• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

The Gospel According to The Office A Series Developed by Mockingbird Ministries 100 West Jefferson St Charlottesville, VA 22902 www.mbird.com The Gospel According to The Office 1 Overview The purpose of this series is to find points of connection between the reality depicted in The Office [NBC] and the reality described by Christianity. Each talk seeks to expose some aspect of the human condition and then explain how the message/person of Jesus might address (or relieve) it. For the theologians out there, you should know that the series’ developers (and Mockingbird Ministries) are firmly committed to the traditional Reformed understandings of original sin, God’s grace to sinners, and justification by faith alone. We believe, along with St. Paul, that the Law only came in to increase the trespass, and only God’s one-way love to suffering sinners saves them. You’ll see these themes as you read on. Why Use The Office? The characters and stories of The Office are fairly universal. There are geeks, heroes, anti- heroes and everyday Joes, all of whom are struggling with things like love, greed, power, and terrifying mediocrity. The show finds much of its humor in the darker aspects of the human condition, and it does so in a way that we hope will make it easier to address serious themes. One of the dangers in a project like this is that it can suck the fun out of the show. Though The Office is in no way a Christian show, we believe it is funny because in many ways it accurately depicts the truth about human life. And if we believe Christianity is true, it should be able to speak to the issues raised in the show. Some of the connections we draw might feel like a stretch, but again, the point is to get people talking about their real lives, and thinking seriously about the Gospel of grace for sinners. Using This Guide This series has proven effective in ministry settings with young adults. It tends to draw people in their 20’s and 30’s because, for many, it is already one of their favorite shows. For them, watching an episode and discussing its themes doesn’t feel “churchy.” Our hope is that these materials will allow churches, para-church organizations, and small groups to offer “The Gospel According to The Office” (TGATTO) in their communities. This guide describes how TGATTO has been run in the past and should take some of the guesswork out of running it in your setting. Format TGATTO has seven sessions, each of which centers around a full episode. All but one of the selected episodes come from season 2. You don’t have to use all the sessions; they work independently as well as in sequence. Feel free to pick and choose based on your context and time frame. Typically, the series is offered in weekly meetings, thus a seven-week series. But it has also been used in week-long retreats, with one session per day. In the weekly meeting format, each session proceeds as follows: • Welcome and opening Prayer: 2 min • Dinner (Pizza is tried and true, but feel free to be creative): 30-45 min The Gospel According to The Office 2 • Introduction of the Episode: 2 min • Showing of the Episode: 22 min • Optional Small Group Discussion: 5-10 min • Short Lecture on the Show: 15 min • Large Group Discussion: 30-45 min Overall, the whole evening should not take more than 2 hours. If you have young families that might be interested in attending, we suggest you provide childcare in your church nursery. Disclaimer As we said before, The Office is not a Christian show. There are some Christians who would find it offensive. At the beginning of each showing, we typically acknowledge this and offer a disclaimer, as well as presenting a case why Christians can watch and engage with this show. Here are our thoughts: 1. The Bible is full of examples where God’s servants engage with dominant cultural issues and media. Ezekiel had to build a model of a city under siege to demonstrate God’s coming judgment. Haggai had to marry a whore. Jesus used parables from his agricultural Judean setting. Paul quoted pagan poets (Acts 17.28). 2. Christians can take two approaches to culture: withdraw from it or engage with it. Jesus certainly did the latter, getting himself called a “friend of sinners.” Mockingbird tends to follow his example. 3. The Office is offensive. But so is the Bible. There are sections that are R—or even X— rated. When the Bible shows people doing bad things, it is not holding them up as examples, but as warnings. Much of the crude humor and offensive behavior in The Office does the same thing. It is not advocating bad behavior, just depicting it. As Christians, rather than turning our heads away in disgust/judgment, a better response might be to ask, “Why are the people acting this way? What forces in our culture create this behavior? And how might Jesus respond to such people?” We hope these thoughts will help you answer any criticism you may receive. Thank you for your interest in TGATTO. We hope and pray you find it fun, thought-provoking, fun, effective, and fun. Did we say fun? Small print: Please do not modify or redistribute this teaching program without explicit permission from Mockingbird Ministries (email: [email protected]). Thank you! The Gospel According to The Office 3 WEEK 1: IDENTITY Intro: Think back to high school. Painful memories, right? That time is so hard because many of us were asking: Who are we? Who am I? These are important questions, on all of our minds. What is it about me that makes me, me? How am I different? Special? Inferior? Where do I stand? These questions don’t ever really go away. • Identity is often another way of talking about value. Of measuring oneself. Of fortifying oneself against Judgment. As you watch… keep the following question(s) in the back of your mind: • What are some of the identities you’ve tried on in your life? Did you go punk in high school? Artsy for a few months in college? • Watch “The Fire” – Season 2, Episode 4: A kitchen fire forces the employees to congregate in the parking lot, where Jim suggests a game of ‘Desert Island’ to pass the time, and the staff learn more about one another than was detailed on their resume. Small Group Discussion: Break into small groups of 5-8 for 10 minutes and share your thoughts on the questions posed earlier: • What are some of the identities you’ve tried on in your life? • Invite people to share what was discussed in their group. Talk • Identity in The Office o Ryan typifies the natural human desire to be more than what people label him. He fears that he will be boxed in and doomed to a two-dimensional existence. Underlying his fear is a desire to escape the mediocrity he sees around him. § For example, his co-worker Stanley is the “Crossword Puzzle Guy” while Angela is the crazy “cat woman”. Ryan exclaims: “I don’t want to have a thing here. I don’t want to be the something guy.” § Michael: his identity as a boss is very important to him. Being seen as the mentor or authority, however ridiculous that might seem. He wants to be “the world’s best boss”, the number 1. Anyone who might know more about business is a threat. Notice his sensitivity to the fact that he didn’t go to college. But he’s conflicted: he wants to be the boss, but he also wants to be everyone’s buddy. § Dwight: a mish-mash. His relationship with Michael is a source of identity, and when he finds it under threat from Ryan, he panics. He also forms a lot of his identity as a would-be tough guy. The volunteer sheriff’s deputy schtick. § Desert Island game: find our identity in our likes or dislikes. (We also get a great glimpse of how the world views Christians…) The Gospel According to The Office 4 o For most of us, our identity is related to our actions. That is, who we are depends on what we do. Or what we don’t do. The number-one cocktail party question: “What do you do?” o As we know from personal experience and we see in Dwight’s jealousy and Ryan’s mistake, our identities are fragile. Anything can break our hard earned (and protected) reputations and identities. o Perhaps you feel that you know who you are, that you’re not trying to be someone else. But even those of us whose identities are stable are frequently encouraged to remake ourselves. Look at Billy Ray Cyrus. In 1992 it was acid washed jeans, a mullet, and “Achy-Breaky Heart.” Now he’s the goatee-wearing cool Hollywood dad of Miley Cyrus. Talk about a reinvention of identity. • Gospel Response: o The Gospel response is, in short, that identity games are a dead-end. (See the lonely, deeply alienated life of Don Draper on Mad Men, for example) o The Bible says that our identity comes from the God who created us. Read Psalm 139:13-14. But we want to define our identity ourselves – play God. o Our individual experiences validate how fragile these identities are that we create for ourselves, how easily they can be shaken or how seductive they can become.

Load more

  19

Copy Link