Above is a YouTube video for Honor Academy interns, offering advice about working in a secular environment. While I don’t doubt the creator’s good intentions, my feeling says this video is just one of the many demonstrations that something is broken within Teen Mania Ministries. This is the idea of “love” that infiltrates the internship. These are the ideals that so many teens and young adults who emerge from Garden Valley try to emulate.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. –Romans 12:2 (NASB)
I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. –John 17:14-16 (NASB)
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. -1 Corinthians 5:9-11 (NASB)
The world is physical and temporal. Things within it waste away. If we talk about not being of the world, I’m inclined to think we’re talking about the idea that we are spiritual beings. Not focused on the material or tangible offerings of life, though we may most certainly still enjoy them. Every one of us will one day die, so it only makes sense that we would want to pursue things like Love, peace, and justice. That we’d care more about our relationships than money or possessions.
I don’t believe the world refers to Christians versus everyone else, but teachings within the Honor Academy precisely say that. At Teen Mania, it’s easy to distinguish whether or not someone is of the world or of God. Godly people do not drink alcohol, swear, watch R-rated movies, make sexual jokes, or do drugs etc. Godly people “do and don’t” to avoid the appearance of evil. It speaks little of a person’s heart, let alone Love.
If a Christian goes into their workplace with the desire to “save people”, they’re missing the point of the Gospel message. I have a huge concern when the video focuses on learning how to listen to people and talk about “random” things… because not only is that called being human, but the implication is that decent, kind and respectful behavior has a motive: to win souls for Christ. As the video goes on, it’s clear. That’s what the point of learning how to work in a secular environment is all about. And that is hardly Love.
It’s commonly said that Jesus had a reputation among the religious folks of His day for hanging out with immoral people. Most Christians hear the stories about Jesus eating with drunks, prostitutes, money collectors, etc. Supposed people of the world. Pharisees and Sadducees basically accused Christ of being of the world or of Satan, due to the people who surrounded Him and the things He did or did not do which didn’t line up with The Law.
But this is where Jesus began to teach that there is a spirit of The Law, a spirit of the world, and a spirit of God. You might say his response was all about getting to the heart of a matter and acknowledging that only God can judge a person’s motives. Jesus’ followers asked Him point-blank what the most important commandment was and He could have said anything. He could have said ALL the commandments were equal. He could have said that being like the world is the worst thing ever and the disciples should never, ever be like the world. But instead, Jesus elevated Love–to love God and love others (loving others was actually a new one) as the most important of all the commandments. Hundreds and hundreds of commandments mind you.
I’m pretty sure that if Teen Mania would have also prioritized Love, we wouldn’t be here talking about healing from abuse. We wouldn’t be talking about how to work in a secular environment. Interns wouldn’t have a list of rules to follow and accountability cards to prove they lived for God that week. Global Expeditions missions trips would put on work gloves–not dramas–and they wouldn’t be concerned with how many people they could get to say the Sinner’s Prayer.
At Teen Mania, and unfortunately throughout the Christendom, there is this idea that everything we touch must be sanitized then Christianized. There are Christian bands, Christian movies, Christian clothing, Christian board games, Christian novels… all sorts of inanimate objects somehow become Christian everyday. Yet those outside of the church are supposed to believe that Christianity is really about a relationship with God. That Christian culture is not trying to shove their beliefs down anyone’s throat. See the disconnect? Seriously, the advice in this video encourages a very plastic and highly sanitized way of life that Jesus never taught.
As a Christian, if you are talking about working in the the world–trust me–you’re doing it wrong. You’ve forgotten that all Christians live in the world and all are called to be lights unto it. Let me be so bold as to say that the light Christians ought to shine is Love and Love alone.
What do you guys think? There’s a lot being said in this video that I think is worth discussion, that at some point probably affected us all in some way.
13 comments:
Yep. I do not blame the darkness for being what it is. I blame the light for not shining on the darkness.
Love, and specifically God’s Love, is what the world is missing. The way that the HA is trying to go about it is all wrong. They are trying to do it in their own strength and they are still living in an artificial bubble of TM’s making (and not God’s making).
