So the new Beauty and the Beast movie will have a repressed gay henchman longing to love his Gaston. Some of my fellow Christians, of course, are up in arms about this. A drive-in movie theater in Alabama has refused to show it, stating that they absolutely will not compromise on what the Bible teaches. We're horrified...SHOCKED...that something like this could come out of a Disney studio.
So...what's my feeling on this? I'm not even going to begin to justify what others are doing, but instead say that I believe that a lot of this is overblown. First, if you are expecting Disney movies to teach morals to your children, that's a problem. Second, homosexuality is now a part of American life, whether you like it or not. It's part of what America IS now...and so when a Disney channel shows have a character who has two moms, it's not that surprising. Should be shocked that even 'family' movies reflect this trend, much as they historically treated Asian as slanty-eyed lispers or blacks as subservient farmhands?
And third, and most importantly...if you want to do away with movies that, as one Facebook post I saw said, you couldn't watch with Jesus sitting next to you, then how many Hollywood movies could you really watch? Why are you so mad about this and so ready to pony up $10 for everything else?
-A chick-flick in which the unmarried couple sleeps together half-way through the movie...is that Christian?
-An action movie with lots of gratuitous violence as a man takes vengeance on a gang that hurts his family...is that Christian?
-A buddy cop movie with lots of foul language...is that Christian?
-A romantic family flick in which a woman falls in love with a beast who wears fancy garments...ummmm...
The point is this...getting freaked out that a gay character is in a Disney movie is most likely counter-productive. See it, don't see it, have a conversation about your family values with your kids...do whatever you want. But stop it with the outrage. You don't own the studio, though you've given them a ton of your money over the years. Your whiny self-righteous bitterness brings more shame onto Jesus than this movie ever will, and others can see it. No wonder people don't take your Jesus seriously.
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Facebook Live Worship
A local church has been advertising on their sign in front of the building that they now will Facebook Live their worship services on Sunday morning. A friend of mine, a youth minister in another town, has also been doing much the same thing with his Sunday school classes.
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, for a younger set who might well not be able to come to a class due to work or distance reasons, this might well be effective in helping to teach them faith facts. And so on this, I applaud the outreach. Heck, I podcast my Sunday morning sermons and I know a handful of people listen to this each week for various reasons (they help in the church nursery or they are people I have known in the past who like my preaching are two reasons I have heard).
Yet when it comes to local worship, advertising locally in a small town, I wonder about this whole idea of videostreaming. Essentially it says, yes you are here in town, perhaps even close enough to walk, but you just don't want to get out of your pajamas in order to have a spiritual experience. But, it is objected, what about the old people who can't get out? Again, I get it (though my experience is that a. most older people have no idea how to get videostreaming and b. if anybody will make it services even when it's uncomfortable, it's the old people), though I wonder if this is simply an example of trying to fill a niche that doesn't need filling.
But my biggest concern is this: I wonder if internet worship makes us spiritually incomplete. For the power of church is not just in going and absorbing some good preaching or hearing the songs of faith. There's something about the necessity of community, of sitting next to somebody who may be very different than you but who likewise proclaims that Jesus is Lord. There's something about leaving the comfort of home to go a place that may at times be intimidating or downright scary and encountering the presence of God in a special place. There's something about realizing that we are more than individuals who come to God, but that we are a people united in community. All this is very difficult to do in front of a computer screen.
Of course, maybe this is the faith of a new day. So often we hear how people like God, but they don't really like Christians or the church. And so if people live on their phones and their screens are are increasingly starved for real human contact, isn't this the kind of God that they want to like? Should we be surprised that 'worship' without the need for human interaction is becoming so common?
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, for a younger set who might well not be able to come to a class due to work or distance reasons, this might well be effective in helping to teach them faith facts. And so on this, I applaud the outreach. Heck, I podcast my Sunday morning sermons and I know a handful of people listen to this each week for various reasons (they help in the church nursery or they are people I have known in the past who like my preaching are two reasons I have heard).
Yet when it comes to local worship, advertising locally in a small town, I wonder about this whole idea of videostreaming. Essentially it says, yes you are here in town, perhaps even close enough to walk, but you just don't want to get out of your pajamas in order to have a spiritual experience. But, it is objected, what about the old people who can't get out? Again, I get it (though my experience is that a. most older people have no idea how to get videostreaming and b. if anybody will make it services even when it's uncomfortable, it's the old people), though I wonder if this is simply an example of trying to fill a niche that doesn't need filling.
But my biggest concern is this: I wonder if internet worship makes us spiritually incomplete. For the power of church is not just in going and absorbing some good preaching or hearing the songs of faith. There's something about the necessity of community, of sitting next to somebody who may be very different than you but who likewise proclaims that Jesus is Lord. There's something about leaving the comfort of home to go a place that may at times be intimidating or downright scary and encountering the presence of God in a special place. There's something about realizing that we are more than individuals who come to God, but that we are a people united in community. All this is very difficult to do in front of a computer screen.
Of course, maybe this is the faith of a new day. So often we hear how people like God, but they don't really like Christians or the church. And so if people live on their phones and their screens are are increasingly starved for real human contact, isn't this the kind of God that they want to like? Should we be surprised that 'worship' without the need for human interaction is becoming so common?
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