a platform.
A
Does donated money go straight to causes?
A
Yes, 100 percent.When you make a donation, we only use those funds for that story and that story alone. At checkout, we have an optional donation to help fund the cost of our operations.
Q A
What sets HopeMob apart?
Q
We tell real, human stories. We don’t just say we need to do something about human trafficking; we tell the story of a person we need to rescue from trafficking. We don’t say we want to end pediatric cancer; we tell the story of a child with cancer.
A
Why is telling specific stories so important?
It gives people the feeling that they’re not just dropping money into a black hole—they’re helping a real person. We don’t guilt people into giving, but we make a story really hard to ignore.
A FEW OF HOPEMOB’S MOST RECENT CAMPAIGNS ...
“Send Troken to Boarding School” “Let’s Help Anna Breathe Again”
HopeMob raised $834.71 to
Troken, an orphan from Liberia,
To help cover the costs of a young
provide food and shade for the
is being sent to boarding school
woman’s uninsured double-lung
recently displaced families in rural
with the $1,202.73 raised from his
transplant, HopeMob raised
Cambodia.
HopeMob campaign.
$2,555.95 in support.
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R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
“Let’s Plant 400 Mango Trees”
CHECK OUT HopeMob’s most current campaign stories. relm.ag/59hope-mob
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CREATE
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ARTISAN CRAFTS ARE MAKING A COMEBACK— AND CHRISTIANS ARE AT THE FOREFRONT BY MAGGIE SHAFER
THE
first time David Sutton roasted his own coffee beans, it was on a BBQ grill. The young pastor loved coffee, and he loved the process of making coffee even more. So when he heard he could roast his own at home, Sutton bought a few pounds of green coffee beans and set to work at the barbecue, roasting the very first of the thousands of batches to come. And to his great surprise, that first cup wasn’t half bad. Sutton has come a long way since those days at the grill. Today he is the owner and founder of the Coffee Registry, a craft coffee roastery and delivery service in Fort Collins, Colo. He is also the roaster, delivery guy, accountant, repairman and janitor. Between being a pastor, a father, a business owner and a roaster, he works weekends and nights and holidays. He sometimes gets to the shop at 5 a.m. on a Saturday after only three hours of sleep to roast beans for the day’s farmers’ markets, which he’ll then spend all day brewing and serving. He has no pension, no health benefits (besides what he gets delivering by bike), no corner office and no promise of a paycheck. And anyone who’s talked with him for more than 30 seconds knows he is a man who loves what he does. Sutton isn’t the only one who’s made an attempt to turn craft into career and been able to find a market for it. In 2010, when Americans were wading through the aftermath of one of the worst recessions in the history of the nation, Colin and Shannon Westcott were opening a business. Colin had long wanted to make a career out of his passion for craft beer and the brewing process, so when the opportunity arose to start his own brewery, the couple was all in—recession or not. The Westcotts opened the doors to Equinox Brewery in Fort Collins that April, hoping the community had been primed enough by the city’s microbrew giants, New Belgium and Odells, to embrace and support one more. By the end of the first month, it was clear to the couple that public support wasn’t going to be a problem—finding a place to put all of it was. Most evenings, it’s hard to find a seat in the brewery even though a draft at Equinox costs between $4 and $8—the better part of what a good chunk of their client base makes in an hour. “Once you make the shift from domestic to craft beers, you don’t go back,” Colin says. “People realize they like things to actually taste good, and they’re willing to pay for it.” Artisan entrepreneurs like Sutton and the Westcotts are popping
up all over the nation, to the point that this subculture of aspiring artists can no longer be written off as hipsters bent on defying the system. They’re craftsmen and—dare we say—capitalists, creating jobs, boosting local economies and changing the way Americans buy. They’ve pioneered a shift in the economy toward higher quality and lower volume, formulating a new belief along the way that work can be art and art can be profitable.
A NEW CURRENCY
Although this slowly emerging economic trend is influencing artisans across thousands of trades, from letterpressing to carpentry to baking, the craft coffee industry epitomizes the values championed by this new generation of entrepreneurs. Rather than size or speed, craft coffee marketing centers around quality, taste, process, locality and even relationship—traits inherent to what Portland State University professor Charles Heying has dubbed the “artisan economy,” an approach to work that marks a significant departure from the modern industrial system. Although artisan work has always been around, Heying dates this new movement to the 1970s, the beginning of the post-industrial era. However, its overt expansion has only happened within the last 15 years—coinciding with the dramatic globalization, consolidation and de-localization of corporations. “No matter what sort of economic justifications they offered, people began to recognize these corporations treated people and places as if they were entirely replaceable parts in their calculus of efficiency,” Heying says. “Likewise, the commodities these delocalized corporations produce have become so homogenous, tasteless and soulless, they opened a space for artisans who could produce things that were interesting, tasteful, distinct and that made connections between the real people who made things and the real people who bought them.” In the new artisan economy, the producer has a significant amount of engagement with his or her product. Design and production are inseparable, and the knowledge and skill of the crafter are necessary and deeply valued by purchasers. The Westcotts rely not only on their product’s taste, for instance, but also on their customers’ appreciation for the process and their willingness to pay more for beer they know more about. “Ultimately, the process of creating a beer—crafting—determines how that beer will taste,” Shannon says. “The quality of the finished RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 45
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CREATE touting their goods’ terroir—the local landscape, climate and flavor inherent in the products. Whereas Starbucks may boast that their caramel macchiato tastes the same in Tokyo as it does in Topeka, an artisan coffee roaster, like Sutton, would more likely promise that you can’t get their one-of-a-kind roast anywhere else. But unlike other large social movements, like the hippies in the ’70s, this group of artisans creates and consumes craft goods in an effort to redeem business and to be accepted and understood in the mainstream economy. In a column published in the New York Times, economics reporter Adam Davidson calls the craft approach a “happy refinement” of the excesses of the industrial era—not a rejection of the capitalist system. This, coupled with a return to the specialization (in this case, hyper-specialization) that Adam Smith himself could not help but admire, makes for a very new precipice for business. Davidson wrote, “Instead of rolling our eyes at self-conscious Brooklyn hipsters pickling everything in sight, we might look to them as guides to the future of the American economy.”
MADE TO CREATE beer depends on the brewer’s recipe formulation and techniques. We hope our customers are aware of the effort we put into our beers during production and how much joy it gives us to see them savoring the finished product.” Sutton also feels responsible for knowing the story of the farmers who grow the beans he roasts, believing himself to be a steward of their work and ensuring their stories get transferred to customers. “Consumers are becoming the experts,” Sutton says. “As they enjoy the coffee, they ask more questions and demand more knowledge of me as the roaster. It’s an interdependent relationship.” Still, Heying makes an effort not to say “consumer” when speaking of the artisan system. In the greater U.S. economy, it’s a term naturally associated with mindless or wasteful devouring of goods, with no thought as to where those goods come from or how they’re made. It’s a term that doesn’t accurately describe the role of the “taker” in this relationship. “In an artisan economy,” Heying says, “there is a greater appreciation for the product. It’s not just consumed.” The crafters themselves are also different from producers in a consumer economy, right down to the hours they work. For Sutton, family comes before work. If his wife or children need him during the day, he’ll fill in where he needs at night or early in the morning or wherever he can fit it in. As his own boss, he knows he’ll get the job done. Whether or not it’s during office hours is irrelevant. Like farmers, Heying says most artisans are connected with the natural world, dependent on seasons and growing periods for what they create. Even those not reliant on the environment tend to work until their projects are complete, rather than circumscribing themselves into the 9-to-5 schedule typical of the industrial economy. The line between life and work can be less stringent because the work is considered life-giving and purposeful, not something to escape as soon as the little hand on the clock hits five. And with craft, a sense of place is paramount. What most know today as the “local” movement is an intimate piece of the growing artisan world, according to Heying. The purchasers and the producers are more anchored to the unique environment in which they live, 46 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
Erwin McManus is best known as the lead pastor of Mosaic Church in L.A. But he also writes, acts, produces films and—among other artistic pursuits—designs a men’s fashion and accessories line. McManus believes to his very core that we, as humans, are undeniably creative—and that such creativity reflects our divine origin. After all, we were made in the image of God, the first Creator. “I am convinced that [Christians] have been called into the family business—to be artisans,” he says. “At our worst, we are creatives informed by darkness rather than light. At our best, we create such beauty that it brings glory to God and hope to the world.” As Christians with direct access to the original Creator, then, there is no reason we shouldn’t be leading the artisan movement, redeeming the workplace and marketplace alike. But creativity cannot be compartmentalized into what we produce alone. The artisan mind, when allowed to percolate and then thrive, infiltrates all areas of life, including the way we consume. McManus believes one of the problems inherent in Western culture is the general belief that “supersizing garbage” is the best use of our resources and that this lack of importance placed on aesthetics has taken its toll. “Our utilitarian mindset tells us that it’s a waste of money to pay more for beauty, craftsmanship and timeless quality,” he says. “The artisan would consider it a waste of money to pay for something that lacks beauty, quality and integrity.” While the future of the artisan movement is yet undetermined, Heying believes it will continue to grow and that corporations, for their part, will keep producing their calculated co-optations of the artisan ideal (think single-origin, fair-trade coffee from Starbucks). But a genuine change in the way the nation purchases and produces is nearly unavoidable. “I can see myself doing this for the rest of my life,” Sutton says of his coffee-roasting life. “It’s a real journey. I’m not driven by the safety net, but by the excitement of it.” We can be driven by the journey and excitement of it, too, in our own ways of creating and partaking of beauty, helping the world become the beautiful place God always meant to be. MAGGIE SHAFER is a freelance finance reporter and copyeditor for Northern Colorado Business Report who lives in Fort Collins, Colo. Follow her online at www.maggieshafer.com.
[R EJEC T A PAT H Y ]
SUSTAINABLE CHANGE. SACRIFICIAL LIVING.
THE HUGE COST OF AMERICA’S DROUGHT Record heat and drought conditions in the Midwest have experts bracing for its far-reaching impact
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reverberations at both local and international levels. Consumers will begin to feel this loss in a few months, as food prices for 2013 are projected at a record high. Then, when the world’s biggest grain exporter starts charging the difference in import costs, other countries will feel the blow. David Beckmann, president of the humanitarian organization Bread for the World, reports that without cheap food access, the world could witness new waves of hunger, malnutrition and starvation, as well as the outbursts of violence that are frequently triggered by rising food prices. “I get on my knees every day and I’m saying an extra prayer right now,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak at a press conference. As Americans look to the sky, many are joining with him to pray for rain and relief.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
ecord summer heat rose like a fever along the U.S. grain belt and heightened into a national drought in July, causing a federal crisis that’s making farmers, politicians, consumers and international importers sweat. Once-rich topsoil has crumbled into dust in over three-quarters of the country’s corn and soybean fields, and farmers are mowing over their crops in surrender. Already the worst drought in almost 50 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated over 1,300 counties as natural disaster zones. But the national drought makes for more than just a bad harvest season. The limited supply of corn and soybeans is expected to have damaging
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SP OTLI GHT [R EJEC T A PAT H Y ]
GOOD WORK We’re impressed with the work these organizations are doing. 1
R adiant Cosme tics
Radiant Cosmetics is taking the fight against human trafficking to the make-up aisles by donating a portion of profits to organizations fighting slavery.
2
L ove Modes to
At community-wide volunteer days, volunteers engage in a variety of projects, such as offering food to the hungry, visiting convalescent homes, donating blood, building a house with Habitat for Humanity and working with the city parks, all in an effort to bring the Church to the world. SCOTLAND HUBER
A MODERN-DAY ABOLITIONIST
3
ChildVoice International
ChildVoice International is a nonprofit organization seeking to restore the voices of children silenced by war.
The word “abolitionist” conjures images of the Underground Railroad of a bygone era. But slavery is still an issue in the here and now, and Sarah Durfey is a modern-day Harriet Tubman. Following in the footsteps of her Quaker ancestors, who helped with the Underground Railroad, Durfey started the Abolitionist Network in 2011 to help bring freedom to the estimated 30 million people bought and sold around the world still today. Here, we talk to Durfey about the network, the complexity of the slavery issue and why relationships are so vital in this work. Find out more and get involved at www.egc.org/abolition. How would you describe the Abolitionist Network?
Q
What is the impact of slavery today?
Q
Why did you decide on a network approach?
Q
Q
A
A
A
A
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We have to see the complexity and understand how different things are connected. If we just look at the issue of trafficking as an isolated thing, we won’t be able to end anything. On the global scale, it’s really important to realize that our actions—what we buy—affects people around the world.
A huge need I’ve seen around the country is a support structure for people who are leaders in this movement. People who step up to address this issue get so burned out. I’m working to help facilitate spaces for connecting and communicating so that people are not isolated. It’s very much a relational network.
The mindset of someone being a commodity stems from a mental model. If we’re going to be effective, we can’t just rescue someone from trafficking. You can bust in and take everyone out of all the brothels, but if there’s still demand, it will just start up again.
1
RadiantCosmetics.org
2
LoveModesto.com
3
ChildVoiceIntl.org
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We aim to join in the work God is doing to end the systems of exploitation and slavery through understanding these systems and equipping, connecting and refreshing abolitionists.
What’s necessary to stop slavery?
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[R EJEC T A PAT H Y ]
TH E N U MB ERS
THE GOOD NEWS ON CHILD MORTALITY RATES AS
GLOBAL CAUSES OF UNDER-5 CHILD DEATHS
41 12% 9% 6% 5% 4% 3% 1% 1%
%
(BETWEEN BIRTH AND 27 DAYS)
PRE-TERM BIRTH COMPLICATIONS BIRTH ASPHYXIA SEPSIS OTHER PNEUMONIA CONGENITAL ABNORMALITIES TETANUS DIARRHEA
59 14% 14% 4% 9% 8% 3% 2% 2% 2% 1%
NEONATAL DEATHS
%
CHILDHOOD DEATHS (AFTER 28 DAYS TO 5 YEARS)
DIARRHEA PNEUMONIA OTHER NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES OTHER INFECTIONS MALARIA INJURY MENINGITIS PERTUSSIS AIDS MEASLES
5 KEYS TO PREVENTING CHILD DEATHS MATERNAL HEALTH PROGRAMS
PREVENTION OF MOTHER-TO-CHILD HIV TRANSMISSION
BED NETS AND INDOOR SPRAYING TO PREVENT MALARIA
VACCINATIONS
MICRONUTRIENT SUPPLEMENTS AND THERAPEUTIC FOOD NICOLE SCHIEGG is senior advisor to the U.S. Agency for International Development.
