Peace!

The concept of peace is a big one throughout scripture. I'm fairly certain I touched on it before in relation between us and Christ. But that's not the peaceful relationship I want to touch on today.

Ephesians 2.14-16: For he himself (Jesus) is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

The entire point of this section of Ephesians is about the unity, or oneness, in Christ. It could be assumed that Paul is writing about the Jew/Gentile relations, but the main thing is that it expands to us today.

A while back I was interviewing with a church, and had a conversation with the minister. We disagreed on the finer points of baptism, and because of that I was not hired. Which was for the better because it brought me to where God needed me, despite what some people think. But while we disagreed, we still are able to have fellowship between us as brothers in Christ because we both have Jesus, our peace.

All throughout the world there are different groups of Christians, which we can call denominations, but some would go as far as to say that some are even other religions such as Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity. I still call them denominations. Some would be willing to have fellowship and would call me a brother if we sat down and had a conversation. Why? Because Jesus is our peace. He's the central truth, the common bond, the one thing that we can both agree on. If there's hostility between us, then chances are we don't agree on who Jesus is. And that's a problem.

As Christians we are called to be united in Christ. Meaning that we identify as Christians, little Jesus' running around, doing Jesus like stuff like telling people about this God and his Son who is our king. And that's what we should focus on. Jesus as our King that was crucified and rose again. And because of that we can go to ex-Muslims that we may have been scared of in the past and welcome them as brothers and sisters. We can shake hands with once rapist that found Christ, repented, and begged our forgiveness from inside a jail cell. We can embrace the man that murdered a loved one of ours for drug money, or because they get behind the wheel of a car impaired. All because we recognize the transforming power of the cross, which kills the hostility between us and those that have hurt us, shamed us, or even disagree with us.

The power of the cross not only has the power to change our personal lives, but also the relationships that we find ourselves in, be them good or bad. I got bullied a lot in high school, and I just gritted my teeth and took it. I had a hatred for the people, and that's the proper use of the word. I hated them. But through the transforming power of the cross I have forgiven them, even if they don't think they've done anything wrong. But I know that if any one of them came to me and told me that they accepted Christ I wouldn't even mention the past because it's gone, I've forgiven them, and the only thing that matters to me is the peace that stands between us that is Christ.

So no matter who you disagree with, no matter what it's on, if you can agree on who Christ is, you can have peace.

Say what you mean, hear what they say

Few years back the Dark Knight came out and everyone was blown away at how great of a movie it was. In the following years that led up to the Dark Knight Rises a lot of speculation was going around as to who the new villains were going to be, especially since Heath Ledger's death. Two of the possibilities that everyone kept throwing about were Catwoman, with no one sure as to who was going to play her, and Johnny Depp as the Riddler. The later was stated as fact by just about anyone you talked to. Why? Because of an interview with Depp, in which he said, "It's not like I'm going to be playing the Riddler or anything." There are other reasons why this rumor was circulated, but I remember reading this interview in an article and after that was written the author stated, "That's right! You heard it here first! Johnny Depp is confirmed as the Riddler!"

That's not at all what he just said dude! He said the exact opposite of what you stated!

I know a lot of people, myself included, that tend to say things they don't mean. One big example is with the word "literally." "I literally rammed her off the road." Why aren't you in jail for attempted vehicular homicide? "Well I didn't really do it." Then why did you say "Literally?"

Or not answering the question that you're asked. Or not asking the question you meant. I had guy in class come up to me one time and asked how I liked the thermos I was using. "It ain't bad, really hate the lid though, doesn't flow well." He responded with, "That's not what I asked, I asked how you liked the fact that it'll keep your coffee hot for 4 hours?" No dude. That's not what you asked.

I ask someone when they're going to be here. "Well I gotta do this, and this, and this, and this." Alright, so what time are you going to be here?

I've seen people post things on facebook bashing others and encouraging others to do the same, then two days later turn right around and say that everyone needs to support the people they were just bashing. Dude, make up your freaking mind and quit contradicting yourself. You're making yourself look like an idiot.

