Poets, Prophets, and Preachers

I'll be speaking at this conference put on by Rob Bell July 5-7 of this year. Pete Rollins will also be there. These are both superb thinkers, I'm delighted to get a chance to present but equally thrilled to sit in the audience and be enlightened. I've never met Pete, I'm looking forward to it. If you're remotely interested in helping resuscitate the very tired art form of preaching this is a must.

Rob will do about six sessions, I'll be doing these two:

How Technology Shapes the Sermon: the art of preaching evolves with every new technological innovation in a culture. do you know what is being done and undone by our technologies?

You Are the Medium: an exploration of the human being as God's ultimate medium for his message. if the medium is the message, and you as a person are the medium, then what does that say about the message?

I will also be preaching at Mars Hill on the two Sundays that bookend the event (July 5 and 13). A very full, but exciting week. What better excuse is there to flee the misery of Phoenix in July.

Q Conference Austin

I just returned from speaking at Q in Austin, TX. As always it was a first class event. Gabe Lyons never ceases to amaze me in his ability to bring together such a fascinating and eclectic mix of leaders, thinkers, and participants. One minute I'm in a conversation with George P. Bush (nephew to W, son of Jeb) and the next I meet Ted Haggard and his wife. It was a thoroughly stimulating and expanding experience.

Rob Bell Interview at NPC

from Deadly Viper on Vimeo.

"Virtual Community" Again

This was originally written for OutofUr.com in response to Scott McKnight's critique of the video interview I did at the National Pastor's Convention. Anne Jackson also offered her insights on the issue here.

Scott et. al, thanks for all your comments and push back. Always appreciated.

Clearly we’re playing with semantics here. I don’t say that dismissively. Semantics matter—some times more than other times. I’ll let others judge whether it matters here. It may be that we agree after all.

First, my language in the video was less nuanced than it might have been in written form. That is my tendency in a spontaneous oral interview. I will try to be more precise here.

When I say that “virtual community” is not “community,” that does not mean it has no value. As I indicated in the interview, I know that all kinds of deeply meaningful connections and interactions happen online all the time. I have experienced them myself. Some may want to call this “community.” Fair enough. I just don’t call it “community.” That is not intended to dismiss or demean any one’s experience online.

I play with semantics in an effort to help us see that “virtual community” and “unmediated community” are not interchangeable things. In my opinion, one is actually better than the other. The reason is that "virtual community" occurs primarily on one frequency of the human experience. It is mostly a disembodied, and largely cognitive, connection. This is not a bad thing, it’s just not as valuable as unmediated community, which involves the entire range of the human experience—physical, non-verbal, intuitive sense, subtle energies, visual cues, acoustic tones, etc. These are extremely powerful things that should not be quickly dismissed as "nice but not necessary."

Most of us see these ingredients as essential for healthy marriage and parenting. It’s the reason no one extols the virtues of online parenting or the value of sex with your spouse in a chat room rather than a bedroom. The same is true of community. For me, community is a sacred and powerful institution, and I prefer to treat it in the same spirit as marriage or parenting.

Another way of saying this is that virtual community is like playing the guitar with one string. You can make music; it’s just not as interesting or as good as music on a guitar with six strings.

To observe that “real” community is worth more than “virtual” community may seem rather obvious to some and thus not worth stating. However, there is a growing legion of young people who can scarcely tell the difference. A subsequent rift is emerging between parents and teens because of this very issue. It will only become more complex in the years to come. We gloss over this distinction at our own risk. I hope that putting words to these things is actually freeing for us.

Finally, I’m not against virtual community anymore than I'm against the wind and the tides; I’m just concerned that too many of us grant it virtues it does not possess. This undo esteem can undermine the profound and lasting impact of an incarnated and embodied Gospel.

"Virtual Community"

Shane Hipps and Zach Lind Discuss Virtual Community. from Zach Lind on Vimeo.

Last week at the National Pastors Convention in San Diego Shane Hipps sat down for a brief conversation with Christianity Today to discuss the concept of "virtual community." You can view the video here. As a result of this clip there have been several folks who've pushed back on Shane's point that virtual community is not authentic community but provides only a fraction of what face to face community provides. You can read discussions on the clip here, here, here, and here. So the video above is Shane's response and clarification of his original point expressed on the Christianity Today clip.

If you haven't checked out Shane's new book, Flickering PIxels, to uncover more on this subject, check it out here.

Peace,
Zach

The Launch

Last Sunday we did a launch for my new book, Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith at Trinity. Zondervan, my publisher, was kind enough to give me a couple hundred extra author copies which we're donating to the church. We still have some left, so if you're an attender/member/visitor, please come by and pick up a free copy this Sunday. There is a suggested donation of $10, all proceeds go to support the ministry of the church. But don't let money be an issue. I'll be available for signing.

I'm also speaking at the National Pastor's Convention this week, February 10-13 in San Diego. This will be the official launch for the book. Among other things, I'll be doing a couple of seminars. More on those here. I'll also be doing a book signing. If you're going to be there stop by and say hello.

Archive Episode #11: Missing the Power Point part 1

Zach and I talk about how PowerPoint is a misunderstood medium. You can get the episode here for free.

The links as promised in the episode:
1) The Gettysburg Address in original form.
2) The Gettysburg Address done as a PowerPoint. Hilarious.

Great moments in PowerPoint.

Flickering Pixels

My new book is out this month.  It is the story of how our technologies shape us in unexpected ways without our permission or knowledge.  Available now at Amazon and other retailers.

