The pressure to stay in fashion

Morung Express Editorial

 

There is relentless pressure for both the young and the not-so-young of our generation to stay in touch with the latest: breaking news, phone app, designer wear, car model, etc. The slightly older folks struggle to stay relevant by practicing the sms lingo, opening a facebook account, trying their hands at online gaming, or going for that funny colored dress. It doesn’t come out well at times. Some dads embarrass their kids by posting family pictures which can also pose security threat to the family; kids get irritated trying to teach their moms how to use WhatsApp. Some try to put on that stylish American accent and the mother tongue influence pops out unaware leading to red-faced moments. 

Everyone wants to break the news online, be it about an earthquake or a spelling mistake on a roadside billboard. But when kids think that they are on top and in touch with the latest, times change, and after a quick while, they go out of fashion. I have always lagged behind my peers in dressing sense, but what I observed is that the fashionistas of my time are now being overrun by the newer human beings who came after us. It is no use trying to keep up with it because age drags you in the opposite direction. 

Or, if you are a city dweller and have gone to a village without satellite TV, internet, or newspaper; you realize that in a few days, the world has moved on without your knowledge. You have missed many headline news and in conversations, people ask you, ‘where have you been? Aren’t you aware of it? Everybody’s talking about it’. So, in order to enjoy conversations, it requires you to stay in touch with the news. One WhatsApp picture message says that earlier, people dialed telephones to call, and then they pressed their mobiles to call; now they touch their smart phones to call. Softwares like antivirus in your laptop require constant updating and upgrading that if you refuse to obey their command, newer virus will invade and destroy all your hard labor. So, you have to either keep pace with it, or become out-dated and become a museum specimen. 

Preachers also need to update their sermons and their style of sermon delivery so that it will suit the taste of the modern congregation. The fear of being out of touch with the present is high. So, the modern preachers go by the latest statistical data and chic forms of presentations. There is nothing wrong in being fashionable. But the relentless pursuit of relevance can become a form of idolatry as Os Guinness said (he calls it the Idol of Relevance). The Gospel has this funny thing about it that when it is conformed to what the world is saying in order to stay relevant, it becomes irrelevant. But when taken in its historical form and let it speak for itself, nothing is more relevant than the Gospel for our time or any time.  

The solution to the relentless pursuit of relevance is to understand the time that we are living in. What is it which drives our lives? What is the dominant ideology which governs the private and the public lives of our time? For people living in an Agrarian society, or in the time of Industrial Revolution, Renaissance, or Communism, there were certain ways of thinking and living. What are the dominant forces which run our economy? What is the dominant school of thought or value system which controls our society? For a start, a critical look at the role of money, sex, and power will make us understand the main driving forces of our time. There are some wise old folks who continue to stay relevant although they don’t chase after the latest fashion or hunt for breaking news. So, in a way, understanding the time we are living in will prevent us from becoming irrelevant.