Day 69: Michael Jackson, Star Wars and Church

This week I witnessed two pop-culture events that really got me thinking. The first thing that I watched was completely unintentional. It was one of those nights that the kids were in bed so I did some channel surfing. I stumbled on Michael Jackson's "This is It" movie (come on...who doesn't like the Free Willy theme song?). Think what you will of Michael Jackson, the documentary about him practicing with his crew for the Las Vegas show that never happened was really cool. More on that in a minute.

The second thing I saw was today called "Star Wars Live." This was an AMAZING spectacle that would wow even non Star Wars fans. This live event had a massive orchestra and choir along with Anthony Daniels in person narrating it (C3PO). This event boasted the largest traveling HD screen...it was OMAZING! From the massive technical feat it was to pull something like this off to everyone being on cue...it was really an amazing sight to behold.

So what does a pastor....or should I say an artistic pastor see when watching these? I notice there are things that churches can take from both of them. As I watched "This is it" I began to think about those who are into dancing should really check this movie out. In regards to musicians this movie will show how tight knit a music group can be. It also helps show how to communicate nicely on a team. I look at the Star Wars live event and again think about excellence in music and doing your best with your tech team. I think it is important to look at things like this and realize we will not be THAT necessarily. But, in every churches own way these pop-culture icons can teach us a few thing. This should ultimately help us strive for excellence in our own ministry.

I realize at first look we could say "I would never want to apply things I see on a Michael Jackson video to my church." But....I would just encourage you to be healed. I would hope we would want excellence in all ministries of our churches and we have to learn somewhere. When I was in the Saturday Night Live audience I began to take mental notes. You truly can learn something from everywhere.