Cultural Sacraments

Something else I wrote a while back.

My wife and I were watching the "Behind 'The Apprentice'" this evening and its producer (Mark Burnett--He has produced the likes of "Survivor", "The Apprentice", "The Restaraunt" and "Eco-Challenge") said something so profound, yet I don't think he had any idea. He was talking about what has made his TV shows so popular; what is the draw? His answer: Ritual. Ritual is that something that keeps us coming back. We can't wait to hear "The tribe has spoken" or "You're fired." It is that which each week confirms our interest, and incorporates us into the show as well as uniting us as viewers (how often do you talk of Survivor on Friday or get together on Thursday to watch to see who is voted off?!). There seems to be something within us which cries out for ritul despite its being poo-pooed by modernism (for more on that see Peter Leithart's "Against Christianity"). We desperately need that one something to which we can look which ties all of life together. In a word, we might call these moments of solidarity "Cultural Sacraments". Mark Burnett in his own way (I don't know if he's a believer) has expressed what all of humanity feels and longs for. Having created us with such a need, God didn't leave it unfulfilled; He also instantiated rituals for the Church: the Sacraments. Each week (or once a month, but hopefully weekly soon) Christ calls us to His Table to be confirmed as His people. To show that we are His and He is ours and we, in Him, are one as His people. To reorient us to His kingdom. Each week we can come back to Him where we, instead of being dismissed (fired or voted off), we are promised life and acceptance. So in some mysteriously ironic way, these shows offer a pop culture's desire for sacraments.