Story and Props: Pop Culture Liturgies
by
We all have stories, and
the stories we share today are passed on through pop culture,
such as TV, movies, ads, and social media. These stories shape us;
they don’t just reflect our culture but project and create it. This
series explore how these pop culture “liturgies” form our
identity by teaching us what we should value, what should do, and how
we should live.
This Part 4 of a four part
series on Pop Culture Liturgies. Access the rest of the series here:
It’s been more than a year since the movie came out, but my two daughters can’t stop playing Frozen. They saw the movie, learned the songs, and know the story line. Even better, they’ve got props: the dress-up dresses, shoes, some kind of crown, and gloves (at least for whoever is Elsa).
Here’s the simple formula
that shapes their imagination: story + props.
Now imagine something with me.
Imagine that they never heard the story of Frozen. Would
they use their play dresses, shoes, crowns, and gloves to play
Frozen? They would not. They need the story to make sense of
what they do with the props.
But imagine the reverse.
Imagine they had no props. Could they still act out the story? Sure,
but I guarantee it wouldn’t come to life in the way it does with
their props. They need the props to imagine and act out the story.
I think this simple formula
applies to the Christian faith: story + props. In
fact, that’s the liturgy Christians have to offer in place of the
liturgy of McDonald’s,
Lowe’s,
and Friends.
And what if God provided props that show us how to understand
his story?
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