Movie Thoughts: Inception

When I wrote about Rob Bell last week, I said I was "late to the party."  I guess when you review a movie that has been out on video for at least several weeks and was the #1 movie in theaters months ago, you could say I arrived at the party when the dip is gone and the drinks are warm.  Still, I have some thoughts about how the ideas of Inception relate to our own understanding of reality.

This is not really a movie review, though.  This post is really for people who have already seen the movie or intend never to see it (it has lots of spoilers).  I am not necessarily recommending the movie (it is really violent in places, has some language issues, and there aren't really any strong positive characters), but I did enjoy it.  Director Christopher Nolan has a knack for producing thought-provoking movies that raise interesting questions about human nature and how we cope with the world around us.  The ideas in Inception relate directly to both the Christian hope and the lie of the devil in Genesis 3...

Rob Bell and Eternal Destinies

I know I'm really late to the party, but I had a lot of thoughts last week about the whole Rob Bell "Love Wins" controversy (for more info, click here, here, and here), and I wanted to share them, in case anybody wanted to read them.  I guess the central fear here is that Rob Bell, who has been called a "rock star" in the Christian world, is now teaching universalism, or that everyone will eventually be saved.  He also seems to suggest that good people in other religions, Gandhi specifically, can gain salvation without a Christian conversion.  The caveat here, of course, is that the book hasn't come out yet, so I'm not going to address Rob Bell specifically, but instead express some of my thoughts (guided, I think, by the Spirit through prayer and by Scripture) about some of these issues.

Treating the "Unpresentable" with Modesty

"...those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment..." -- 1 Corinthians 12:22-24

 

The phrase that jumped out to me when I read this section recently was "the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty."  What is Paul talking about here?  In our human bodies, he is obviously talking about those parts that are indecent to expose to the public.  But how does that relate to the Body of Christ? 

 

I think the "unpresentable" here are those situations and people that are not (or not yet) "presentable" to the world for one reason or another, yet are so important to the life of the church.  For example, we must confess our sins to one another and deal with sin, but these things must be carefully protected within the Body.  There are also immature Christians who are sinful and rough around the edges, but if a church has no immature Christians, then no one is being reached.  These are not "presentable" parts of the life of the Body, but they are "indispensable."  We cannot pretend these parts do not exist or try to force them out.  Instead, although we're not ashamed of them, we know it is not proper to expose these to anyone and everyone.  Instead, we lovingly shelter these treasured and indispensable parts so that they can serve their purpose in the Body.

Brushing Teeth and Discipleship

Every night before Joseph goes to bed, he has a routine.  And the beginning of bedtime begins with telling him it is time for him to brush his teeth.  In the last couple of months, Joseph has been insisting that he brush his teeth himself.  Liz has taught him how to brush his teeth, so no big deal.  All the better for lazy Daddy, so I just have been leaving his toothpaste on the toothbrush and leaving him to have at it.    But there was a problem.  His idea of brushing his teeth had devolved, without supervision, into sucking the bubble-gum-flavored toothpaste off the brush and chewing on it.  And I wasted many irritating nights telling him to stop chewing on his toothbrush and to start brushing (and making sure he knew I was annoyed that he was doing it).   But then it occurred to me: the boy is three years old.  He has not mastered tooth-brushing.  He still needs help and a model.  So last night, I brushed my teeth with him (even though I still hadn't had my after-the-kids-go-to-bed dessert) and showed him what I was doing.  He did a great job, and it was even kind of fun to teach him.   It occured to me this morning as I was brushing my teeth alone that this story is similar to discipleship.  Making disciples is about relationships and modeling.  We cannot tell someone once how to do something, lay out materials, make programs available, and then expect spiritual toddlers to get it right.  (Sometimes we even express shock or irritation when they get it terribly wrong.)  People need models and they need patience.  And if we actually take the time to do it, we might find that we find just as much joy in it as they do.   "For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?"-- 1 Thessalonians 2:19