Category: Culture

Losing Focus

I’ve tried several times to write about this cultural moment, and my paralysis is perhaps best exemplified by my problem even finding  a suitable shorthand name for all of this – because it is about so much more than Chick-Fil-A, and even the ongoing culture war in America.  This moment is a symptom of several chronic ailments, both for the culture and for the Church.  I am inclined here to focus on the ailments of the Church, particularly because I think we (the Church) need to start with the log in our own eye before we start to pick at the eye of the culture.

What distresses me most about the Church in this situation?  That most Christians I have heard, seen or read regarding this moment are more concerned about defending their First Amendment rights than the Kingdom of God and the gospel of that Kingdom.  Lots of talk about defending our rights, and no one (in my circles) asking how we can show or express the Kingdom in this situation.  Too few are asking how we can invite the people we are treating like our enemies to come to the Kingdom, or even thinking about the Kingdom.  I think that reflects that our Kingdom citizenship is far less prominent in our minds than our present circumstances.  Do we take it for granted?  Do we not understand its appropriate prominence in our lives? Or, worst of all, is Christ (and his Kingdom) an accessory for us, rather than our identity?  We are clearly more concerned about making sure that our understanding of The American Way carries the day than that Jesus Christ would be known and loved.  Our attention is on building American Christian Empire, not the Kingdom of God.

What distresses me almost as much about the Church is how stupid and hateful we sound.  I have encountered multiple Cultural Warriors in the last week who, on the surface, would seem to be on the same side as me, and after listening carefully to them, I am seriously tempted to move across the aisle.  I believe there is a logically-consistent, Biblically-grounded rationale for not following the cultural tide toward redefining marriage, but it is rarely articulated.  Instead, we speak out of our emotional insecurity, our visceral distaste for sexuality that doesn’t look like ours, and our patchwork of proof-texts and half-learned lessons from sermons or Bible studies.  Our presentation is an overheated, blustery drawing of a line in the sand – rather than an attempt to reason with the person who disagrees with us, so she will see the consistency of our position, or to persuade the person, so he will be drawn to our alternate vision of what is and can be.  Our responses don’t actually seem designed to win anyone to either Christ or our side; they are sledgehammers, or cannon fire, intended only to beat back our “opponents”.  I cannot see how this is ever a response suitable for a follower of Jesus.

We are fearfully consumed with anxiety about winning, even as we claim to be the people who are standing up for Scripture.  These two things cannot fit together!  The Bible study group I meet with each Friday morning has been discussing the Revelation of John for 4 years, and the passage we were reading this morning from chapter 20 reminded us vividly that Christ has won the victory over Satan, and sin, and death.  He does not need us to fight his battles (this is quite literal, in fact: if you look at Chapters 19 and 20, Christ gathers his faithful in a way that is pictured as an army, but it is only Christ who fights the foe!).  If we believe that Jesus is Lord, then he will complete his victory in his time, and the truth will win out.  So why are we trying to conquer enemies, instead of trying to invite those who dwell in darkness to see the great light of Christ?  Or, if we will insist on seeing them as enemies, when will we start treating them the way Jesus told us to treat our enemies?

Night On The Town

So, I noted on Facebook tonight that I had an interesting experience at Toys R Us:

Zach and I went to Toys R Us to buy a video.  From the moment one walks in the door of our local Toys R Us, there are prominent signs inviting shoppers to make donations to support Autism Speaks.  As we waited in the check-out line, I noticed additional flyers taped to the cash registers and counters encouraging donations through the cashiers.  We were third in line, and Zach was doing the things Zach usually does while he waits: he bobbed and danced around, tried to get me to buy him M & M’s, and periodically dropped hints that we should be done waiting in line.  Zach has a unique way of enunciating single words with the aim of motivating the listener to immediate action.  He says the word clearly, with an intensity that starts in the middle of the word and then builds through the end of the word, communicating intensity – “ride” means “it is time to go ride in the car RIGHT NOW”; “car” means…well, it means the same thing.  So, here in the Toys R Us line, he kept saying “ride” and “bag,” as in “put my video in a bag so we can go RIDE in the CAR.  NOW.”  He wasn’t being particularly difficult about any of this, or invading anyone else’s personal space, but it was constant movement and/or sound, which is normal for Zach.

As we waited, I noticed that the cashier had a list of questions for the person in front of the line, which she asked with little enthusiasm: “Do you need a gift receipt?  Do you need to buy any batteries today?  Do you want to make a donation to support autism?  Do you want your receipt in the bag?”  When that customer was finished, the next customer got exactly the same list of questions.

Then it was our turn.  “Do you need a gift receipt?” No. “Do you need to buy any batteries today?” No. “Do you want your receipt in the bag?” No.  And I noticed, no invitation to make a donation to support autism.  No change in the enthusiasm or empathy level, but a change in the question routine.  And as we began to move for the exit with our video in hand, I could plainly hear the questions for the next customer: “Do you need a gift receipt?  Do you need to buy any batteries today?  Do you want to make a donation to support autism?  Do you want your receipt in the bag?”