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For more information, please visit: 5thBDay.usaid.gov.
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
a global community, we’re getting better at keeping children alive and healthy with each year that passes—and we’re on course to end preventable child deaths for the first time in history. Over the last decade, we’ve seen a steady reduction of 2.6 percent of child deaths. Technology, education and accessibility are transforming the treatment of childhood diseases around the world. Countries like Bangladesh have shown what can be done with smart investments and creative use of technologies, like cell phones, to reach and empower mothers and families. Confronted with the problem of bringing basic health services to rural areas, Ethiopia formed a network of 30,000 young women to serve as community health workers all around the country. As a result, Ethiopia has seen a 30 percent decline in its child mortality rates. Over the past 50 years, death rates for children have diminished 70 percent. But the battle is far from over. More than 7 million kids still die of preventable causes each year. Curable diseases—diseases those in the West rarely ever think about, such as pneumonia and diarrhea—are still the leading global killers of children. And yet, with the work being done, vaccinations against these deadly diseases are changing the trend. By the end of our lifetime, they will no longer be the greatest threats children face. Now is the time to build on this success. The global aid community must fulfill commitments it has made to bring about the healthiest generation of children. This goal will not just take governments working with governments; it will also require citizen engagement and new voices. With the power of social media, technology has transformed the impact of one person’s voice. Everyone has a role to play in this movement. Together, we will end preventable child deaths.
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WO RLDVIE W
BY RON SIDER
F
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GOD WANTS THE KING TO MAINTAIN JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Ron Sider is the author of 30 books, most notably Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, and the founder of EvangelicalsFor SocialAction.org.
Adapted from Fixing the Moral Deficit: A Balanced Way to Balance the Budget (IVP, 2012).
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
or being the richest nation in history, the U.S. still has a lot to learn about money. For almost 50 years, the federal government has spent more—often much more—than it took in. Continuing that pattern for another 10 or 20 years would lead to economic disaster. But the problem is not merely financial; it is also moral, as we see in the two political proposals for the 2012 national budget. The budget proposed by Paul Ryan, chair of the Republican budget committee, flunks the test of “justice for all” by providing tax cuts for the rich at the expense of poverty-reducing government programs. This federal neglect of “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40) defies biblical principles of justice. The Obama budget flunks the test of “intergenerational justice” by preserving programs for the poor that increase the national debt future generations will need to repay. Continuing to borrow vast sums for current expenditures is like Grandpa using his grandchildren’s credit card for things he cannot afford. So, what should we do? We can start by returning to biblical principles. A right view of justice. Contrary to what many believe, biblical faith does not demand equality of income and wealth. Wrong personal choices, creative genius and hard work all rightly lead to economic inequality. But biblical teaching about land does provide a significant norm for economic justice. Israel was an agricultural society, so land was the capital that enabled people to create wealth. When the Israelites moved into Canaan, God told them to divide the land so every family
[R EJEC T A PAT H Y ]
HOW THE NATIONAL BUDGET IS A MORAL ISSUE
had enough to earn a decent living. Every 50 years (see Leviticus 25), the land returned to the original owners, no matter why they lost it. What’s more, the prophets declared judgment on powerful people who took the land of the poor, and they predicted the Messiah’s coming would enable each person to reclaim their own land (Micah 4:4). This provides an important principle for economic justice: God wants every person to have access to essential capital so that if they act responsibly, they can earn a decent living and be dignified members of their society. The role of government. Biblical theology and practical experience show that combating poverty is a task that must be done by every level of society: family, churches, nonprofits, businesses and government. In fact, it is flatly unbiblical to say the government has no legitimate role to play in fighting poverty. The Bible repeatedly affirms that God wants the king to maintain justice and righteousness (see Psalm 72:1). These two Hebrew words refer to fair courts and just economic outcomes. The role of the individual. We are neither isolated individuals, as Ayn Rand suggests, nor cogs in a collective machine, as Marxists insist. Rather, we are free, responsible individuals who can become what their Creator intended only in community. Scripture is clear in its call to love our neighbors as ourselves and to carry a special concern for the poor—in fact, God measures societies by what they do to the people at the bottom. When committed Christians dedicate themselves to political advocacy, seemingly impossible things happen. Evangelical member of British parliament William Wilberforce changed the course of history by working for 30 years to abolish the slave trade. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu succeeded in ending apartheid. Solidarity, the daring trade union in Poland, defied Communist rulers and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Today, we can join their ranks. We can demand a just solution to our budget crisis by echoing the Evangelicals for Social Action in its “Call for Intergenerational Justice”: “To the young, we say: It is your credit card that will receive the additional trillions of dollars of debt—unless we quickly end ongoing federal budget deficits. To parents and grandparents, we say: We must give up some things so our children can flourish. All of us now say: We join together to answer the call to intergenerational justice.”
THE STORY OF OUR STUFF BRIDGING THE DIVIDE BETWEEN PRODUCER AND CONSUMER BY KELSEY TIMMERMAN
I
don’t know my wife’s phone number; my iPhone does. I don’t need directions. I have Google Maps in my pocket—just give me your address. I can’t remember the source of Optimus Prime’s power, but since I have to know right this minute, I can slide my thumb across the screen like a magician and unlock the vast knowledge—useless and otherwise—of humanity. (To save you the trouble, it’s called the Creation Matrix.) I don’t need to know anything anymore. I have an iPhone. And then there’s Siri, the iPhone 4S personal assistant. She can make no-nonsense
56 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
recommendations on where to eat and how to get there, but if you ask her where she’s from, she plays coy. “Like it says on the box,” she tells me, “I was designed by Apple in California.” “Siri, be honest. Are you from China?” I ask. “No comment, Kelsey.”
THE STORY THAT OPENED OUR EYES
Let me tell you about a British man who was eagerly waiting for his new iPhone to arrive in August 2008. I’m sure he was doing that thing where you track it every 30 minutes online to see if it has left the warehouse yet. Finally, the day came. He opened the box, and it still had that new iPhone smell. Then he fired it up, only to discover photos already loaded
into the phone’s memory— photos of a worker at the Chinese factory where the phone was made. She was giving a peace sign and smiling for the camera. He posted the photos on MacRumors.com, and in a matter of weeks, the ensuing thread exploded with nearly 700 comments. The “iPhone girl” became a sensation. Her smiling face was on cNET, on MSNBC, and in the Washington Post. Everyone wanted to know, “Who is iPhone girl?” Reporters tracked her to the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen. Foxconn, the largest private employer in all of China, employs more than 1 million people, and half of them work at the Shenzhen factory. Then there’s the negative press Foxconn and Apple received after a 2010 rash of worker suicides—17 total—at the Shenzhen plant. Suicides became such a problem that the company had to install nets to catch workers so depressed they opted to jump to their death rather than go back to work. Then the Chinese newspaper Southern Weekend sent reporter Liu Zhiyi into the factory undercover for 28 days, also in 2010. Zhiyi wrote, “[The workers] actually envied those who could take a leave due to work injury.” Additionally, two explosions in Foxconn factories injured 77 workers and killed four that year. It turns out that polishing iPads to give them that sleek metal look produces aluminum dust that—if not properly handled—is quite explosive. There’s still more. In January 2012, 150 workers at Foxconn’s factory in Wuhan took to the roof and threatened mass suicide unless their concerns were addressed. “Because we could not cope, we went on strike,” one of the workers told a reporter with London’s Telegraph. “It was not about the money, but because we felt we had no options. At first, the managers said anyone who wanted to quit
could have one month’s pay as compensation, but then they withdrew that offer. So we went to the roof and threatened a mass suicide.” More recently, the popularity of monologist Mike Daisey’s successful one-man show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs”—a monologue that recounts Daisey’s visit to Foxconn, where he spoke with injured workers and a 13-year-old iPhone maker—has led to a flurry of discourse, not the least of which was a “come-toIra” meeting Daisey faced with This American Life host Ira Glass, who had aired Daisey’s monologue as fact, when it came to light that Daisey had fabricated some of the more poignant parts of his story. Clearly, Foxconn and Apple have had to answer a lot of questions due to this string of events. But a perhaps more basic question presents itself: What are our responsibilities as consumers? A company spokesperson called the “iPhone girl” incident a “beautiful mistake”—and something beautiful did happen. When we saw iPhone girl had a slightly crooked smile and was wearing a slightly crooked cap and had a sparkle of personality in her eyes, we couldn’t help but care about her. The divide between producer and consumer disappeared when that story came to light. But bridging that divide on a regular basis isn’t easy.
WHAT STORY DO YOUR CLOTHES TELL?
It used to be that when my grandfather bought something, let’s say a shirt, the life of the worker who made it wasn’t much different from Grandpa’s—although shirt-makers’ jobs involved less manure (Grandpa was a farmer). Folks back then knew what life was like for the butcher, the baker and the garment maker. They knew the story of their stuff. For many of us today, though, the story of our stuff begins when we find it in the store or it magically appears on our porch after we purchased it online. The reality is a world away. In 2007, I sought to change that by traveling around the world to meet the people who made my clothes. I recounted the experiences in my book Where Am I Wearing? A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes. I met a single mother in Bangladesh who was earning $24 per month when the cost of rice to feed her family was $15 per month. I met workers in Cambodia who
earned $50 per month, which might be enough for one person to live on in Cambodia, but the average worker supports more than six people. I even visited a shoe factory in China, where I met a husband and wife who had moved from their village and hadn’t seen their 13-year-old son in three years. The couple often had to work more than 100 hours per week. Sometimes they were told to clock out and then go back to work for free. I haven’t met a single garment worker yet who lives a life I would want for you or for me. I recently completed the second edition of Where Am I Wearing? and checked in with the workers five years later. None of them are making our stuff any longer. And the first worker I met left his job in Honduras and braved a death-defying journey trainhopping through Mexico to cross illegally into the United States. He wasn’t able to support his three young daughters, their mother and his own ailing mother on his wage as a garment worker. He had realized something: When it comes to clothes, Americans have it made. The man hasn’t seen his children in five years, but he has been able to provide for them in a way he was unable to before. He sends them to school. He paid for the construction of their new home. They have clothes and a future, but they don’t have a father.
THE REAL STORY HERE
When it comes to overseas manufacturing, we have a lot of issues to consider—such as child labor and sweatshops, to name just two—but these are all merely symptoms of the real problem: poverty. There’s a reason workers in China will clock out and go back to work instead of telling their boss to shove it. It’s because they have an extreme lack of options. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof agrees and wrote in a January 14, 2009, column: “Sweatshops are only a symptom of
A JOB AT A SWEATSHOP MIGHT BE THE BEST OF A HOST OF NOT-GREAT OPPORTUNITIES, BUT IT RARELY DOES MORE THAN KEEP PEOPLE JUST ON THE EDGE OF EXTREME POVERTY. RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 57
[TAKE ACTION]
It takes some effort to be an engaged consumer. Here are a few tips to help you become better at it. Look at the tag of the shirt you are wearing. Repeat every day. Most of us have no idea how global our wardrobe is. If everyone did this simple task daily, imagine how our collective global view would change. Next up: Check
Foxconn’s iPhone Girl
the labels of your food and electronics. Visit GoodGuide.com or download the GoodGuide app on your smartphone. GoodGuide has a database of over 145,000 consumer goods and scores them based on three separate categories: health, environment and social responsibility. Encourage your city, county, church, school or university to source responsibly. Direct them to companies like Alta Gracia at www.altagraciaapparel. com or Sustain U at www.
THERE IS ONE THING YOU CAN BE SURE OF: WHOEVER MADE YOUR PHONE WAS SOMEONE’S MOTHER OR FATHER, SISTER OR BROTHER, DAUGHTER OR SON.
sustainuclothing.com, which produces 100-percentrecycled apparel made in the United States. The resource page of SweatFree.org is also a great place to find other companies committed to fair working conditions. Wear a story and become a brand champion. Share the tale of your favorite brands, the awesome products they make and the lives of the producers they impact. Try not to leave the house without wearing at least one product you believe in.
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poverty, not a cause, and banning them closes off one route out of poverty.” I’m not so sure about Kristof ’s assessment that working in a sweatshop is a route out of poverty. It might be for some, but working in a garment factory wasn’t a route out of poverty for any worker I’ve ever met. A job at a sweatshop might be the best of a host of not-great opportunities, but it rarely does more than keep people just on the edge of extreme poverty. Kristof claims developing countries need more sweatshops. But I disagree. Developing countries need more jobs that allow parents to send their kids to school. The garment industry has the huge—and relatively untapped— potential to fight the core issue here. One brand changing lives is Alta Gracia, a brand manufactured in the Dominican Republic that makes T-shirts and sweatshirts for university bookstores across the country. They pay their workers a living wage—which happens to be
three times the average wage at other such factories in the country. Furthermore, Alta Gracia’s union regularly receives visitors at the factory and has Skype calls with American students. The Worker Rights Consortium, an independent factory monitor, also regularly visits the factory and checks the pay records at least once per week. “It’s a noble effort, but it is an experiment,” says Andrew Jassin, co-founder of Jassin Consulting, an apparel industry consultant, of Alta Gracia’s efforts in a New York Times story printed in mid-2010. “There are consumers who really care and will buy this apparel at a premium price, and then there are those who say they care, but then just want value.” You’re a consumer. Do you care? As I travel around the United States chatting with students, they usually respond to this question with a guiltridden “no.” And unfortunately, it’s true. Most of us don’t care. We shop mindlessly, basing our decisions on whatever fashion sensibilities we have and whatever we can afford. But I strongly believe we could care—and that we would care, if we can better bridge the divide between producer and consumer. The proof is in the resurgence of farmers’ markets and handmade crafts and the website Etsy.com, where you can buy handmade crafts directly from the person who made them. If you buy an ear of corn from farmer Dave out on State Route 32 or a necklace handmade by a jewelry-maker in a neighboring county, you tell the story of where and who it came from when you serve that corn or give that necklace as a gift, right? In the same way, we need to be engaged consumers who research and tell the stories of our stuff—who learn where it comes from and the social and environmental impact it has. We need to communicate to companies that we don’t just care about the quality and price of the stuff we buy, but also about the quality of life the people who make it have. Our iPhones and underwear provide real people with real jobs, and they sacrifice a lot to have those jobs: time away from family, the occasional workplace hazard and sometimes even bribes to get those jobs in the first place. Was your phone made by workers who were treated right? It’s hard to say. But there is one thing you can be sure of: Whoever made your phone was someone’s mother or father, sister or brother, daughter or son. The real person behind our phone is not Siri, but “iPhone girl.” When we recognize there are actual people with actual hopes, dreams and personalities behind the stuff we buy, we can’t help but care whether their jobs pay them a living wage that allows them to reach those dreams.