~BlueLantern
@BlueLantern: YES! That’s the thing. I’d have no problem if TM was a loving religious organization. But their responses throughout the past decade(+) show a real commitment to lip service and little more.
“I do not blame the darkness for being what it is. I blame the light for not shining on the darkness.”
I LOVE that.
I think it’s very noteworthy that the speaker in the video straight-up admits, “The Honor Academy never prepared me to actually work in a secular workplace” (3:23) and “I need to learn how to connect to people again.” (5:14). If you want to “reach this generation,” being isolated in a cult is not a good way to do it. Parents and prospective interns, take note!
Also, as a media guy, I recommend anyone who’s considering going to CCM watch this and realize that they think shaky cell-phone videos sloppily edited in Windows Movie Maker with someone talking in the background the entire time are a good example of “excellence.”
@Eric Absolutely! Though I might say I left the internship with the opposite feeling because it seemed everything we did had to serve a purpose for God, and the only worthy way to serve God was to convert people. SO I felt very prepared to be able to work as a missionary in the secular workplace. I just didn’t want to (you know, because I was also such a rebellious loser and terrible Christian who couldn’t uphold the glorious TM standard.)
It’s also interesting to me that in the video she mentions that if she were to not behave a certain way as a Christian in front of secular people, she would DESTROY her entire testimony. That sounds like grace…. what???
TM was very big on testimonies. Everyone needed a story of how God completely changed their life so that they now are pure and blameless.
I don’t know about everyone else here, but I gave up on having a testimony long ago. Testimonies focus on negative circumstances and white-washed behavior with the intention to convince others to believe the same thing as you. I instead have an active faith journey… and I think that’s working out quite well.
As for the far more interesting question of “worldliness,” compare my blog post here. It’s fascinating that two of the three standard verses you quote about it above specifically say that Christians are not supposed to go “out of the world.” See also Jude 18-19, which (at least in the KJV) describes “those who separate themselves” as “worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.”
Seeing yourself as better and more special and set apart from “the world” is a very worldly attitude. Refusing to associate with people who aren’t as good as you is the definition of arrogance, arrogance is the definition of pride, and pride is rebellion against God. In other words, there’s nothing more worldly than thinking of yourself as an “elite warrior”!
Another part of the problem is that we (Christians) tend to lump “the world” together with “the culture” or “our society.” This is sloppy usage and leads to a lot of confusion– if we’re really called to be separate from our culture, then how come we still speak English? If we have to be distinct from our society, then how come we depend on our society’s infrastructure? And so on. The only really consistent people who hold that viewpoint are the Amish.
A more precise (though still tentative) definition of “the world” as used in Scripture might be “the opposite of ‘the kingdom of God’.” Either something is under God’s kingship, or it’s part of the other system. This would also explain why Christians can still be “in the world” though not of it, since “the kingdom of God is within you.”
My “testimony” is: “Hi, I’m a completely messed-up person who gets God’s grace. Grace is cool.” The second-best part is that if I mess up, that doesn’t destroy my testimony; it confirms it!
Wow, Eric, I love you.
I agree. When I first saw this video I was shocked at how disconnected this young girl is with reality and living in the real world. Sure, she had a job outside of the TM bubble, but was still very much a part of the bubble.
I have a few things I want to comment about. so this’ll probably be random.
I’m in full agreement with Eric on just about everything and ESPECIALLY that CCM did a horrible job putting this together. So bad.
I can relate to this girl cause I’m a server and the job really does suck. lol. So, chick who made this video, (if you see this) serving sucks and co-workers can be a-holes. I’m sorry.
I like the girl. She seems like she can differentiate reality and hopefully she’ll be on here as soon as she gets out of TM.
One thing that does stick out is that she’s a dorm director or something? Staff at TM were cocky as hell and she seems to be too. It’s always been jaw dropping how staff walked around with this aura like people had to listen to them just because they were staff. I’ve noticed at my job a lot recently how often I just do whatever my manager asks me to do almost afraid of what they’ll do if I don’t. Stuttering to make sure they understand that I’m going to do what they asked me to. I don’t even get it. But it’s definitely something that developed at TM.
