Children can learn the value of communicating via the arts and get practice doing such when various theatrical opportunities come to town. They can participate in this means of story-telling by stepping into a story, instead of just hearing or narrating it.
But parents should read scripts before auditions. Dramatic story-telling is a great art form. And it has more value than just for entertainment. I personally learned many life lessons via radio drama growing up, as we didn't have a television until my early teen years. The best stories are those which reflect real truth. Often, the stories which stand the test of time do so because of their success in exemplifying some particular truth(s). Messing with these stories in significant ways changes the message and seriously runs the risk of propagating a lie. When our children are told that big bad wolves, dragons, and ogres aren't really bad, then they're subtly told that evil, if it really exists, is simply in the imaginations of your old-fashioned simple-minded parents since they are probably the ones who first told you that dragons, big wolves, and self-centered step-mothers are bad.
I'd much rather my child play a bad guy in a good story than a good guy in a bad story. The stories that people like (and we prove it with our dollars) are those in which the heroes and heroines most closely resemble the lovers of the Song of Solomon. The Hero in that story is, of course, the Lord and Redeemer of the universe, Jesus Christ.
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Showing posts with label Truth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Truth. Show all posts
Friday, February 15, 2013
Friday, February 27, 2009
You Are Like Your Father
Pop in the DVD. See a woman faced with a decision. ONE tells her, “Don’t do it. If you do, you will die.” The Other tells her, “Go ahead and do it. Don’t trust that ONE – he’s a liar. He’s just jealous of his position, because he knows that you’ll become his equal (rather than remaining his subordinate).” Pause the DVD. Let’s consider this: What should the woman do? To whom should she listen?
Is the ONE a liar, as the Other claims? Or is the Other really the liar? Let’s suppose for now that the Other is completely telling the truth. This means that the ONE is a liar. So if the woman listens to the Other, goes ahead and does it, and thus becomes equal to the ONE, then she becomes a liar … because that is what the ONE is, if the Other is telling the truth. Thus, the woman becomes a liar.
Now let’s suppose that the ONE is actually the truth-teller, and the Other is the liar. If the woman still listens to the Other and goes ahead and does what the ONE said to not do, she thus disobeys the truth-teller, follows the liar, and becomes like the Other whom she followed. I.e., she becomes a liar. – In either case, if she listens to the Other (whose logic is flawed), she becomes a liar. She should instead trust the ONE. – Now un-pause the DVD.
The woman eats the fruit and shares with her husband. They follow the liar and become like him. And we’ve had liars ever since.
John 8:44-45 – “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.”
Is the ONE a liar, as the Other claims? Or is the Other really the liar? Let’s suppose for now that the Other is completely telling the truth. This means that the ONE is a liar. So if the woman listens to the Other, goes ahead and does it, and thus becomes equal to the ONE, then she becomes a liar … because that is what the ONE is, if the Other is telling the truth. Thus, the woman becomes a liar.
Now let’s suppose that the ONE is actually the truth-teller, and the Other is the liar. If the woman still listens to the Other and goes ahead and does what the ONE said to not do, she thus disobeys the truth-teller, follows the liar, and becomes like the Other whom she followed. I.e., she becomes a liar. – In either case, if she listens to the Other (whose logic is flawed), she becomes a liar. She should instead trust the ONE. – Now un-pause the DVD.
The woman eats the fruit and shares with her husband. They follow the liar and become like him. And we’ve had liars ever since.
John 8:44-45 – “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.”
Friday, March 07, 2008
Frozen Banana Delight
The other night my wife tried an old trick. “Want some ice cream?” she said, and then she offered us some frozen pureed banana with some raw cocoa topping. As I said, the bananas were frozen and pureed such that its consistency and appearance greatly resembled that of soft homemade ice cream. But it tasted like … well, … frozen pureed bananas. – Go figure.