This may just be a pet peeve of mine, and for some reason I feel like I've talked about this before, but skimming my previous posts I don't think I've written on this, but hey, If I did oh well.

There is a problem in today's society where we cannot say what we mean. Either we're incapable of it, we don't know how, or we don't want to offend anyone. One of the biggest issues I have with America at the moment is the idea of "tolerance." All religions must be tolerant of everyone else! Except Muslims because we have to be tolerant of them. And the non-religious because they don't do anything wrong or hate on anyone. That is except the religious because they are always hating on people so it's wrong therefore we can hate on them and tell them to be tolerant.

Really? Do you hear what you're saying?

Then we have Christians that complain constantly about the size of their church, or how other Christians live, and yet do nothing about it because, "well that's not my job to correct them." Or if you do go up against someone and try to tell them that they're messing up and need to get back on track, "Only God can judge me! Judge not lest you also be judged!" They throw scripture at you because they try to justify their sin.

How do we stop this?

Jesus made it pretty clear. "Let your 'yes' be yes and your 'no' be no."

Say what you mean. And expect that from others. Whenever someone tells me something I take it at face value.

"I just gonna hit her in the face." Alright we need to find constructive ways to make sure you don't hit people in the face. "Well I don't mean I'm really going to." Then why did you say you were? If you want to, that's fine, I want to hit people all the time. but saying that you're going to? Well that's a different story and we need to talk about that. Say what you mean, let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no.

Now two more things in this more or less devotional rant.

"Well you can't tell anyone that they can't do something because Matthew 7 Jesus says not to judge or you'll likewise be judged!" Yes, properly translated it does say that. But judge has different meanings. In this sense it indeed means "Condemn not, or else you will be condemned." It's not just saying "Hey that's bad you shouldn't do that!" It's an admonishment against "You're going to go to hell for that!" Really? Are you God? Are you going to be the one that says who goes to heaven and who goes to hell? I don't think so. John 7.24 says the exact opposite of Matthew 7.1, "Judge with right judgement."

Is Jesus contradicting himself? Well if he is there 1) Christianity is worthless and Atheists are right and 2) we have every reason to say conflicting statements and look like idiots. But no, Jesus isn't contradicting himself. Instead he is saying don't condemn anyone, don't pass the judgement, the sentence on them. But instead judge righteously, informing a brother or sister, "Hey, that isn't good for your relationship with God." If is see a brother who's having sex outside of marriage, or cheating on his wife, or hitting on girls while married, I'm obligated to say something to them. I can't just let that get swept under the rug because I'm "not supposed to judge." I'm supposed to go to him and help him first see how Christ explicitly commands us to abstain from that kind of behavior, then help him to not be that kind of person. I can't say man because he'd be acting like a boy at that point.

The second thing is this. Before you shout "Hypocrite!" at me realize this. I know I am. I do most of these things too, I say what I don't mean and don't answer questions that I'm asked, and ask the wrong questions, and hear what's not being said. But I recognize that, and attempt to make myself more Christ like by letting my "yes" be yes and my "no" be no, by saying what I mean, answering what's asked, hearing what's being said. There's a big step in maturity where you admit that you are a sinner, that you are a hypocrite, but also that you're working with Christ to get out of that rut. I'm not trying to toot my own horn (haha I said toot) but I really do believe that this is a standard of what it means to be a mature Christian. Maybe next week I'll do a series on what it means to be a mature Christian. That'll be cool.

My challenge for you is this: Say what you mean. Let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no. Don't contradict yourself. Don't condemn, but judge rightly, and not by outside appearances.

"I got this"

One of my favorite shows of all time is Sons of Anarchy.

There's one episode in particular, that while I teared up watching it still is one of the best episodes in the show. The club got on the wrong side of a Oakland gangster who has the new president, his two closest friends, and another member all put in prison. The deal for them is this: Tig stays insides to rot, one has to die, and the other two can go. Jax can't decide who to give up, and it seems as if he's about to be the one to volunteer to go, but his best friend in the whole world steps up and takes it. Earlier in the episode before we see him, long hair, big beard, cutting wood to make something, giving off the image of a carpenter. Now he's volunteering to die so the rest of his friends can live. The last words spoken by him are him looking in the window at his brothers and saying three simple words, "I got this." He took the situation in his own hands, and went through it himself so that his brothers, the ones that he loved, could live.

