Bad Lessons in Movies

Last summer I saw a popular movie that troubled me because of what I saw as a very distorted understanding of love. I don't want to give the title away right off, but I would like to hear some thoughts from anyone out there who has been struck by a twisted (yet widely accepted) portrayal of love in the movies? 

MM

True Love (1 Corinthians 13)

Paul explains in 1st Corinthians 13 that true love (agape) seeks only the benefit of the beloved, and has no concern for itself--and that this type of love is one of the most substantial, most real things we can know. 

In contrast to this is the popular view of love in our culture which sees love as an arbitrary feeling which we fall into and out of. 

So what are the dangers of the non-Christian view of love? What kind of problems can result if we fail to see that true love is more than a feeling? 

MM

It's Not About Me

Among many other examples in the Bible, Joseph (in Genesis) and Paul in the end of Acts, both show by their attitude after being  released from a two year prison term that the true follower of God can only live a life pleasing to God, and can only fulfill his or her calling in life by recognizing, "It's not about me."

But many segments of our Western culture don't see it that way. In fact, a lot of businesses thrive on convincing their customers that "It's all about you." 

So what are some good examples from popular culture of things or people who seek to convince us (not that it takes much) that our lives really should be oriented around securing our own immediate comfort and security? 

MM

N.T. Wright on a Biblical view of mission

I thought it would be good this week to post a link to a talk by New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright on a Biblical vision for mission. He gives some great ideas, and the talk goes right a long with today's message on mission. (And it's only about 16 minutes long--well worth listening to.)

Tom Wright – A biblical hope for mission

(Right click on the link and "save as" to download, or just click on the link to listen to the talk on the web)

As always, feel free to post a comment or discussion question. 

MM

Hillbillies In The Mansion

So the Beverly Hillbillies were odd because they lived in a new world but still acted as if they lived in the old one--what are some specific examples of ways Christians do this? What are the traits of our old selves and old ways of thinking that are hardest to leave behind? Why? 

MM 

What Do We Learn About God From His Methods

What does the fact that God communicates to us in mysterious (yet clear and certain) ways tell us about his character? What benefit might he intend in making himself known to us without putting an instant end to our problems, bringing down corrupt governments, or healing every sickness we suffer?

MM

Christmas Too Close To See

G.K. Chesterton tells a story about a young boy who goes out to sit on a hill to draw with pieces of chalk on a scrap of brown paper. The boy is initially excited, but then frustrated upon realizing he has forgotten the piece he thinks most important—the white chalk. He mulls in frustration for a short time, then erupts into laughter as it dawns upon him that the hill he sits on is itself made entirely of white chalk. I see a profound picture of Christmas in Chesterton’s story.

It’s easy to forget in the midst of Christmas festivities that, for many, Christmas will not be so festive this year. For a lot of people, this will be the first Christmas after losing a spouse or child. Others will experience Christmas as spectators, watching the world around them celebrate, as they would love to do if only they still had, or just once could have, the wealth necessary for a Christmas celebration. For some, every holiday song, every advertisement and decoration only serves as an amplifier of pain: “There’ll be no need to go across town to his favorite store this year,” so the Christmas-sale ad seems to say to the widow. “This is how most people (except you) enjoy Christmas shopping,” says the mall commercial to the minimum-wage-earning, single mom of three. What a heart-stab every mention of Christmas toys must be to those who have lost a child? There are many—very many—who watch all of Christmas as orphans watching through the orphanage window as families play across the street.

From this it is extremely tempting to give up our cheer and take a view that is more “mature,” a level-headed view that pulls our head out of the clouds, one that sobers us with the “real world,” and prevents us from getting caught up in all the childish Christmas hype. But such a view is short-sighted to say the least.

Before I go any further, please don’t take this as some muddle-headed attempt to counter deep pain with trite Bible clichés. Make no mistake; pain hurts. But one can either hurt in hope or hurt in despair, all depending on the level of insight and faith.

I said to lose cheer is tempting but short-sighted, because to do so is to stop and turn around within sight of the finish line. As dark as many situations may seem, the light is ironically close. The remedy to the pain evoked in so many by Christmas celebrations can only be had in looking past the celebrations to their source. If shiny tinsel and lights and family dinners are really all Christmas is about, hurting, lonely people have little hope. But what (rather who) lies at the very bedrock of all the Christmas cheer? It is the Father, the Lover, the one who ultimately defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow. The great irony is, in many people, loneliness and pain is intensified by the celebration of the coming of the only One who can cure our loneliness and pain. Those whose pain is aggravated by Christmas are in a situation much like a man stranded on a desert island who is irritated when the island’s silence is broken by the foghorn of a rescue ship. With Chesterton’s story in mind, Christmas makes us aware that no matter how bad we are hurting, we sit on a hill of white chalk.

MM