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The Native Tourist
reformed/biblical observations on Christianity and culture

Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Crabby Authenticity

But our longing for “authenticity” also bears a suspicious resemblance to the latest plot twist in the story of consumer culture: the tendency to rapidly replace the squeaky-clean franchise with the “authentic” franchise. The leather seats in our sport-utility vehicle caress our stonewashed jeans as we put some blues-tinged pop on the radio and drive to the local Joe’s Crab Shack. It’s a ramshackle dive that you might think would fall down any minute, if you hadn’t seen it being built just eight months ago by a speedy professional crew that travels around the country building Joe’s Crab Shacks.

--from an article "Stonewashed Worship" by Andy Crouch

Sometimes "authentic" worship is the most phoney. But its important to be relevant...