Throughout my years I've come to known addicts. Some got clean, some didn't, some are on their way, some are in jail, some are probably dead. And it's sad. It breaks my heart wondering, "What if in some way I could have prevented this?" But that's not the question that needs to be asked. The question that needs to be asked is this, "How can I help them now?"

Those that I clean, I guarantee you that if we sat down with them and talked with them about how they got over their addiction they would all say the same thing. "With the love and support of those around me." It's not something they did on their own, they did it with the help of those surrounding them.

As a minister you would expect me to remember every sermon I've ever heard. Not true. I remember like 4, not including the one from this week. I'll forget that one by Sunday. But one of the few sermons I remember was an off the cuff sermon, where the dude crumbled up his notes and threw them away and talked about exactly what needed to be talked about. "You don't got this. You can't do it." It got depressing. Like that's not what people are supposed to say in sermons is it? You're supposed to fill us up, empower us, make us feel good about being in church and doing our Christian duty! Not tell us that we can't do it! And not do what by the way? Wait, we can't make it through life on our own? We can'ts survive on our own? What are you talking about man! Doesn't the Bible say that God helps those who helps themselves? Doesn't Jesus say that we gotta work for our own survival and salvation? Sure he made it a bit easier but it's us that have to live a certain way to maintain it right? God's not going to take care of us, we take care of ourselves, and maybe God will give us a little more if we go to church on a regular basis and give money right? You can't say that we can't do it! That's wrong!

And as this conversation is going through my head and I'm asking myself these questions and wondering what the hell this guy is saying I really start listening. All things have come from God, the very air that we breathe is a gift from God. He has given us enough grace that we can just live, and more than that he is offering us more grace so that we can be with him for eternity and not suffer the eternal consequences of our sin. I flip open my bible and run across Psalm 86.17 verses of David relying on God in all things.

Monday I wrote about how we need to depend on God. But why? Because we can't do it on our own. Our very life is a gift. We live in a broken world where things go wrong all the time because there is sin. Not just I suffer because of my sin. I suffer because of my parents sin, my siblings sin, my neighbors sin, my coworkers sin, my old bosses sin, Adam and Eve's sin. There's no way to escape it, or the consequences of it. Not on my own. I can't do it. But God can, and has, and will. Though I am a wretched man, God has still granted me grace, making me perfect in his eyes. And now I live as if I am in heaven now, worshiping God in all that I do for what HE did, not me. I can't save myself, only God can.

You don't got this. Only God does.

Back again! Depending on God

I realize it's been forever since I last posted. Yes, I've been busy, but that's no excuse.
If you don't follow my other blog, that's cool, but I outlined on there that I will be updating this blog three times a week from here on out. This will happen Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of every week. Usually. I do have two weeks of camp that I'll be at and unable to post, plus a week of vacation in July. But overall, this will be running three days a week. Keep me accountable with it!

Now! On to the devo post!

The other day I was mowing, and I was thinking about how, without me, the grass would not get cut. I'm the one that fills the mower with gas. If it wasn't for that, it wouldn't run.
I'm the one that starts the mower. If it wasn't for that, it wouldn't be able to cut.
I'm the one that pushes it around the yard. If it wasn't for that, it wouldn't move and cut.
I'm the one that stops and empties the bag of grass clippings. Else it would get clogged up and leave extra grass every where.
I'm the one that cuts the grass. If it wasn't for me, it would be a jungle.

The grass and it's upkeep are dependent on me.

What I really was thinking about when I was cutting the grass through is how, without God, I would be unable to do anything. I am dependent on God.
Without him, nothing would have been created (John 1.3, Colossians 1.16, Romans 11.36).
So without him, I would not exist. But in order for me to get here, he had to create a place for me to be. And people to lead to my eventual existence. And food for me to eat and water to drink and a people to create a place for me to stay and air to breathe. Without God and everything he has put in my life, I would have a miserable, and short, existence.

