Miscellany

AT THE MOVIES: The new film, "Eat Pray Love" is the basically true story of writer Elizabeth Gilbert and her decision to drop out of her marriage and travel abroad to find herself. She tours 3 countries(Italy, India, and Indonesia), enjoys great food, dabbles in some Eastern spirituality, and falls in love. The scenery is beautiful. The story is interesting. I have some real concerns, though.

Elizabeth offers a very poor example when it comes to marriage. The husband-wife thing is not just about love but about commitment, too(Genesis 2:24). Walking out and running away when there are misunderstandings or when one's partner's personality quirks irritate or when the grass looks greener someplace else may seem heroic or courageous or romantic but it's far from the ideal that God put in place. Part of genuine, mature love is working through our issues with our spouse, not bailing out at the first sign of trouble or discontent. Actually God may use our partner's weak points or irksome ways to refine and strengthen us! You'll rarely find the deep happiness you seek by gingerly skipping away from your mate or your family or your church in search of some fantasized better life elsewhere.

Jonah the prophet learned that lesson the hard way. God gave him an assignment in one place but he boarded a ship and went in the opposite direction. The Lord had to lead him through an exacting discipline process after that. Another Old Testament prophet, Hosea, obeyed God's command when it came to marriage and garnered vital insights about real love in the midst of great difficulty and personal pain. The very idea that joy and success and fulfilment in life can only be found somewhere else from where God has planted you is highly foolish and potentially dangerous.

And this whole business of "finding yourself" is suspect, too. Usually that's code for "doing what I want to do", being free, having no restrictions, satisfying my personal desires. In Matthew 10:39 Jesus said, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Apparently, then, the key to contentment is discovering what God wants and getting on the same page with Him. Even if that ultimately calls for serious sacrifice, a richness and a depth in living will result.

Mention is made in the movie about the "god within". That ought to raise a red flag among discerning Christian film watchers. Our God, the one true, living God, is transcendent. He is other than us. He is above and beyond and greater than us. He chooses to come near us, and to indwell us by His Holy Spirit, but that is not what Gilbert is talking about. We are not divine. We are not deity. That false idea is pantheism and must be rejected. It has many unsettling implications and is a demonic doctrine. It may sound all spiritual and mystical, but it is totally false!

Opportunities to travel and the appreciation of delicious foods and taking time to get away for vacations and rests that offer refreshment are all good things. They are gifts from the hand of a gracious God and should be gratefully received. Gilbert's approach misses the mark, however, and goes too far afield.

SERMON SERIES: I'm continuing to delight in the preparation of this collection of Sunday morning messages on popular sayings, slogans, cliches, and expressions in everyday conversation as we examine them through a biblical lens from various angles. We'll keep at this for a while. Thanks for your response...and for your suggestions of sayings to be included.

STUDY BIBLES: Christmas is less than 4 months away, and if you are considering purchasing a new Bible for someone this year let me encourage you to buy a study edition. They're more expensive, but the reader gets the benefit of not only having the text of scripture but many, many helpful explanatory notes, too.My favorites are the ESV Study Bible, the MacArthur Study Bible(now available in the great ESV translation) and the Life Application Bible. The NIV Study Bible is good, too.