KELSEY TIMMERMAN is a writer who focuses on globalization, travel, the outdoors, adventure and what it means to be a Touron (moron + tourist) in worlds of clashing cultures. He is the author of Where Am I Wearing? which was recently re-released with updates on the lives of the workers and two new chapters about searching for the worker in Honduras who started it all.
WAXING POETIC ON FINDING CONTENTMENT, LEARNING FROM HIS ELDERS AND FINDING HIS PLACE IN LIFE. (OK, NOT REALLY.)
BY C ARL KOZLOWSKI
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fter seven years as a wildly popular cast member on Saturday Night Live, Andy Samberg finally decided to follow many of his fellow cohorts into the wild world of movie-making. But after being panned by critics in 2007 with his first starring role in Hot Rod and being forced to work his way up the ladder again through colorful
supporting roles, Samberg has covered his bases wisely. First, in June, he co-starred with his comedic hero Adam Sandler in the raunchy R-rated comedy That’s My Boy, a cartoonish film in which Samberg seemed to be the only actor attempting to bring a tinge of realistic human behavior to the screen. But it’s his role in this summer’s Celeste and Jesse Forever (a crowd favorite at the Sundance Film Festival in January) that’s giving Samberg his chance to show some acting chops—both comedically and dramatically.
In Celeste, Samberg plays Jesse, a 30-yearold living in Los Angeles who is attempting to stay best friends amidst a divorce with his wife, Celeste (played by Rashida Jones of Parks and Recreation, who also co-wrote the film with fellow co-star Will McCormack). Celeste is a driven career woman, while Jesse drifts through life as a stoner and stays in her guest house—until he finds out he’s the father of another woman’s baby and has to decide which relationship he wants. Here, Samberg offers his thoughts on both summer roles, missing SNL and his co-stars.
What was it like for you to tackle drama with Celeste and Jesse Forever?
I knew I could do comedy parts, but it was a little bit of a crapshoot. But Rashida is my friend, and I felt taken care of and encouraged through the whole process. The first week or so, I’d be asking “Was that good?” because no one was laughing. But I came to learn that drama is the opposite of everything I’d known. That’s when you know it’s not working in drama—when people laugh.
On SNL, you got immediate feedback on performances from the audience, but it's different with film. How did it feel to take a risk on the project in that way? I had guys and girls [after watching Celeste and Jesse Forever] come up to me, saying, “We relate to it.” And Rashida had a group of young twentysomething women come to her crying after Sundance, and that alone made it feel it was worth doing—if you could have real people connect with it. I read a lot of scripts, and this felt unique, so I knew I had to do it.
A lot of shocking moments in Celeste and Jesse Forever don’t make your character very likable. How did you feel about playing a jerk?
Making the protagonist unsympathetic sometimes is what makes it interesting. The reason I personally related to the script was because he was complex and real. It was a satisfying experience creatively. I learned I would do something more serious again as an actor.
How would you describe the balance between comedy and drama in this film?
In this film, we had conversations while shooting in which keeping it funny and fun was a constant act of discussion. This can’t get to be too much of a bummer or we’ll make everyone want to walk out of theater.
“WHEN YOU SEE SOME COMEDIAN OR SKETCH OR MOVIE THAT FEELS LIKE IT WAS JUST DONE FOR YOU, IT’S MAGIC.” What was the inspiration for playing Adam Sandler’s son in That's My Boy?
We got some looks when we were out filming, that’s for sure. We knew each other the last three years. Our names are similar and looks are similar. The Judaism is quite similar—loose, but there. The script was there, and then I realized if ever there was a chance to play with Sandler, this is it.
How did it feel to leave SNL after such a long run?
It was extremely sad and emotional for me, but I also felt it was the right time. Not really due to any project, but more that I was seven seasons in and the videos were demanding to get done consistently well. And the two guys I worked with were gone and having to come back and help me. I had to prioritize and free them up too.
What were you like as a kid—a huge fan of comedy?
I watched SNL and wanted to be on it since I was 8. When Adam [Sandler] came on the show, I remember the moment I thought, “That’s my guy.” [It] was when he did Halloween characters on Weekend Update: “I’m Handsome Guy.” When you see some comedian or sketch or movie that feels like it was just done for you, it’s magic. Then when he did the first couple movies, like Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, I literally memorized every line. I’d walk around town listening to a tape of the movie’s sounds if I couldn’t find a TV to watch it on. So [working with him] was a dream come true.
What did you learn from working with Sandler?
He’s not just an actor, but a writer and producer. To watch him have this whole team assembled and be so loyal to them film after film—it creates a family feeling, the way it is at SNL, where everyone knows each other, respects each other and has an easy sort of rapport and understanding.
Some might say That’s My Boy goes to real extremes to get laughs. Do you agree? That depends on your palate, I suppose. Guess it tastes different for everyone.
Now that you’re off the show and have a few movies under your belt, what’s next?
Obviously I hope to keep doing movies and make another record with [my comedy group] Lonely Island, but in general, I just want to be happy. You have to be happy outside the entertainment industry, and then it takes care of itself. If success happens, it happens.
[EVERYBODY LOVES ANDY]
Adam on Andy “I love him, and we got tighter and tighter. He’s kinda similar to me, but a little better, smarter and a little better-looking. Andy can turn his head and you’d still say, ‘I like that.’ He’s a hard worker with comedy chops. He gave me good stuff and good lines in the movie. He’d stay in his trailer writing jokes for me. Whatever he wants to do with his future is gonna happen. I was obsessed at his age with kicking a**, but he’s more balanced. He wants a good life, and he’ll have a good life, as well as kicking a**.”
Rashida on Andy “Andy is perfect. His likability factor was such a huge help to us because you buy so much. He’s likeable, loveable, fun. You wanna be friends with him. You can drop him in the middle of a story and like him. Any time something gets too dark and I need a joke in life, or if it’s too light and I need some dark—this movie needed both kinds of bittersweetness, and Andy’s the one who brought it.”
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ON HIS NEW ALBUM, NEW SON AND LEADING A NEW ERA OF HIP-HOP BY TYLER HUCKABEE
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LECRAE IS NERVOUS, HE HIDES IT WELL.
Nobody would blame him for a few jitters. He’s become a major player in the new wave of Christian hip-hop. He has a new album, Gravity, releasing September 4, and it ’s poised to take his spectacularly consistent delivery of faith-laced rap to exponentially bigger crowds. But he talks about it with an easy confidence—and, well, he has reason for that too.
Lecrae is at the forefront of a movement that mixes faith and hip-hop without weakening the integrity of either. In his first five albums—all from the label he cofounded, Reach Records—he rewrote the rules for Christian hip-hop like he never knew there were any. His 2011 offering, Rehab: The Overdose, nabbed the top spot on iTunes. His first mixtape, Church Clothes, was downloaded 100,000 times in 48 hours. And when he performed for BET’s Hip Hop Awards, his name started trending worldwide. It’s all for good reason. Lecrae’s faith themes come across forceful instead of forced. We talked with him about the integral role faith plays in his work, among other things, and how it will always be a part of what he does.
Did you expect your first mixtape, Church Clothes, to go over as well as it did?
I think I wanted it to be influential, but I didn’t know it was going to be so impactful. And when I say that, I knew it would influence a listener— like, if somebody was just sitting and tripping with it, it would be influential. But in terms of, like, the size of the impact, I had no idea. So that was kind of mind-blowing, just to see outside of Christian circles there being so much feedback and so much reception. It was crazy.
How’s your new album, Gravity, coming along?
I’m excited about the new album. I think the mixtape kind of set stuff up for me to transition as an artist and speak about some broader topics and paint some bigger strokes. And then, too, I’m excited about the production and just taking some risks on doing stuff I think will alter the soundscape and push the envelope.
Like, what kind of risks? What can your fans look forward to?
Well, one is definitely just being able to collaborate with bigger producers and doing some live instrumentation. I got a song with DJ Khalil, who’s done stuff for Jay-Z and Eminem, and I’m really excited about that. And just some artists and features I think will be really cool for people to see, like talking about some different topics and addressing some life issues I don’t think people get to hear about often.
Do you ever worry about alienating your old fans who expect you to stay a certain way?
No. I think as long as you don’t abruptly change gears on people, they grow with you. You have to be intentional and intentionally take them on the journey with you as you grow as a person. There was a time when I would never [have been] able to rap about children, but now that I’m a father, it’s kind of like I can talk about
it. But it’s a wise move maybe to say, “Hey,” in a song, “I’m expecting a child.” And then you turn around and they’re like, “Oh, he was expecting. Now he has one.” So it’s not, like, just all of the sudden, I’m doing songs about kids.
How’s fatherhood going for you?
Man, I love it. Man, you know, just me being a guy who didn’t really get to grow up with his father and didn’t really see what that looked like, it’s just a unique opportunity for me to set a new example. So, I’m excited about it.
Did you ever see yourself getting to the spot you are today when you started out?
No. Again, I always knew I wanted to be influential. I remember when I first started, I was listening to the radio, and this is, like, when Lil Jon was on every station, taking over the airwaves I just thought to myself, “Man, I love this sound, and it’s everywhere. But how come nobody is talking about some of the things I think are relevant to the culture with this kind of flavor, with this kind of music?” So I said, “I’ll do it. If I don’t hear it, I’ll make it.” So that’s always been my mindset. And I was influencing the guys in my community locally, so that was always my ambition. Now it’s just a broader scale.
Have you dealt with criticism?
Oh, absolutely. The criticism is never-ending. It’s 24 hours. And with social networking, it doesn’t go anywhere.
How do you deal with it?
You have to remind yourself and remember you’re not connected to all of it. You can grow from it—you know, if you listen to it with an open mind. But it’s not, like, a reflection on me as a person because they don’t know me in my entirety. So, I don’t look too deeply into it. Now, if it’s somebody who knows me and has been tracking with me, then their criticism matters a whole lot more. But from somebody who doesn’t really know my ambitions, my motives, my heart, it’s kind of face value. I may hear it a bit and maybe try to grow from it, but other than that, it’s like, “Eh. Keep it moving.”
“I JUST THOUGHT TO MYSELF, ‘MAN, I LOVE THIS SOUND ... BUT HOW COME NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS I THINK ARE RELEVANT TO THE CULTURE?’” What’s been the craziest part of your career so far? Every day, it’s something new. Consistently and continually, boundaries are crossed. I mean, honestly, it’ll go from me hanging out with a producer friend of mine who’s done stuff for a lot of mainstream hip-hop artists and him actually coming to faith, to getting a call from Bun B, who I grew up listening to, and him telling me he’s loving what I’m doing, to Malice from Clipse and I collaborating on music, to more recently being able to do some performances in the Apple store. I’m like, “Really?” So, I mean, every moment is kind of crazy—is just kind of a
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new step—and I’m just excited about the whole journey.
There’s a lot of hype about this new album coming out. Do you feel like there’s a lot of pressure on you to succeed?
I think so. I think there are those people who are expecting big things. But then, there’s a lot of people who have been tracking with me for so long that everything is a new milestone. They’re just as excited about every new opportunity. You know what I mean? So, it’s not like this consistent, “You’ve peaked, and this is what we always expect from you.” It’s kind of like, “Man, we were fine with the 400 people smashed into a little room, Lecrae. And so when it turns into 500, we’re excited.” And so, yeah, I don’t put that much unnecessary pressure on myself. I’m more excited about having a consistent voice in culture versus being a flash in the pan or just, like, one big moment. I want to be a consistent voice in the culture.
Do you ever get worried you’re going to get thrown into a box of being “the Christian hip-hop guy”?
Sometimes it’s just going to be inevitable. I think consistency is going to change that. If I’m consistently seen in different circles and outside of that box, then I think that will allow people to say, “OK, well, maybe he’s not just in this niche.” But one thing that’s never going to change is my zeal and my passion for my faith and my God. So, it’s probably going to always come up. My faith is always going to come up in conversation, I’m sure, because that’s something that defines me. But in terms of my music, over time, I’m sure people will see it as hip-hop and [think], “This guy is a Christian within hip-hop culture.”
Where do you see hip-hop as a genre going? How do you see it changing from the past 10 years to where it’s going now?
Well, it’s definitely more global. It transcends all cultures. So, you have people from all walks of life participating. It’s people from different contexts, so it’s not just the inner city. The suburbs are involved now. The country’s involved now. So, it’s widespread. And I think that’s perfect weather for somebody like me. It’s like people are open to hearing the voice of folks from all walks of life. And so I’m another voice, and I think that’s great for hip-hop right now. And I’m glad, too, people are getting back to skill. For a minute, it was just about the sound 64 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
Reach Records Round-Up Lecrae’s not Reach Records’ only rising rap star. Here’s some essential listening. Trip Lee Between Two Worlds Lee’s third album won the Stellar Award for Best Hip Hop Album in 2011. Tedashii Identity Crisis Nearly a concept album, Tedashii’s signature speed and versatility are apparent here. PRo Redemption True to its name, this album is the result of a deconstruction and reconstruction of faith. DOWNLOAD Lecrae’s uberpopular mixtape relm.ag/59lecrae
“ONE THING THAT’S NEVER GOING TO CHANGE IS MY ZEAL AND MY PASSION FOR MY FAITH AND MY GOD.” of stuff and just kind of the flash in the pan. But it’s getting back to, “Are you really skilled at your craft?”
You’ve got a lot of collaborations coming up this year, both on your own album and helping out some other people. Can you tell us more about that? Really, a lot of people have reached out. Every collaboration, for me, has to make sense. It’s got to be substantial and so, yeah, there’s some stuff I’m grateful for and I’m excited about. Obviously, any time people within the culture are reaching out for me to be a voice and connect, I’m excited. But I’m more excited about the relationships that are being built, more so than just the songs being crafted. And so, just getting time with veterans and guys like Saigon and Chamillionaire and Big K.R.I.T. has been good for me. It’s been fun for me to connect with them on a relational level.
Explain the Gravity album title. Where did that name come from?
