The Resolute

The other night I caught a bit of a film. Something about people killing each other with no plot and as much ‘stylistically gratuitous’ violence as is allowed in an R rating. I was uneasy about the film and on reflection I think I know why.

Simply it was too violent. Sure it was ‘stylised’ but I was still watching graphic depictions of people being hacked up. The ‘stylising’ of the violence only made it worse. It was unreal enough that I could watch it without being totally horrified and this allowed me to be positioned to like the killers. They were cool ‘badass’ ninjas. Had the violence been more realistic I’d of thought of them as sadistic butchers.

However, this line of argument has a further implication. If it is how we are positioned to respond that matters, not the violence itself, then equally a film with a lower rating that positions me to be in favour of violence would be equally wrong.

I think the key is the intent of the violence. For instance, I don’t watch James Bond for violence. I watch it to see cool cars, gadgets, stunts and explosions. Also James Bond is for the most part more clearly acting on the part of good.

However, the film I initially described has violence as it’s sole drawcard. Here we come across one of the most bizarre hypocrisies of contemporary Christian life.

Pornography is bad. But violence is ok.

It seems the only reason for this is piety. We are more Christian if we shun pornography but when it comes to violence anything goes.

Pornography has a rather slippery definition. One man famously said “I can’t tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it”. This definition highlights a key aspect of porn. Nudity alone doesn’t define it. For example images of naked women can be used for medical purposes. Similarly, a fully clothed woman photographed in a certain way can be pornographic.

This is something we often forget. It is the purpose of an image that determines whether or not it is pornographic.

When a man watches a pornographic film it is to lust after the women depicted (and vice versa).

This is also true of films that depict what I’ll refer to as “pornographic violence”. For Bond violence is not the drawcard. For, say, Hostel it is.

A film such as Hostel is based around shocking me with gruesome violence. When I watch it I am lusting after blood as much as I am lusting after women when I watch pornography.

Violence is condemned in the Bible, and violence that is stylised so that I can enjoy it without being too disgusted is no better than pornography.

This week I also watched a crime show that was about illegal organ harvesting. The image of the victim was utterly disturbing. However, unlike the previous examples there was nothing ‘cool’ about it. It was sickening and its purpose was to be to highlight how debased the crime was.

This was not a pornographic violence. As with sexual pornography, it is all about intention. When I am positioned to respond positively, in a way where I think it is cool, then this is not good. And this becomes truer the more graphic it is. I’m still wrestling with this issue, but I know for certain we, myself including are far too desensitised.

If, as Christians, we value human life, in the same way we value sexual purity, then we should seriously consider how what we watch measures up. Is what we are watching devaluing human life? Is it turning suffering into sport and voyeurism (real or unreal)? When we watch gruesome violence for entertainment, are we not insulting those who live with real violence daily?

What horrified me most about the film I saw this week was the company I saw it in. It was with fellow Christians. This despite the fact other Christians expressed objection to it on moral grounds. Further, it was suggested that objecting made one uncool.

If we are to love our fellow brother and not cause him to sin, then perhaps a different attitude is needed.

Watching a man being hacked to pieces viscerally (however stylised) followed by laughter from Christians is somehow not something I think Jesus would condone.

Sexual pornography is an issue that is finally out in the open. It’s time we talked about violence in the media as well.

The longer I continue as a Christian the more Christian books and literature I seem to acquire, and on the odd occasion I even read them. It seems for every conceivable topic there is a plethora of books available to enlighten me.

However there is one particular kind of book that I find quite worrying. It is what I will refer to as the Christian ‘guide book’. At this point some distinctions and definitions are important. A ‘guide book’ as I am defining it is not a theological or doctrinal book; these are books which aim to look at the bible’s teaching on a particular topic such as the Spirit, or Election, or the Cross in order from a rather academic perspective. These books I believe are very helpful.

Nor is a ‘guide book’ a commentary. Rather a ‘guide book’ is a book aimed at instructing Christians on how to live either generally or with regard to a particular issue. These books may heavily base their conclusions on the bible’s teaching or if there is little in the bible on their topic (such as the issue of dating as Gus has already mentioned) then they refer to “Christian wisdom” or some other such ‘authority’.