For those who read my first book, the Hidden Power of Electronic Culture, some of the themes will be familiar.  However in my speaking and travels, I heard a chorus of voices hungry to know how the connections made there applied to the rest of us, not just church leaders.  About a third of Flickering Pixels draws material from the Hidden Power but is significantly rewritten for a general reading audience.  The remaining two thirds of Flickering Pixels is new material focussed on broader issues of life and faith.  Hope you enjoy.

Traveling to EMU

I'll be the keynote speaker for The School of Leadership Training put on by Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg Virginia January 19th-22nd. I'll also be doing a public presentation on Tuesday the 20th at 7pm. Stop by if you're in the area.

Two Episodes This Week

We are continuing to release archive episodes of the podcast with our new free podcast feed. We've been posting one episode per week but this week we're in the Christmas spirit and are releasing two casts. If you haven't subscribed to the new feed, click here to get the goodies.

Free Archive Episodes

In addition to our newly released "lost" episodes, we are now beginning to post some selections from our old podcasts for free. If you haven't updated your Third Way Faith podcast feed, click here and get up do date. This doesn't mean we won't have new material. We'll post some new episodes as we go.

New Third Way Faith Episodes

Greetings all,

As you may have noticed, Shane and I haven't been podcasting at all lately. I've been busy on the road and Shane has been busy pastoring at Trinity Mennonite Church. But as luck would have it, we found some lost episodes deep in the dusty vault in the Third Way Faith secret lair. We've posted three new episodes on a new podcast feed so click here to update your iTunes with the new feed. These episodes are free so no subscription fee is required!

In these three episodes we discussed politics and faith and how the two relate. We figured that it would be timely to get these out now as we are all trying to make sense of being faithful Christians during this election season.

Peace,

Zach

Fermi Podcast

Gabe Lyons recently interviewed me for his Fermi Project podcast. There's also a link there to an essay I wrote for them called "Our Nomadic Existence."

Lost in Translation

On a recent comment Russell asks:

I can imagine that there's a huge leap between Porsche culture and Mennonite culture, but does any of what they do still stick with you and inspire you today?

This is one of my most frequently asked questions. So I thought I would answer it here. In short the answer is no.

I try my best not to translate any of the things I learned from advertising into the world of spirituality, faith, church, etc. The reason is simple. Advertising is fundamentally a form of coercion. Granted it is a playful manipulation that most people enjoy when it's done well. (See below)



It's fun and funny, can't be that harmful. Nonetheless, the primary task of my previous life was to try and highjack your imagination, brand your brain with a Porsche logo, and then feed you opinions you thought were your own. I can't think of a method more opposed to the process of deepening and evolving the spiritual life. So I'm very aware of intentionally not translating or using these methods.

In my experience, the best thing I can do to lead people spiritually is to show them love. At the heart of love is making space, honoring the free will of the other. This requires that I intentionally divest myself of their outcomes, decisions, and conclusions. Sounds counter-intuitive, but then again, most things in the life of faith are. When someone senses that I need them to grow to validate myself, it usually hinders their growth. When they sense that I love them and have no need for them to take my advice, they're more free to do so if they choose. This I've found to be the most fertile soil for spiritual evolution. And it is diametrically opposed to the tasks of advertising and marketing, which are driven entirely by outcomes.

Zach on Leno

My podcasting cohost and good friend Zach Lind also happens to be the drummer for Jimmy Eat World. He's going to be playing on Leno this Monday. Should be fun. Check it out.

"The Spirituality of the Cellphone"

I just returned from teaching at Mars Hill. It was incredible. What amazed me the most was the capacity of that many people (maybe 8,000 all told) to engage a 45 minute teaching on "The Spirituality of the Cellphone." Mind you, this included material not often found in the pulpit--you know, extensive McLuhan theory, cultural analysis, etc. Who are these people? It says a lot about them and what Rob Bell has helped create. Truly amazing. I was honored and blessed.

I also did a two hour teaching for the Mars Hill staff on "The Electronic Gospel: Why Changing the Methods Always Changes the Message." They were a delight, very bright people. Of course, by the end of it all I was spent. I don't understand how Rob (or anyone else for that matter) does three services at that scale every week. It renewed my appreciation for the simplicity of a single service. Looking forward to the more modest 20 minute sermons I get to do back home.

Mars Hill and Q

I'll be preaching at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI on March 30th, and then doing a workshop on my book for their staff and some area pastors Monday March 31st. If you're in the neighborhood drop by.

Also, April 10 and 11 I'm speaking at Q in Manhattan.

Podcast Pause

I've had a number of emails wondering when the next podcast will be available. Thanks for the interest. We've had some technical difficulties that should be resolved very soon. Zach and I have several in the can which focus on the Media Ecology of Political Campaigns. They will be posted shortly. My apologies for the delay.

February Speaking

I'll be in the following locations in February. If you're in the neighborhood and would like to connect let me know.

- Feb 1 & 2 Keynote Mennonite Educators Conference 2008. Pittsburgh, PA
- Feb. 25-26 Staley Lectures at Bethel College. North Newton, KS

Show Notes: Smoking Cell Phones

In this episode I interview Read Mercer Schuchardt, professor of Media Ecology at Wheaton College, a good friend, brilliant mind, and publisher of metaphilm.com-- a site that doesn't review films, it interprets them. (I did an interpretation posted there a number of years ago on the film Magnolia for those who are interested.)

Read published an article in the journal Exploring Media Ecology called "How to Quit Smoking Using Nothing But Your Cell Phone." In it he observes the way in which cell phones are the new cigarette. We discuss what this means and how cell phones shape culture, faith, and the church in unexpected ways. I have a related entry about Read here.

For a free download of this episode visit LeadershipBuzz.com