It is not often that you see programs like NBC's ER so clearly illustrate the emptiness of a faith not rooted in God and His Word. Click the video below to learn more.
The clip reminded me of our recent research. Below are some excerpts of comments I wrote a few weeks ago for the story Terry Mattingly published through his Scripps Howard News Service column. Terry was covering our recent research you can review here.
Non-attendees want to ignore a generic God, but when/if they follow a faith, they want one that has robust beliefs and is worth following...
Since growing churches tend to have more defined belief systems, when people start a journey to faith, they want something they see as worth believing and giving their life to. A generic god is hardly one worth committing to...
As best I can tell, those who are not a regular part of a faith community still want to be "spiritual" people, but without a clear faith...
Many fashion a tame God in their own image-- a generic god for a generic spirituality, not a God who actually intervened in the world through the death of Christ and calls us to follow and live differently...
For many, they want to get all the benefits of spirituality without any of the truth claims of a rigorous faith...
I think the Oprah-ization of American spirituality has glorified "searching" for spiritual meaning but de-emphasized "finding." In other words, it is good to be looking for spirituality, but it is intolerant to actually believe you have found a right faith and want to invite others to such.
In "I'm O.K., You're O.K. Spirituality," the only sin is intolerance... and intolerance is defined to mean actually believing your faith is the correct one.
Behold: even NBC knows that a generic faith in a generic God does little good when it really matters.
Definitely a fantastic clip.
The anger portrayed by the actor is a devastating commentary to the church as to why certainty is a necessity in our missional ministry.
We had already posted it to a viral website for the March outreach campaign of Lake Ridge. http://www.31daystolive.com/our-top-five/reconnect-with-god/
And we will be showing it on Easter Sunday.
come on ed. some senile guy on his deathbed full of anger and guilt desperate . . . absolutely desperate to find anything to absolve his guilt at the first person who can offer him some type of absolutism in his panic mode that will let him know everything is going to be alright. the video speaks more to our desperate fear of the unknown and how we crave absolutes to soothe our minds and appease our guilt in order to alleviate that fear.
meanwhile, a nice chaplain speaks of continuing on in this life, to not seek death, to continue on with the time you have left, continues to talk calm, generously, and lovingly and continues to say every time the patient misquotes her, "hold on, that's not what i said" . . . she's the bad guy?
come on man. i've been seeing this video float around on the internet touted by all the fundies. i expected better from you man.
which one of those people in the room looked, sounded, and acted like jesus. and which one was desperate for some tribal deity to appease his guilt and "give him a pass" so he could go onto the next life instead of fighting for this one.
Ed, this is an awesome clip. Ecclesiastes tells us that God has set eternity is in the heart of man (see Ecc. 3:11). Hebrews tells us that everyone is faced with a fear of death, which comes from Satan (Hebrews 2:14-15). This guy was portraying what a guilty person faces when confronted with the prospect of death.
Obviously some think you are missing the point completely. I definitely don’t think the woman was being Christlike. If she was, she would have not side-stepped the question about dealing with guilt and getting forgiveness. She was offering forgiveness based on feeling and nothing of substance. She would have said something about Jesus. Truth is revealed propositionally but also in what a person says and does. This woman portrayed was not of the truth and cannot be confused with someone who is of the truth and is walking in the truth. When presented with the question of what God wants of us, she said “I think it is up to each one of us to interpret what God wants of us.� Jesus was presented with this question (teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life, forgiveness, heaven, etc?) and He didn’t say what she said. If she was of the truth, she would have pointed this man to Christ. She said nothing of the TRUTH. It is deception to believe this woman was being Christ-like by talking softly, kindly, and not saying anything controversial. Is it kind to not tell someone the truth? People need truth and there are times when they desperately want truth. You don’t have to be a fundy to appreciate this video.
Also, I believe your conclusion on the counselor’s lack of help is on target. Oprah-ization and this deceptive spirituality is blinding the minds of many people to understanding that God is a Holy God, who will not allow the unholy in His Presence, and who because of His holiness and righteousness must punish sin – there is only One Solution for this Everest of a problem – as you have put it before, the bloody cross and the empty tomb.
I don't think anyone is the bad guy. He's scared. She's trying to be calming and not argumentative. Frankly, I'm not sure Jesus would have even been in the room. And I certainly don't think he'd try to pacify the guy. If the man's got terminal cancer, maybe a dose of fear would do him some good.
At the end of the day, few people do not follow a generic god. Everyone has declared someone as Lord, either Christ, or themselves, but no one follows a generic god.
That clip was pretty good, and I'm hardly a "fundie." I mean I ran 11-miles this morning and plan on having a nice vintage merlot tonight at PF Changs.
