A Tale of Two Christian Movies

Jill and I watched two Christian movies this week. I’m not sure if either movie was produced by a Christian company or not, but both films were overtly “Christian” in their content and were marketed to appeal to a Christian audience. Yet, the two movies could not be more different in the stories they tell and the morals they convey.

The first movie was “The Ultimate Gift,” and it played like a cheesy after-school special. I knew it was a "Christian" movie because all of the music in the film was from popular "Christian" artists. The only song that wasn't was Bob Dylan's "You're Going to Serve Somebody," which is the one Bob Dylan song that every Christian seems to know about. Anyway, the movie is the story of a grandfather who dies and leaves an unnamed “gift” to his rebellious grandson, and the only way the grandson will inherit the gift is if he completes certain tasks that are meant to teach him moral lessons. Yeah, the storyline is pretty hokey, but don’t worry, it gets much worse. The characters are so one-dimensional that they become caricatures. The plot takes so many absurd twists and turns that it reminded me of Forest Gump, but unlike Forest Gump, we’re actually supposed to take the plot seriously. It’s a good thing that I didn’t see this movie in the theater. I would have been one of those annoying people who was laughing in all the places where you aren’t suppose to laugh, but I couldn’t help myself. In the end this romantic-comedic-tragic-action-drama mess of a movie teaches us the fundamental Christian moral that if we all live good moral lives, we too will be blessed with great wealth and riches.

The second movie was “Beyond the Gates” which is the story of a priest and a school teacher serving in Rwanda when the genocide broke out in 1994. The Christians in this film must face the reality of great suffering and injustice, and they must decide what they will do in response as they attempt to live out their faith. I found it to be both a faithful portrayal of the Christian faith and a scathing critique of the UN’s handling of the Rwandan genocide. I won’t say much more about this film because I don’t want to ruin it, but I would highly recommend it.

If you couldn’t tell by what I wrote above, I wouldn’t recommend “The Ultimate Gift.” It may be an alright movie to show Jr. High age kids. But, if you rent it expecting an enjoyable movie for yourself, you will experience the ultimate disappointment.

3rd Place Ain’t Bad

I’m not much of a baseball fan (I grew up a Pittsburgh Pirate’s fan, so you can understand my lack of interest), but the Cleveland Indians just fell one game short of making the World Series. In doing so they ruined my prediction that they would lose in the World Series and complete a full year of Ohio teams finishing in 2nd place in nearly every major sporting event. The only exception would have been a 2nd place in the Super Bowl, but let’s be realistic, the Browns and the Bengals make that feat pretty much impossible.

Even though the Indians finished in 3rd place, they didn’t let their fans off of the hook. Their collapse in the ALCS with a 3-1 series once again raised the hopes of Ohio sports fan, only to break their hearts in the end.

Well…the Buckeye’s football team is once again #1….knock on wood….

Sanctification and Sinlessness

I have wrestled with the holiness doctrine of “Entire Sanctification” for a number of years, and I am still not resolved on the issue. The difficulties I have with this doctrine are not so much based on theological issues but on the way the doctrine is often preached and lived out. I do believe that God calls his people to be holy. I believe that the salvation Christ offers is fundamentally transformational in its nature. I believe that Christians are to be filled with the Spirit and empowered to live holy lives.

The problems I have with the doctrine of entire sanctification arise from those who emphasize the instantaneous act of “entire sanctification” to the exclusion of progressive and continual sanctification. To such people, entire sanctification seems to be a state of sinless perfection that anyone can attain simply by asking the Holy Spirit to sanctify them. Don’t misunderstand me. I do believe that God desires to and does sanctify his people. However, I believe that those who overemphasize the crisis event of sanctification have turned sanctification into a kind of “name-it, claim-it” experience and have actually watered-down the true holiness message. Here are two difficulties I have with this kind of “name-it, claim-it” sanctification:

First, I believe an overemphasis on the initial act of sanctification tends to divorce sanctification from the need of continual sanctification through discipleship and ongoing communion with God. We implore people to receive the grace of sanctification, but once they finish praying at the altar, we send them back into the world without taking the time to disciple them and walk with them in their experience. We preach at them to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, but we fail to teach them how to live and grow in the grace they have received.

Second, I believe that the emphasis on initial sanctification often leaves people believing that they are entering a state of “sinless-perfection,” and such a belief can actually be counterproductive. If sanctification is a state of sinless-perfection, then those who are sanctified either cannot or do not sin. Once such a state is reached there seems to be no more need to confess one’s sins or to search one’s heart to discover attitudes that are contrary to God’s will. I’ve heard a number of “sanctified” people give testimonies like, “I was sanctified fifteen years ago, and I haven’t knowingly sinned since then.” This doesn’t impress me! In fact I think it sounds spiritually arrogant and contrary to true holiness. I’m not saying that all Christians must sin everyday; however, people who are truly holy do not have to toot their own horns regarding their personal sinlessness. I believe that most people can conform to a superficial form of legalism and claim to not sin as long as they narrowly define sin as the things that are easy for them to avoid (like drinking, smoking, cussing, etc…), but is this true holiness? Does this mean that they love God with their whole heart? Does this mean that all of their hidden slothfulness, bitterness, pride, selfishness, hatefulness, lust, and jealousy have been cleansed and that they are now perfected? I doubt it.

