I've been really struggling recently to know exactly how to view the world I thought I understood. I used to be someone who tried my best to defend the culture against all of the negative criticisms that conservatives threw it's way. Listening to radio hosts like Michael Medved only discuss a movie's morality used to stick a knife in my side. I used to think, "poor culture." Nobody sees your "good qualities." People are only pointing out your "bad qualities." So I used to be a defender of culture, particularly when it came to movies.
Now I won't say that I've necessarily changed my positions on the arguments that I've made in the past, but I realize that I've been arguing with the wrong people. Because recently it's been made known to me that culture doesn't need defended. It doesn't need help. It's doing fine on it's own. It's spitting out a lot of junk, and people are eating it up. It's feeding us the nastiest stuff ever, and we keep coming back for more. We are truly a McDonalds nation, and it's permieted every area of society.
Greed fuels pop-culture, not art. Sex,money, and self-worth are the loudest voices in the media, and they've been screaming so loudly, for so long now, that we don't even hear them anymore. It's expected. And not only that, it's gotten to a point, where it could even be classified as "cute." One preacher, named E. Dewey Smith Jr., that Anthony Bradley linked to on his blog has a lot of great stuff to say about pop-culture. Here's a link to a sermon that Anthony brought attention to, and I think is really powerful as well. Beware, the sermon does discuss explicit lyrics of a song, so please take caution with that, that it is not nice to listen to, but it's the truth that I think more pastors need to courage to engage in. He tells it like it is, when everyone else is either deaf to disgusting nature of pop-culture these days, or merely wants to shy away from it.
So I take this time now to apologize the all the people who I have burdened over the years to just accept things. Because I'm not going to accept things anymore. I don't need to settle for what some executives tell me I should fill my time with. And maybe this is even sparking a new fire in my heart to get more engaged with culture again, so that I can hopefully be some agent of change. Recently, I've had this great desire to make a movie on the book of Ruth. That might sound weird, but I think it's one of the best stories I've ever heard, period. I'm actually quite surprised there hasn't been a movie on it already. It's so classic.
But yeah, I heard a great quote from Ebert I think where he said I'm not so much moved in movies where the characters are very bad, but what brings me to tears is when the main character is overwhelmingly good. And I think that's what's so attractive about the story of Ruth. Boaz and Ruth exemplify such great witnesses of what Godly men and women should be like, that it brings me to tears. And I really have a desire to tell this story now.
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3 comments:
mark, i have to confess, i've definitely been reading your blog for a while now, and i think i have yet to comment. if i have already, forgive my memory. and, this is molly (farrell) by the way.
anyway...
i just wanted to say that i'm totally feeling what you're saying here. since the day i got married, my husband and i have run into conflict with the world's ideas of life over and over again. simple things like depositing a paycheck all of a sudden become huge when the idea of spouses being unified, especially in their finances, comes contrary to the world's experience. one of my husband's coworkers even asked him, "but how do you hide money?" to which he replied, "i don't." the coworker then proceeded to say, "but then how will you cheat?" to which my husband replied, "i won't." "never?" "never."
we're almost astonished at both the capacity of these kinds of scenarios and the number of them. and we're fighting for our marriage, and for marriage as we know it should be, day in and day out. i think our influences comes not in identifying with the world, but loving them through our differences. we have seen a visible, tangible, relational change with people we know since we've begun being who we are around them.
i just wanted to encourage you in this new venture. that it is possible to love people who come from "the world" and yet operate by standards that set you apart. that you can and probably are making changes in other people's lives.
i would love to see your "Ruth movie."
Yeah Molly I totally agree. I didn't want to give the impression that I hated the world. If anything, I've never felt more compassion for it. And I think that's why I'm so outraged, because I see society being poisoned, and I'm deeply saddened by it. So yeah, I totally agree with what you said, and maybe if more Christians had a more deep love for the world, while be set apart, we might be a little better off.
MARK! This is your favorite cousin. (: Anyway, I really hope you make the Ruth movie, and you have to make it in the next two years so we can see it when we see you again!! It sounds awesome!!
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