Forgiveness is such a misunderstood subject because justice in the light of mercy is misunderstood. The world wants a simplicity to answer evil and there is none. The issue here is one of realizing that for forgiveness to have any value, there must first be an acknowledgement of accountability. Only then can forgiveness mean anything to the one forgiven and to the one doing the forgiving. Truth, justice, and mercy are only satisfyingly served when accountibility is recognized. But we live in a world that fails to recognize and hold to the difference between worldly sorrow (fear of punishment) and godly sorrow (true remorse over what was done with a recognition that no mercy is truly deserved other than that on which to be hoped for, not expected. That takes the courageous honesty and humility that Christ is looking for from us. It is in that place that the real relief this man is looking for would have been found. When God requires that from each one of us it is out of the love of one who knows us down to our soul and wants that peace for us just as much as He must stand by justice as well. This is what Christ meant when he said: "I give you my peace. Not as the world gives it." We can forgive a person freely IF we have something against them, but God's forgiveness of them is not ours to give and we should have the courage to tell them so and encourage them to realize that is between them and God and then assist them to make things right. Being honest is the most compassionate thing you can do for someone in that kind of a situation. No one can stand in the judgement seat for another.
When my dad lay dying of a ruptured aorata he told my mom, "All these years I've been asking God for justice and now I realize I should have been asking for mercy."
Thankfully, due to much prayer and God's infinite mercy...he lived to have a second chance and found God's mercy.
This was a powerful piece. The church should be able to answer the tough questions with real truth, the truth of Jesus Christ. If we can't do that, then we're just a social club.
I'd rather be called a "fundie" and offer the "answer" rather than be wishy-washy any day.
I love that little quote from the "Casting Crowns" song that says we need to stop asking Oprah what to do and ask God!
deb.
i'm not sure how the lady in the clip came off as "wishy-washy". after the two people there, i would identify with her the most, and i don't consider myself wishy-washy.
I have been at Disney World with my daughters! And, I did not expect such reaction as it was a pretty old clip (at least in "blog time").
Josh,
I am afraid that it was not the first and won't be the last time that I disappoint. Grin. But, I appreciate you dropping by to comment.
On to your comment-- I think there were two people who were confused about God in that room.
Back in my pastor days, I have been with several people who were near death.
I have heard at least one appeal that was similar to this one-- from a lapsed Catholic who just wanted "fire insurance."
The patient reminded me of that person. He did not want Christ, he wanted to avoid the penalty he saw coming.
But, I think the chaplain was confused and missed the opportunity to explain who Jesus was and what he did. I should say that I appreciated her desire to bring comfort, but found her answer incomplete at best.
Now, I would have been unsatisfied if she walked just had him "pray a prayer" and pronouced it all "O.K."
But, I left unsatisfied that she did not explain who Jesus was, why He came, why He died, and what hope He provides.
Good fiction inspires discussion and this one certainly has.
If I had to pick between the two versions of God, I would be left unable to make a decision... instead, I choose Jesus. He could bring a lot of clarity to the confusion in both characters.
Ed & Justin... Outstanding catch. We'll be featuring it shortly.
Definitely a fantastic clip.
The anger portrayed by the actor is a devastating commentary to the church as to why certainty is a necessity in our missional ministry.
We had already posted it to a viral website for the March outreach campaign of Lake Ridge.
http://www.31daystolive.com/our-top-five/reconnect-with-god/
And we will be showing it on Easter Sunday.
come on ed. some senile guy on his deathbed full of anger and guilt desperate . . . absolutely desperate to find anything to absolve his guilt at the first person who can offer him some type of absolutism in his panic mode that will let him know everything is going to be alright. the video speaks more to our desperate fear of the unknown and how we crave absolutes to soothe our minds and appease our guilt in order to alleviate that fear.
meanwhile, a nice chaplain speaks of continuing on in this life, to not seek death, to continue on with the time you have left, continues to talk calm, generously, and lovingly and continues to say every time the patient misquotes her, "hold on, that's not what i said" . . . she's the bad guy?
come on man. i've been seeing this video float around on the internet touted by all the fundies. i expected better from you man.
which one of those people in the room looked, sounded, and acted like jesus. and which one was desperate for some tribal deity to appease his guilt and "give him a pass" so he could go onto the next life instead of fighting for this one.
Ed, this is an awesome clip. Ecclesiastes tells us that God has set eternity is in the heart of man (see Ecc. 3:11). Hebrews tells us that everyone is faced with a fear of death, which comes from Satan (Hebrews 2:14-15). This guy was portraying what a guilty person faces when confronted with the prospect of death.