I read something in Dennis Kinlaw’s book “Preaching in the Spirit” that is truly helpful. He writes: “Some people think the sanctified life is one in which a person never errs; but when we seek God’s grace to live a holy life, we know that’s not so. As much as anything else, the sanctified life is one sensitized to error” (46). (By the way, Kinlaw is a man of such love and grace, that if he claimed to be utterly sinless, I would believe him). I think Kinlaw’s words are very helpful. Those who are truly holy are those who constantly allow the Holy Spirit to probe their inner life and who confess and repent of errs and sins that are revealed. They do not settle for a false sense of sinlessness, but continue to grow in sanctification until they are completely perfected in Christian love.

Minneapolis Bridge

I don’t have a lot of time to write right now, but I figured I’d post this pic from the Minneapolis bridge collapse. Jill and I were there at the beginning of September with her siblings. It was pretty crazy.

Tech-nol-oh-geeze

I have come to the conclusion that as our society advances technologically, we decrease in intelligence. We may have vast amounts of information at our fingertips, but our minds have become mush in the process. Here’s a story that confirms my theory:

I was looking to buy a cell phone the other day. Being the new pastor, I figured I should finally enter the 21st century, break down and get a cell phone so that people could get in touch with me whenever I’m not in the office. When I told a salesman that I was a minister and new to the area, he jumped into his extensive pitch about me needing a combination pda/high-speed internet browser/turn-by-turn voice navigation/cell phone/etc…thingy, and it would only cost a small fortune. He told me that it would literally save me hours everyday, and this is important since a minister’s time is so valuable. I must admit that the phone was pretty cool, but he never really had me convinced (mainly because I’m so cheap!).

But if my frugality didn’t fully convince me not to take the technological plunge, the end of our conversation solidified my decision. I was looking for a few things for my guitar, so I asked the salesman if there were any music stores nearby. He told me that he played guitar in his spare time and that the best place to get what I needed was online at www.musiciansfriend.com. I knew I wasn’t going to remember that, so he said he’d write it down for me. He started to write, and I could tell he was struggling. He said, “please forgive my poor spelling,” and handed me the paper. It read “musistians frend.com” Apparently he doesn’t do much reading or writing in the countless hours that his cell phone saves him each week. I immediately went and got the cheapest/simplest phone I could find!

The Dialup Blues

I’m sure by now that the two or three of you who actually did read my blog at one time or another have ceased to read it due to my lack of posting over the past month. I hope to rectify this problem soon, now that we’re settled in Michigan, but I have one huge hurdle to overcome: my painfully slow dialup connection!!!! Apparently, there is no available high-speed internet in the Eagle area, so I’m forced to go from super-fast cable to tying my emails to carrier pigeons, and sending them out in the hopes that one day they might find their destination. I know my Carrolltonian readers can relate to this problem. Anyway, this post is kind of a test-run to see how long the process is going to take. If it takes more than 10 minutes, my posting may continue to be very sporadic.

Going Off-Line

Well, we’re packing up all of our stuff and are getting ready to move. Jill and I are heading to Minnesota on Sunday to spend some time with her family, and when we return, we’ll only be here for a little over a day before turning around and heading to Michigan. My internet will be disconnected as of tomorrow, so I’m not really sure when I’ll be able to post again. It’ll probably be at least a couple of weeks. So, if you’re one of the two people who actually read this blog, be sure to check back in a few weeks and I’ll start posting again. Take care.

Final Thoughts on Potter

Well, I finished the final Harry Potter book. I liked it better than the 5th and 6th books, but it didn’t change many of my previously mentioned views. I’ve already written a lot on this topic, so I’ll only make two comments:

1. I think that the final Harry Potter book has several distinctly “Christian” elements. I won’t say much more than that because I don’t want to give anything away, but there are aspects of the book that make me think it is much more Christian than it is pagan.

2. I still don’t think HP will go down as great literature. One further reason why I think this is Rowling’s annoyingly incessant need to explain every-last-detail of the books and her manner of tying everything together into a neat little package. The earlier HP books each included one clever twist which was easily explained at the conclusion of each book, and Rowling’s style worked well for these books written for children. Her later books are geared for a more mature audience, but rather than developing depth and nuance, Rowling simply adds more twists. The final three books include so many twists that Rowling has to spend much of her final book unraveling and her convoluted tale so that every point of the story fits together. Rather than letting her readers to make their own judgments, she spells out all aspects of her story in laborious detail.

This isn’t to say that the books still don’t have their charms, but I think the books would have been better if the final books had been more like the originals.

Our Big Move

For all of you who haven’t heard, we will be moving to Michigan in mid-September. I have been assigned to pastor the Eagle Wesley Chapel which is located about fifteen miles west of Lansing. Besides the fact that we’re being called to Michigan (which I believe is a reflection of God’s ironic sense of humor), Jill and I are excited and nervous as we prepare to move. We’re excited because we sense that God is calling us and believe that he will stretch our faith and use us for his ministry. We’re nervous because we are stepping into the unknown and don’t know what lies ahead.

As we prepare to move, I’ve been thinking about the final words of the Great Commission, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And surely I am with you always, to very ends of the age” (Matt 28:19-20). In these words I remember that we are not called to build our own ministry. We are called to be a part of the ministry that belongs to Christ. I am not called to change people through my own wit and ability. I am called to be witness to the resurrection and a mediator of God’s grace. I am also reminded that we do not go alone, but Christ goes with us. This is a very comforting reminder.