Jan
10
2008
Psalm 68:18 And The Redemption Of Pop-Culture
A few days ago I posted an excellent interview that my friend Jimmy Davis conducted with T.M. Moore, author of the book Redeeming Pop-Culture. Toward the end of the interview T.M. says this:
Pop culture is a gift of God (Ps. 68:18), but much of it is currently in the hands of the enemy. We need to “liberate” pop culture so that it can join us in the service of the King and His Kingdom. We need to pray about pop culture and those who create it. We should become more intelligently and spiritually involved with pop culture. We should encourage those Christians who are trying to create pop culture forms of real beauty, goodness, and truth. And we should enjoy pop culture in a way that helps us realize more of the fullness of Kingdom life as we journey together to our everlasting home.
In the comment section, the question came up regarding the connection between Psalm 68:18 and the redemption of pop-culture. A good discussion took place regarding the meaning of Psalm 68:18 and whether or not it was an interpretative stretch to apply the truth of that verse to the point T.M. was making. Bryce raised a good point. He said:
Moore said “Pop culture is a gift of (presumably “from”) God.” Psalm 68 is talking about the victorious Messiah “receiving” the accolades of the nations. Those are two different things. At the very least I think that the connection is loose enough that a simple proof-text is insufficient. I completely agree that there are redeemable elements in all cultures, I just don’t think that’s the point of Psalm 68:18.
Jimmy Davis tracked T.M. down to get his thoughts and this is what he said:
You have to understand this text the way Paul does in Eph. 4.8, where he translates the Hebrew verb “receive” as “to give”, following the Septuagint, not the Hebrew text. Yes, in His common grace God gives good gifts to men, gifts of all sorts, not just those that redound to building the Church, and His intent in so doing is that He might be glorified. Cf. Acts 14.17 (and all that is implied in the work of agriculture) and Acts 17.27, 28, and even Acts 12.20-23.
I think it’s a good answer. What do you think?