This is a Sunday post, definitely for the soul.
Last time, I talked about the 5 main characters of the wildly popular TV drama This Is Us and said how easy it is to sit in my comfortable leather recliner and watch on TV the multi-faceted story, which is loaded with flashbacks to show ever more deeply the development of motivation and character.
I also mentioned that I don’t have to work hard at all getting to know these captivating characters and their dramatic stories. I only have to watch and listen, observing and remembering. Piece of cake.
The writers, directors, and producers of This Is Us are brilliant, never overloading us with too much “character exposure” or info at any one point. As observers of the story, we are given just enough to keep us informed and “baited forward” further into the engrossing story of the 5-member Pearson family, which at present has expanded to include a female foster child who is a young black teenager.
And here’s the deal on all of this, as concerns our souls and our own grand vitality in life. Entertainment is certainly a blessing, a fun stress-reliever. As with a Shakespearean play or other great drama, we can even learn some important life lessons from This Is Us. The story can affect our souls.
But…how deep and lasting are those moral lessons from the show? Do they really transform us simply by our passively watching the TV screen from our comfy easy chair? Do those lessons truly contribute in a powerful way to my grand vitality?
I’m going to say, probably not. Character transformation is an active process. Participation required. Active, purposeful, aggressive making of choices and taking action is a must if we are going to see our true makeup inside change for the better.
So, I now ask again: how is the “entertainment process” essentially different from the life-transforming journey of getting to know the Creator of the whole cosmos? I won’t go quite yet into how important that journey is, I’ll just assume for the moment you have a good grasp of it already. And I’ll assume you agree with me that real growth as people is not a passive pursuit.
I now, then, present my 5 points on the essential difference between getting to “know” the wonderful, delightful, captivating characters of This Is Us — who are human and flawed and sometimes even frail — and getting to know the unseen but mighty God, who gives me life and breath and everything else and is the one who ultimately controls my eternal destiny beyond this brief, pain-afflicted earth journey we’re on.
Difference #1: With the pursuit of knowing God, I first must not only observe nature — which quietly but effectively witnesses to God’s eternal power and divinity as revealed in Genesis 1 and 2 (also see Romans 1) — I must also ask questions and seek out answers in the very depths of my heart.
Who made all this amazing creation — the sky and the trees and the mountains and the lakes and the rivers and the grass and the animals and…? Who has designed it all so that all of it works together?
More importantly, does the Creator high above me know me? Does he care? What’s he really like? What does he want me to do in life?
Testimony: I first asked these questions as a five-year-old sitting under a huge oak tree on the recreation yard out back of my preschool building in Austin, Texas. I looked up at the big, fluffy white clouds in the sky and wondered about the ultimate “character” of the universe whom I tried to envision high above those clouds.
And I did this day after day. My pursuit of the knowledge of God was on in my young life! He had quietly prompted it within me and I was game for the challenge.
So, as you can see…
There’s nothing passive about this questioning we must do. But note this: it’s even more engrossing than “entertainment.”
Difference #2: With the pursuit of knowing God, I must hear his main message that calls me to make a fundamental change of heart and mind in the here and now — that is, if I care about seeking to become a part of his eternal family that will soon live in an amazing kingdom right here on earth. Remember that Jesus was always talking about His coming kingdom!
Note: Things get even better later when heaven and earth both are refashioned into absolute perfection, with no sea. The New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven and touches down on this very earth and we who have believed live forever and ever seeing God face to face, with Jesus exalted forever among us as our Lamb slain and glorious High Priest, both at the same time.
I know, I know…the details and the glory are beyond our total grasp at present. The joy we’ll experience is unimaginable.
But for now, what is that main message I was speaking of? Repent and believe. It’s that simple, but that challenging.
The Old Testament prophets preached it. John the Baptist preached it. Jesus preached it. The apostles preached it: Turn from your life of choosing immorality and sin, and choose once and for all to turn back to God, by believing in and relying on His awesome Son who died for you and was raised back to life, guaranteeing your own chance at eternal life. His promise is that He’ll help you along the way, in a big way!
However. When I watch This Is Us, the actors in the show don’t really ask me to do anything. They only hope, I suppose, that I’ll enjoy watching them perform and perhaps take some “something” away from the experience of joining in their story.
And I’ll grant you that in a very real sense, if we’re going to see and know God, we also need to enjoy “watching Him” and listening to Him as he speaks through the pages of the Bible. With the eyes of our heart, we need to quietly observe Him being the main character of the entire Biblical story, in the anticipation that He is going to speak to us way deep in our hearts about our relationship with Him.
Would it surprise you to know that the key activity of believing is listening? Jesus said more than once that those who refuse to listen to Him — and heed His words — are never going to know Him or enjoy His eternal blessings. But good news! We can listen and believe, just as He longs for us to. Repeatedly, He says He has great love to pour out on us if we will only trust Him…which begins with listening.
Even the Apostle Paul quoted an Old Testament prophet when he said: “Faith comes by hearing (which of course includes listening) and hearing by the Word of Christ (the Bible).” Romans 10:17 ESV
Question: Is there only one way to hear God’s main message? Nope. There are several. I myself heard a Billy Graham associate evangelist in Arlington, TX, preaching for two weeks at the UTA football stadium back in the summer of 1965. One night, he told about two brothers that fought, and I realized from my own struggles with my older brother how at times I had hated and inflicted violence on him the best I could manage. Then I had lied about what I’d blatantly done, right to my mother’s face.
I was a sinner.
For real.
I also knew I had stolen from my friend. Took money right out of his bedroom piggy bank when he was in the kitchen getting some milk and cookies. I was no better than the two thieves on the crosses on either side of Jesus.
Well, thanks to God, Homer Martinez helped me see that it was Jesus dying on the cross that paid the terrible bloody-sacrifice price for my sins. He did it because He loved His Heavenly Father and wanted to do His perfect will — which was to demonstrate to the whole world how utterly dark and ugly and poisonous sin really is, and at the same time show what His love is willing to do for me.
And Jesus went to the cross because, just like the Father, he loves you and me.
Okay…we’ve gotten started. I want to spend next time exploring the other ways people hear God’s main message and then touch on the other 3 differences between getting to know This Is Us characters and getting to know our Creator.
But one thing’s for sure, I’ve learned: If we are willing to listen to God, and believe Christ and follow Him, we will have a sure peace in our very hearts that affects all of our bodies and even our finances. We may not become rich — probably won’t, in fact — and we may never get our physiques built up like an Arnold Schwarzenegger.
What we will have is peace with God and the peace of God, and we’ll know where we’re headed forever and ever after this life is over for us.
Grand Vitality 