Gravity is really just kind of a look at the weight—the reality—of life. Most people, when they look at life’s realities, they want to escape. It’s just, like, the cycle’s redundant: I wake up; I go to work; I go to bed. It’s just kind of this cycle. But when you really take a look at those realities, they make you long for something more. And that’s why movies like Avatar are exciting to people, because they long to be in a place like that. And that’s really what the album is about—how people long for a new reality. And I believe as a Christian, I have access to that new reality. And it’s not on this side of life, but it’s on the next side.
NOT YOUR PARENTS’ CHRISTIANITY The church your parents grew up in looks nothing like the spiritual landscape today. Although 80 percent of Americans claim to be Christian, only 48 percent are actual members who regularly attend church.
JESUS MAY STILL BE THE SAME, BUT HIS CHURCH ISN’T.
WHAT HAS CHANGED? WHY IS IT CHANGING? WHAT IS THE FUTURE—NOT ONLY FOR THE CHURCH BUT FOR CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA? JAMES WHITE www.churchandculture.org with Now in paper estions discussion qu
BILL EASUM
BILL TENNY-BRITTIAN www.effectivechurch.com
PHYLLIS TICKLE www.phyllistickle.com www.thegreatemergence.com
RICHARD SCHULTZ
PAUL COPAN
U
Relevant. Intelligent. Engaging.
Available wherever books and ebooks are sold. Like us on FB • Follow us on TT ReadBakerBooks • Baker Books blog: relligent.com
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WHAT’S THE POINT OF
AS POLITICAL AMBIVALENCE GROWS AMONG YOUNG ADULTS, WASHINGTON ROLLS ON AS USUAL. BUT WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE—ESPECIALLY YOUNG CHRISTIANS—TO TRUST POLITICS AGAIN? B Y J O N AT H A N ME R R I T T
a steamy Thursday in July, a handful of women cobble together in a room just outside of Atlanta, Ga. Some nestle into the couch; others have chosen a chair or a pillow on the f loor. They’re positioned in a circle, facing the center, as they engage in a study of the book of James. As each person discusses what they’ve learned in the weekly reading, they seem the perfect picture of an American church small group. Two girls, Sarah and Tiffany, sit next to each other and appear to be close friends. As one offers her thoughts on the biblical text, the other supports her with smiles and the occasional “Mm-hmm.” Though Sarah is a child of South Korean immigrants and Tiffany is African-American, you might assume they agree on most things. After all, they dwell in the same city, are both in their mid-twenties and share the common bond of faith. Indeed, they share many similarities. Except when it comes to politics.
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If the election were held today, Sarah says she would cast her vote for GOP candidate Mitt Romney. A University of Chicago grad with a degree in public policy, she counts immigration, the swelling size of government and the economy among the issues she cares most about. “I’ve become more conservative in the last four years as I’ve considered the issues,” Sarah says. “I can’t get away from the biblical idea of freedom and what the founding fathers envisioned for America.” Tiffany, on the other hand, would pull the lever today for Democratic incumbent Barack Obama. A chemist who considers herself a “conservative liberal,” the issues that matter most to her are education, women’s empowerment, religious freedom and the betterment of the black community. “I come from a Democrat family who is also pro-military,” Tiffany explains. “We know that Democrats are more for the middle class, and that’s what we are. Plus, we associate the Republican Party with middle-aged white people who don’t know what we need.” Despite their differing political perspectives, there are some notable commonalities. Both cringe at the phrase “anti-gay marriage.” They prefer to define their views as “pro-traditional marriage.” Both believe it’s important for politicians to share their religious beliefs. (Roughly 37 percent of Americans would say the same.) And they both hold a deep ambivalence toward the American political process. Sarah says she believes voting in national elections is futile but participates anyway, she says, “because it is one of my rights.” As a naturalized citizen, she refuses to let her idealism get stamped out by cynicism. Tiffany agrees, adding that lobbyists and elitist congressmen have corrupted the system. “Do politicians in Washington really relate to the single mother who has two mouths to feed? Are they looking out for children in schools who can’t read?” Tiffany asks, her voice rising. “I vote, but I don’t think it matters.” Sarah and Tiffany aren’t the only ones who feel this way. “Young adults are coming of age in a time when the political system is looking very paralyzed and partisan,” says Paul Taylor, vice president of Pew Research Center.
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“So a lot of them are shrugging their shoulders and not getting involved to begin with because of that.” According to a recent poll of 18-to29-year-olds by Harvard’s Institute of Politics, less than half of respondents said they would definitely be voting this fall, a decrease even from the past December. Perhaps such hopelessness toward the political process is the result of a political system where the elected seem to care so little for the electorate. When politicians—and their representative pundits—fight publicly like spoiled children, when society-altering bills pass without a smidge of bipartisan support—or even the support of a majority of Americans—“we the people” just doesn’t seem to count anymore. Or perhaps young Christian voters are as turned off by the political actions of the American Church as they are by the events happening in the political arena. In response to the cultural revolution of the 1960s and ’70s, evangelicals mobilized in the public square to, in their words, “take back our country for Christ.” For more than three decades, the Church has rushed headlong into political engagement through what have been labeled “the culture wars.” Pastors preach shrill, partisan sermons and invite candidates to campaign in their pulpits. Meanwhile, Christian lobbying groups lock arms with Washington powerbrokers and issue statements that contribute to the divisive rancor in the public square. Such efforts have marred the Church’s reputation, giving non-believers the impression that the body of Christ is little more than a political party with Jesus for its window dressing. It is this and more that’s contributed to twenty- and thirtysomething evangelicals’ disillusionment with the entire political process. And yet many young people want to make a difference, so they balance their disenchantment with a keen awareness that politics do matter. Though laws lack the power to change hearts and minds, a nation’s laws do affect its citizens—and the politicians people elect are the ones who craft those laws. “What God wants is Christians partnering to make every sphere of the creation look more and more like the Kingdom, and that includes government,” says James Smith, a philosopher and the author of Desiring the Kingdom, a book on the theology of culture. “So a robust Christian life is not apolitical.” What are Christians to do, then? They cannot conduct business as usual, but
THE UNBORN OBAMA President Obama strongly supports keeping abortion legal, except with regard to lateterm abortions, which he opposes unless in the case of severe risk to the mother’s life and health. “I think that most Americans recognize that this is a profoundly difficult issue for the women and families who make these decisions,” he said in a 2008 Democratic debate. “They don’t make them casually. And I trust women to make these decisions, in conjunction with their doctors and their families and their clergy, and I think that’s where most Americans are.” President Obama strongly supports widening access to contraceptives and increasing their affordability: “I support legislation to expand access to contraception, health information and preventative services to help reduce unintended pregnancies.”
ROMNEY Through 2005, Governor Romney had a pro-choice stance toward the unborn. In his 2002 campaign for governor, Romney said during a debate, “I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard.” Referring to the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in every state, Romney added, “I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, it should be sustained and supported. And I sustain and support that law and support the right of a woman to make that choice.” His current stance, from a 2011 op-ed in the National Review, is pro-life: “I am pro-life and believe that abortion should be limited to only instances of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. I support the reversal of Roe v. Wade, because it is bad law and bad medicine ... As president, I will support efforts to prohibit federal funding for any organization like Planned Parenthood, which primarily performs abortions or offers abortion-related services.”
VIEWS OF GOVERNMENT: “THE GOVERNMENT IS REALLY RUN FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL THE PEOPLE”
HEALTH CARE
AGREE
DISAGREE
OBAMA In 2010, President Obama signed into effect the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as Obamacare. The statute requires most adults not covered by an employer or government-sponsored insurance plan to maintain health insurance coverage or pay a penalty. People earning less than four times the poverty line will receive tax credits to subsidize their purchase of insurance. The statute also bars insurance companies from considering pre-existing conditions or gender in coverage decisions, requiring them to cover all applicants and offer the same rates regardless of health status or gender. Obama said in his 2012 State of the Union address, “I will not go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny you coverage or charge women differently from men. I’m a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more. That’s why our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a government program.”
ROMNEY In 2006, as governor of Massachusetts, Romney enacted the Massachusetts Health Care Insurance Reform law, mandating nearly every resident to obtain a stategovernment-regulated minimum level of health care insurance coverage. Governor Romney’s current stance is in opposition to the PPACA. He has promised to repeal the statute on his first day in office, if elected as president. “We are blessed with much that is good in American health care,” he says. “But we have taken a turn for the worse with Obamacare, with its high taxes and vastly expanded federal control over our lives. I believe the better course is to empower the states to determine their own health care futures.”
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I987 neither can they throw up their hands and run away. Is there another option? Is there a way for this generation of Jesus-followers to regain some faith in politics?
CHANGING OUR TONE
Plenty of families have a “no politics at the table” policy. And really, is there anything worse than a political debate over dinner? Well, perhaps a political debate on TV or talk radio. Those have a way of rankling even the most serene pacifist. But this is the world we live in—one where winning is everything and the speech of many has become harsh, angry, judgmental, threatening and confrontational. Nowhere was this more apparent than during the healthcare reform debates. Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) was booed for more than an hour and accused by one protestor of stuffing his pockets with lobbyists’ money. The office of Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) was defaced with a 4-foot swastika. At a North Carolina town hall meeting hosted by Democratic Rep. David Price, a fistfight broke out. In Phoenix, more than a dozen protestors carried firearms outside the convention center where the president spoke. If a liberal doesn’t like a conservative’s position, he calls the conservative “stupid,” “antiquated” or “bigoted.” If a conservative doesn’t like a liberal’s position, he calls the liberal “unpatriotic” or “anti-God.” Opponents of affirmative action are “racists,” pro-choice proponents are “baby-killers,” and those who hint at questioning gay marriage are “homophobes.” Conservatives
2OI2 are quick to compare modern events to Nazism and leaders to Hitler, while liberals blame abortion-clinic bombings on the pro-life movement. This reliance on exaggerated and reductionist sound bites almost never captures the nuance or subtlety of the issues being debated. “A lot of the reason for the political ambivalence of young people is the tone of public debate,” says Amy Black, associate professor of political science and chair of the department of politics and international relations at Wheaton College and author of Honoring God in Red or Blue. “What we hear in speeches, what we see in ads and what we hear from politicians about one another is scornful and disrespectful. They see pride. They see people who can’t get anything done. When we see so little work accomplished and so much anger and vitriol, it is easy to get disillusioned with the process.” A Public Agenda Research poll showed almost 80 percent of Americans believe lack of civility is a “serious national problem,” and more than 6 in 10 agreed social behaviors are ruder than in the past. Forty-nine percent of Americans say society’s negative tone is causing them to “tune out” government and politics. And when asked who was responsible for improving civility, nearly 90 percent pointed to the American public. Black believes incivility is one of the biggest problems in contemporary
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“I VOTE, BUT I DON’T THINK IT MATTERS.” —TIFFANY, A TWENTYSOMETHING CHRISTIAN
GAY MARRIAGE OBAMA
politics. She says Christians need to rise above the fray, if for no other reason than because of its negative effect on our public witness. “So much of politics, Christian or otherwise, is boastful or arrogant. It’s demonizing, hateful and hurtful,” Black says. “As Christians, we can be political while being humble. If we model Christian principles in the way we talk about these issues in public, we’ll model humility and grace instead of arrogance and disdain. And we’ll put forth an alternative to contemporary culture.” Rather than avoid politics at the table, Black believes Christians should find time for intentional conversations with those who hold opposing views from their own. Rather than stake a claim to an opinion and digging in, she encourages them to learn to listen. And when Christians feel they must disagree, they should do so amicably—without resorting to name-calling or mud-slinging, no matter how passionate they are about the issue at hand. Through changing our tone, perhaps we can begin creating a world that more resembles the Greek agora than the Roman Colosseum.
CHANGING OUR TACTICS
The only thing more destructive than the words coming out of our mouths is the divisive partisanship we’ve adopted along the way. I often joke that I was “raised right.” The phrase has a double meaning. I was blessed with two wonderful parents whose love was everpresent and who attempted to instill in me uncommon principles, such as discipline, generosity, respect for others and a love for Jesus. I was also raised in a home that was, in Southern-speak, as conservative as the day is long. Like most evangelical Christians, no one wondered what our election ballots looked like. Many Christians have either explicitly or implicitly communicated that
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faithfully following Jesus naturally leads to affiliation with a particular political party. During the Republican primaries, for example, both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich were invited to speak to an evangelical megachurch congregation about 20 miles from my home. The message of these Roman Catholic candidates was the same: America’s “secular left” is warring against religious persons, and Christians must band together to defeat them. The not-so-subtle inference is that God had a stake in this election—and we all know who He is pulling for. Of course, conservatives aren’t alone in this ploy. Liberal Christians are often equally complicit. In 1996, for example, when President Clinton wrestled in a vicious battle over the national budget, 15 prominent leaders from the progressive National Council of Churches traveled to Washington to meet with him in the Oval Office. As the meeting closed, Robert H. Bork reports in Slouching Toward Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline, they “laid hands on him” and prayed he would be “strong for the task” of opposing the Republican Congress. In 2008, Christian writer Donald Miller also jumped into the fray. Not only did he publicly endorse Barack Obama, but he campaigned for him. Touring with Obama’s “Faith, Family and Values Tour,” Miller emceed discussion forums in key battleground states. He charged that Republican stands on economic issues are “biblically suspect,” and he made a Christian case for voting for Barack Obama. And the legacy continues. Today, Derrick Harkins serves both as pastor of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and as the faith outreach director for the Democratic National Convention. When it comes to partisan politicking, it seems the Christian left is as guilty as the Christian right. But when the Church aligns itself with a particular party and adopts partisan tactics to accomplish its goals, the wild and untamable body of Christ is reduced to little more
President Obama has consistently supported civil rights for gay couples but until recently did not support gay marriage rights. In an August 2008 interview with Rick Warren, he said: “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God’s in the mix.” In a May 2012 interview, Obama stated that his views toward gay rights had evolved. “When I think about members of my own staff who are incredibly committed in monogamous relationships—same-sex relationships— who are raising kids together; when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is gone, because they’re not able to commit themselves in a marriage … It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”
ROMNEY Governor Romney’s stance on gay marriage and civil unions has remain unchanged since the start of his political career. He vehemently opposes both. During the 2012 GOP primary debate in New Hampshire, Romney stated, “When these issues were raised in my state of Massachusetts, I indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name. This decision about what we call marriage has consequence, which goes far beyond a loving couple wanting to form a longterm relationship. That they can do within the law now. Calling it a marriage creates a whole host of problems for families, for the law, for the practice of religion, for education. Let me say this: Three thousand years of human history shouldn’t be discarded so quickly.”
