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What do you do when you make a mistake?
That’s a question I think very few people actually think about. Oh sure we all do something when we’ve made a mistake. But very few of us actually think through our actions, we usually just react.
The way I see it, there are only a few options.
- Do nothing – we essentially say, “I did something wrong and I am so scared of doing it again, and so scared of the consequences, I will never do anything again.” When we do nothing, we shut down. We can’t be used by God because we aren’t interested in being used by God. We become like the ostrich who shoves his head in the sand, thinking he is hiding.
- Do the same thing – we make a mistake, but choose to do the same thing over and over. This is the whole, “I am sorry I hurt you/ was a jerk, etc…” line. And then the next day you’re back to your old habits. We say it, and maybe in the moment we are sorry. But not sorry enough to actually change. This is where we are when we continue to commit one of our “favorite” sins (for instance, you repeatedly get angry at a coworker).
- Repent - True repentance. This is where we truly turn to God and say, “I am sorry, help me never to do this again.” Where we fully turn away from our actions and embrace God.
Why do I bring all this up? Because Carrie Prejean, a former Miss USA winner is involved in another controversy. It turns out she was involved in making a “sex tape.”
For some celebrities this wouldn’t be a big deal. Society often seems to reward people who do this. We’ve all read the stories about a celebrity “losing” provocative pictures in a PR attempt to revitalize a career. But for Prejean, who has started teaching and talking about “family values” this is a big issue.
Rarely do we talk about current events on R3. I believe that the Bible offers us timeless principles that apply no matter the event. And I almost never talk about a specific individual. There’s enough gossip and junk out there, we don’t need to add to that. But sometimes I make exceptions. And that’s where I am with this.
I have no idea what’s on the tape. I don’t know why it was made. And frankly I don’t want to know. To me that’s irrelevant. What matters is how Prejean decides to act. And to a lesser extent how we, as a society, respond.
We all have made mistakes. How many of us would really feel comfortable having our mistakes be national news? What Carrie Prejean did was wrong, and it was a mistake, and that’s not an excuse. But does this prevent her from ever talking about family values? There are many people who very much want that to be the case. (As I was flipping the channels late one night I saw one panel of “experts” gleefully declaring this meant she could no longer talk about family values.)
Personally I don’t know if this tape excludes her from talking about family values. I know there are a lot of people who are gleefully hoping that will be the case. For her to fall, would be a major victory for them. This situation brings legitimate questions that she must answer. But when I look at the Bible I see people who aren’t perfect. I see people lose their temper, act in fear, commit adultery and murder.
Yet God still uses them in powerful ways.
Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament was actively seeking to kill Christians prior to his conversion. Does that mean he can’t talk about sin? Or does it mean he has unique insight into the redemption that Christ offers? Moses murdered someone before God chose him to become the leader of Israel. Did that exclude him from talking about freedom to Pharaoh? Peter acted in both anger and fear in the last hours of Jesus’ life – but God used him as the rock upon which the church was built. Was God wrong in all of this?
God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. But he does ask us to repent. And in each of these cases, they repented and turned away from their sins. So I ask you, what do you do when you make a mistake?
Carrie has the same three options that we do. She can do nothing. She can do the same thing. Or she can repent.
I don’t know what she plans to do. Right now it sounds like she wants to repent. But saying you want to repent and actually repenting can be two different things. It’s much easier to offer false promises than to take the hard work of repentance. Is it any different for us? So again, I ask you, what do you do when you make a mistake?
‘Anti-Christ’ gets ‘anti-prize’ at Cannes
Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 01-06-2009
Category : God, failure, faith, hope, living a life of faith
Tags: Anti-Christ movie, Cannes film, Christian, Christianity, failure, faith, God, hope, living a life of faith, movies, Original sin, religion, social commentary
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The Cannes Film Fest has come and gone. Usually Cannes produces some movie that is declared a “must see” or generates some buzz for a few films. But this year there didn’t seem to be a lot of enthusiasm. Maybe it was the economy. Maybe it was the movies. I don’t know.
There was, however, the usual controversy. Cannes tends to pride itself on pushing the envelope (you aren’t going to see X-men 14 or Star Trek 12). Because it tries to push artistic or non-main stream movies, you often see the “boundaries” being pushed. This year it was the movie Anti-Christ.
I admit, I don’t know anything about this movie other than what I read in a few news stories. I have no idea if this movie is interesting. (I doubt it.) Or if it’s well conceived. (Probably not.) Roger Ebert describes Anti-Christ as, ” Its images are a fork in the eye. Its cruelty is unrelenting. Its despair is profound.” I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s probably not the best movie ever made. But, for argument’s sake, lets treat Anti-Christ as if it’s the greatest piece of art man has created. In reality it doesn’t matter if this movie is good or bad, it still raises one question: why?
Why do we feel compelled to make ‘art’ that is so violent and base?
Why do we feel compelled to make ‘art’ that destroys instead of build up?
Why do we feel compelled to make ‘art’ that shocks us?
There must be something about human nature that drives us to offend. We must get some satisfaction out of shocking people. How else do you explain ’shock jocks’ on the radio? It has to be that we delight in hurting others. Take the American Idolist William Hung (you know, the guy who sang She Bangs). The only reason Hung was shown on American Idol was so that we, as an audience, could rip him apart and laugh at his expense. No one could possibly believe he was talented enough to be on the show. He was there as a spectacle. As a friend used to say, “I’m not laughing with you, I’m laughing at you.”
I often hear the argument that God doesn’t exist. That evil isn’t real. That given enough time, man will “improve.” That’s the core philosophy of Star Trek after all. It’s also the hope held out in most Hollywood movies. But if that’s the case, if man improves over time, how do you explain a movie like Anti-Christ? Surely this film doesn’t show that man has evolved into an enlightened species? That somehow we are becoming better with time.
Why, then, do we do it?
In the book Faith & Doubt, John Ortberg addressed this issue by writing, “One day I realized there was no God, no one behind reality, no life after death. I realized existence is a meaningless accident, begun by chance and destined for oblivion, and it changed my life. I used to be addicted to alcohol but now the ‘law of natural selection’ has set me free. I used to be greedy, but now the story of the Big Bang has made me generous. I used to be afraid, but now random chance has made me brave.”
Ortberg said this with tongue in cheek. But he raises a point. We try to rip apart the existence of God, but in the very act of setting ourselves “free” from God, it seems we bring out the worst in ourselves. Why? How can it be that we always seem to find a way to fall back into the pit if we are becoming more enlightened?
Movies like Anti-Christ are supposed to represent social criticism. It’s supposed to make us think about society and life. But what does it say about the message if it needs such violence and offense to drive home the “point”? What does it say about the messenger?
When I try to answer the “why” question, the only answer I have is that we are a fundamentally broken people. That if we are left to their own devices we end up with a world of shock jocks, gratuitous violence, and empty philosophies. That we are not getting better over time.
What we end up with is a world that wants to offend one another, for no reason other than that we can. I think the evidence of that is overwhelming. You don’t need me to tell you this, of course. Just pick up a newspaper and read the headlines. Or think about what you do when you get angry. It’s to “get back” at someone isn’t it? It’s part of human nature to fall backwards, not move forwards. None of us are immune to that.
Only God changes the equation. Only God breaks us out of the cycle. Only God, can stop us. Because we sure can’t stop ourselves.