This is not a Catholic post, or a denominational post. This is a post written because I have tried unsuccessfully to sleep for the last 2 hours. This is typically what happens when the Lord is speaking and my thoughts all begin to flow in essay form about something that will not rest until words are put to paper.
This post is about discernment. And as I type that word I am also reminding myself to discern well what is being said, because topics like this can quickly become heated and argumentative instead of logically discussing disagreements within the public square of ideas.
Last night was the Oscars. Yes, I chose to watch it because I like to imagine what it would be like to have my hair and make up perfectly styled along side of my gorgeous made for me and only me, gown. I'm a woman, it's what we do. I quickly settled into the couch and gave up the next four hours of my life to shallow acceptance speeches, awkward laughs, and the occasional inspirational song. Who doesn't get a bit misty when Bette Midler becomes the Wind Beneath our Wings?
I sat and watched unto the final award. Yet before the Best Movie was announced, I had already sufficiently found myself disturbed by one acceptance speech in particular. The best actor's acceptance speech was broken down into a three part thank you speech. The first half went to God. The second half went to his family, and the third going to his hero, which actually turned out to be none other than himself.
Please note this "need to write" was not a need to slam one actors personality or question his genuine love for God or his family (or himself). I don't give up precious sleep to harp about celebrities. I do, however, find myself concerned with the response that his speech drummed up among Facebook feeds, especially those of professing Christians.
Feed after feed I woke this morning and saw postings of friends sharing the speech across the internet. Hailing such titles as "A Real Man thanks God 1st" or "A must See!" "Awesome," "#ThankGod." I did not see the movie, but from the clips and a few Google searches, I'm confident it wouldn't have changed this post. If the speech for the win of the best supporting actor was any indicator, it was not a movie for the faint of heart or for those seeking a purely entertaining two hours. I was initially impressed when the supporting actor thanked his mom who had been a pregnant high school drop out and chose life, meaning, him. It could have been a poster for the Pro Life Cause. However he also closed his speech with a mega phone ad to love whoever you choose, and sexual equality for all.
The very last thing in the world I want to do is write a response that drums up hate and fails to get the point across that my point is not to bash lost people while standing on a false podium of purity and humility. I am keenly aware that my sin alone put him on the cross, and he came into the world to redeem, everyone. Yet to those of us who have been touched by his love, who have experienced and tasted and seen the very arms of Christ come along side of us through truth, His Word, and his Church, we have a greater responsibility to discern who and what we praise, in the Name of "God."
When we post things on Facebook congratulating or praising an artist for an award won, should we not first understand what that award was given for? Do we not have a duty to first search if the movie would have been one that God would have actually approved? Even if it was based on a true story, we cannot deny that movies are often produced to sell an agenda or an idea, very often those contrary to our core beliefs. This movie at it's best demonstrated the pain that pervasive promiscuity can have, while at its worst blurred the lines between moral truths including sexual ethics.
One of the greatest assaults to our culture today is the break down of the definition of marriage, with movies like these heavily helping to shape impressionable minds with beliefs and seemingly compassionate ideas that in reality, only lead to more pain. Do we not need to know that a significant catalyst for the plot involved escapades with a prostitute, impersonation of a priest to smuggle drugs, and an awarded best supporting actor playing the role of a sympathetic transgendered woman? Should we not also be aware that the Best Actor's previous movie was a number one selling comedy titled "Magic Mike," wholly centered around a male strip club? (Also not seen.. but I have Google).
While recognizing that it is refreshing to hear the name "God" spoken in a public forum, we have to be aware that the god in those arena's may be very different than the God that we know who asked us to carry our cross and follow him. The God who told us that in this world we might have trouble, simply because we chose to love Him. The Name above every name entered into our world to save us; dare I say to inconvenience us in our sin, drawing us to Himself. If the god professed among celebrities, sports stars, even upon our own lips is in no way inconveniencing our lives, let us consider very seriously if that is the God who for our sake, became man. We need to be people who simply seek not to hear the name of a created form of a Hollywood god, but who long for a conversion to the Person of Jesus Christ.
Paul did not give his life so that his God could be one among the many in Athens. He gave his life so that all people, for all time, could know that this God, Jesus, was the only One who gave his life as a ransom for all, freeing us from the bondage of our own self interpretations of truth, love, and sexuality. And it's a good thing to remember, that unlike the celebrities' self fulfilling personal hero, of himself, John the Baptist told us, "He must increase, I must decrease." And likewise, Paul stated, "we who are in Christ no longer live, but it is he, that lives in us." Praise should exist for the man whose hero alone is Christ. A speech that follows a thanks to God with a praise for oneself should be closely examined in the Christian world.
In any forum, of course we stand with Paul in Phillippians 1:18 that no matter the motives behind the individual speaker, if Christ is preached, we should rejoice. Let us just discern in all arenas whether or not the truth being spoken is indeed the truth in which we claim to have given our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment