My Thoughts about "Avatar"

I saw "Avatar" in 3D mode. The special effects were marvelous. The plot was not original except in where it took place (a beautiful alien planet called Pandora). I was immediately reminded of "Dances with Wolves" and "The Last Samurai" when I saw "Avatar." The plot in all three movies involved the persecution of a native population by American soldiers (in "Dances with Wolves") or former American soldiers/marines (in "The Last Samurai" and "Avatar"). All three movies show a former persecuter eventually siding with the persecuted and leading them against the persecuters. Also, "Avatar" and "The Last Samurai" sympathize with the spiritual beliefs of the persecuted. The theme of an environmentally related religion ran through "Avatar." The natives (the Na'vi) were intimately connected with the animals and plants on their planet and could even communicate with them through a part of their body (pony-tail tendrils).

Jo Piazza of CNN wrote an interesting article on the CNN website about the reaction of audience members to "Avatar" ("Audiences Experience 'Avatar' Blues," January 11, 2010). Piazza said:

"James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle 'Avatar' may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora. On the fan forum site 'Avatar Forums,' a topic thread entitled 'Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible,' has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope."

I'm not too concerned about the movie poisoning the minds of particular people. I think their minds are already poisoned. Many Christians were in a panic about the feared effects of "The Da Vinci Code," but that movie didn't destroy Christianity. Conversely, many Christians had unrealistic hopes about "The Passion of the Christ" (directed by Mel Gibson). I think that most movies simply reveal the values of a lot of people. "Avatar" seems to indicate that a lot of people are looking for spirituality that is connected to environmental concerns. Such people apparently don't think they can find what they are looking for in traditional Christianity. The tree of souls in the movie allows for the Na'vi to commune with their ancestors and their nature god. The tribe gathers for group worship around the tree. Interestingly, the scientist who leads the team of people that place human minds in Na'vi bodies is named Dr. Grace Augustine (a character portrayed by Sigourney Weaver).

I have to admit that I enjoyed the special effects. The 3D glasses have come a long way through the decades. I can remember the days when the glasses had one red lens. The improved 3D effects made it seem like tracer bullets barely missed my head. Also, it seemed like stuff was floating down directly in front of my face.

Was there something special about Mary?

In the past I assumed that Mary was chosen to be the mother of Jesus because she was an unusually good girl. Scripture, however, tells us that Mary did not earn the honor of being the mother of Jesus; rather, the honor was a gift of grace. We see the truth of the matter in Luke 1:28, 30. In verse 28, the Greek word χαριτόω was used. This word is the verb form of "grace." She was "graced" or "endued by grace." In verse 30, the noun form χάρις was used. Clearly, her selection was not because of her good works. It was all of grace. Many Jewish girls desired to be the mother of the Messiah. Apparently, however, they were not expecting a virgin birth. Mary expressed her surprise (1:34): "How can this be, since I am a virgin" (NASB)? She knew that she could be put to death when she was found to be pregnant during the one-year betrothal period (Deuteronomy 22:23-24). Nevertheless, she accepted her role by faith (1:38): "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." Gossip about her may have followed her for the rest of her life. John 8 may indicate that some insinuations were made about her as Jewish leaders addressed Jesus. Notice John 8:19a: "And so they were saying to Him, 'Where is Your Father?'" Also notice John 8:41b: "They said to Him, 'We were not born of fornication.'" On the other hand, at least one of the admirers of Jesus complimented her (Luke 11:27-28): "And it came about while He said these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice, and said to Him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which You nursed.' But He said, 'On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it.'" Clearly, by faith Mary heard the word of God and observed (kept) it.

Grits in the Old Testament

I am in the process of reading through the Bible. I noticed Leviticus 2:14,16:

"Also if you bring a grain offering of early ripened things to the LORD, you shall bring fresh heads of grain roasted in the fire, grits of new growth, for the grain offering of your early ripened things. . . . The priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion, part of its grits and its oil with all its incense as an offering by fire to the LORD." (emphasis mine, NASB)

Rather than "grits," the NKJV has "beaten grain," and the KJV has "beaten corn."