The idea, I guess, is to encourage us to eat more healthy food and less junk food. In spite of what we’re being told by the health conscious around us, we still remember having often enjoyed hamburgers, chicken, pizza, and, of course, ice cream. So now we’re being offered healthy alternatives in the form of soy patties, soy nuggets, fruit pizza, and Rice Dream. Since our taste buds are so accustomed to desiring and enjoying the foods that are not so healthy, we try to trick them by telling the ears and eyes that we are about to enjoy some ice cream, … “healthy” ice cream.
But this is an old trick. The church has been doing it for years now. We know that many are not very excited about what we have to offer, even though it’s better for ya. So we say, “Want some fun? Want some entertainment? – Look! We can give you pop music, and we can show you videos during worship!”
But there’s a problem with this approach in both applications. When we call fruit “pizza,” we are confessing that pizza is more desirable than fruit; and when we call worship “contemporary” or “seeker-friendly,” we are confessing that the world knows how to worship better than we do. As a pastor of mine (Douglas Wilson) has said: “Anything the world can do, the Church can do five years later and worse.”
Who are we kiddin’? Can we no longer recognize truth, beauty, and goodness?
The idea, I guess, is to encourage us to eat more healthy food and less junk food. In spite of what we’re being told by the health conscious around us, we still remember having often enjoyed hamburgers, chicken, pizza, and, of course, ice cream. So now we’re being offered healthy alternatives in the form of soy patties, soy nuggets, fruit pizza, and Rice Dream. Since our taste buds are so accustomed to desiring and enjoying the foods that are not so healthy, we try to trick them by telling the ears and eyes that we are about to enjoy some ice cream, … “healthy” ice cream.
But this is an old trick. The church has been doing it for years now. We know that many are not very excited about what we have to offer, even though it’s better for ya. So we say, “Want some fun? Want some entertainment? – Look! We can give you pop music, and we can show you videos during worship!”
But there’s a problem with this approach in both applications. When we call fruit “pizza,” we are confessing that pizza is more desirable than fruit; and when we call worship “contemporary” or “seeker-friendly,” we are confessing that the world knows how to worship better than we do. As a pastor of mine (Douglas Wilson) has said: “Anything the world can do, the Church can do five years later and worse.”
Who are we kiddin’? Can we no longer recognize truth, beauty, and goodness?
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Symbolism
May it not be said, especially of us ministers, “You are Israel’s teacher, and do you not understand these things? … I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” – John 3:10, 12
What’s more important: the symbol or the thing symbolized? the image or the real? the wedding ring or the marriage? the photograph or the wife? man or God? The answers are obvious.
Symbols are not unimportant, however. Disrespect for the symbol translates as disrespect for the thing symbolized. Spitting on my wife’s picture insults my wife’s person. Murder defaces the image of God and thus expresses disdain for God Himself. Disregard for your spouse, i.e. for your marriage, reflects your perspective of Christ’s relationship with His Church. To shun participation in water baptism and the Lord’s supper is to shun the Lord Himself.
Symbols are important. However, it is possible to idolize a symbol while still scorning the thing symbolized, which is why Hezekiah destroyed the brass serpent. It is also possible to overreact to such idolatry with a total disregard for the symbol while claiming an emphasis on “what’s really important.” But both extremes are likely the result from failing to appropriately connect the type with the antitype.
A fuller understanding of the greater real often results in a deeper appreciation for and participation with the symbol. Those who deeply love God are more inclined to evidently love their neighbor, the image of God.
They appreciate the symbol, but they also remember its place. The sewer guy who lost his wedding ring at work will not assume that, when he gets home, his wife will be missing. Solomon spent 7 years building a temple for the LORD that was likely the grandest of his day, yet he recognized its inadequacy. I Kings 8:12-13, 27 – “Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. … But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?”
Though not insignificant, symbols can eventually become unnecessary; but until the reality becomes full and complete, the symbol remains important and appropriate. Symbols abound in the Holy Scriptures and in our lives. Symbols speak. – Indeed, they cannot be silent. – What are they saying about God? What are we saying about God? -- Read, observe, study, learn, grow, explore, and discover.
