Church Voices

I was recently listening to a podcast novel produced by an author who was upset at the ending to the series Battlestar Galactica (BSG). I’m not a viewer of that particular show so I can only relate his displeasure with it and can make no judgment on the accuracy of his remarks. The core of his critique is that BSG didn’t provide a satisfactory ending because they used magical or mystical elements to resolve the conflict.

He then went on to explain that in his stories he would never take that route, and also went on to lump God into the same category as magic.

This particular author has completed a novel which features a third type of human chromosome that produces both monsters (that have things like wings, or claws, or the ability to produce camouflage) and humans that have super strength, and super healing abilities. In his current novel he has a parasitic alien invasion that takes over human hosts and communicate with each telepathically.

Do those things sound like reality based science? Or to quote Niven’s Law: Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology. Because those things, along with many other elements of his fiction don’t exist in reality, and are far closer to magic than technology.

My goal here, isn’t to make slam this author, but rather to use this example as a chance for self-reflection. He believes there a clear bright line that distinguishes his work from Battlestar Galactica’s finale. The reality though is that line is much broader and faded.

Its easy to delude ourselves into thinking there’s a clear, bright line that separates us from others. Whether we use the types of sin, the quantity of sin, or some other human created category to explain why we’re just fine, and everyone else is gnashing their teeth in the outer darkness its just not true. The salvation and the savior who provided that salvation is just as much for us as it is for the groups we try to demonize and differentiate ourselves from.

I remember the first time I read through the minor prophets, and was a little shocked to read so much condemnation about the corruption of the powerful and rich at the expense of the average and poor, especially the powerful within government. This was new to me because its not the kind of thing that’s talked about much in many churches.

Good thing we don’t have that anymore.

As we head into March Madness I’m reminded of how often the default position for many fans is to root for the underdog when no other loyalty is in play. So, for example, when a guy born in Cincinnati and living in Illinois sees a match up involving Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the University of California, Los Angelos (UCLA) playing in the first round the instinct is to root for VCU because they are pretty serious underdogs.

In fact, most sports movies use the scrappy underdog who achieves far more than expected as the backbone of the story. Rocky 1-4 and 6 (much like Star Wars episodes 1-3,I refuse to acknowledge Rocky V exists), Hoosiers, Bull Durham, The Bad News Bears, and pretty much every other successful sports movie out there relies on this formula.

Could it be that part of the widespread support for the underdog is a part of the image of God which everyone has been created in? After all, the scriptures are pretty clear that God is a big fan of underdogs, and part of being his people is to support the underdog.

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 10.18

“Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Deuteronomy 27.10

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1.27

All these groups, orphans/fatherless, widows and aliens, were kicked around because of their weakness. They were the equivalent of a football powerhouse putting a cupcake on their schedule because it guarantees an easy win. And in most places they were kicked around on a regular basis.

But among God’s people its supposed to be different. The weak and powerless are supposed to be cared for, not exploited. Of course, it didn’t, and doesn’t, always work out that way. So, this year when you see a big name, highly seeded team go down to a school you never heard of and feel a little bit of happiness because of it, let that happiness remind you that when you take care of the underdogs in your life God is pleased.

There are some who say that we cannot come to God, it is only by Him coming to us that we are saved.  While it is true that we are only saved because of His coming to us in Jesus, it does not follow then that we cannot come to Him.  In fact, we come to Him because He came to us, but we are still called to come.  God’s call and our response meet in what we call Baptism.

Jon Weatherly from Cincinnati Christian University provides some good insight in this article into what the New Testament says about coming to God through baptism:

Baptism is a richly meaningful act, commanded by Christ, in which we humbly ask the risen Lord for what he alone can give. It is a prayer that confesses our need and his supremacy. It does not detract from truth that the Lord alone saves; it confesses that truth.