The other day after I got done mowing I was reading Acts 17, Paul in Athens. One of my favorite chapters of all time, and I come across this: "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he serve by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and EVERYTHING."

Paul here states to the Greeks that God has given us EVERYTHING! From life, to breath, to food and water. All of it has come from God. Without God we would have nothing. Even those that don't believe in him are dependent on him, they just don't know it. When I'm having a bad day, when I'm just angry at everything, I don't run to other people to make me feel better. I'm already mad, anything you do or say is just going to make it worse. But if I run to God, I find a place of safe refuge, a soothing pool of tranquility and peace. And it is there in his arms, in his temple, up his holy hill that I find the calming tones from my heavenly father saying, "It's alright son. It's fine. I got you now. Relax, rest in my work."

My dependence on God goes from my very existence to everything I do. I need comfort, I depend on God. I need advice, I depend on God. I need support, I depend on God.

This week, as you come to your wits end I implore you to run to God, and depend on him. See how your week changes.

The Shawshank Redemption

So I was watching the Shawshank Redemption last night. If you've never seen it, go get it and watch it. It's one of the best movies I've ever seen, hands down.

But while I was watching it I noticed that there is a theme running it in that mirrors the Christian's life.

We have a man, who was charged with the murder of his wife and her lover and went to prison for it. While there he learns, "Everyone here is innocent." Everyone plays into this idea. We see different exchanges throughout the movie, "What're you in for?" "I'm innocent, lawyer screwed me over."

As the movie goes on, following the main character Andy we see him continually admit that he's innocent. And in actuality, he was, he never murdered his wife or the man she was having an affair with. This is proven by another inmate at a different prison admitting to killing them to a character that ends up at Shawshank.

Near the end of the movie Andy is sitting with his best friend Red, and he has come to the realization, he's not innocent. He's guilty of killing his wife. Maybe he didn't pull the trigger, but his actions led her into her lovers arms, who was the target of a robbery, and they both were killed.

That night, Andy breaks out of prison, crawling through a sewer tunnel full of crap that leads to a river, in the pouring rain, and freedom.

The movie conclude with Andy going into different banks as another person, taking a fortune with him to escape to Mexico, his idea of a safe haven.

Here's how I see this connecting to the Christian life.

We all think we're innocent. I've never killed anyone, I've never robbed a bank. Maybe I stole that kids pencil in middle school, but that's not that bad.

And then bad things begin happening to us. Now I don't believe in karma, I believe that we're in a fallen world and that bad things happen as a result of sin in the world. So if I get in a fight with manbearpig and have my toe smashed, it's not because I did something wrong; it's because we're in a fallen world and bad things happen. Toes get smashed, car wrecks happen, people die, we lose things, we accidentally slice our arms open, bad things happen. All because of being in a fallen world. And we add to that. But we don't think we do because, "We're not that bad."

So we wonder, "Why are these bad things happening to me? I'm not a bad person. I'm innocent."

Eventually we come to realize, we're no innocent. Maybe we're not as bad as this other guy, but Romans 5 tells us one sin from one man was enough to condemn all of humanity, and we sin multiple times on a daily basis. We by no means are innocent.

From there we take our first step towards salvation. Andy had a rock hammer, an old crumbling wall, and a poster to cover the hole. These lead to his salvation. We have Jesus to lead us to ours. But it's not an easy step to be saved. It's not just getting baptized. It's giving up who you are, a prisoner, either to sin or the system as in Andy's case, and crawling through all of your mistakes, realizing what a wretched creature you are, how sinful you are, and coming out the other side into God's saving grace which he pours on you like rain. It washes you clean, and you are liberated and free, becoming a new person, taking on a new identity, and taking the riches, the treasure that is Jesus, the promise of eternal life, and we go on travelling to our safe haven, to be with Christ, but already living like we are.

Alright. We'll do it. The Same Sex Marriage Talk.