I don't think we need to offer such grain offerings today, but isn't it interesting that grits are mentioned in the Bible? Those of you who have not eaten grits need to try them for breakfast. When my wife and I were in South Korea as IMB missionaries, we made grits for some Americans who were in the country for a few weeks training at a Hyundai plant. We knew that they were missing Southern food. They were all from Alabama. The new Hyundai plant is in Montgomery, where my wife went to Robert E. Lee High School. We conducted a worship service for them on a Sunday and served the grits. Needless to say, they really enjoyed those grits in South Korea.

Spiritual Entertainment vs. Spiritual Service

A recent LifeWay survey gave some interesting stats about what SBC pastors think are the most critical ministries in their churches:

"When pastors were asked to list up to five ministries in their order of importance, the largest group (24 percent) identified evangelism/outreach as the most important. The next six ministries identified as most important were Sunday school/Bible study/small groups (17 percent); worship/specific worship services (13 percent); preaching/proclamation/teaching (10 percent); children/youth (9 percent); discipleship/spiritual growth/mentoring/counseling (7 percent); and prayer/prayer ministry/prayer groups (5 percent). When a list of the five ministries mentioned most often was compiled, however, children/youth moved to the top, identified as one of the five most important ministries by 85 percent of the respondents. The other four most-mentioned ministries were evangelism/outreach (68 percent); Sunday school/Bible study/small groups (53 percent); discipleship/spiritual growth/mentoring/counseling (37 percent); and worship/specific worship services (33 percent)."

Why do you think that children/youth ministries are at the top? I agree that such ministries are very important for the discipleship of our children and youth. I was a youth minister for about 7 years, and my wife (a seminary grad) is currently a full-time assistant in the preschool ministry at a church. What I see happening in many churches and what I have heard about from other pastors, however, disturbs me. I hear about many parents who like churches that provide places/ministries where they can drop off their kids while they do their own church thing. In such situations, the kids don't see their parents serving God. They sense that the churches are like restaurants that have kids' menus and adult menus. If you aren't happy with the service provided to you at one church, find another. Church attenders are seen as consumers, not as servers. Some churches provide the equivalents of spiritual Disneylands to entertain the kids. When the kids get old enough to drive on their own, we should not be surprised that they find more exciting entertainment outside the churches and leave. It's the consumer mindset. Pastor's intuitively understand this mindset. Unfortunately, many pastors try to imitate the world to attract young couples and their children. The problem is, if you bring them in with worldly entertainment, you must continue using worldly entertainment to keep them. Some pastors think they can trick the couples by slowly introducing the spiritual elements, but the couples aren't stupid. They recognize the "bait and switch" routine. I believe it's better to say from the beginning that our priority is spiritual truth and service, not entertainment. We may be regarded as irrelevant by most of the couples, but we'll have a stronger nucleus of members. Our criteria for success can no longer be large numbers of people. If the most successful pastor in America is the guy with the largest numbers, then Joel Osteen is the most successful pastor in America. Nope. Our criteria for success must not be size; rather, it must involve faithfulness, purity, and service. In regard to entertainment, small churches cannot compete with large churches, and large churches cannot compete with the world. Unfortunately, a lot of young couples care nothing about doctrinal truth. Thus, churches that prioritize doctrinal truth are viewed as irrelevant. Such couples like churches that emphasize entertainment over doctrinal truth. The denominational label is not important to them. I'm not willing to compromise with the world to attract bigger crowds, but I'm very willing to pastor a group of people who want to prioritize faithfulness, purity, and service. Even a small bit of salt can be extremely useful. We should not forget that the crowds quickly left Jesus after He stressed the cost of discipleship:

John 6:66-69 -- "As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, 'You do not want to go away also, do you?' Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.'" (NASB)

