A Better Love Story

I don't think the Christian blogisphere needs another opinion on 50 Shades of Gray. I've read a number of opinions on the film and what an appropriate response from Christians should be. 

That horse is dead. (Unfortunately, dead horses still earn 80 million at the box office on opening weekend.)  

I lament that the Church is often reactive instead of proactive. We wait until a movie like this is released, and then we react as if God is back on his heels. The best response to the destructive sexual narratives of our culture is to tell a better love story. 

I did not plan it this way when I set my 2015 preaching calendar back in November, but our February sermon series through the Song of Solomon coincided with the release of this film. God is not back on his heels. He gave us "The Song" several thousand years ago as a way to tell a better love story. I have purposefully refused to draw excess attention to any singular destructive sexual narrative of our culture because I'm convinced God's love story is enough. The exaltation of the good is always better than an exposition of the bad. 

On the same night the world was flocking to see 50 Shades, we gathered as the people of God and invited our friends to see City on a Hill's latest production, The Song (www.thesongmovie.com). I don't normally promote Christian movies. Sometimes I wonder if bad acting and cheap production does more to push people away from faith than draw them in. However, this movie is good...really good. It's a 21st century telling of Solomon's story. It's his love story, but it's also about his search for ultimate meaning. (The music is amazing, too. I immediately downloaded it after the movie.)  

We will finish our walk through the Song of Solomon this Sunday. My prayer is that reflection upon these texts have increased my congregation's understanding of God’s vision for romance, intimacy, and marriage. 

Our culture doesn’t know as much about love as it thinks it does. Our music, TV shows, and movies try to capture the emotion and feeling of love. However, they do little to fully explore the deep and rich reality of love.

Christian tradition is clear as to why they miss the mark: Love cannot be separated from commitment. Our culture is in “love with love”, but not so much "in love" with the commitments necessary for love to be fully realized and experienced. The pinnacle of commitment is the covenant of marriage. Marriage is the soil in which the seeds of love are able to grow.

I’m no horticulturalist, but I know that shallow and inhospitable soil equals bad fruit. Is the same not true of love? The sweetest fruit comes from trees rooted in good soil. Soil is cultivated, tilled, enriched, and watered through the commitment of the farmer.

How is the soil of your marriage? Are you tending it daily? Are you committed to keeping out weeds and other destructive influences? We all want to enjoy the fruit of love. I pray we also learn to appreciate the commitments that must precede the harvest. In this way we will allow the beauty of Christian marriage to tell the world a better love story. 

M15 Conference

I spent this week at the Mission ’15 conference, or “M15” for short, or #M15 for you twitter-heads. It’s presented by the USA/Canada region of the Church of the Nazarene to equip pastors and leaders to engage in the mission of God.

We had some difficult conversations at M15: How do we reach a post-Christian culture? Is one form of worship better than another? What does it look like for the Church to remain true to the biblical teaching on homosexuality and marriage, and yet, be loving and Christ-like to our LGBT neighbors? How do we pass along the faith to the next generation?

Needless to say, my brain is on overload!?!

I don’t have time to sum up the fruit of these conversations, nor would I dare to say we answered all of these questions. I will tell you this: I left Kansas City optimistic, hopeful, and determined. Many people are ready to write the obituary for the Church. I admit there are serious challenges ahead, but God confirmed to me that our church, Bentonville Church of the Nazarene, has been raised up for “such a time as this.”

I hope you share my optimism, hopefulness, and determination. If we ever been begin to doubt, let’s lean hard into this promise: “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” (1 Thes. 5:24)