And I’ve pondered what it is that tm must teach their staff in meetings that turns them into such narcissists by their 3rd or 4th year.
I don’t know why this stood out, but the comment about people who grew up in Van not being real Christians. lol. I actually laughed out loud. Unless she’s from Van. That place is over the top religious. And I’m not saying in a bad way. I think TM is over the top in a bad way, it’s just that in Van literally everyone goes to church. If you’re going to play God and judge a person’s heart and decipher if they are Christians or not… Even by TM standards… Van gets in the book I would think.
I guess I just thought it was funny because no one is good enough for TM.
Anyways, I hope this girl gets out quick.
A big thing I wanted to keep in mind was that this girl is a victim. I’m glad everyone is being so kind. But I totally agree, this vid shows a completely disconnected mindset. And the judgmental attitude that we can say who is or who is not a “real Christian”. But this is what TM taught us. That we know a GOOD Christian from their appearance/behavior. (Not their Love, right?)
Yes, I think one of the things that bothered me the most (there were MANY “WHATTTTT???” moments for me throughout the video) is just how incredibly disconnected from reality TM’s interns end up being. How this video shows that simply loving the hell out of people is not even on the RADAR. It’s ALL contrived, hidden meaning, judgment-filled, ulterior motive-filled, etc.
Must be incredibly hard work to be what TM would deem a “successful” intern.
And all this from an organization that is supposedly in love with the lost??
“I don’t know about everyone else here, but I gave up on having a testimony long ago. Testimonies focus on negative circumstances and white-washed behavior with the intention to convince others to believe the same thing as you. I instead have an active faith journey… and I think that’s working out quite well.”
THIS.
That was probably the thing that bothered me most about the video, when she talked about being a “light” by not doing certain things — making sexual jokes, cussing, etc. I applaud those who strive to avoid such things, but you need to do a heart check: is the way you’re going about upholding these standards causing you to be a “light,” or is it causing you to come across as self-righteous? I actually get really uncomfortable when people swear around me and then apologize immediately afterward. It makes me feel like that person feels like they can’t really be his/herself around me. Heck, I swear sometimes myself. I would much rather make people feel at ease around me than make them feel like they have to follow certain behaviors or measure up to some “standard” or else they’re going to offend me.
And who says that what we DON’T do is supposed to be what distinguishes us as Christians? Honestly I think it should be more of what we DO do. Loving others unconditionally, caring for others, serving others, not repaying evil for evil, open hearts, minds, and doors… honestly in many ways, I think the girl was on the right track, but the motive behind it was all messed up. Loving people is great. Not repaying evil for evil is the way to go. But if you’re doing it just to eventually win souls?
No.
I’m a huge fan of the idea that as Christians (and as human beings, really) we should love people just because. No ulterior motive, just love them and appreciate them because they share the human experience with us and they need that love and acceptance just as much as the next person. I think spiritual conversations are great, but they should be organic, not forced and awkward. One of the big reasons I left the campus ministry that I was involved in was because I didn’t appreciate the way they went about recruiting people to join the ministry. Granted, they mostly only talked to the people who were interested, but they handed us student leaders a stack of contact cards and were like “here, go talk to these people, ask them about their lives, etc.” I didn’t like that they were trying to force relationships and spiritual conversations, when really things like that need to come out of a genuine interest in the other person. We should build relationships because we’re interested in people, not because we want them to join our ministry. We should love people because all people need to be loved, not because we’re hoping that it will eventually cause them to come to know Christ.
Quick comment: 20 bucks and a bag of donuts says that CCM didn’t make this video.
Wow…I don’t think I need anymore convincing that TM is a cult.
Disturbing.
I recently showed this video to my boss, who is a very intelligent older gentleman well-versed in psychology, and not a Christian. He lives in an assisted living home and I am his personal assistant. We have great discussions all the time. I asked him how he would feel if it had been me in the video, talking about how I was working for him but also had a secret agenda of trying to bring him to Jesus. His eyes got real wide and he said, “SCARY!” and then, “You’re NOT, right???”
Yep. I do not blame the darkness for being what it is. I blame the light for not shining on the darkness.