So, what to make of this?  I joked about it on Facebook, and I do think it is a little bit funny.  Zach may have done a little bit to help raise money for autism in those 10 minutes.  If he had been more irritable (which happens sometimes) he might have hurt the cause, I don’t know.

But I’ve got another thought on this, too.  Maybe I, a dad with a son who plainly has autism, want to give to support autism research. Certainly it’s true that living with autism has had a financial cost (to speak only of the currency in mind in this transaction), but aren’t there breast cancer survivors who do the Komen walk for the cure, and raise and donate more money besides?  Don’t lots of people find ways to give generously to the causes that touch them most personally?  So why would the cashier pass up this opportunity to invite me to do the same?

I’m not sure (and I’m not offended or mad, either, to be clear).  Maybe the thought is that I  might already give in more intentional ways than a quick hit at the check-out.  Or maybe she felt awkward asking me to give while Zach was being so insistent about moving on.  I don’t know.  However, I do know that one of my favorite things is not standing out just because my sons have autism; being just part of the crowd is nice sometimes.  I know that many people with other special needs or disabilities express that they feel the same way.  They don’t want special rules or concessions.  If they need them, they’ll probably ask for them, and then they hope you’ll be ready to help.  And in that way, they’re/we’re pretty much just like everyone else.

Movies About Board Games 2: Electric Boogaloo

Had to share:

Television Without Pity wrote about the creative abandoned well that is movies made about board games more than 2 years ago!  And, the Battleship movie was the first on their list, already in production.  Well, since it took that long to make, it’s got to be good, right?

My favorite part was noting that Real Steel bears some resemblance to another table game, and the list of board game movies that were supposedly in production at that time.  Still waiting for Ridley Scott’s Monopoly…

And, I’m a little bit sad that only one of you has taken on the challenge I’ve thrown down.  Here, I’ll make it easier:  What would a movie based (or not based, as is the case with Battleship) on “Sorry” look like?  Go to it!

You Sank My…

I have been to a couple of movies recently which have subjected me to previews for Battleship, the upcoming film which was still being promoted as being from Hasbro, the same people who brought us the Transformers franchise and the table game Battleship.  Early trailers and write-ups were emphasizing that the movie was based on the board game, although they seem to be de-emphasizing that now.

This probably has to do with the fact that the movie actually appears to be Transformers 4: Hey, Now We’re In The Ocean!  In fact, I have struggled for weeks to understand what the movie has to do with the board game, other than the actual presence of a Battleship: lots of aliens that look like the aliens from Transformers, and make lots of metallic clicking and growling sounds like the aliens from Transformers, but no kids incorrectly guessing where Liam Neeson’s battleship is.

And then I realized that I know what a Battleship movie that is actually based on the board game would be like:

Two nations have full, ample naval fleets – but no intelligence agencies.  So, as tensions build and war breaks out, the two nations are relegated to taking turns firing missiles to random locations, hoping to hit one of the enemy ships.

They also have no air force, so to find out if they have actually hit the enemy fleet, each nation is dependent upon the other calling periodically to say “miss” or “hit”.  When they occasionally hit the enemy, there is great excitement: “Oh, we have hit the enemy.  Unfortunately, we don’t know what type of ship we hit (our enemy failed to mention it during their last phone call).  So, let’s fire near the last location, and see if we have hit again!”  This gripping battle goes back and forth, until one fleet has been entirely sunk, and the audience has died of boredom.

Now, wouldn’t you go see that, again and again, eventually buying it on blu-ray?

Having figured out how to make a really exciting movie about a board game, I thought we should take it to the next level.  So, let’s crowdsource this: what other board and table games would you like to see as movies, and what type of movie would your game of choice be?  What do you think would be the hardest board game to make into a movie?

For example: My brother and I began thinking about this, and he suggested that Connect Four might be the hardest game to make into a movie.  After a little thought, though, I suggested that, in the spirit of Battleship, Connect Four would be a romantic comedy about four hip young urban friends trying to find love but being repeatedly blocked just short of the goal.  Depending on if this was a big studio project or an indie, in the end one of the young beautifuls would find true love (or not); in the closing scene, a giant sinkhole would open up, and all of the checker/hipsters would collapse into it.

Okay, now it’s your turn!  Let’s make a movie!

Stop Making Sense

On Sunday morning, we talked at St. Paul Church about how Chuck Colson after his prison conversion was an example of what 1 John 3:1 was talking about: The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1 ESV) The man who came out of prison didn’t look like the man who went in to prison, and rest of his life told a different story than the one that landed him in federal prison: it told the story of Jesus, the King who invites us into the family of God even while we are his enemies.  The link below is to a piece talking more about how this changed life is being wrestled with in obituaries.

What is the story that your life is telling?  Is it a story of self-service, or the story of Jesus?

Chuck Colson and the Conscience of a Hatchet-Man | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction.