Saturday, November 28, 2009

Batman or Joker

It is probably already established in everyone's mind's that we live story. We decide in our own lives if our story is going to be a good one or a bad one. But how exactly do we determine what makes a good story? I was talking with my wife about this just the other day. What makes Batman the good guy and the Joker the bad guy. Why do we always tend to vote for the dark knight instead of the crazy clown? My conclusion is that the people that decide to care for others are always a good guy. I cannot think of one person in the world that is selfless and a bad guy. The obvious flip to that is that a bad guy is always a selfish one. This may seem trivial and light but it is true and it is convicting! When I look back upon my story so far- where am I? Am I a good guy? Do I look out for others first? Or am I a bad guy that is only out for myself? What I am slowly discovering is that I am neither. I am sometimes a good guy. Sometimes I will give some of my own time to someone else and only think of them. But I also do the opposite many of the times (probably most of the time). I am in the middle. The conclusion I have come to is that there are more people in a story than a good guy and a bad guy. In the Batman movies there are several people that don't play a serious role in the plot of the story. A story writer would call them an Extra. Basically their role is to take up space and impact nothing, but to fill the voids. This is the story I have realized that I have lived most of my life. I am not a terrible person, a person only thinking of himself, an antagonist. But I am also not a protagonist. I can not see someone watching my life and rooting for me to be the winner. I tend to be an extra in my own story.The only way to have a good story as a good guy I need to learn to be as pro-active as possible in caring for others. I need to stop thinking of myself. It is true. Batman is always pro-active in the story- a go-getter! My prayer is that we all can learn to be the Batman's of our own stories. Because the only memorable character in a story is the Protagonist.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Stones

For the last few days I have been reading and re-reading the book of Acts. Before now, I always avoided the book because I saw it simply as a history lesson of the early church and nothing more. But I was wrong (shocking...really). As I was reading the story of Stephen I was thinking about the trust and passion he had for God's story. Even as the mob was barraging him with stones, Stephen had unfailing trust in what God was doing. Sometimes when I am in conversation with others I will bring up something really controversial that I am overly passionate for, and when I am seriously challenged by their reactions and reasoning, I back down. It is interesting because Stephen didn't do that at all. When stones were taking flesh and blood off of his body, he had faith. He even says right before his death, "Jesus, don't hold this over them!" I get so emotional when I read this that I get shivers throughout my entire body. The emotion isn't from feeling for Stephen, but feeling that I am not like Stephen. If I stood in Stephens shoes and my very life was challenged, I would cower down in fear and probably reject God. It's not because I don't believe, but my relationship with God just isn't that good. I think we all fall into this same thing and my prayer is that we can be strong like Stephen to endure even the hardest of situations.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Easter-The New Christmas

Yesterday after church my family and I decided to stop by the mall to pick up a few items. I hadn't realized that the holidays begin two months before Christmas actually is. I walked into the mall only to be swarmed by thousands of people with thousands of bags filled with thousands of gifts for their thousands of relatives. I sometimes wonder if we haven't lost sight of what Christmas was all about in the first place. I think we forget about Jesus. I think we forget about what Christ's birth did for us. When Christ was born, God began a story of redemption to save us. The interesting part is that we celebrate the start of the story with great intensity, the birth of Jesus, but the climax we give to the Easter bunny, the death and resurrection. If the birth was the most important part of the story, then why is it that when the Christ died the disciples lost hope. It is because the story wasn't finished. I would argue that Christ story is similar to the new Transformers movie. Would we enjoy the movie as much as we did if the movie ended with the death of Optimus Prime? No. That would be a terrible story. We would lose hope in the cause of the Autobots altogether. Is Christ's story not the same? The climax of Jesus life was not his birth, but his death and resurrection. When Christ is resurrected the story comes complete and becomes good. I am not saying that Christ's birth is not worth celebrating, but I am saying that Christ's death and resurrection are far more important. So maybe this coming Easter we should whip out the Christmas tree. Maybe this Easter we should give gifts to the ones we love the most. Maybe this Easter could become the New Christmas.