At the outset I will admit that some of these books can be very helpful, however, as a genre I think most of them are not. The reason: they are quite simply rubbish. Whilst commentaries and theological books look at the bible’s teaching and effectively are someone’s considered opinion on what the bible is saying argued from the bible; guide books more often than not seek to tell Christians exactly how to live in a way that does not reflect circumstances, the freedom afforded to us as Christians and more often than not the bible’s teaching.

2 Timothy 3:16 ff are very famous words, and if the bible is indeed “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. “ Then why would we spend our time looking at someone else’s wisdom when we have the bible’s wisdom, and the Holy Spirit to help us understand and implement it????

My other problem is that so often ‘guide books’ take us away from grace. ‘Guide books’ give us rules for living as a Christian, which is just what Jesus death shows me won’t save me. I need to rely on Jesus death and resurrection for salvation, not on John Smith’s Guide to Christian living.

My problem with these books is not so much that they exist but that we set too much store by them. How about we do Christianity by the book? The only book that matters, the Bible.

The other day I was sitting on the toilet… shocking I know. When suddenly a thought hit me… why is it that I have to spend so much of my day doing things like sleeping, eating and using the toilet when I could be doing useful things like worshipping God. It was really frustrating.

Then, a few days later I was reading my bible and I realised, hang on a sec… maybe I am worshipping when I use the toilet. I was really excited. Let me explain. I’d flicked to Romans 12 and found this verse (Romans 12:1-3) “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Or in the NIV “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship”.

It seemed pretty clear to me from that verse that as Christians we only have one act of spiritual worship; that is sacrificing our lives to God. Therefore whether I’m going to church, hanging with my mates, using the toilet or going on a man-date with Gus (see his post for an explanation of the term Man-Date)- then I should be worshipping. That is I should be living as a sacrifice.

So the other day I went to Church, and I worshipped God. Then I went home, and I worshipped God. Then I went to Uni, and I worshipped God, and then I used the toilet and I was still worshipping God.

So to conclude, as long as we are living with God and not ourselves as the focus of our lives, then that is how we worship God. Which is pretty relieving, because it means I don’t have to do special ‘religious’ type things to worship him, but at the same time it’s challenging, because I can’t just go to Church and be done with it… God wants my whole life… not just the little bits we sometimes give him.

For those not in the know it is a well-established fact that Christians make terrible cordial. I am forever haunted by childhood memories of being forced to drink lightly coloured water at Sunday School that the mothers on morning tea claimed to be cordial.

Thankfully however, I recently discovered that I am not alone in my views on Christian’s ability to make cordial. On Facebook (that great fountain of knowledge and useful opinions) I discovered a group entitled “Christians Make Bad Cordial”. According to this group “When Christians are gifted with the Holy Spirit we lose our ability to make cordial that isn’t too weak or strong.”

This is a statement I agree with entirely. However, I must say I am disappointed by the debate on the aforementioned site as to why this is the case. The most popular reason given why Christian cordial is too weak is that it is an attempt to save money.

While I do not doubt that in some cases this is true, all good Anglicans know that the true reason can be summed up in two words “Food Colouring”. It is these words that has led to generations of Sunday School kids drinking too weak cordial out of some misguided desire to prevent kids from becoming too hyped up on said food colouring.

Anyway, now that I’ve had my fifty cents worth on this extremely important issue I shall return to blogging on more serious matters.

Although I should point out that the quality of food and drinks served at Church is something that is often overlooked. While, I by no means believe that our congregations require a gourmet spread I do believe that it is important to put some degree of effort into food at church.

Mealtimes are very significant in the New Testament, and it is no coincidence that the way that we remember Jesus death is over a meal (i.e the Lord’s Supper- see 1 Corinthians 11:17-33). Nor is it insignificant that we read constantly in the New Testament of churches meeting over meals. This in mind, my question is do we consider a packet of Tim Tams, some Iced Vo Vos and weak cordial an adequate way of showing hospitality as we eat together in Christian fellowship?

That “When Christians are gifted with the Holy Spirit we lose our ability to make cordial that isn’t too weak or strong.” is a well-established fact, but the site’s creator goes on to say “I ain’t complaining”… maybe we should.