I Corinthians 9:9-10a – “For it is written in the Law of Moses: ‘Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.’ Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely He says this for us, doesn’t He? Yes, this was written for us, ….” (See also reference from Deut. 25:4)
What’s more important: the symbol or the thing symbolized? the image or the real? the wedding ring or the marriage? the photograph or the wife? man or God? The answers are obvious.
Symbols are not unimportant, however. Disrespect for the symbol translates as disrespect for the thing symbolized. Spitting on my wife’s picture insults my wife’s person. Murder defaces the image of God and thus expresses disdain for God Himself. Disregard for your spouse, i.e. for your marriage, reflects your perspective of Christ’s relationship with His Church. To shun participation in water baptism and the Lord’s supper is to shun the Lord Himself.
Symbols are important. However, it is possible to idolize a symbol while still scorning the thing symbolized, which is why Hezekiah destroyed the brass serpent. It is also possible to overreact to such idolatry with a total disregard for the symbol while claiming an emphasis on “what’s really important.” But both extremes are likely the result from failing to appropriately connect the type with the antitype.
A fuller understanding of the greater real often results in a deeper appreciation for and participation with the symbol. Those who deeply love God are more inclined to evidently love their neighbor, the image of God.
They appreciate the symbol, but they also remember its place. The sewer guy who lost his wedding ring at work will not assume that, when he gets home, his wife will be missing. Solomon spent 7 years building a temple for the LORD that was likely the grandest of his day, yet he recognized its inadequacy. I Kings 8:12-13, 27 – “Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. … But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?”
Though not insignificant, symbols can eventually become unnecessary; but until the reality becomes full and complete, the symbol remains important and appropriate. Symbols abound in the Holy Scriptures and in our lives. Symbols speak. – Indeed, they cannot be silent. – What are they saying about God? What are we saying about God? -- Read, observe, study, learn, grow, explore, and discover.
I Corinthians 9:9-10a – “For it is written in the Law of Moses: ‘Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.’ Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely He says this for us, doesn’t He? Yes, this was written for us, ….” (See also reference from Deut. 25:4)
Truth in a Contradiction
There is hardly a sane man, I should hope, who considers himself to possess all knowledge. There are, however, only a few more men who concede the likelihood of inherent contradiction within the knowledge they think they do have. That is, people think that all their beliefs are consistent and in agreement with one another. For probably a number of reasons, into which I do not wish to go just now, they fail to acknowledge the incompatible underpinnings of their ideas. This is why the same woman can hug a tree and murder her unborn child.
But a contradiction implies an acceptance of, at least, some truth. For a contradiction is created by affirming each of two opposing ideas or statements as true, while both, in reality, fall under the same category of discussion. For example, given identical contexts, the following statements are contradictory: To live, food is necessary. To live, food is not necessary. Given identical contexts, both statements cannot be true. One is; one isn’t. Thus, when you meet a person who believes and affirms both, you walk away scratching your head and wondering, “That person is goofed up! How do they function in the world? More curiously, how do they approach mealtimes on a daily basis without going crazy?”
Therefore, when you discourse with someone whose contradictions you’ve identified, start with that part of their contradiction which is on the side of truth and, working from there, lead them to the Source of that truth – JEHOVAH, the triune God. “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:23-26 (italics mine).
But a contradiction implies an acceptance of, at least, some truth. For a contradiction is created by affirming each of two opposing ideas or statements as true, while both, in reality, fall under the same category of discussion. For example, given identical contexts, the following statements are contradictory: To live, food is necessary. To live, food is not necessary. Given identical contexts, both statements cannot be true. One is; one isn’t. Thus, when you meet a person who believes and affirms both, you walk away scratching your head and wondering, “That person is goofed up! How do they function in the world? More curiously, how do they approach mealtimes on a daily basis without going crazy?”
Therefore, when you discourse with someone whose contradictions you’ve identified, start with that part of their contradiction which is on the side of truth and, working from there, lead them to the Source of that truth – JEHOVAH, the triune God. “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:23-26 (italics mine).
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