So Indiana just recently passed a "Religious Freedom Law" which, from my understanding, gives business owners a right to deny others service based on their religious preferences. Because of this here are some pictures of signs that have popped up.

(I apologize for the language in the above picture, I was unable to edit it. 

So deal with it. It's just a word)

Here are my thoughts, and they are just that, my thoughts. They are based on my interpretation of scripture, my deep thoughts on the matter, and also me flying by the seat of my pants a bit because I don't know everything and I will willingly admit that I'm still working through some of this stuff.

Here are the facts according to scripture: 

• Homosexual sex is a sin
• Just as adultery, substance abuse, stealing, murdering, and holding idols
• We are to love everyone

I think that about sums up the facts about same sex marriage from a biblical standpoint. But here's where things get dicey. And fun. Kinda. 

Is the term marriage strictly Christian? Some will say yes and stand on that and pound the Bible saying that the word "marriage" is in there therefore it is a Christian term. But what about the fact that all religions have the term marriage? And that the term of marriage found in the Bible is something that all people, Jews, Muslim, and at the time Greeks and Romans understood? I don't think that the term "marriage" is strictly Christian. So to say you stand against same sex marriage means you don't stand for two people loving each other and wanting to make their union official. People said the same thing about 60 years ago about black and white couples.

So to go on the record, I don't have a problem with same sex marriage/civil union (I would prefer them to have that term instead of marriage, but like I stated "marriage" is not explicitly Christian). I also just thought of this, just to make it clear the Bible does not exactly say same sex marriage is a sin, but that same sex intercourse is. But why get married if you're not going to have sex? (Interesting topic for another time) So same sex marriage = same sex intercourse. 

Now I want to look at laws banning same sex marriage that Christians want to pass so desperately. My only question is why? And my rebuttal to whatever point you want to make is this. Let pagans act like pagans. If they don't believe who are we to say, "You can't do that." I met a Hindu today who was a vegetarian. I asked why, he said it was religious/moral reasons. That's cool. "But Acts 10 and Peter and the Blanket!" So what? That dude's not a Christian why should I hold him to that standard that I hold myself or my brothers? That's a bad example though, let's look at a different one. You meet a person that likes to get trashed on the weekends (though not in the realm of an alcoholic). They're not a Christian. Are you really going to pull out scripture on them and tell them that the Bible says you can't get drunk? Know what they'll do? Use the Bible as a coaster for their drink later. You tell them your concern for their health, but you can't hold them to the same standard that you hold yourself. It's the same with non-Christians who are gay. They're a sinner just like everyone else and all you can do is love them and tell them about Jesus.

So with those laws you are saying that you want people who don't follow your religion to live as if they do. Know who else is doing that right now? The extremist Muslims in the Middle East. Except they're cutting peoples heads off for them not agreeing. Yet we get up in arms about that and yet we miss that we're doing a political version of the same thing here in America. And don't try to throw the "Oh those are two completely different things" at me, because they're not. We don't like what you do so live like we do or we make things hard for you (or kill you). If they're not a Christian don't hold them to our rules then. If they want to steal let them. If they want to get hammered let them. If they want to get stoned let them. If they want to go at it with a person of the same sex let them. If they confess Christ though, that's a different story. Which I probably won't get to tonight. 

Now I want to look at the "religious freedom law" stuff in Indiana. And I want to start with myself. I am an ordained minister and am licences in the state of Ohio to perform marriages. I sign the marriage certificate. By the power invested in me by the state of Ohio and God I now pronounce you whatever. Yeah. I'm that guy. So if the state says that same sex marriage is legal and that anyone who is able to perform marriages can't refuse anyone, I'm in quite a pickle if a gay couple comes up to me and asks me to do their wedding. Legally I could be bound to. Spiritually I disagree with this. So what should I do? If I could perform just civil unions, sure, why not. But I will not act as if this couple has God's blessing, because I don't think they do. The religious freedom law would give me the right to refuse. But then if I disagreed with someone getting married to someone else for whatever reason I could claim a religious conviction against that marriage, which would be me abusing my power. So how should I handle a gay couple coming to me asking me to perform a religious ceremony for them? "I'm sorry, but morally I cannot. I do not think God approves of this marriage so I will not perform a ceremony for you. I may suggest the _____ church with the guy in the rainbow robes, or the court house. I wish you the best though and if you would like to have a deeper conversation as to why I do not think God will bless this marriage I will be more than willing to have that conversation with you as long as it's in a civil manner." Once people start yelling or insulting people conversation just becomes worthless. But let's turn this from a ministers standpoint to a business owner.

