{"id":2045,"date":"2022-10-13T16:49:46","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T20:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2045"},"modified":"2022-10-13T16:50:29","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T20:50:29","slug":"more-cowbell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/13\/more-cowbell\/","title":{"rendered":"More Cowbell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>.

Saturday Night Live<\/em>, the one-of-a-kind comedy show that launched its 48th<\/sup> season earlier this month, has aired more than 10,000 sketches.
 
Critics and fans agree that if there\u2019s ever an authoritative Top 10 list of the best skits, it will have to include the April 8, 2000, sketch that\u2019s come to be known as \u201cMore Cowbell.\u201d 
 
In a parody of Behind the Music<\/em>, cast members portray the underground rock group Blue Oyster Cult during the 1976 recording of their hit Don\u2019t Fear the Reaper<\/em>.  Famed producer Bruce Dickinson, played by Christopher Walken, guides the band through this signature moment.  As they begin to lay down tracks, a band member named Gene Frenkle (a fictional character portrayed by Will Ferrell) loudly keeps the beat with his cowbell.  The other band members are annoyed.  They ask Dickinson to reel in the abrasive sound.
 
To their surprise, the producer doesn\u2019t recommend less cowbell.  He wants more<\/em>.  \u201cReally explore the studio space this time,\u201d he advises Gene.
 
The result is musical chaos.  The band keeps asking for help.  Dickinson reappears and utters the now-famous line, \u201cGuess what?  I\u2019ve got a fever.  And the only prescription is more cowbell.\u201d
 
Ferrell, who wrote the sketch, had submitted it seven times over a number of months to the SNL powers-that-be before it was approved.  No one guessed it would become one of the show\u2019s greatest hits.  Ferrell now jokes that it ruined Christopher Walken\u2019s life, since no one asks the celebrated actor about his numerous major awards.  All they want to hear about is cowbells.  You can check out the original sketch here:  More Cowbell – SNL – YouTube<\/a>
 
\u201cMore cowbell\u201d has become a cultural meme.  If you\u2019re someone of a certain age who doesn\u2019t know the meaning of the word \u201cmeme\u201d (and aren\u2019t quite sure whom you should ask) it\u2019s an idea, behavior, or cultural reference that spreads rapidly through conversation and social media. 
 
These days, if you\u2019re worked up about something, the prescription just might be more cowbell \u2013 piling on a good thing until you\u2019re way past the saturation point. 
 
Cowbells came to mind yesterday when I began to get responses to my reflection about how people on both the Left and the Right want to claim Jesus.  It always interesting when emails begin with the words, \u201cI usually like what you have to say, but today\u2026\u201d  It was time to take a deep breath and retrace my steps across the minefield. 
 
Readers had suggestions.  I should have written that what those liberals really need is to take Scripture seriously.  Or I should have pointed out that conservatives need to quit thinking that sins of the flesh are so much worse than sins of the spirit. 
 
Some people could not imagine that those on the other side of the theological divide can even comprehend what it means to love Jesus.  How did I ever get taken in by their phoniness?    
 
So what we need is more Bible study.  And more lines in the sand.  And more theological litmus tests. 
 
We need more cowbell<\/em>.       
 
Actually, what we need is to remember that those with whom we disagree are, just like us, people of unsurpassable worth.  They are image-bearers of the Creator.  Jesus died for them on the cross.  They, like us, have been called to follow Jesus into a grace-powered life of purpose and meaning. 
 
How we choose to hear each other and love each other \u2013 frankly, to give each other the simple gift of listening before we choose to pull the lever on the dump truck of our own convictions \u2013 will say volumes about our own walks with Christ.  \u201cBy this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another\u201d (John 13:35). 
 
I\u2019m an evangelical who has experienced his entire ministry within a liberal mainline denomination. 
 
I feel the tension on both sides.  I have firsthand experience that there are both progressives and conservatives in this world who really do want to please God.  There are high hopes and great visions on both sides, as well as fearfulness and foolishness.  All of us can do better. 
 
Above all, we can\u2019t afford to give up on the hope of finding common ground in Christ.    
 No, that doesn\u2019t mean surrendering our deepest dreams, nor the convictions we know we must never surrender. 
 
But it does mean, as a first step, asking God to help us rediscover our mutual humanity. 
 
That\u2019s a prescription our Father in heaven will be more than happy to fill. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Saturday Night Live, the one-of-a-kind comedy show that launched its 48th season earlier this month, has aired more than 10,000 sketches. Critics and fans agree that if there\u2019s ever an authoritative Top 10 list of the best skits, it will have to include the April 8, 2000, sketch that\u2019s come to be… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[516],"class_list":["post-2045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-common-ground"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2045"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2048,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2045\/revisions\/2048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}