Bad Stats for Christianity in America

The bad news was on the CBS evening news tonight, and it was also on the USA Today website today. Here are some excerpts from the USA Today article by Cathy Lynn Grossman:

“The percentage of people who call themselves in some way Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation. . . . These dramatic shifts in just 18 years are detailed in the new American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), to be released today. It finds that, despite growth and immigration that has added nearly 50 million adults to the U.S. population, almost all religious denominations have lost ground since the first ARIS survey in 1990. . . . So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from 8% in 1990), that this category now outranks every other major U.S. religious group except Catholics and Baptists. In a nation that has long been mostly Christian, ‘the challenge to Christianity … does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion,’ the report concludes. . . . Baptists, 15.8% of those surveyed, are down from 19.3% in 1990. Mainline Protestant denominations, once socially dominant, have seen sharp declines: The percentage of Methodists, for example, dropped from 8% to 5%. . . . Kosmin and Keysar also found a ‘piety gap’ in how Americans understand God: While 69% say they believe in a personal God, the Judeo-Christian understanding of the Almighty, an additional 30% made no such connection. The piety gap defines the primary sides in the culture wars, Kosmin says. ‘It's about gay marriage and abortion and stem cells and the family. If a personal God says, “Thou shalt not” or “Thou shalt” see these a certain way, you'd take it very seriously. Meanwhile, three in 10 people aren't listening to that God,’ he says. ‘There's more clarity at the two extremes and the mishmash is in the middle,’ Keysar adds. Mark Silk, director of the Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College, sees in the numbers "an emergence of a soft evangelicalism — E-lite — that owes a lot to evangelical styles of worship and basic approach to church. ‘But E-lite is more a matter of aesthetic and style and a considerable softening of the edges in doctrine, politics and social values,’ Silk says.”

The “E-lite” religion is what I find most disturbing. The E-lite folks find themselves in a convenient place. They don’t have to be biblical salt and light in their culture; rather, they can just fit in without making waves. For them, culture is more authoritative than the Bible. America will continue its descent into heathenism unless true Christianity is revived.

Biggest Snow in 40 Years

We had our biggest snow in 40 years in the Memphis area this past weekend. I took a few shots of our little mission church, including our sanctuary with new carpet. We won't be eating in there for a while, even though the room also serves as our fellowship hall. The carpet looks too good right now to chance it. We've started a community Bible study/brunch at a local coffee shop on Saturdays at 10:00 a.m., and it's going pretty well.

A Short Book Review:

Miller, Donald. Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003.

The title of the 243-page book comes from Miller’s description of the stars: “They hang there, the stars, like notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz” (100). He regards Christian spirituality to be like jazz music—“something you feel” (239). Miller regards himself as a writer of “new-realism essays” (188). He gave evidence of his postmodern mindset about the lack of absolute truth; rather his decisions are based on emotions, etc.: “I don’t believe I will ever walk away from God for intellectual reasons. Who knows anything anyway? If I walk away from Him . . . I will walk away for social reasons, identity reasons, deep emotional reasons, the same reasons that any of us do anything” (103). He also explained, “There isn’t any truth anymore” (121). He said that Christian spirituality “cannot be explained” and “is something you feel” (57). Miller writes with a shifting style in which many images that involve sensory perception are presented to the reader. He believes that human depravity exists (17-18), and he affirms tithing (197). He grew up as a Baptist (130), but he went to some pains to criticize stereotypical traditional religion in the book, as evidenced by his mention of a “blow-hard preacher” (15) and “big-haired preachers” (33). In contrast, he affirmed his non-traditional church, referring to four of its qualities: “spiritual,” “art,” “community,” and “authenticity” (136-137). His respected friends in the book seemed to have a penchant for tobacco, cussing, and alcohol. Miller made some thought-provoking statements. For instance, while discussing his selfishness he stated, “Life is a story about me. . . . There is no addiction so powerful as self-addiction” (182). This book is a must-read for those people who desire to understand the postmodern mindset of many emergent church attendees.