How the Church is Losing the Culture - Again

Country music, electric guitars, Kid Rock - apparently, if you’re an American Christian, then this is the music you should like, according to Turning Point USA. Or maybe this is all they could come up with for their All-American halftime show. Nothing wrong with any of the above music or styles, except when they present themselves as THE Christian alternative to the all Spanish-speaking, lyrically vulgar Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show.

I am not naive to the issues with the Bad Bunny presentation. Lively and entertaining, the media is trying to portray it as a wholesome, family-oriented experience fitting for America’s favorite sporting event. So in the Bad Bunny world, All-American is now equated with family parties in which the guests grind with one another - boys with girls, boys with boys, girls with girls - to mediocre party music and vulgar lyrics about girlfriends chasing a certain body part,  all sung in Spanish. Everything in the production was of Puerto Rican culture, which is super cool if I’m watching a concert or a musical (it was giving “In the Heights” vibes for this musical theatre fan - a show I love). But for a Super Bowl halftime show, it felt like it was painting a picture of America that is void of any other culture.

The Bad Bunny Super Bowl 2026 Halftime Show

But while I don’t appreciate the Bad Bunny spectacle, I don’t see what Turning Point USA set out to accomplish either, and I believe the Christians shot themselves in the foot. The Bad Bunny show felt exclusive and not aimed at someone like me. And yet, I felt the same way about the Turning Point show. If they wanted to present an alternative, then make it representative of the true church. At least add a gospel number, for crying out loud. What I don’t understand is how Turning Point went from the brilliant Charlie Kirk going to college campuses to challenge the worldview of people who thought wildly differently from him, to a mono-culture that fits every Bible belt Christian stereotype that turned so many people away from Christianity in the first place - myself included.

I was raised in a very worldly culture in a New York City suburb. I loved classical music, Broadway, and the great pop music of the 80’s. I knew very little about Jesus, salvation, the Holy Spirit, gospel music, praise music, nor did I care to be wholesome. I was ambitious and aspired to be excellent at sports, arts, and academics. It was an empty existence, but the part of the country that was more enlightened with the gospel also seemed to eschew everything I valued, good and bad. As a result, I never felt Jesus was for me if it meant I had to like country music and couldn’t enjoy the TV shows and movies I liked. The Christian music coming out at the time all felt religious and mediocre. I might not have ever become a Christian had it not been for the Christian intellectual pioneer, Tim Keller. Dr. Keller had a way of speaking to the New York City mindset, challenging my culture-of-superior-tastes-and-intellect (so I thought, but obviously it was more like a culture of pride) until I realized that what I believed and all I was living for would never sustain me in the long rung, and the needs of my own heart were exposed. That’s when Jesus could enter.

This whole issue underscores one of the biggest problems the Church of America has today - we’ve lost the Arts.

I had to eventually move on from Dr. Keller because even his sermons were too limited in scope. His teaching started to feel like it was only for one type of person (even though I had been that kind of person), and lacked the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit grabs ahold of a church and truly takes over, every culture is present, and we all grow from being around those who are different from us. I know because my current church, Times of Refreshing Christian Centre, NY (TORCC-NY) is just that kind of church, thanks to our senior leader, Dr. Robyn Kassas. Dr. Robyn has never been about a creating a comfortable Christian culture, only about fostering a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus. And we who come under her covering are continually transformed by the Holy Spirit as a result. The funny thing is, a culture has emerged out of that, but it is centered on who Christ is. It’s comprised of many different ethnicities, and what ties us together is the value we place on the teaching we get, the Rhema and Logos words of the Lord, and seeing the Lord move in the lives of those around us, people of vastly different backgrounds and with vastly different callings. And when we are unified in the truth of the Gospel, those callings and differences bless and compliment one another beautifully!

So when Christianity is reduced to a singular artistic style coupled with singular political views, layered with hype, peppered with preachy statements, I chafe. Who said this is America? Who said this is Christianity? There’s nothing wrong with it, but don’t posture yourselves as THE VOICE of patriotic Jesus-loving Americans.

This whole issue underscores one of the biggest problems the Church of America has today - we’ve lost the Arts. Although that’s not so much the actual problem, but a symptom of a bigger problem, which is the American Church’s focus on culture rather than intimacy with Christ. Culture, like religion, is comfortable. It means we can ride the coattails of rules we like, styles we enjoy, group-think, and all that feels wholesome to us. We can surround ourselves with people just like us. It feels good. There’s only one problem: it’s not Jesus.

Wake up, Church! The Arts is our opportunity to know Christ better and to make Him truly known to a dry and hurting population.

The Church should be diverse and have a multitude of musical styles. It should also be wildly creative to reflect the multifarious aspects of the character of our God. We can be wildly creative and still be pure. We need people who are different from us so we can be challenged by them to be like Christ in ways we never would have discovered otherwise. It expands the borders of how we experience the love of Christ.

Furthermore, if there’s a nation whose culture was established by the Lord Himself, it is Israel. The laws and feasts outlined in the First Testament of the Bible had the purpose of revealing more of God's character. Even the Hebraic calender has a relational purpose between God and His people. I only know this because Dr. Nathan Kassas has taught us all about it at TORCC-NY. As a church we are aiming to get back to God's original plan as He prescribed in the Bible. But when we make our focus becoming a certain type of American culture, we miss God’s original story and plan. Not only that, but we become comfortable in assimilating, and stop being transformed individually into His image. We forget that it’s not about this life, but it’s about preparing for the next one.

Wake up, Church! The Arts is our opportunity to know Christ better and to make Him truly known to a dry and hurting population. But our art will only be powerful if our relationship with Christ is intimate and transformative. If our Christianity is reduced to a cultural experience, then no one in- or outside of that culture will get to know Christ through it. It will either produce prodigals who feel alienated by it, or religious older brothers who feel superior to be a part of it.

If you’d like to see a church that offers true Christianity in all its diversity and creativity, come visit TORCC-NY. And out of it has sprung up an arts company that offers excellence through relationship with Christ. It’s called REGA Arts. We’re here. Come, taste and see.

Cast photo of The Fury of His Love - a production of TORCC-NY

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Virginia Hart Pike is the Artistic Director of REGA Arts, and is also the President of the Board of Times of Refreshing Christian Centre, NY (TORCC-NY). She has been discipled by Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Tony Kassas, and works under Dr. Nathan Kassas on the worship and creative ministries of TORCC-NY.