WIDENING PARTISAN DIFFERENCES
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IN POLITICAL VALUES: 1987-2012 16
PERSONAL FAITH OBAMA President Obama is a born-again Christian. At the 2011 National Prayer Breakfast, he spoke of Jesus in typical evangelical idiom— as his “Lord and Savior.” He also said, “I have fallen on my knees with great regularity ... asking God for guidance not just in my personal life and my Christian walk, but in the life of this nation and in the values that hold us together and keep us strong.” He begins each day with a brief Scripture reading and quotes frequently from the Bible. In 2011, he began the White House tradition of hosting the annual Easter Prayer Breakfast. When asked about his faith in a 2008 interview with Rick Warren, Obama stated, “Jesus Christ died for my sins, and ... I am redeemed through Him.” His chief spiritual advisor is Dr. Joel Hunter, pastor of Northland Church in Orlando, Fla.
ROMNEY Governor Romney is a devout and active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as a bishop in a Mormon church in Massachusetts in the 1980s. “I believe in my Mormon faith, and I endeavor to live by it,” he says. “My faith is the faith of my fathers. I will be true to them and to my beliefs.” Romney does not believe personal faith should be a factor in electing the president: “That idea that we should choose people based upon their religion for public office is what I find to be most troubling, because the founders of this country went to great length to make sure—and even put it in the Constitution—that we would not choose people who represent us in government based upon their religion, that this would be a nation that recognized and respected other faiths, where there’s a plurality of faiths, where there was tolerance for other people and faiths. I separate quite distinctly matters of personal faith from the leadership one has in a political sense. You don’t begin to apply the doctrines of a religion to responsibility for guiding a nation or guiding a state.”
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE POINT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS ON 48 VALUES QUESTIONS
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I987 than a voting bloc. And worse still, such partisanship drives away non-believers. Demographers have long warned of young people leaving churches in alarming numbers. According to a much-talked-about LifeWay Research survey, for example, 7 in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 who regularly attended church during high school said they quit attending by age 23. What’s been less clear is why they’re leaving. According to Notre Dame professor David Campbell and Harvard professor Robert Putnam, the increased fusion of faith and partisan politics appears to be at least partly to blame. He points to the statistical growth of “nones,” those persons who claim no religious affiliation. This group has historically comprised between 5 and 7 percent of the American population. In the aftermath of the Religious Right movement, however, when religion became increasingly partisan, the percentage began to rise. In the mid1990s, it reached 12 percent. By 2011, it was at 19 percent. And between 2006 and 2011, the rise in young people aged 18 to 29 who reported never having attended religious services was three times higher than the increase among those over the age of 60. Based on their analysis, Putnam and Campbell posit the growth of the “nones” is a reaction to partisan Christianity. If the Church continues to align with political parties—left or right—they may literally find themselves only preaching to the choir. What is the alternative? According to Smith, Christians should cultivate what he calls “principled independence.” “We need to have a sanctified concern for the common good, but we must keep partisan politics at enough of a distance that you don’t get sucked in and end up confusing the Kingdom with a party platform,” he says.
2OI2 We may learn a lesson here from C.S. Lewis. In 1951, Prime Minister Winston Churchill offered Lewis the title of Commander of the British Empire. But Lewis refused the honor, responding, “I feel greatly obligated to the Prime Minister and so far as my personal feelings are concerned this honour would be highly agreeable. There are always, however, knaves who say, and fools who believe, that my religious writings are all covert anti-Leftist propaganda, and my appearance in the Honours List would of course strengthen their hands. It is therefore better that I should not appear there.” Lewis wanted to reach as many people as possible through his teachings and his writings. He knew even appearing to align with a partisan political agenda would limit his impact. So he turned down a high honor offered by a distinguished political leader. American Christians today must likewise avoid giving the impression that Jesus rides the back of a partisan donkey or elephant. Christians must stop allowing politicians to turn churches into campaign stops. When pastors and leaders blur the lines, congregants should express their desire that the Church be a place where both red and blue Christians are welcome.
CHANGING OUR TRAJECTORY
In order for partisan movements to be successful, they must be focused. Those on the Right often zero in on limiting the size of government, protecting religious liberties and opposing abortion and gay marriage. The Left often centers on social programs, caring for the poor and matters of equality. These tightly
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defined agendas allow opposing factions to concentrate their energies and finances in order to effect change. But this approach also has a massive downside in a two-party system—namely, when the pendulum of power swings toward a particular political party, a few issues receive attention while others fall by the wayside. Young people, including Christians, are waking up to the inadequacies of focusing exclusively on a handful of issues. Most are still conservative on many issues. For example, the great majority of young Christians still believe abortion should be illegal in most or all cases. But they are also passionate about other matters often forgotten by their forbears. The widespread availability of the Internet and increasing ease of modern travel has allowed young people to witness global tragedies firsthand. Young Christians are more likely to take mission trips than older ones. They know what kind of problems aff lict those who reside outside America’s “God-blessed” borders. They’ve been assaulted by the world’s ills—poverty, hunger, genocide, disease, environmental degradation— and can’t ignore them. Should we fight for the lives of the unborn? Absolutely. But can Christians afford to ignore the 3 million already living who will die from preventable, water-related diseases this year? What about the 1.2 billion people without access to safe drinking water? And what of the tens of millions of orphans crying out from filthy beds in musty orphanages or the more than 1 million Africans who will unnecessarily die of malaria in the next 12 months? When Christians embrace a wide range of issues, they find themselves on the Right sometimes and on the Left at others. “What God desires for creation is much bigger than party platforms,” says Smith. “If Christians realize their energy should be motivated by God’s vision of shalom for all of creation, then they’ll naturally grow beyond the narrow focus of either party.” This also means Christians have to educate themselves more fully. Rather than rely on politicians or media
commentators to say which issues are most important, Christians need to do the research. This means searching out reasonable, non-partisan sources of information and biblical truth to make an informed decision. This also means paying attention to local issues, not just national ones.
IT BEGINS WITH US
As election season enters full-bore in the next two months, an unspoken angst settles in among young Christians—in church, at small groups, in their homes. Regardless of political affiliation, those gathered believe we can do better, as a country and as a people. But they fail to see a way forward—a path to productive political engagement that transcends the noisy, emotional, irrational, angry and unproductive disaster we currently call the American public square. Treading such a path is not easy. It means moving beyond the ballot box and getting involved in the needs of our communities. Christians need to be first in line to volunteer at food pantries and pregnancy resource centers. They must become public school tutors and immigration counselors. When Christians work with real people and engage real problems, they’ll both incarnate the views they claim to hold and gain understanding about how politics impacts real lives. It’s one thing to talk about politics; it’s another thing to get involved on the ground. Is there a way for this generation of Jesusfollowers to regain their faith in politics? The answer is yes, yes—a thousand times, yes. But to borrow the now-cliché quote often misattributed to Ghandi, they must be the change they wish to see in the world. Young Christians cannot let disenchantment with the political system or the failures of their forbears push them away from the public square. It must instead propel them to develop a different way of engaging the world around them. Imagine a world where people with deep disagreements can sit at a common table and speak without shouting—or better yet, listen to each other. Envision a world where the Church refuses to align itself with either political party and instead provides followers with a framework to make informed and Spirit-guided decisions. Visualize that reality and then ask yourself, “Would you rather live there?” Yeah. Me too.
JONATHAN MERRITT (@jonathanmerritt) is the author of A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars and has written more than 350 articles in outlets such as USA Today, The Washington Post and The Atlantic.
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THE ECONOMY OBAMA “It’s time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: No bailouts, no handouts and no copouts. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody. Let’s never forget: Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that does the same.”
ROMNEY “Job and income growth can only come from a growing, successful private sector. Of course, government can create innumerable public sector jobs, but in doing so, it supplants the private sector and ultimately depresses the prosperity of its citizens. A pro-job, pro-prosperity government works to create the conditions that enable businesses of all sizes to grow and thrive.”
IMMIGRATION OBAMA “I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. That’s why my administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That’s why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office.”
ROMNEY “We welcome legal immigration. This is a party that loves legal immigration. But we have to stop illegal immigration.”
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N.T. WRIGHT DISMANTLES FIVE COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
IT
has been slowly dawning on me that there is a fundamental problem deep at the heart of Christian faith and practice as I have known them—we have forgotten what the four Gospels are about. Yes, they’re about Jesus. But what exactly are they saying about Jesus? Why did Jesus live? Would it have made any difference if, as the virgin-born Son of God, He had been plucked from total obscurity and crucified, dying for our sins, without any of this “middle matter” happening? I have realized that many Christians read the Gospels without ever asking those questions. So, what have the churches normally done with the “middle”—all the mass of rich material that the Gospels offer us between Jesus’ birth, or at least His baptism, and His trial and death? The Church’s tradition has, it seems, offered at least five different types of answers. But none correspond very closely to what the four Gospels actually talk about.
GOING TO HEAVEN
The first inadequate answer is that Jesus came to teach people how to go to heaven. This is, I believe, a major and serious misunderstanding. For many centuries, Christians in Western churches have assumed the whole point of Christian faith is to “go to heaven,” so they have read everything in the Bible in that light. To a man with a hammer, all problems appear as nails. To readers interested in post-mortem bliss, all Scriptures seem to be telling us how to go to heaven. But as we shall see, they aren’t and don’t. Think of the Lord’s Prayer, which comes at the center
of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7. At the center of the prayer itself, we find Jesus teaching His followers to pray that God’s Kingdom might come and His will be done “on earth as in heaven.” The “Kingdom of heaven” is not about people going to heaven. It is about the rule of heaven coming to earth. When Matthew has Jesus talking about heaven’s Kingdom, Jesus means that heaven—in other words, the God of heaven—is establishing His sovereign rule not just in heaven but on earth as well. Another expression that has routinely been misunderstood in this connection is “eternal life,” which in modern English has regularly been used to point to a heavenly destination somehow outside time and probably outside space and matter as well. Yet this is not how ancient Jews understood time. They believed there were two “aions” (we sometimes use the word “eon” in that sense): the “present age” and the “age to come,” the second of which would arrive one day to bring God’s justice, peace and
healing to the world as it groaned and toiled within the “present age.” To the ancient Jews, God’s great future purpose was not to rescue people out of the world but to rescue the world itself, people included, from its present state of corruption and decay. Among the various results of this misreading has been the earnest attempt to make all the material in Jesus’ public career refer somehow to a supposed invitation to “go to heaven” rather than to the present challenge of the kingdom coming on earth as in heaven.
JESUS’ ETHICAL TEACHING
People in our culture, both inside and outside the Church, regularly invoke the Sermon on the Mount as a kind of manifesto—I have seen it recently set alongside the American Declaration of Independence and Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto—setting out Jesus’ vision for what a really good human life might look like. The assumption, then, is that Jesus came as a great teacher whose career was unfortunately cut short by people who didn’t like what He was saying. For us, “teaching” often implies the imparting of ancient wisdom, perhaps with a new spin but still according to a standard syllabus. But what Jesus was announcing was something much bigger, something far more startling. Jesus was announcing that a whole new world was being born, and He was “teaching” people how to live within that whole new world. We can only understand the point of the “teaching” when we understand the larger picture of what Jesus was doing. Without that larger picture, the notion of “teaching” can easily collapse into the standard popular picture of Jesus as one of the world’s great religious teachers, alongside Buddha, Muhammad and so on. Most Christians today would, I suspect, see straight through that reductionism. But would they know what to put in its place? In the Gospels, Jesus is undoubtedly a great moral teacher and exemplar. But He is much, much more.
JESUS, THE MORAL EXEMPLAR
The idea of Jesus as “teacher” is therefore sometimes elaborated further, and Jesus is seen as “moral exemplar.” Most people have accepted the Gospels’ portrait of Him as embodying that mixture of wisdom, love, holiness and truth that He was urging as the proper standard for human life. Jesus came, many have said, to “show us the way,” to “show us how it’s done.” But that’s part of the problem—just because I see someone, even Jesus, behaving in a particular way, that doesn’t necessarily RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 75
make it any easier for me to do so. If Jesus came either to teach or to model a perfect way of life, hoping people would then obey Him and copy Him, we would have to conclude that He was a striking failure. There is an element of imitation involved, as Paul speaks of in his letters; indeed, Paul tells the Corinthians to copy him because he is copying the Messiah (1 Corinthians 11:1). But Jesus is not simply “an example to copy,” but the one who is doing something new that will change the way things are for everybody else. Where He is going, He tells them, they cannot come. His task is unique. It
Some branches of Reformed theology have developed the notion that Jesus, in fulfilling the Mosaic law (see Matthew 5:17, where Jesus says that He didn’t come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them), acquired His own store of merit or “righteousness,” which He is then able to transfer, or “impute,” to those who believe in Him. It has therefore been assumed the life of Jesus contributes to this result: the “active obedience of Christ,” consisting of His sinless life and perfect keeping of the law, works in tandem with the “passive obedience of Christ,” that is, His suffering and death. Together, these constitute the “obedience” of Christ that is able to make sinners righteous (Romans 5:19). Again we have to say, if that’s what the Gospels were trying to tell us, they didn’t do a very good job of it. Indeed, the very striking moments when Jesus seems deliberately to flout the Sabbath law or to teach things like “all foods are clean” (Mark 7:19) ought to stop us in our tracks before we simply accept that Jesus, in any straightforward sense, “fulfilled the law.”
PROVING JESUS’ DIVINITY
Demonstrating the divinity of Jesus, I suspect, is what many Christians regard as the Gospels’ principal purpose. Yet even John, who brings his stage-setting prologue to its climax by speaking of the Word becoming flesh, does not make this the main strand in the story he is telling. John indeed tells us to look at Jesus and see the human face of God, but at once he goes on, as do all four Gospels, to tell us what this embodied God is now up to. In Jesus, John demonstrates, we see the living, human embodiment of the God of Israel returning at last to visit and redeem His people. My point here is not that the Gospels don’t think of Jesus as divine, but that this isn’t the primary thing. They presuppose it. It is the key in which they write their music, rather than the main tune itself. The point is not whether Jesus is God but what God is doing in and through Jesus. What is this embodied God up to? Even John, when he tells us at the end why he has been writing his gospel (see John 20:31: “These are written so that you may believe ... ”), may not exactly be saying what later tradition has assumed he is saying, which is “that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God” (NRSV). This is a much more subtle, interesting sentence than most readers have assumed. First, the phrase “son of God” is clearly a messianic title to John, as in Psalm 2. But second, the Greek should be read with the emphasis reversed: “that you may believe that the Messiah, the son of God, is none other than Jesus.” This Jesus, in other words—not someone else—is the Messiah; in this man, and in Him alone, we see the way the living God is establishing the Kingdom spoken of in Psalm 2. And if Jesus is the Messiah, then
IN THE GOSPELS, JESUS IS UNDOUBTEDLY A GREAT MORAL TEACHER AND EXEMPLAR. BUT HE IS MUCH, MUCH MORE. cannot be reduced to that of the great man showing His followers how it’s done. Like the other suggestions we are reviewing, this one has a modicum of truth but fails to come anywhere close to a satisfying account of the whole.
