Christian Experimentation

This is a short post mainly just to rave about the work of Jesse and Leah Roberts, the husband and wife duo behind Poor Bishop Hooper . One reason I love Poor Bishop Hooper -- and think that they represent a suitable topic for this blog -- is their project-oriented approach to artistic creation and ministry. They are trying out new things. The project-orientation is perhaps common for musicians. Poor Bishop Hooper has done several albums that follow this model: songs with thematic or tonal similarities, which are brought together into a single recording.  If you check out their website, though, you will discover that they have gone far beyond the concept album. They've done The Golgotha Experience , which is a kind of live event that ushers people through the Stations of the Cross; they've done Firstborn , which is an Advent collection of art (including music, illustration, video, and writing); and they've done perhaps the project that I am most excited about: EveryPsalm . ...

In this, the inaugural post on the Christian Experimentation  blog, I want to reflect on whether such a thing is even possible -- i.e., a legitimately  Christian  experimentation -- specifically with regards to the mystery at the heart of Christian faith. The idea of " The Lab ," which exists only as a website that gathers together various initiatives, approaches, and attempts at exploring what it might mean to live within the kingdom of God. Some of these are purely devotional in aim (e.g., "The Hot or Not Bible Study Method"), others are evangelistic, or institutional, or agricultural. All of these are to various degrees provisional or contingent in nature -- although at least some of the more institutional ventures have some longevity behind them. I have recently been reflecting on what it means to live in a technocratic society. My likely simplistic understanding of this is that we live in a society that (1) sees all things as a kind of resource for use (what th...