Jonathan LeMaster-Smith

Well, Y’all, I have yet to see either Barbie or Oppenheimer. I am not closed to either. And EVERYONE says both are amazing. But, I am here to talk about an article my exceptional colleague, Nathan Webb has written for The United Methodist Church.

From the Article:

“The challenge that faces my work as a clergyperson on the edge of trending pop culture phenomena like this is to wrestle with the question: why did this trend take off and what can the church learn from it (if anything)?”

Of course, we could name a ton of things. I picked a rural meme from the Appodlachia Podcast, to teach us that we each have some whimsy social butterfly and serious scientist. But Nate, who is quickly becoming my pastor (I listen to his Sunday sermons on the Checkpoint Church podcast), digs deeper: “From the outside looking in, it would be easy to believe that “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are diametrically opposed to one another. And, perhaps someone from the Silent or Boomer generations or Generation X might experience each film differently since they “lived” them.

But for the digital native – the ones behind the memes – Barbenheimer is a story of similarities, not differences.”

He goes on to speak to the tragic nature of both films, the realities that these films are about those who follow, not those on screen, and in the end that the films and the memes are about connection or fear of loss of connection. And this is what I see as both the greatest fear and hope of the rural church. Our fear is losing connection with our past and our community, but in that fear, we are actually severing connection with our community and with our future. Nate sums the response up nicely:

“It might seem trite to those outside of digital culture, but these are genuine relationships and concerns on the line here. And that fear is warranted, whether it is comprehensible or not. The role of the Church in the face of this is no different than it has always been, but we may need the reminder anyway – we are to build a community. We are to unite and provide a space of radical generosity, welcome, and hospitality.”

My hope is our churches can continue to build community that honors the past, embraces this present, and builds a hopeful future grounded in the realities of the needs of our rural communities.

This includes the nerds and the pawpaws, and everyone in between.