JESUS, THE PERFECT SACRIFICE
Since it is Christ’s sacrificial death that enables our sins to be forgiven, and since in the Old Testament the sacrifice must be pure and without blemish, it was necessary that Jesus’ life should be sinless so that His sacrifice would be acceptable to God. Indeed, the idea of Jesus as the sinless sacrifice is clearly present in early Christianity (John 8:46; cf. Mark 10:18). But do the Gospels make this link? 76 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
His public career and death—and not some other way—is how Israel’s God is accomplishing and establishing His Kingdom on earth as in heaven. Far more than demonstrating Jesus’ divinity, John has written this book to show that it is in Jesus that Israel’s God has done what He promised He would do in and through Israel’s anointed king and has, in this way, revealed fully and finally who He himself actually is. To speak of Jesus’s divinity without speaking of His Kingdom coming on earth as in heaven is to step into detached spirituality— almost a form of Gnosticism—that the early church firmly rejected. Only when the story the Gospels are telling is fully integrated with the dogmas the creeds are teaching can we be sure we are on track.
THE ANSWER WE FORGOT
The result of all this is that the Gospels are so rich in material of all sorts that their underlying emphasis has been quietly but thoroughly overlooked. We are left with a series of displacement activities. The church has said: (a) we know the Gospels are important, because they are the inspired apostolic witness to Jesus; and (b) we know what is important in Christian theology, namely, the divinity of Jesus and His saving death or His moral teaching and example; so (c) we assume that is the primary message of the Gospels. In fact, the four Gospels are trying to say this is how God became king. We have forgotten this massive claim almost entirely. Since we cannot stop reading the Gospels without ceasing to be proper Christians, we have developed all kinds of strategies for making alternative sense of the Gospels and so screening out the dangerous and challenging picture they are actually sketching. All these proposals have been advanced quite seriously, but they have gone to them with the wrong questions. The challenge now is to accept that we have all misunderstood the Gospels and to set about finding ways in which we can put this right. It is time for a fresh look at our central texts. N.T. WRIGHT is one of the world’s leading Bible scholars. He is the chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews and the award-winning author of numerous books, including After You Believe, Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian, and The Challenge of Jesus. Adapted from How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels. Copyright © 2012 by N.T. Wright. Reprinted with permission by HarperOne, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.
BY TYLER HUCKABEE W I T H J O H N TAY L O R
THE XX HAVE PROVEN THEY CAN MAKE A GREAT ALBUM. NOW THEY'RE OUT TO MAKE A REAL ONE.
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IT’S
a late, dingy night in Brussels, Belgium, and Oliver Sim—one-third of the xx—is trying to let go. More specifically, he’s trying to let go of his band’s just-completed album, Coexist. It’s sounding like a tough process. “We actually finished it a couple of times,” Sim says, with the frustration that suits an artist. “But we’re actually sitting back and letting it go. It’s mixed and mastered. It’s done. It’s a great feeling.” And then, as if second-guessing himself, he adds, “It’s hard to do, just truly accepting ...” He pauses, choosing his words carefully. “I just don’t want to be listening back to a record that we made in years to come and wishing that we had changed things.” This perfectionist instinct sounds nitpicky, but it might be what separates the xx from legions of other acts that, from a distance, share their aural flavor. The xx might be in London’s burgeoning indiepop scene, but they’re not of it. The band’s approach is more calculated than you’d believe possible from members not yet of legal age to rent a car. It’s patient. So, Sim can be forgiven for sounding like he’s on a bit of a emotional roller coaster at the moment. Releasing an album is an event the xx clearly takes more seriously than most. “I’m just making sure that I’m happy with everything. And, at the same time, just accepting that we’ve captured a moment and knowing that it’s the best we can do right now. If I listened to the first record, there’s definitely stuff I can change, but I know I wouldn’t, because I realize that’s kind of in-the-moment.”
COXXISTING
The xx first made waves in 2009, when their single, “Crystalised,” turned heads sharp enough to snap necks. It sounded like a distinctly modern take on everyone’s favorite parts of the UK’s underground music scene. There were hints of Interpol in the moody guitars, but it was Interpol by way of Aaliyah: paranoid, rhythmic, wrapped up in itself and beset with twitchy pop flourishes. The backbeat had a danceable quality to it, which mercifully kept the whole affair from getting too somber. When their self-titled debut landed, they proved “Crystalised” had not been a lark. The rest of the album was set with similar shoulder-shimmying grooves, nimble bass lines and the intriguing, opaque, calland-response interchanges of Sim and his
childhood friend and fellow vocalist, Romy Madley Croft. This back-and-forth between Madley Croft and Sim on their debut album lent the xx a pinch of drama, which never served any band’s publicity ill. The in-song exchanges are intimate, bracing, invariably romantic and, according to Sim, entirely fabricated. “Our work has always been very separate,” he says. “It’s almost been like two solo artists working and then coming together and collaging.” It proved a succesful enough process on the first album, but for Coexist, the duo has chosen a decidedly more intimate songwriting method. “I suppose the way we worked [on the first record] was quite like a slow process,” Sim says. “We would send emails, and I would wait for a reply. Maybe it would come the next day or a few days later. And the collaging ... it took a while. “But on this record, we went into a room with nothing, and we wrote. We talked it through, and just ... ” He trails off, then clarifies. “Romy’s my best friend. She knows me better than anyone else in the world. But to be that upfront and talking about what we were doing was a pretty scary thing for me. But it was amazing.” The new approach sped up the writing process, to be sure—a boon for any band trying to capitalize on critical buzz from its previous album. But the benefits of writing songs together in the same room go deeper than an abbreviated timeline. “I guess it made more of a dialogue than ever. In our old songs, I feel a kind of disjointedness. But on this record, the first time I actually address Romy—there’s a song we sing to one another—it makes it more of a dialogue.” Which might dash any ideals fans held of the xx’s debut having been a Tuskian chronicle of interband romantic tension. But it certainly whets the appetite for exactly what sort of dialogue one can expect from Coexist. In short, it will actually be a dialogue.
GREAT XXPECTATIONS
The xx formed while its members were in high school, attending London’s Elliott School (the same school that produced Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet). Sim and Madley Croft recorded as a duo for a few years and then recruited Baria Qureshi and Jamie Smith once they started booking gigs. Qureshi left the same year the band released xx, but Smith has evolved into an integral
part of the band, even lending a songwriting hand on Coexist—a fact toward which Sim displays unreserved enthusiasm. “Very creative, and very inspired,” Sim says of Smith. “He’s also more of a technical mind. He has a very good understanding of structure, and, I suppose, just bringing an element of order to each song.” Which doesn’t necessarily mean Coexist is a more orderly album than xx was. In fact, Sim is hesitant to make any sweeping pronouncements about the band’s sophomore submission. “I’m trying to work out how I view this album,” he admits. “Is it lighter? Darker? More positive? I don’t know.” Sim is, however, more aware of his own personal growth. “When we were writing the first record, I was 15! It was a case of writing about my observations in other people’s relationships around me. “It’s been a lot more personal this time around. I found my writing quite therapeutic. When I came home [from touring for the first album], it was a great release to write.” That release, and its newly personal element, are evident on “Angels,” the sophomore album’s first single. The melody is more immediately pretty than anything on the debut album, but there is a Radioheadesque nerviness to its backbeat. When Madley Croft sings of being “as in love with you as I am” to the object of her affection, the ominous snare rolls invite the possibility of her knowing the request is doomed, offering a layer of tragedy and subtley not found on the debut album at all—and there’s no mistaking it’s a sadness wraught from anything but the most personal of experiences. But the more personal an experience, the broader the appeal. “The biggest thing I take from music is being able to escape,” Sim says. “I think that’s why I write love songs—it’s something that I see as being very universal.” A bit later, when asked if there’s a happy song on the new release, Sim admits, “I think with this album, we’ve written some of our happiest songs. On the other side of coin, I think we’ve written some of the darkest. I don’t think it’s disjointed. I just think it’s bit more of a journey.” WATCH The video for “Angels,” the first single off Coexist. relm.ag/59-the-xx
RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 79
KINGDOM
LIVING
FROM THE
MIDDLE OF NORMAL BY KELLI B. TRUJILLO
lives—intentionally chooses to live—in a low-income part of his city and works in fulltime urban ministry. Kaitlyn engineers clean-water wells in Africa. Jerome runs an organic, sustainable farm in the country. Amanda works undercover in Cambodia to expose human trafficking. These four are committed to justice. To mercy. To the adventure of following God’s call, wherever that may lead. But then there’s the rest of us. Most Christians spend their days in cubicles, clocking 9-to-5 hours in less-thaninspiring jobs. Their days are consumed with classes, with studying, with worries about finding employment after college—and the occasional bit of sleep. What about those Christians living typical
TY
80 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
lives in American suburbia who care deeply about living intentionally, too? They’re inspired by the far-flung adventures of people like Ty, Kaitlyn, Jerome and Amanda. But the fact is, their realities are pretty ... well, normal. There are plenty of Christians who have followed God, and His call seems to have landed them smack-dab in the middle of “average” and “unexciting.” What can it mean to live with intention inside that seemingly mundane calling—to embody the radical values of Jesus’ Kingdom in the context of everyday life, whether that be on campus, in suburbia or within the doldrums
of an office cubicle? Is it possible to reject the alluring apathy of normal life and embrace a spiritually driven intentionality that redefines it?
JUST CHOICES, RIGHT WHERE WE ARE
Let’s start with how impact happens. “Sometimes we think injustice cannot be fought unless we scream from the rooftops, make a YouTube video, print a thousand T-shirts, trend on Twitter or become synonymous with a certain project,” says Erina K. Ludwig, author of Unnoticed Neighbors: A Pilgrimage Into the Social Justice Story. “But I really think it’s the small, slow-burning actions that can make a difference.” Each day, every single person is faced with countless decisions that may seem small or insignificant, but these choices provide endless opportunities to embody biblical justice. Hidden behind the guise of “normal” are lifestyle choices that significantly impact some of the world’s most critical issues: slavery, sex trafficking, cycles
of poverty, environmental degradation and more. Choosing justly when presented with small, daily choices can transform our inertia into purpose and our malaise into mission, rendering the mundane miraculous.
SLIM DOWN TO THE ESSENTIALS
Today’s culture is obsessed with possessing. There’s always a push to get more and more. We guiltlessly consume and waste. We cram our time full of too many stress-inducing commitments. In doing this, the temptation is to build the façade of an identity out of busyness and accessories. “Christian simplicity frees us from this modern mania,” Richard Foster writes in The Freedom of Simplicity. “Simplicity enables us to live lives of integrity in the face of the terrible realities of our global village.” Jesus’ example and teachings invite His followers into a life free of the love of money and possessions, focused instead on a radically simple top priority: seeking first His Kingdom (Matthew 6:33). Carving out a more simple way of life frees Christians from the encumbrance of distractions and enables them to live more fully from a place of intention. In simplicity, the aim becomes finding true contentment in God and resisting the lure of consumerism—intentionally living on less rather than constantly seeking to have more. Unshackled from a disproportionate attachment to possessions, we are empowered to live with an open hand and ready willingness to give to those truly in need. Embrace the “three R’s”—reduce, reuse, recycle. This simplicity-driven commitment has profound ramifications. By reducing the amount you buy and consume, you will have greater means available to help those in real need. Furthermore, reusing possessions and recycling materials like paper, metal and plastic, rather than sending them to a landfill, not only reduces waste, but also proclaims that this created world is God’s and so are all the people who live in it (Psalm 24:1)—especially since the poor and vulnerable around the globe are often the most affected by pollution and environmental degradation. Godhonoring stewardship of the created world can transform the mundane act of taking out the trash into a spiritual act of worship, obedience and justice. Approach time counter-culturally. “Our lives are so perpetually busy,” Ludwig says. “If [we’re] not trying to pay back student loans, fixing our homes, keeping our sanity at work, then we’re keeping up with friends and others. We live in a non-stop culture.” This driven and hectic pace of life can spiritually distract you,
hustling you right past the needs of others by filling up your every spare moment with more to do and leaving little time to shift the focus from yourself to others. Prayerfully cutting back on commitments and notorious time-wasters—like too much TV-watching, video-game playing, or web-browsing—brings space for greater emotional and spiritual health and an increased availability for Kingdom causes. Simplicity frees you to literally have time to respond to a need, to meet with a person or to obey God’s leading in some other area.
GIVE UNTO OTHERS
“The first Christians were clearly and consistently generous in giving from their wealth and concerned to impact unjust social structures as well as to alleviate personal suffering,” writes New Testament scholar and Denver Seminary professor Craig L. Blomberg in Heart, Soul and Money: A Christian View of Possessions. Similarly for believers today, living with intentionality can mean impacting others’ lives through a lifestyle characterized by sacrifice, compassion and generosity. Sponsor a child. In addition to giving financially to your church and other local ministries, consider child sponsorship as a powerful way to pursue justice, combat poverty and make a difference in a real person’s life. “Child sponsorship is much more sacred than just paying a monthly bill,” says Amber Robinson, author of Mercy Rising: Simple Ways to Practice Justice and Compassion. As a child sponsorship advocate with Compassion International, Robinson maintains a close relationship with her sponsored child through regular correspondence. University of Florida senior Daniel Brandenburg has also supported a child for several years. “As a college student who pays for my own schooling, I know what it’s like to have no money,” he says, “but God has never failed to
provide enough for me to continue sponsoring my child. It’s an opportunity like no other to share Christ’s love and promote justice.” Child sponsorship involves much more than feeding an individual child. Organizations like Compassion International and World Vision impact local communities through education and development projects, ultimately seeking to break cycles of poverty in challenged areas as their sponsored children grow up to become leaders in their communities and local churches. Donate your “stuff.” Don’t be fooled—donating stuff from your kitchen and closet can be a significant act of generosity. Rather than sell your unwanted household goods and gently used clothing on Craigslist, in a garage sale or at a consignment shop, you can donate those materials where they’ll have the greatest impact. Give them to a domestic violence shelter, a ministry to the homeless or an organization that provides housing, like Habitat for Humanity. Give your time. Even those with an ultra-tight budget and few extra possessions can give generously of perhaps their most valuable resource: time. “Despite my hectic schedule,” Brandenburg says, “I’ve had the privilege of mentoring students at multiple high-need elementary schools for the past three years. In each of these cases, God has taken a small piece of my time and multiplied it into a relationship that means the world to a young student. Investing time in people can have an impact infinitely greater than just giving money to try to solve a problem.”
