Darryl's Blog
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“What need has God for categories? Why sort and catalog a collection when you know and can describe every individual item? What meaning do your base labels have for a higher mind?" (Real Live Preacher)
"Individualism is a term used to describe a moral, political, or social outlook that stresses human independence and the importance of individual self-reliance and liberty...Individualism is therefore opposed to holism, collectivism...and communitarianism, which stress that communal, community, group, societal, or national goals should take priority over individual goals. Individualism is also opposed to the view that tradition, religion, or any other form of external moral standard should be used to limit an individual's choice of actions." (Wikipedia)
A lot of us generally agree that we live in an individualistic and therapeutic culture. I don't want to take the time to prove this here, except to say that a lot of the blogs and books I read from all corners tend to agree that it's true, and it's a problem.
I have a hunch that even though we've identified this as a problem, we are part of that problem in ways we aren't even aware of. For instance, isn't our resistance to being categorized as part of a larger group a form of individualism, in which we assert that we are utterly unique and can't be lumped in with anyone else? It's not a surprise that we believe this, since many of us have been taught this from birth. But it's not true, and it's also a little arrogant. If we are going to move away from individualism, we also need to recognize that we are not utterly unique. Like it or not, we're part of larger groups, and we're a lot alike than we like to think.
I sometimes imagine what my dog, a black lab, would be like if he thought that he was unique and unlike any other dog. In some ways, he is. There's only one Buddy. But when I take him to the leash-free park, I have to be honest: he is a lot more like the other dogs than he is unlike them. He likes to sniff the same things and act in the same ways as the other dogs, especially the ones that belong to similar breeds. To call my dog a mammal, a canine, and a lab-hound mix is not to negate his individuality; it's to recognize the obvious. Same with us.
That's why I'm puzzled when people who speak against individualism also speak against categories and labeling. One example of this: I heard someone say recently that we should not do demographic research. Instead, we should get to know individuals. This seems to me to be a false dichotomy. Can't we do both? 49% of people who live near the church I pastor don't speak English as a first language. This is a category, and a real one. It tells me something I need to know, and doesn't demean anyone. It also doesn't preclude getting to know the individuals who belong to this larger group.
If we think individualism has gone too far, we need to get used to appropriately using categories.
Tim Keller's article A New Kind of Urban Christian got my attention when it was published a couple of years ago. We need more Christians living long-term in cities, the article says, living as a dynamic counterculture, radically committed to the good of the city as a whole, and integrating faith with work. I love the vision of Redeemer Presbyterian, where Keller pastors: "To build a great city for all people through a gospel movement that brings personal conversion, community formation, social justice, and cultural renewal in New York City and, through it, the world."
Last year, Richard Florida got me thinking about the strategic importance of Toronto. He's got me thinking about it again with his new book Who's Your City?
According to Florida, Toronto is part of a mega-region, one of forty in the world. Florida says of Toronto:
Toronto is a significant economic center with superb universities, leading arts, entertainment, design, and culture industries; it also has what is arguably the most diverse population in the world. Like London, but unlike most major U.S. cities, Toronto offers schools that work, low crime, and safe streets. Unlike London, New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco, it also remains reasonably affordable, which allows it to retain a wide mix of social and economic classes.
Is it time for a gospel movement in Toronto as well? One in which churches seek the common good, influence culture, and bring personal conversion, community formation, social justice, and cultural renewal? I keep hoping so. There are a couple of good developments that I'm hearing about, but we're still not at the movement stage - but I keep hoping.
Beloit College has just released its annual list describing the mindset of students about to enter college, most of whom were born in 1989.
Each August for the past decade, as faculty prepare for the academic year, Beloit College in Wisconsin has released the Beloit College Mindset List. Its 70 items provide a look at the cultural touchstones that have shaped the lives of today's first-year students, most of them born in 1989...
Latchkey kids for most of their lives, students entering college this fall think nothing of arriving home with parents still at work, then e-mailing or texting their friends, instantly updating their autobiographies on "Facebook" or "MySpace," and listening to their iPods while doing their research on Wikipedia. They've grown up with Rush Limbaugh urging his fellow Dittoheads to excoriate liberals, with having been taught by an equal number of women and men in the classroom, and with women having been hired as police chiefs of major cities.
Food has always been a health concern. Consumer awareness about ingredients and fats has always been energized. They've never "rolled down" a car window, and to them Jack Nicholson is mainly known as the guy who played "The Joker."
As usual, they remind their elders how quickly time has passed. For them Pete Rose has never been in baseball. Abbie Hoffman's always been dead. Johnny Carson has never been live on TV, and Nelson Mandela has always been free.
As for the Berlin Wall, what's that?"
There's more on the complete list.
Another indication that we live in a post-Christian era. Survey reveals Canadians suspicious of church charities:
One-third of Canadians have either little or no trust in churches when it comes to charitable work, while hospitals' fundraising inspires the most confidence, a new survey reveals.
The survey of Canadians' attitudes towards charities, to be released today, places churches third-last among the types of charities the public trusts. Only charities that focus on arts and international development finished worse, with the latter earning at least some trust of 57 per cent of those polled.