In a world consumed with consumption, interviewer and commentator Ken Myers says today’s Christian leaders do well to put on the brakes, and take the road less traveled.
Ken, founder and host of the Mars Hill Audio Journal, has used his award-winning enterprise to help alert Christians not simply to what’s going on in front of them, but to look all around them.
Drink in Ken’s vision of what the church can and should be.
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Synopsis
Ken Myers, who’s spent decades reading, conversing, and interviewing some of the most thoughtful Christians around, shares his thoughts on what church leaders should be promoting and paying attention to – here are my notes from the interview:
Ask Questions
Ken believes a pervasive problem in today’s church is not climbing the ladder, but stopping to think about which wall the ladder’s leaning on. How readily do leaders accept popular wisdom rather than question it?
Giving Not Getting
Most Christians, awash in a culture of consumerism, do well to authentically wrestle with the counter-cultural words of Christ which call for denial over satisfaction, giving over acquiring. How does your church commodify the Gospel?
The Helpful Practices
Ken reminds us of the deep meaning and life-giving succor found when congregations participate in shared meals, practice inter-generational worship, delight in language, and promote meaningful conversation. Ken’s words on these are worth the interview.
About Ken Myers
Ken Myers is the host and producer of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, a bimonthly audio magazine that examines issues in contemporary culture from a framework shaped by Christian conviction. He was formerly the editor of This World: A Journal of Religion and Public Life, executive editor of Eternity, and a producer and editor for National Public Radio.
Mr. Myers serves as an advisory editor for Christianity Today, and has authored All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture, and (as editor) Aspiring to Freedom: Commentaries on John Paul II’s Encyclical “The Social Concerns of the Church.” He has also written for numerous periodicals, including The Wilson Quarterly, First Things, and The Washington Times. He has served on the Arts on Radio and Television Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts, and he lectures frequently at colleges, universities, and churches around the country. Ken holds degrees from the University of Maryland and Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He and his wife Kate live in Virginia.
Books Ken Recommends
Practice Resurrection – Eugene Peterson
Transforming Conversion – Gordon Smith
The Way of the Modern World – Craig Gay
Sponsors I Mentioned
Virginia Theological Seminary is the largest Episcopal Seminary in the U.S., forming men and women for leadership in the church. In addition to the MDiv, Anglican Studies and DMin degrees are their Masters of Arts degrees with a fous on Theological Studies, Christian Formation, Religion & Culture, and Biblical Interpretation. Check them out at vts.edu.