BE WISE ABOUT WHAT YOU BUY
“The Bible has a very constructive way to look at how we are to deal with the wealth we’ve been entrusted with: live simply, give generously and buy ethically,” says Nathan George, founder of Trade as One, a fair-trade organization that partners with churches to help Christians use their everyday purchasing power to provide jobs for the poorest of the poor. For those living “normal lives” in the richest nation on the planet, reevaluating purchasing decisions is one of the most significant and impactful ways to make a difference from the land of suburbia. Choose fair-trade goods. Galvanized by the powerful impact that providing meaningful work and dignified jobs has in transforming poor communities, George and the team at Trade as One are focused on providing easy opportunities for people to build justice and compassion into their everyday purchases through the purchase of fairtrade goods. Though fairly made products can at times be more expensive than their cheaply produced counterparts, the price you pay for fair-trade goods reflects the value of choosing to pay workers a dignified, living wage. Research product supply chains. Everyday purchases in the modern world of cheap prices and convenience can have serious ethical repercussions. “Most of us do not see human slaves,” Robinson explains, “but we do interact with clothes, food and other products that may have been produced with forced labor.” Robinson shares that she learns to avoids products likely made by workers in poor conditions who are paid little or nothing at all by visiting websites and downloading apps from organizations like Free2Work.org, Purchased.org, RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 81
THERE ARE PLENTY OF CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE FOLLOWED GOD, AND HIS CALL SEEMS TO HAVE LANDED THEM SMACK-DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF “AVERAGE” AND “UNEXCITING.” BetterWorldShopper.com and ChainStoreReaction.com. Like Robinson, you can intentionally give your business to companies concerned with ending slavery rather than those employing sweatshop tactics in production. Robinson also suggests that Christians “start small and pick one purchasing area to change,” noting that chocolate, coffee and shoes are products with notorious links to slavery or cheap labor—and for which there are clear, fair-trade options. Be selective of what you eat. Beyond the small luxuries of coffee and chocolate, the food you choose to eat at meals can have a profound environmental impact. Buying locally grown food and eating based on the season can mean less fuel is used and less pollution is emitted to bring that food to you. (It often means less cheap labor, as well!) Support nearby family farms with your dollars by frequenting local farmers’ markets or buying a share in a CSA farm—this will translate into the support of sustainable farming rather than industrial practices linked to chemical pollution of soil and water and significant topsoil loss. For some Christian foodies, a commitment to biblical environmental stewardship has led to a complete lifestyle shift, like becoming a vegetarian or a localvore (strictly eating only locally and seasonally). For others, it’s a less radical but still powerful decision to frequent the farmers’ market a bit more often, to plant summer tomatoes in pots on the apartment patio, or to forego unseasonal products (which often travel to one’s plate all the way from the Southern hemisphere) during cold winter months.
PRAY YOUR WAY FORWARD
Ultimately, a life of Kingdom intentionality is born out of prayer, not personal initiative—out of God’s transforming work in your soul, not your own determination. When 82 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
you’re connected to God in prayer, you can sense God’s nudging toward specific people, needs or ministries. You can also discern the specific passion or area of focus God may have for you—perhaps environmental stewardship efforts in your community or hosting a monthly film club to raise awareness about social issues or volunteering at a local pregnancy crisis clinic. Prayer keeps your motivations in check and your vision aligned with God’s Kingdom. “Without prayer, I can’t honestly love or even truly see those in desperate need,” Ludwig says. “But praying helps me stop and see and hear and listen and look and love those that God loves with a bursting, fantastical love.” “Prayer is essential to living a just life,” Brandenburg adds. “Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Embracing this simple prayer has taught me to imagine what the world would be like if the justice and mercy of heaven became a reality on earth. Nine times out of 10, when I pray this prayer, God points me toward some small thing I can do to make this world a little more just and a little more merciful.”
GIVE ... YOURSELF
If your days are spent in a “normal” job rather than full-time ministry; if your housing is average rather than radical; if your calling seems to be to a college classroom or a suburban neighborhood, rather than to a justice
mission or a small plot of organic farmland, you can still give yourself fully to God. Your seemingly small decisions to simplify, give, buy and pray coalesce to form a way of being—to build a life that is truly just, profoundly merciful and centered on walking humbly with God, right there in the middle of normal. “From a theological perspective,” says Trade as One’s George, “nothing is wasted in the Kingdom of God. A small boy’s lunch, when offered sacrificially to God, was used one time by Jesus to feed 5,000 people! Small sacrifices we make will be the building blocks of the new creation.” Making intentional choices in the context of everyday life isn’t about alleviating a sense of guilt or inadequacy or giving ourselves spiritual pats on the back in order to feel good. Ultimately, it’s driven by a life centered on the Gospel—a heart focused on knowing, passionately loving and ever-morefully committing to Jesus. “We love because he first loved us,” 1 John 4:19 says, which means Christians are called to live intentionally so their lives are driven outward for the sake of others. They are driven to show compassion when their own hearts are transformed by God’s compassion for them. Christ followers are able to foster helpful and healing relationships with the needy when they’re vibrantly growing in their own relationships with Christ. Christians stand for God’s justice, His mercy and His truth when they’re personally and intimately acquainted with God and sustained by His Spirit in their hearts—trusting Him to lead the way forward in giving themselves away, right where they are.
KELLI B. TRUJILLO is an author, editor and Midwest mom of three trying hard to eke out a just life smack-dab in the middle of her own version of normal. You can join her in conversation about spiritual formation at www.kellitrujillo.com.
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PERSECUTED
BUT PROSPERING AMIDST THE WORST PERSECUTION IN A CENTURY, WHY IS THE CHURCH IN SOUTHEAST ASIA FLOURISHING? BY TYLER CHARLES
84 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
P
ersecution is a foreign term to Christians in the United States. When asked about religious persecution, the first thing American Christians might imagine is the early Church— the Apostle Paul in prison or Stephen getting stoned. Others might think of modern-day Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey or another country in the Middle East. Or even violence in Africa—like the recent attacks in Nigeria that left more than 50 Christian worshippers dead in Easter bombings and more than 20 others shot and killed at a church service just weeks later. More often than that, they might think of persecution as something that happened long ago in countries far, far away. But persecution is happening right now, with much of it happening in countries that don’t draw much international media attention on the subject. So says Todd Nettleton, the director of media development for Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), a nonprofit committed to assisting persecuted Christians around the world
and serving as a bridge between the Church in the U.S. and the Church in “restricted” and “hostile” nations. VOM maintains a map on its website to indicate which countries are currently considered “restricted” or “hostile”—and their current list includes the overwhelming majority of Southeast Asia. “A ‘restricted nation’ is one where the government is doing the persecution (saying, ‘You can’t be a Christian’),” Nettleton says. “What we call a ‘hostile nation’ is one where, at least in theory, the government says it’s OK, but within the country there are significant people who are opposed to the Gospel and/ or attacking Christians.” Nettleton cites Indonesia as an example of a hostile nation—it’s a place where the government is not opposed to Christianity, but radical Islamic groups within the country attack Christians and burn down churches. Two or three times a year, Nettleton travels to countries where Christians are being persecuted. In the past year, among other places, he visited Vietnam and Laos. “In Vietnam, we met several types of people, including the wives of Christian pastors who are imprisoned. They’re allowed to visit their husbands once a year, and some of them are in prison for years,” Nettleton says. “We also worked with people of the Hmong tribe—a tribal group that is heavily persecuted for being an ethnic minority but also largely Christian.” Nettleton met a Hmong pastor who went out to evangelize in a village and took his wife with him. They were surrounded by a mob of people who started slapping them and saying, “We don’t want this foreign religion in our village!” “I asked this pastor if it was hard to see his wife being persecuted alongside him,” Nettleton says. “And he said one
of the most amazing things I’ve ever heard. He said, ‘We believe persecution is a blessing, so it was good we were together to experience that blessing.’” Nettleton also met with several pastors in Laos, where the church is often persecuted severely—a persecution that can include being kicked out of one’s village after becoming a Christian, even to the point of being driven out of the village in the back of a truck.
FULFILLING THE GREAT COMMISSION IN SPITE OF PERSECUTION
Bangladesh is one of the “restricted” nations on VOM’s map. One of the most discriminated regions of Bangladesh is the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), a trio of districts in the southeastern part of the country (bordering India and Myanmar) that is home to 11 indigenous ethnic groups. These districts have experienced decades of unrest, and the government has used a variety of tactics to allocate their land for other purposes.
“PEACE AND FREEDOM OF EVANGELISM IS NOT A PREREQUISITE TO THE GREAT COMMISSION.” —JAMES, A PASTOR IN BANGLADESH James (not his real name) is a well-educated pastor who was born and raised in the CHT. He has been involved in full-time ministry since 1997 and is committed to missions work, church-planting and evangelism within the CHT. But those efforts have been hindered by political and religious opposition. “It is extremely difficult to carry out any churchplanting right now,” James says. “Open evangelism is strictly prohibited. Just a few months back, I traveled to some remote villages to preach. I was followed and observed by the military sources. On my way back home, I was caught by military personnel and interrogated. And the unbelieving people who had received Jesus Christ were forced to return to their previous faith.” According to James, the Bangladesh government’s “Islamization policies” have made the situation in Bangladesh worse than ever before. Sixty years ago, only 1.5 percent of people living in the CHT were Muslim. Today, roughly 50 percent of the residents of CHT are Bengali Muslims. “The CHT indigenous people have already become a minority in our own homeland,” James says. “As the policy still continues, the CHT people will soon find themselves in a situation in which they will have no option but to either flee from the CHT or to embrace Islam or to go for RELEVANTMAGAZINE.COM / 85
unconstitutional struggle.” After a quarter-century of conflict in Bangaldesh, a peace accord was signed in 1997, supposedly recognizing the rights and freedoms of the indigenous people of the CHT. But since the signing of this agreement, James says human rights violations have increased in number. “Indigenous women are often raped by military forces or illegal Muslim settlers,” James says. “Activists of human rights and indigenous rights movements are often detained and tortured by military
[TAKE
ACTION]
Connect With the Persecuted Church Want to get up close and personal with the realities our persecuted brothers and sisters face every day? Write letters to Christians in prison through Voice of the Martyr’s ministry website, PrisonerAlert.com. On the site, you can read profiles of real Christians imprisoned around the world for their faith, plus find the addresses of the prisons where they’re being kept and contact information for government officials. “The coolest part about the website,” says Todd Nettleton, director of media development for Voice
forces. And the military forces in the CHT region are given authority to detain any hill people any time they want and to torture with impunity and without any accountability.” According to James, even the subtlest sign of church growth or evangelism attracts attention (and potential repercussions). “Since last year, the military forces have been investigating our church activities. They come to our offices or call to ask questions like, ‘How many people have you converted?’ ‘Where does church money come from?’ and ‘Is it true that you are trying to convert people by offering financial help?’” James says. “We can be detained and tortured any time if the military forces get information that we have planted new churches. And international mission agencies, missionaries and evangelists are not allowed to come to CHT to help us with church-planting or our missions work.” In spite of the opposition, James says the number of Christians in CHT is growing rapidly. “In past years, we saw persecution of Buddhists and their monks. The military forces used to detain and torture Buddhists and burn down their temples,” he says. “But [now] the military authorities seem to be alarmed by the rapid growth of Christianity. Just two years ago, military forces and illegal Muslim settlers burned down 900 tribal homes and killed nine people, and they also burned down four churches.” But James is committed to his homeland—and his faith. “Peace and freedom of evangelism is not a prerequisite to the Great Commission,” James says. “We of course hope there will be a day when we can freely share the Gospel and plant churches among unreached peoples. All we need is more prayer for more opposition, more prayer support from [Christians] all over the world. God has been giving us strategies to work in this situation, and God has more weapons to give us if we pray more, work together and learn to lean on Him.”
BEING PRAYERFUL AND CAREFUL
Like Bangladesh, North Korea also promises “freedom of religion” to its citizens, but in reality freedom of religion is non-existent in North Korea. John (not his real name) works with a group of people who are committed to serving and sharing the Gospel in North Korea. They live in China, but their focus is on the other side of the river that separates the two nations.
John and others do a lot of outward service in a very public way, but they are equally (if not more) committed to the work they do in secret. When talking about their ministry efforts, John is understandably vague and somewhat cryptic, aware the conversation could be monitored. “In terms of helping people not publicly, we do that mostly not where we live [in North Korea or with North Koreans who have come to China],” John says. “Most people who cross will cross at night on a frozen river—very carefully—without a passport. Every month there might be one or two, or maybe seven, maybe 15. They might come across for a few days or a few hours— or even up to a year. It could be for training, discipleship or even medical attention. “Well over 90 percent come across the river just because they want food to eat. Hunger is a huge, huge issue [in North Korea].” Many of the people who seek out their help are believers, but not all of them are. North Korea is violently opposed to Christianity. Claiming to be a believer is equated with being against the country and its leadership. “They require that you worship the leader—for three generations now,” John says. “The picture of the leader must be the most prominent thing in every house, and everyone must wear a pin on their lapel. We had a friend who was stopped, arrested and almost killed because she wasn’t wearing a pin.” Understandably for John and his colaborers, the risk is substantial. On multiple occasions, the police have shown up just after they’ve left an area. “Some of our people have been arrested and imprisoned,” John says. “One of our people has been sentenced to 15 years for spreading the Good News. It was her second offense. So she’s in the fourth year of her sentence, but we have no idea if she’s still alive.” Because of the harshness of prisons in North Korea, a 15-year prison term is essentially a death sentence. A 200-page report released earlier this year by the Committee for Human Rights in North
of the Martyrs, “is that it translates the letter into the language of the prisoner. So if you’re writing to someone in Vietnam, they will get that letter in Vietnamese.”
