Faith Works 11-8-24

Faith Works 11-8-24
Jeff Gill

How popular is pop culture, anyhow?
___


To be clear: this column was written before Election Day.

So I'm not being discreet or non-topical, but pragmatic. How did it go? Well, by Friday I hope we know. Meanwhile…

Last weekend I was in Indianapolis, which was having a three-day Taylor Swift invasion, shows back to back and the city abuzz with excitement. Attendance records were set for Lucas Oil Stadium each night. In other words, it was BIG.

Well, I confess to having helped nudge a preacher into making a Taylor Swift reference early in Sunday's worship where I attend services while in town. The ministry staff there and I know each other, and with the news wall-to-wall Swift-centered coverage, plus the associate pastor had gone with his daughter, I made some comments online asking how Taylor's lyrics might make it into the themes of the day.

Then I doubled down on my semi-ironic pleading as I entered the church, but actually not thinking the senior minister would go there. However, he did. He opened the pre-service announcements saying "It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me." Pause.

Then he immediately asked, "so, how many of you know what that was a reference to?" On an average early service in that congregation, with the pews fairly well filled, of 150 people present only five raised their hands.

I think all five of us were somewhat surprised.

The senior pastor repeated the experiment, I suspect now out of curiosity, at the second service, where there were probably more like 200 present, and he messaged later that "about eight people raised their hands."

Taylor Swift was the dominant figure in TV news all weekend, and she's a pop culture behemoth, spilling over into NFL games (and if you don't know, I'm not going to explain it). But less than 4% of those present said they knew much of anything about her. Let the reader understand, as the Bible says.

I said to the associate after the service — who was wearing a special Taylor-themed jacket, yes with glitter involved — that this reminded me of a Wednesday Bible study I once had with about 50 attending each week. Once I made a reference to something about a popular film's account of personal sacrifice by way of an illustration, and then thought to ask "actually, how many of you have seen a Marvel superhero movie?" One lady proudly waved her hand. Just one, bless her. She wasn't the youngest person there, either, but she was the only one.

Later on, the same impulse led me to ask "how many of you have seen a Harry Potter movie, on TV or even just on a DVD?" None. Zip. Nada. (Yes, I know, some Christians have issues with Hogwarts etc., but it was still interesting. Is it possible some had, but weren't willing to say so in a church setting? Could be.)

In this pop culture context, and in the wake of the election, which again I hope is effectively over by the time you read this, I thought it useful to note this parallel point: according to the Census Bureau, in 2020 we had two-thirds of eligible voters participate in the general election. In terms of the country as a whole, that means only 48% of the nation's population voted (158.5 million vs. 330 million total).

If the winner gets 50.5%, that means they are still supported by something less than 24% of everyone. Sure, that includes children and people in assisted living and so on, but you see my point. Is "everyone" all wrapped up in the election, or in any one candidate? Like knowing a key Taylor Swift lyric or who Doctor Strange is, not so much.


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's fairly sure he's the problem, but that's not Swift, that's Chesterton (look it up). Ask him about anything but elections at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads.