Theological Thoughts for Thursday

I watched 2012 this weekend. It's an interesting blockbuster movie. The action scenes are a lot of fun if you can suspend reality.

This isn't a movie review. There are a ton of those out there for this movie - all mixed to say the least.

This is a post where I explore my biggest problem with the film.

6,999,650,482 people die. That's a quick estimate - not an actual number. But it holds up for my point. Most of the world perishes, but we root for one family to "make it" and we're happy when they're alive at the end. It's more comedy than tragedy.

When the main character's plane barely manages to take off from a sinking California, there's a moment of lighthearted banter - while in the background millions of people are dying.

Now, I'm well aware of the fact that it's "just a movie" and as a blockbuster it's supposed to feel good. But it left me feeling empty.

How many times does this scenario play out in our lives? We ALWAYS care more for ourselves than for the world around us.

Tony Campolo was speaking to a crowd of upperclass evangelical Christians. This is his opening statement. "I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a SHIT. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."

We care more for the propriety of our event than for the lives of 30,000 kids.

Mike Luckovich is a political cartoonist extraordinaire. He shocked readers across the country a few years back with a striking political cartoon concerning our dead soldiers.




The cartoon provoked a tremendous amount of controversy. Seeing the names of 2000 dead soldiers is heartbreaking. Now consider the fact that nearly 100,000 Iraqi CIVILIANS have died since 2003. Their names could take up most of a newspaper.

We're taught to value our own from a young age. We pick a sports team to cheer for and we immediately show a disdain for their competitors. In some areas of the world, students are taught to hate anyone who doesn't look like and act like them. Our Christian parents teach their Christian children to not hang around with "bad kids" because you are known "by the company you keep." Giving to charity is well and good - after our bills are paid and we've supersized our lives just "one more time."

But Jesus speaks and the world turns upside down. He teaches us to love our enemies. To value others as much if not MORE than we value ourselves.

In the upsidedown kingdom we know the names and faces of the Iraqi civilians (and even their soldiers, God forbid!) who died at the hands of our government. We mourn their deaths with the same passion we show for our fallen soldiers. In the Kindgdom of God we care less about the size of our homes and more about the size of our hearts.