“SHE WAS PRAYERFUL AND CAREFUL, BUT SHE JUST TALKED TO THE WRONG PERSON.” —JOHN, A MISSIONARY TO NORTH KOREA IN CHINA
86 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
“THERE’S MORE PERSECUTION BECAUSE THERE ARE AN INCREASING NUMBER OF CHRISTIANS.” —TODD NETTLETON, VOICE OF THE MARTYRS
Korea (HRNK) revealed that prisoners in North Korea are often confined to prison labor camps (modeled after Soviet “gulags”) where they are forced to do hard labor and are mistreated, tortured and even intentionally malnourished. “She was prayerful and careful, but she just talked to the wrong person,” John says of the woman in their group arrested four years ago. Being “prayerful and careful” has become something of a mantra for John and those with whom he works. “We really just want to hear what God is saying for us to do, because it is a dangerous thing,” he says. “Some people say we’re risking our life, but I don’t think we are. Sometimes some of the people we work with are, but people need to hear there’s hope. Most people who cross [the river] have heard there’s a God. But if they haven’t, they find out there is. And helping people one at a time is what’s going to change that nation. And that’s how it happens, one person at a time. In various ways. “Yeah, it’s expensive,” John continues. “And it can be dangerous. But it’s all very necessary. People need to be helped. And it’s our responsibility as believers to do it.”
THE FUTURE FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
“We have better technology today than we did 50 years ago, so it’s hard for a significant persecution event to happen
anywhere in the world without word of it getting out,” he says. “So, I think we have more reports of persecution because there’s better technology and we have a better network of contacts.” Nettleton, however, believes persecution is increasing because the Church is growing. “There’s more persecution because there are an increasing number of Christians,” Nettleton says. “If you talk specifically about Asia, there are some reasons for hopefulness. There have been some promising signs—particularly in Vietnam, where there have been huge gatherings around Christmastime. The government hasn’t been completely happy about them, but they haven’t prevented them from occurring.” Nettleton doesn’t expect the persecution of Christians to cease completely, but he sees reasons for hope and encouragement. “A misconception I had about the persecuted Church was that those Christians would be downtrodden and depressed and weighed down by the suffering and persecution,” he says, “that somehow they
needed us to go over and cheer them up. But when I go into countries and meet with persecuted Christians, the thing that amazes me most is that they have this overwhelming joy. And while we want to talk about their suffering, they want to talk about how faithful God is to them. “So that’s maybe the biggest misconception—that this is a downtrodden, depressed group of Christians who are barely hanging on,” he continues. “The reality is, they have a smile on their face, and they want to talk about how good God is, and that’s an incredible encouragement to us.”
TYLER CHARLES is a campus minister with the Coalition for Christian Outreach at Ohio Wesleyan University.
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> A warm anxiety permeates
a driving, thunderous force in Milo Greene’s brilliant debut, combining four-part harmonies with a sparse, old-world charm. Themes are light and immediate—overcoming lost relationships and embracing what life brings—and this fivepiece ensemble makes songs lift with an acoustic valiance. On “Cutty Love,” drums reach a crescendo and guitars fight for control, but hope extends, as though saying, “Relax. Everything is going to be fine.”
Dan Deacon’s first release in three years. Fresh off a stint making film scores and performing at Carnegie Hall, Deacon channels an amalgamation of African chants, furious synths, an angelic choir and a pulsating steam engine—and that’s just on one song (“USA II: The Great American Desert”). Lots is sheer brilliance here: chirpy dance-rock rhythms by way of LCD Soundsystem or OK Go with a bludgeoning vibe.
Navigating uncertainty. Engaging new relationships. Protecting God’s creation. Questioning assumptions.
Carolyn McGrath
Master of Divinity and MA (Spirituality) Dual Degree Student
Explore these degrees | Master of Divinity, MA Marriage & Family Therapy, MA (Religion), Doctor of Ministry
800.264.1839 | www.lpts.edu
JESUS CULTURE EMERGING VOICES (KINGSWAY)
MUMFORD & SONS BABEL (ISLAND RECORDS)
YOUNG OCEANS YOUNG OCEANS (STREET TALK MEDIA)
JAPANDROIDS CELEBRATION ROCK (POLYVINYL)
> The latest from Jesus Culture,
> Desire and conviction are at odds on this much-anticipated sophomore release from the Brit folksters. It offers a wider mix of slow and fast songs, with only light percussion. “Below My Feet” crescendos like a mighty wave as Marcus Mumford yearns for “eyes to serve” and “hands to learn.” The songs, as we’d hope, are deeply spiritual, bespeaking a love that heals scars, the way choices in dim twilight affect our destiny, and how it’s better not to breathe at all than to breathe a lie.
> An organic outpouring from Trinity Grace Church in New York City, Young Oceans is like one of those unplugged “Scripture in song” albums without the oddly disjointed melodies. “None but Thee” features a fantastic acoustic bed and scorching electric accents à la Bon Iver. Musically, there’s a decided stargazer approach—a droning Hammond organ here (on “Come, Holy One”), an alien infestation of synth there (on “We Sing as One”) that gives the album indie cred.
> For a band whose name sounds like it should have an exclamation point after it, the hardcore punk of Japandroids comes to you with a secret: It’s just two guys—one on drums and one on guitar. But you wouldn’t guess it. “Adrenaline Nightshift” sounds like a bass player was added to the mix (it’s actually an effects box), and “Fire’s Highway” sounds like six people instead of two. By the closer, they—thankfully— slow down the pummeling and help us catch a breath.
made up mostly of new artists, has more melodic dissonance and less repetition than previous projects, with only a passing resemblance to current go-to worship artist Kristian Stanfill. The songs speak of not settling for this world and of craving a higher calling—on “Be My Love,” the pounding bass and frantic drums match the theme of total abandon to Christ. And thankfully, there are fewer Hillsong-like soccer-chant segues this time around.
REC OM MENDS
FILM
MOONRISE KINGDOM W ES A NDER SON [INDI A N PA IN T B RUSH, P G -13]
> Moonrise Kingdom marks the culmination of Wes Anderson’s career—technically, stylistically, emotionally and thematically, it exceeds the artistic eminence of his previous work. The story, written by Anderson and Roman Coppola, centers on 12-year-olds Suzy and Sam who run away from their 1960s New England town to create a sort of utopia, setting off a local search party made up of Suzy’s parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand), the local sheriff (Bruce Willis), Sam’s khaki scout master (Edward Norton) and fellow scouts. Anderson realizes his signature aesthetic here: symmetrical tracking shots, kitschy set pieces, eccentric characters, deadpan humor, pertinent music. He also takes prior threads—namely, a sense of optimism wrapped in themes of family and redemption—and transforms them into a more explicit, more transcendent vision.
THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT NICHOLAS STOLLER (APATOW PRODUCTIONS, R)
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS DREW GODDARD (MGM, R) > The title of Joss Whedon and
> This rom-com boasts both
humor and heart. Written by director Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel, it documents the engagement of Violet (Emily Blunt) and Tom (Segel), whose mutual needs and ambitions thwart their wedding plans—and relationship—for five long years. The story draws genuine laughs, but also speaks to society’s struggle with commitment and marriage—a cultural commentary that couldn’t be timelier.
Drew Goddard’s clever new film speaks volumes about its irony, making you think you’re in for a typical, B-rated slosh of blood, boobs and brutality. Here’s a top-notch piece of horror that gets spun on its head, defying our culture’s obsession with violence in the name of entertainment. It pushes a similar concept as the oh-sopopular Hunger Games, yet is smarter, sleeker—and perhaps more effective.
DAMSELS IN DISTRESS WHIT STILLMAN (WESTERLY FILMS, PG-13) > Whit Stillman, the writer and director of Damsels in Distress, epitomizes the term “defamiliarization.” Here, four female students at the fictional Seven Oaks College, led by the charming Greta Gerwin, ride the line between fantasy and reality as missionaries to the frat boys on campus. From their eccentric style to their blatant naiveté, everything about them and the peculiar world they inhabit feels artificial—but yet it rings true, underlining the pretenses of snobbery and conceit.
SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED COLIN TREVORROW (BIG BEACH FILMS, R)
THE AVENGERS JOSS WHEDON (MARVEL STUDIOS, PG-13)
> A bizarre newspaper ad sends
> Maybe The Avengers doesn’t
three magazine employees on a hunt for its author in the hopes of turning a story. The culprit turns out to be Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass), a jean-jacket-wearing grocery store clerk with, well, a time machine. Darius (Parks and Recreation‘s Aubrey Plaza), a misfit intern, goes undercover, only to discover things aren’t what they seem. From here, the film settles into both hilarious and heartwarming bliss.
deserve to set box-office records—it’s no masterpiece, after all. But given all the hype and a heady marketing campaign that started with 2008’s Iron Man, it holds up well as mindless entertainment. Written and directed by fanboy favorite Joss Whedon, the story brings the most celebrated Marvel superheroes together—and the result is a fun, quick-witted adventure with a riveting finale.
THE HUNTER DANIEL NETTHEIM (PORCHLIGHT FILMS, R) > In The Hunter, a grizzled Willem Dafoe plays Martin, an outsider hired by a pharmaceutical corporation to track down the world’s last Tasmanian tiger. He’s a cold criminal on business who gets entangled in the lives of a widow (Frances O’Connor) and her young children, experiencing love and grace for probably the first time. Daniel Nettheim creates an enthralling moral dilemma amidst the beauty and grandeur of Tasmania’s luminous landscape.
REC OM MENDS
B O O KS
TELEGRAPH AVENUE MICH A EL CH A BON [HARPER]
> When his first novel was published in 1988, Michael Chabon became a literary celebrity. His second novel, Wonder Boys, the story of a once-brilliant novelist and literature professor struggling to finish his sophomore effort, was released just under a decade later. And in 2000, fans were treated to Chabon’s magnum opus, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a story about two friends who become comic book writers and creators during the “Golden Age” of comics. What Michael Chabon did for literature in Wonder Boys and for comics in Kavalier and Clay, he now does for the music and record industry in Telegraph Avenue, celebrating its rich history and leaning into its uncertain future. The backdrop, as we’ve come to expect, serves as more than scenery. Filled with the carefully crafted characters and rich relationships that Chabon is famous for, Telegraph Avenue stands to be some of this author’s finest work to date.
THE AWAKENING OF HOPE JONATHAN WILSONHARTGROVE (ZONDERVAN)
WE ONLY KNOW SO MUCH ELIZABETH CRANE (HARPER PERENNIAL) > While many authors are
This newest book from Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove— one of the leaders of the new monastic movement, a muchsought-after speaker and a founding member of Rutba House in Durham, N.C.—is arguably his best yet, pulling together how right belief informs right practice (and vice versa), how the habits we form end up forming us, and how we become shaped into the image of God and the body of Christ. >
forced to make the choice between heartbreaking and hilarious, Elizabeth Crane provides readers with an abundance of both in her latest novel, the story of a family in crisis that manages not to crumble. The book is filled with empathy for each character and depicts a family that is broken but not without hope. What Jonathan Franzen does for elites, Crane does for the rest of us.
THE FORGETTING TREE TATJANA SOLI (ST. MARTIN’S PRESS) > Tatjana Soli’s debut novel,
The Lotus Eaters, was met with great enthusiasm and rave reviews, becoming not only a New York Times best-seller, but also one of the paper’s notable picks for 2010. Now Soli has written her follow-up, The Forgetting Tree, which is every bit as memorable and unique as her first, chronicling the story of Claire, matriarch of a California ranching family made courageous and careful through tragedy. It’s a story tough and tragic, gritty and grand.
WHY DID JESUS, MOSES, THE BUDDHA, AND MOHAMMED CROSS THE ROAD? BRIAN D. McLAREN (JERICHO BOOKS)
THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY RACHEL JOYCE (RANDOM HOUSE) > Harold Fry, recently retired,
Longtime fans of Brian McLaren have much to anticipate with the arrival of his latest book. His thinking and writing is provocative, as usual—McLaren argues that Christians (and those of other faiths) contribute better to interfaith dialogue by growing deeper and stronger within their religious beliefs and convictions. Even those who don’t agree will be bettered by engaging its ideas. >
lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen. His life offers little in the way of excitement or intrigue. Then one morning, a letter arrives from a woman Harold hasn’t seen in 20 years; Queenie Hennessey is writing to say goodbye. What follows is the pilgrimage that serves as the title of Rachel Joyce’s debut. It is a story as moving as Harold’s pilgrimage is long.
THE DOG STARS PETER HELLER (ALFRED A. KNOPF) > Hig is a pilot who has lost his
wife, his family and everyone he knows. He and his dog, Jasper, have taken refuge in an abandoned airport, and Hig is starting to lose sight of why he keeps struggling to survive. Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars is a thrilling debut about risk and reward, hope and love, and the ways we keep going when we seem to have lost any reason to. A post-apocalyptic adventure story, The Dog Stars is achingly funny, heartbreakingly sad and wholly original.
[TOC]
CONTENTS What’s the Point of Politics? 66
As political ambivalence grows among young adults, Washington rolls on as usual. But what will it take for young people—especially young Christians—to trust politics again?
[F E AT UR E S]
N.T. Wright Corrects Misconceptions 74 You may not know as much about Jesus as you think.
56
From the RELEVANT Studio
78
The Story of Our Stuff Do you know where your gadgets come from?
The xx The xx have proven they can make a great album. Now they’re out to make a real one.
Living Intentionally 80 68
How to make life meaningful in the midst of the mundane.
60 Andy Samberg Waxing poetic on finding contentment, learning from his elders and finding his place in life. (OK, not really.)
WATCH Desperation Band relm.ag/59strong-god
84
Lecrae 62
Persecuted but Prospering
Catching up with him about his new album, new son and leading a new era of hip-hop.
Amidst the worst persecution in a century, why is the Church in Southeast Asia flourishing?
18
34
40
48
12
The Drop
Next
Reject Apathy
First Word
• Millennial Careers • Fall TV Guide • Mark Duplass • Adam and Chrissy Jeske on Ordinary Adventures
• Sugar & the Hi-Lows • Yellow Ostrich • Mr. Little Jeans • Glen Hansard • Metric
• The New Internet • Shaun King and HopeMob • The Artisan Trend
• The U.S. Drought • Sarah Durfey • Top Killers of Kids • The Morality of the National Budget
A Generation Without a Party
96 / RELEVANT_SEPT/OCT 12
Feedback 16 Recommends 90
WATCH All Sons and Daughters relm.ag/59wake-up
R E L E VA N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
Slices
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