The Concept of Cultural Curation
What I am going to talk about has long existed among human beings. It comes with wanting to put our best foot forward, and the disingenuous quest to be seen as having it all together but actually not when everything is said and done. I call it “cultural Curation,” which I am using to describe the social presentation of oneself and one's family in one extremely positive light, when in reality the individual or family is not doing all that well.
In our age of Disgracebook, Instaspam and fashion periodicals (edited and presented by the elite) it is really easy to look at the world through these lenses and believe that the curated images legitimately present reality. For those who are not as blessed financially (so as to afford all the right clothes, or hair products, or interior designs to frame their every post) the world can be a very daunting place, one that can make you feel lesser, a failure, and perhaps even depressed. And this is just speaking from a secular mindset. But we are not of this world.
Cultural Curation vs. Christian Reality
When it comes to the faith, and the Christian walk, and what the living God desires from those who are His – a contrite heart, a broken spirit, boasting only in Christ – the world’s curated images of what it says is happiness, and living, and loving looks like – is often in sharp contrast to the reality – and is certainly in contrast to the Christian reality. What makes genuine love and genuine authentic care and consideration from the Christian perspective so daunting, at times, is the fact that what the world offers frankly appears to be a superior form of these expressions.
But central to the worlds images, and again contrary to the Christian depictions of what God wants, we often see money, materialism in all of its forms – travel, top of the line hotels, food spreads for a king, pride in all sorts of forms, and lifestyles that are often not reflective of a mom and dad struggling to raise their kids in humility and contrition. I am not suggesting that alternative approaches to living are evil nor am I trying to say that people blessed with means and material opportunities in this life are evil.
The Illusion of Curated Images
What I am suggesting though is that curated images which promote attitudes that are contrary to how the Bible depicts people walking the Christian path (in pursuit of Christ) are not always what they appear to be . . . that the lifestyles of the Rich and Famous are not always the lifestyles of the satiated and happy; that the Kardashians do not reflect Godly virtues, or that Oprah, or Martha Stewart, or Gweneth Paltrow are not necessarily women we want to mirror.
In writing this I could not help but think of The Hart Family – appropriately named since this is Heart of the Matter. This family began when Jennifer and Sarah Hart met and married and then adopted six children. Their apparent aim as a couple and then family was to show that they were free, that they really knew what love means, and that families like theirs could be successful. Perhaps they can. May God be praised.
But what makes me use the Hart family as an example of what I am trying to say it they “curated themselves to the world with such constancy” that it would be hard to believe that they really didn’t have it all – especially peace, love and understanding. That they were the people to aspire to, that all families ought to take the course of travel that they took, and be activists, and fight for the rights of what they deemed freedom.
It all seems pretty damn cool, idyllic, and perfect right. Who wouldn’t want to belong to such a family, one who has access to matching outfits, and eyewear, and who are teaching their children to be socially aware and just happy all the damn time? But that isn’t the reality of real existence, is it? And yet here the curation would not end. And every observer of the Harts came to believe that they were living the new American Dream. But like all images, there was a dark backstory that never got told. Stories of abuse, neglect, and withholding food from the children.
The Hart Couple's Tragic Story
These things happen in all families, but it was the Hart couple who pushed themselves into the limelight via cultural curation that makes their story so crucial to the point. Reality and life is hard. The Godly response to it is not worldliness, not materialism, not self, not activism but a broken heart, and a contrite spirit, and humility before our Maker.
One day this curated couple pulled into a parking lot overlooking the Pacific Ocean with all six kids in tow. Witnesses said that the car stopped a moment, appearing to overlook the scene before them which was bestowed upon us by the living God, then the driver accelerated and drove headlong over the cliff killing themselves and all the children inside. This result was not the fruit of the living God. It was the end-product of self, of pride, of a cultured curated existence.
The Illusion of Cultural Curation
Anyone can take a picture and curate their lives as successful, meaningful and progressive. Ten thousand selfies will make someone appear attractive. The right setting can make anyone appear successful, popular and with it. But seekers of the Living God desire to have their Hearts be real, their hearts to be within, their hearts to be right with their creator – ways ahead of what things look like on the outside.
Seeking God in Spirit and Truth
I am calling on those who seek God in spirit, and TRUTH – meaning, honestly and without the illuminated varnish of digital facades – to ignore the cultural curations presented them, to cling to the promises of God, and embrace what He loves – “mercy, compassion, a broken heart and a contrite spirit, a boasting that is in Him and Him alone and NOTHING else.
