Like any other girl I know, I love a good flick through a fashion mag. My magazine of choice is Australian Vogue. I have discovered recently that all magazines, even fashion ones have a worldview attached. In Vogue magazine you might describe the worldview as: “Feminism is the new black”.
And so it was no surprise for me to read in the May 2010 issue an article titled “The Bad Old Days” discussing feminism in the culture. The author lamented that feminism had not brought sexism to an end and in fact the portrayal of women in society as sex objects was alive and well. The conclusion that the author came to was that feminism had lost its impact and what the world needs to clean up its act is more feminism. So the answer to people not keeping the law of respecting women is more law. Huh?
But it seemed to me that all this talk about women and empowerment was missing a vital element: the man factor. Even a quick glance at a music channel proves that men haven’t taking much notice of girl power. All the women in their videos are scantily clad and the lyrics are very much along the lines of how many women they've bed or will on their next night out.
After the fall, God tells Eve how life’s going to be. “Your desire shall be for your husband and he will rule over you”. It does not matter how much women try to empower themselves, as long as men are sinners they will use women to their own ends. So if feminism has not changed men’s hearts to honour women, then what will? Only the knowledge that Jesus Christ, the God man, came to earth, treated women right and sacrificed His life for lust-filled men (and women).
This good news alone changes men and women’s hearts so that men will strive to love their wives as Christ loved the church and women will submit to their husbands (Ephesians 5:22-24).
I can’t believe I’m going to say that I found a moment to comment on in the movie Blades of Glory but here goes…
Jimmy MacElroy was an orphan child who was adopted by a wealthy businessman. Jimmy’s father pushed him into figure skating with the express purpose of being the top in his field. Jimmy ties for gold with his arch nemesis, they brawl on the podium and are both banned for life from the sport. On the way home from the hearing Jimmy’s dad pulls over the car and tells him that because he can no longer win medals for him he has been un-adopted.
Is God like Jimmy’s father? Some Christians think so and I used to be one of them. I believed Jesus had paid for my sin on the cross and that got me into heaven but I had to be good all the time or else God would not be pleased with me and would turn away from me.
But the Bible gives us a completely different description of what God is like. Because Jesus lived the perfect life for us, died on the cross for us and rose from the dead for us we can be assured that God is always pleased with us and will never turn away from us. When God looks at us, instead of seeing our failures He sees Jesus’ successes. Paul tells the Colossian church that “…you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). Jesus paid for all our sins on the cross: past, present and future! “…our High Priest (Jesus) offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time… For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy” (Heb 10:12-14).
Even though we are daily reminded that we are not perfect, God promises us that we will always be His perfect children because of Jesus Christ. That’s good news.
I heard a great soundbite by Nick Lannon the other day about the way we celebrate special holidays. He said that at Halloween everyone dresses up as evil beings and gets given candy! While at Christmas Santa is keeping a list and checking it twice. If you’ve been a naughty boy or girl Santa knows about it and no presents for you! Just a lump of coal. In this way Halloween is now more of a Christian festival than Christmas he said. This is because the God of the Bible is all about freely giving “candy” (forgiveness of sins) to evil people who don’t deserve it. We don’t get forgiveness from God because we have met some kind of standard (like Santa’s list) but because He wants to give it to us. And He has through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection for us.
All this talk of Christmas and Santa got me thinking about Christmases when I was a kid. I wasn’t a very good child and if Santa had kept his word then I would have received a lump of coal every Christmas. But you know what? I never got one. I always received presents!
So I must disagree with you Nick, Santa is a good picture of Christianity. All the naughty children out there are threatened with the law but it cannot change their behaviour. All it can do is show them how far they fall short of Santa’s standard. But on Christmas Eve, all their sins are forgiven because of Santa’s great mercy and they receive what they don’t deserve – presents!
“Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.
Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.” Galatians 3:19-22
One perk about working in the fashion industry is that occasionally I’m given a ticket to a show! The fun thing about a fashion show is "people watching." There is A LOT of posing to be seen there, and this year’s NZ Fashion Week was no different. It seems that a “cool” event brings out the worst of people’s self importance.,which led me to think: “Why are all these people acting like they deserve to be there in the front row when the only reason they are here is that they were invited?” No one earns their way into a fashion show; they are given the ticket at the discretion of the designer.
It can be easy to despise the Pharisees because they are a bunch of posers, parading their good works before Jesus. But are we any better than that? Just as I was thinking I was above (and definitely cooler than) all the posers at the fashion show because I wasn’t posing, it can be tempting for me to think I’m above all those weak Christians who think that their good works can earn them brownie points with God, because I’ve learned all about how our good works don’t earn us points before God. Man, what a theology snob!
Back to the fashion show; if you don’t have a ticket you’re not coming in. Same goes for Heaven; the self important and proud (like me) are only acceptable to God because He has given us our divine tickets for entry to eternal life with Him. We are saved from His rejection because Jesus earned our ticket for us.
In the immortal words of Lecrae “If heaven ain’t a gift then I ain’t getting’ in”.