Love, and specifically God’s Love, is what the world is missing. The way that the HA is trying to go about it is all wrong. They are trying to do it in their own strength and they are still living in an artificial bubble of TM’s making (and not God’s making).
~BlueLantern
@BlueLantern: YES! That’s the thing. I’d have no problem if TM was a loving religious organization. But their responses throughout the past decade(+) show a real commitment to lip service and little more.
“I do not blame the darkness for being what it is. I blame the light for not shining on the darkness.”
I LOVE that.
I think it’s very noteworthy that the speaker in the video straight-up admits, “The Honor Academy never prepared me to actually work in a secular workplace” (3:23) and “I need to learn how to connect to people again.” (5:14). If you want to “reach this generation,” being isolated in a cult is not a good way to do it. Parents and prospective interns, take note!
Also, as a media guy, I recommend anyone who’s considering going to CCM watch this and realize that they think shaky cell-phone videos sloppily edited in Windows Movie Maker with someone talking in the background the entire time are a good example of “excellence.”
@Eric Absolutely! Though I might say I left the internship with the opposite feeling because it seemed everything we did had to serve a purpose for God, and the only worthy way to serve God was to convert people. SO I felt very prepared to be able to work as a missionary in the secular workplace. I just didn’t want to (you know, because I was also such a rebellious loser and terrible Christian who couldn’t uphold the glorious TM standard.)
It’s also interesting to me that in the video she mentions that if she were to not behave a certain way as a Christian in front of secular people, she would DESTROY her entire testimony. That sounds like grace…. what???
TM was very big on testimonies. Everyone needed a story of how God completely changed their life so that they now are pure and blameless.
I don’t know about everyone else here, but I gave up on having a testimony long ago. Testimonies focus on negative circumstances and white-washed behavior with the intention to convince others to believe the same thing as you. I instead have an active faith journey… and I think that’s working out quite well.
As for the far more interesting question of “worldliness,” compare my blog post here. It’s fascinating that two of the three standard verses you quote about it above specifically say that Christians are not supposed to go “out of the world.” See also Jude 18-19, which (at least in the KJV) describes “those who separate themselves” as “worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.”
Seeing yourself as better and more special and set apart from “the world” is a very worldly attitude. Refusing to associate with people who aren’t as good as you is the definition of arrogance, arrogance is the definition of pride, and pride is rebellion against God. In other words, there’s nothing more worldly than thinking of yourself as an “elite warrior”!
Another part of the problem is that we (Christians) tend to lump “the world” together with “the culture” or “our society.” This is sloppy usage and leads to a lot of confusion– if we’re really called to be separate from our culture, then how come we still speak English? If we have to be distinct from our society, then how come we depend on our society’s infrastructure? And so on. The only really consistent people who hold that viewpoint are the Amish.
A more precise (though still tentative) definition of “the world” as used in Scripture might be “the opposite of ‘the kingdom of God’.” Either something is under God’s kingship, or it’s part of the other system. This would also explain why Christians can still be “in the world” though not of it, since “the kingdom of God is within you.”
My “testimony” is: “Hi, I’m a completely messed-up person who gets God’s grace. Grace is cool.” The second-best part is that if I mess up, that doesn’t destroy my testimony; it confirms it!
Wow, Eric, I love you.
I agree. When I first saw this video I was shocked at how disconnected this young girl is with reality and living in the real world. Sure, she had a job outside of the TM bubble, but was still very much a part of the bubble.
I have a few things I want to comment about. so this’ll probably be random.
I’m in full agreement with Eric on just about everything and ESPECIALLY that CCM did a horrible job putting this together. So bad.
I can relate to this girl cause I’m a server and the job really does suck. lol. So, chick who made this video, (if you see this) serving sucks and co-workers can be a-holes. I’m sorry.
I like the girl. She seems like she can differentiate reality and hopefully she’ll be on here as soon as she gets out of TM.
One thing that does stick out is that she’s a dorm director or something? Staff at TM were cocky as hell and she seems to be too. It’s always been jaw dropping how staff walked around with this aura like people had to listen to them just because they were staff. I’ve noticed at my job a lot recently how often I just do whatever my manager asks me to do almost afraid of what they’ll do if I don’t. Stuttering to make sure they understand that I’m going to do what they asked me to. I don’t even get it. But it’s definitely something that developed at TM.
