Popular Culture - teaching our kids the sacred and profane

They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common,
and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. In a
controversy they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to
my
judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed
feasts,
and they shall keep my sabbaths holy. -Ezekiel 44:23-24

This passage, which I ran across in my daily disciplines today really spoke to me. I think it's speaking not only to the Zadokite priesthood, but ahistorically it is speaking to the role of the priest to teach the different in the sacred and profane in any culture. We as priests must take a lesson from the Protestants. It's not enough to allow easy out's about the movies we watch, the books we read, the habits we have, etc. Rather, we must teach people the discernment between sacred and profane behavior, or rather, "common" behavior. We must be specific. No cop outs about "being like Christ". Fine fine fine, but what does Christ think about X and Y.

Of course this is uncomforatable because it will cause us to give up many of our own favorite vices. It also will force us to first channel our own mind so that we can become metors. No more "just vegging out" to nasty programs. We think we're immune, but hardly. In this state we're still receptive to messages and nuances. And, in the end, they will mold how we think, what is normative, and what we're allowant for. Everything has a worldview informing it - a presupposition of goods, bads, indifferences and what to do about them. We're losing right now - the culture wins more than it loses. Perhaps we need to enter the fray a little more vocally.

Lastly, I think there's something not to learn from the fundis too - I wouldn't necessarily advocate non-engagement with the culture. Rather, I think the ORthodox route should look something more like "critical engagement" of culture. It's necessary to view and be viewed by the culture at large so that we know how to engage it. That doesn't mean we should "experiement", but rather that we should actively participate as critical dissedents. We have to know something before we can critique it. It may be appropriate to watch a movie, and then have a little discernment with what we can and can't validate about its message. What is the worldview here? How should we respond to it? Where do we see it in life? Do we know anyone with this presupposition?

As the website title indicates - Wise as Serpents. We need to be. It starts with the world around us, and "vegging out" is hardly a wise enterprise.