Remember Adam Sandler’s long haired crazy mate in the movie “Bedtime Stories”? He was played by rising British comedian Russell Brand, aka Katy Perry’s other half. Mockingbird recently posted a BBC interview with him on youtube. He was hocking his autobiography of course but the interviewer raised some questions regarding the nature of fame and the answers Russell gave were fascinating.
(I enjoyed the whole interview but below are the parts that really resonated with me)
Jeremy Paxton: Why did you want to be famous?
Russell Brand: I grew up in industrial Essex...The idea of something glistening yet visceral were very appealing to me. Fame is seemingly accessible even when you live in areas when it's miles and miles away from you...
JP: Why is it so many people crave celebrity now?
RB: Because we're presented with the attractive spectacle of fame to distract us from the mundanity of our everyday lives, it's bread and circuses Jeremy.
JP: In that case it's utterly empty
RB: Of course
JP: In itself it's not something worth striving for
RB: It has absolutely no value in itself, it's a spectacle or an illusion, a distraction. All of us are aware of that.
JP: What happens to you when it finally arrives?
RB: ...you have the initial thrill of achievement, oh my word, the same as if you'd acquired a pair of shoes that you'd long craved and then you realize that the shoes are too tight, they ain't that comfortable, I want another pair of shoes. Walking around in these things ain't the same as I thought it would be. And you realize that you need nutrition from a higher source something more valuable. Celebrity in and of itself is utterly, utterly vacuous. It's like being presented with the most glorious meal and then when you eat it there's no taste, there's no succor, there's no nutrition. It's tiresome.
JP: You don't regret seeking celebrity and the effect it's had on you?
RB: No, because what else would I be doing? Having spent a great proportion of my life not being famous, that didn't have any particular value either. I didn't particularly enjoy working as a scab labourer, as a postman. I didn't particularly enjoy working in pubs, or selling ink cartridges for Hewlett Packard. These weren't salvation either. It weren't to be found there. So, no I don't regret it but now that I'm here, I wonder if it's possible to use it to acquire something more valuable, more beautiful... we're making this documentary currently on the subject of fame and consumerism and the way that we're sold these narratives and the way they keep us dumb and the way that I, myself was seduced by it… growing up in Essex and thought 'oh yes, I want to be famous' and now I am famous and what does it mean? Ashes in my mouth.
Do these sentiments sound familiar to you? Have you ever read the thoughts of King Solomon; the most powerful, rich man of his time?
“…Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content...”
“… So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me. Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.”
Russell has a way to go before he hits Solomon’s standard of living yet even if he gets there he will still not be satisfied. How did Solomon conclude this “chasing after the wind” that is life?
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
Or as Paul would say “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ"
Gisele Bundchen: Brazilian supermodel, brand ambassador, yoga master, wife to famous footballer and mother. Now infamous for stating in a Harper’s Bazaar interview that there should be a worldwide law making all mothers breastfeed for a minimum of six months. Usually I don’t care for celebrity opinion pieces but this fact caught my attention: Gisele breastfeed her own son for only three weeks.
In many ways Gisele is unlike us (see opening sentence) but I think this incident reveals that in fact she is just like us. What do I mean? Gisele set a standard (law) for herself and others to obey. But then she didn’t follow the standard herself. Hypocrite! But before you throw your rocks, haven’t you had that happen to you plenty of times too? Diet plans gone awry anyone?
So if we can’t even keep our own laws, how on earth are we going to able to keep God’s laws which are a much higher standard than the laws we set for ourselves? (see Luke 10:27)
Don’t despair! There is a way for lawbreakers like us to make it in God’s eyes even while we are not making it in our own eyes: through faith in the One who kept the law on our behalf. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4).
Before you panic and think I’ve fallen off the Christian bandwagon I need you to know that I in no way endorse listening to Usher’s music. Whew! Cleared that up. Have you had one of those times when you blob out in front of TV and flick channels? Well I was feeling that way the other day and stumbled across Usher’s catchy tune “DJ got us falling in love again”.
Cause baby tonight, the DJ got us falling in love again
Yeah, baby tonight, the DJ got us falling in love again
So dance, dance, like it’s the last, last night of your life, life
Gonna get you right
The rest of the lyrics are basically about two people who meet in a club at the end of the week and do what people do in clubs on the weekend if you know what I mean… But is love the feeling we get when we are dancing with some attractive stranger? Or is love something more substantial?
Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 13 (the wedding passage) that love is something far deeper than mere attraction. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”. In other words true love is expressed in one way unconditional giving to someone else. In contrast, Usher’s definition of love is one way taking from the other person. He enjoys the woman because of the pleasure her body gives him, not because he wants to please her. And the implication is that if her dancing does not please him, her life with him is over. His “love” is totally conditional.
As a married sinner I am reminded often that my love for my better half is badly flawed. But there is One who has perfectly kept the demands of 1 Corinthians 13 for me. His name is Jesus Christ. He loved you and me perfectly to the point that it cost Him His life on the cross. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13)
For a pop song that does lay down one way unconditional love: Choose You by Stan Walker
