1982, Sugarhill Gang, Culture and the Gospel
I have been thinking a good bit lately about culture and communication when it comes to sharing Christ with the people of Thailand. There is one thing that I am confident about in this topic....I will never be a Thai. I will be able to share the love of Jesus through my life and words, but I will never connect in a way that a Thai guy will be able to connect with his countrymen. Tonight I reminisced over just one year of my 36 years of living and after doing so I tried to imagine one of the university students I spend time with coming into that year...coming into 1982...they would be fine in a survival sense, but they would not carry with them the shared history that I have with my friends. They would be lost in so many of the conversations not due to language, but shared experiences. Even our sub-languages, quotes, and jokes would leave them out many times, but these things are extremely useful when talking to friends who know what we are saying.
I want to best understand their world in order to best communicate the gospel. By only looking at 1982 and thinking about my life during that time and how all he things of pop culture shaped me and my experiences, I am even more confident that I must depend on God and his Spirit to break through the hearts of my Thai friends with the gospel. I can know a good bit about their culture, but not like I know my own, and not like a young university Thai Christian man does. Pray for God to raise up a few Thai men at North Eastern University and Khon Khan University to reach other Thais for Christ.
I have listed out some things below that proved to me that culture is thick...and this is only from the entertainment side of things. If you were alive in 1982 and at least in the 1st grade, you will have memories and feelings come over you when you think about a few of the things I have listed below. If you were not yet born or too young in 1982 you will not react in the same way as those of us who experienced it fresh and together. It will feel old school to you...but even then...there are some shared understanding of things. Maybe I should share a list of things that were huge in Thailand in 1982, and not just big Bangkok, but in the North Eastern city of Khon Kaen. Most of the things below are just names of movies and songs but they play a major part in my culture, and this is only one year!
I remember 1982 like it was only a few years ago...not like yesterday, but not like it was 28 years ago either...
"I got a pocket full of quarters, and I'm headed to the arcade. I don't have a lot of money, but I'm bringing ev'rything I made. I've got a callus on my finger, and my shoulder's hurting too. I'm gonna eat them all up, just as soon as they turn blue." -Pac-Man Fever by Buckner & Garcia
Rocky III gave us Mr. T, Hulk Hogan, and The Eye of the Tiger and Michael Jackson gave us Thriller which would give us the Thriller video in 1983..."Thriller's on!!!" would be heard around the block, bikes would be abandoned in the yard or driveway, Wendy's french fries would be left on the kitchen table to get cold, bathtubs would overrun with water and North America would take a break from what-ever and be mesmerized. He also teamed up with Paul McCartney with "Ebony and Ivory".
E.T. scared me as he ran away from Eliot in the back yard making that horrible alien scream and then made me laugh, cry and want to fly on my BMX bike. And speaking of being scared...Poltergeist should not have come on during the morning and afternoon hours during the summer with no adult supervision...."There here"...OK I must move on...
"Abra-abra-cadabra I want to reach out and grab ya"
And who didn't want a Knight Industries Two Thousand car and the awesome watch?
TRON
Family Ties
Cheers
Pittfall
Annie bet her bottom dollar that Tomorrow there'd be sun.
Most Requested Music (Thriller came out late in the year)
1. Apache - Sugarhill Gang
2. I Love Rock and Roll - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
3. Mickey - Toni Basil
4. Through The Years - Kenny Rogers
5. Open Arms - Journey
6. 867-5309 (Jenny Jenny) - Tommy Tutone
7. Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor
8. You Dropped A Bomb On Me - Gap Band
9. Chariots of Fire Title Theme - Vangelis
10. I'm So Excited - Pointer Sisters
11. Ribbon In The Sky - Stevie Wonder
12. On The Wings Of Love - Jeffrey Osborne
13. State of Independence - Donna Summer
14. We Got The Beat - GoGos
15. She's Got a Way - Billy Joel
16. Rock This Town - Stray Cats
17. Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
18. Tainted Love - Softcell
19. One Hundred Ways - Quincy Jones and James Ingram
20. Who Can It Be Now - Men at Work
21. Get Down On it - Kool & the Gang
22. Turn Your Love Around - George Benson
23. Let It Whip - Dazz Band
24. Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaataa
25. Gloria - Laura Branigan