We all know of the bakery that refused to make a cake for a gay couples wedding. I also saw an episode of I think it's called, "What would you do" where there was a woman trying on a wedding gown for her wedding to her partner and the woman refused to serve her because of it. It was all staged, but man was it interesting. The new law in Indiana allows that. Should they? Should they not? What if an Atheist, as seen above, puts a sign on their door says no Christians allowed? Should they be able to discriminate against us? Well from my standpoint, yes. If we can say, "I won't serve you because you're gay" others should be able to say, "I won't serve you because you're a Christian." But what the Atheist is saying is this: I won't serve you because you're intolerant. Well aren't you being intolerant of me? Well it's different because you're discriminating against one group. And so are you. You should go discriminate against yourself. 

I get why small business owners want to refuse service for a same sex wedding. You think that by serving those people you're supporting the marriage. But what if they're getting married at the court house and having a reception later? Or having a ceremony done by a captain, or a person that got ordained online just to perform the ceremony? What if, as it is in PA, you don't need a licence to marry? Should you be able to say, "I disagree with you choosing to love and be faithful to one person for the rest of your life because they have the same tools as you." Really? Marriage is not explicitly Christian! Let them have it! Let's share it! We have Holy Matrimony. We have marriage that is blessed by God. They have marriage that is recognized by the state and that's okay. This world is imperfect. Everyone sins and no sin is greater than another. Look at Romans 5. One sin killed all of us. A sin is a sin. But if we really want to try to weigh them out, I'll take two people of the same sex getting married over a child molester any day. If anything us serving them is a greater form of witnessing to them. Yeah, I disagree with you on this, but I hope for the best, let me serve you and support you in this next big step in your life, just like Jesus did everyone he came in contact with.

There's a lot more I can say on this issue but these are the points I want to get across.

• The term marriage is not solely Christian
• Homosexuality is a sin, is in the eyes of God is no worse than any other sin.
• Let pagans act like pagans. If they aren't a believer don't hold them to the same standard you hold yourself or your brothers and sisters.
• Love people for God's sake. Literally. Jesus is God's love in action. Let your service to all be God's love to them.
• Just by serving a same sex couple does not mean you agree with their life style. But again, see the previous points.

Go out today, find a gay person, and give them a hug.

Searching for a Messiah

I don’t have much in the way of TV. I got an antenna with just a few channels so sometimes I end up watching things that a 24 year old man shouldn’t watch by himself.

Of course I’m talking about awards shows like the Grammy’s, Emmy’s and Oscar’s.

This week I’m in Kentucky taking a class on ethics. Eventually I’m assuming we’ll get to ethics, but just today we talked about The Story of God, the one found in scripture. The question was raised, “Do you think that this obsession with story just rose? Did it resurface? Or has it always been there?” How did this relate to ethics? No idea, but that’s not the point. The point is that this got me thinking.

The movie that won Movie of the Year was Birdman. I watched about half of it, then quit. Not because I thought it was bad, but I wanted to watch it at a different time because I thought it was so good. So I don’t want to talk about that. But I was looking at the top 100 grossing films of 2014, and out of the top 20, I’ve seen 14 or know very well the premise of 14 of them. All of which have a character or characters that rise up to save a city, nation, the world, or even universe. Out of the top 20 grossing films, 2 were original: Interstellar and Neighbors. So that means that 18 of the top grossing movies of 2014 were adaptations, sequels, reboots, etc. Many of which again have the plot line of crisis that will impact the main character’s known world and a savior figure that saves everyone from the crisis.