Obviously some think you are missing the point completely. I definitely don’t think the woman was being Christlike. If she was, she would have not side-stepped the question about dealing with guilt and getting forgiveness. She was offering forgiveness based on feeling and nothing of substance. She would have said something about Jesus. Truth is revealed propositionally but also in what a person says and does. This woman portrayed was not of the truth and cannot be confused with someone who is of the truth and is walking in the truth. When presented with the question of what God wants of us, she said “I think it is up to each one of us to interpret what God wants of us.� Jesus was presented with this question (teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life, forgiveness, heaven, etc?) and He didn’t say what she said. If she was of the truth, she would have pointed this man to Christ. She said nothing of the TRUTH. It is deception to believe this woman was being Christ-like by talking softly, kindly, and not saying anything controversial. Is it kind to not tell someone the truth? People need truth and there are times when they desperately want truth. You don’t have to be a fundy to appreciate this video.
Also, I believe your conclusion on the counselor’s lack of help is on target. Oprah-ization and this deceptive spirituality is blinding the minds of many people to understanding that God is a Holy God, who will not allow the unholy in His Presence, and who because of His holiness and righteousness must punish sin – there is only One Solution for this Everest of a problem – as you have put it before, the bloody cross and the empty tomb.
I don't think anyone is the bad guy. He's scared. She's trying to be calming and not argumentative. Frankly, I'm not sure Jesus would have even been in the room. And I certainly don't think he'd try to pacify the guy. If the man's got terminal cancer, maybe a dose of fear would do him some good.
At the end of the day, few people do not follow a generic god. Everyone has declared someone as Lord, either Christ, or themselves, but no one follows a generic god.
That clip was pretty good, and I'm hardly a "fundie." I mean I ran 11-miles this morning and plan on having a nice vintage merlot tonight at PF Changs.
Forgiveness is such a misunderstood subject because justice in the light of mercy is misunderstood. The world wants a simplicity to answer evil and there is none. The issue here is one of realizing that for forgiveness to have any value, there must first be an acknowledgement of accountability. Only then can forgiveness mean anything to the one forgiven and to the one doing the forgiving. Truth, justice, and mercy are only satisfyingly served when accountibility is recognized. But we live in a world that fails to recognize and hold to the difference between worldly sorrow (fear of punishment) and godly sorrow (true remorse over what was done with a recognition that no mercy is truly deserved other than that on which to be hoped for, not expected. That takes the courageous honesty and humility that Christ is looking for from us. It is in that place that the real relief this man is looking for would have been found. When God requires that from each one of us it is out of the love of one who knows us down to our soul and wants that peace for us just as much as He must stand by justice as well. This is what Christ meant when he said: "I give you my peace. Not as the world gives it." We can forgive a person freely IF we have something against them, but God's forgiveness of them is not ours to give and we should have the courage to tell them so and encourage them to realize that is between them and God and then assist them to make things right. Being honest is the most compassionate thing you can do for someone in that kind of a situation. No one can stand in the judgement seat for another.
When my dad lay dying of a ruptured aorata he told my mom, "All these years I've been asking God for justice and now I realize I should have been asking for mercy."
Thankfully, due to much prayer and God's infinite mercy...he lived to have a second chance and found God's mercy.
This was a powerful piece. The church should be able to answer the tough questions with real truth, the truth of Jesus Christ. If we can't do that, then we're just a social club.
I'd rather be called a "fundie" and offer the "answer" rather than be wishy-washy any day.
I love that little quote from the "Casting Crowns" song that says we need to stop asking Oprah what to do and ask God!
deb.
i'm not sure how the lady in the clip came off as "wishy-washy". after the two people there, i would identify with her the most, and i don't consider myself wishy-washy.
Sorry I am so slow in responding...
I have been at Disney World with my daughters! And, I did not expect such reaction as it was a pretty old clip (at least in "blog time").
Josh,
I am afraid that it was not the first and won't be the last time that I disappoint. Grin. But, I appreciate you dropping by to comment.
On to your comment-- I think there were two people who were confused about God in that room.
Back in my pastor days, I have been with several people who were near death.
I have heard at least one appeal that was similar to this one-- from a lapsed Catholic who just wanted "fire insurance."
The patient reminded me of that person. He did not want Christ, he wanted to avoid the penalty he saw coming.
But, I think the chaplain was confused and missed the opportunity to explain who Jesus was and what he did. I should say that I appreciated her desire to bring comfort, but found her answer incomplete at best.
Now, I would have been unsatisfied if she walked just had him "pray a prayer" and pronouced it all "O.K."
But, I left unsatisfied that she did not explain who Jesus was, why He came, why He died, and what hope He provides.
Good fiction inspires discussion and this one certainly has.
If I had to pick between the two versions of God, I would be left unable to make a decision... instead, I choose Jesus. He could bring a lot of clarity to the confusion in both characters.
But, again, that is good fiction.