And I’ve pondered what it is that tm must teach their staff in meetings that turns them into such narcissists by their 3rd or 4th year.
I don’t know why this stood out, but the comment about people who grew up in Van not being real Christians. lol. I actually laughed out loud. Unless she’s from Van. That place is over the top religious. And I’m not saying in a bad way. I think TM is over the top in a bad way, it’s just that in Van literally everyone goes to church. If you’re going to play God and judge a person’s heart and decipher if they are Christians or not… Even by TM standards… Van gets in the book I would think.
I guess I just thought it was funny because no one is good enough for TM.
Anyways, I hope this girl gets out quick.
A big thing I wanted to keep in mind was that this girl is a victim. I’m glad everyone is being so kind. But I totally agree, this vid shows a completely disconnected mindset. And the judgmental attitude that we can say who is or who is not a “real Christian”. But this is what TM taught us. That we know a GOOD Christian from their appearance/behavior. (Not their Love, right?)
Yes, I think one of the things that bothered me the most (there were MANY “WHATTTTT???” moments for me throughout the video) is just how incredibly disconnected from reality TM’s interns end up being. How this video shows that simply loving the hell out of people is not even on the RADAR. It’s ALL contrived, hidden meaning, judgment-filled, ulterior motive-filled, etc.
Must be incredibly hard work to be what TM would deem a “successful” intern.
And all this from an organization that is supposedly in love with the lost??
“I don’t know about everyone else here, but I gave up on having a testimony long ago. Testimonies focus on negative circumstances and white-washed behavior with the intention to convince others to believe the same thing as you. I instead have an active faith journey… and I think that’s working out quite well.”
THIS.
That was probably the thing that bothered me most about the video, when she talked about being a “light” by not doing certain things — making sexual jokes, cussing, etc. I applaud those who strive to avoid such things, but you need to do a heart check: is the way you’re going about upholding these standards causing you to be a “light,” or is it causing you to come across as self-righteous? I actually get really uncomfortable when people swear around me and then apologize immediately afterward. It makes me feel like that person feels like they can’t really be his/herself around me. Heck, I swear sometimes myself. I would much rather make people feel at ease around me than make them feel like they have to follow certain behaviors or measure up to some “standard” or else they’re going to offend me.
And who says that what we DON’T do is supposed to be what distinguishes us as Christians? Honestly I think it should be more of what we DO do. Loving others unconditionally, caring for others, serving others, not repaying evil for evil, open hearts, minds, and doors… honestly in many ways, I think the girl was on the right track, but the motive behind it was all messed up. Loving people is great. Not repaying evil for evil is the way to go. But if you’re doing it just to eventually win souls?
No.
I’m a huge fan of the idea that as Christians (and as human beings, really) we should love people just because. No ulterior motive, just love them and appreciate them because they share the human experience with us and they need that love and acceptance just as much as the next person. I think spiritual conversations are great, but they should be organic, not forced and awkward. One of the big reasons I left the campus ministry that I was involved in was because I didn’t appreciate the way they went about recruiting people to join the ministry. Granted, they mostly only talked to the people who were interested, but they handed us student leaders a stack of contact cards and were like “here, go talk to these people, ask them about their lives, etc.” I didn’t like that they were trying to force relationships and spiritual conversations, when really things like that need to come out of a genuine interest in the other person. We should build relationships because we’re interested in people, not because we want them to join our ministry. We should love people because all people need to be loved, not because we’re hoping that it will eventually cause them to come to know Christ.
Quick comment: 20 bucks and a bag of donuts says that CCM didn’t make this video.
Wow…I don’t think I need anymore convincing that TM is a cult.
Disturbing.
I recently showed this video to my boss, who is a very intelligent older gentleman well-versed in psychology, and not a Christian. He lives in an assisted living home and I am his personal assistant. We have great discussions all the time. I asked him how he would feel if it had been me in the video, talking about how I was working for him but also had a secret agenda of trying to bring him to Jesus. His eyes got real wide and he said, “SCARY!” and then, “You’re NOT, right???”