Let’s look at two examples in the Hunger Games and Divergent (both of which I saw).

The Hunger Games is the story of a girl from incredibly humble origins, one that we can relate to, and she gets put in a situation which demands her to step up, and this leads to her being a leader, or a symbol. At least that’s what’s supposed to happen, I don’t think that particular point was established too well. But Katniss rises up, is the symbol of revolution against an oppressive government. Amazing how someone so low in that society rose so high! And now she has the role of savior of all the districts and is leading the battle against the government!

Divergent runs along the exact same lines. A girl from humble origins lives in a society made up of factions, each of which has a special role in the society, and all those in those factions have characteristics that make them perfect for that role. The main character, Tris, is what they call Divergent, or has characteristics that allow her to fit into all the factions. Throughout the movie events begin to transpire which create tension in the society leading to a climactic battle that will eventually lead to rebellion against the government which of course is oppressive, and this rebellion, revolution, will be led by Tris, a supposedly a strong character, but again I don’t think they have proven that she is a strong character. But she is to be leading the battle against the government as well!

About 2000 years ago there was another story about a Jewish man who did the same thing as these movies. He came from humble origins, to the point of when people hear where he came from they as, “Can anything good come from that town?” He was special, got into situations where he became someone, a celebrity, a leader. He rises up from his humble beginning, eventually having a couple hundred followers. The people of the day hear that this hero has come to save them and they flock to him, expecting him to use them as an army to cast off the oppressive government. Yet this story is different, he doesn’t raise up an army. He doesn’t start a war. He speaks of peace, love, respect, humility, submission, and a different kingdom, one that surrounds all people, yet not all are in. At the end of the story, instead of having a climactic battle between the oppressed rebels and the evil government, it ends with the leader, this savior figure, hanging on a cross, and dying, despite having done nothing wrong. This character is portrayed as a strong hero, and this time it has been proven. He had the power to do whatever he want, he had a following ready to take up arms for his names sake; yet he willingly surrendered himself to death to present and bring about a new type of salvation. While we may be oppressed by governments or society we are free spiritually from the bonds, effect, and results of sin, the most oppressive force ever to exist. We’re all under it, and can’t get out of it; except by grabbing onto this hero, who didn’t need to start a war, but instead just finished it by surrendering. But that’s not the end of the story, it’s the beginning of the end. Three days after his death he rose again, finishing the battle, defeating the enemy permanently. This is a true hero.

The fact that these movies are top grossing, and winning awards makes me think this: Society is looking for a Messiah, a leader, a savior that is just like us, one that we can relate to, who will save us from the hell that is our oppressive life. And with all these hero figures being ones from humble origins, ones that we can relate to, we feel as if we, like them, can rise up and save ourselves. We are searching for a savior, and we are being told that we can, should be, and are, our savior. But how can you save yourself? If you’re drowning how can you save yourself? If you’re hanging from the edge of a cliff and are out of strength, which you will run out of, how can you save yourself? If you’ve been shot and are bleeding out how can you save yourself? You can’t! It isn’t possible! You need someone else. Someone outside of what’s going on. You can’t be saved from drowning by another person who is drowning. You can’t be saved from bleeding out by a person that is bleeding out. You can’t be saved from the cliff by another person on the cliff. You can only be saved by a person outside of the problem you’re in.

We all know there’s evil in the world and that we need saved from it. That evil is sin and its effects on the world. We’re stuck in it so much that it’s in us and killing us. So how can we save ourselves from that evil? We can’t. But Jesus, our hero, who lived alongside us, started off just like us, and was in a sin filled world just like us, is different than us in this way: He never sinned, it never took hold of him, he was perfect. He is outside of the water, off the cliff, has full health and the proper tools to save us. He tossed us a rope, a life saver, and all he says is that we have to grab onto it and he’ll save us.

While movies, books and shows have good stories, they’re full of lies. You can’t save yourself. It’s impossible. Only Christ can save you. The ultimate hero, without flaw or weakness.

You no longer need to search for a Savior, the true one is waiting for you.