June 3, 2017
As I launch a blog, one of the questions at the forefront of my mind is “how do I get people to care about it?” “How does it not get lost in the “Borg” of the internet or the busyness of our lives?” Further, regardless of whether the content is good or not, I know I am competing with a lot that is far more exciting, fun, and “sexy.” Case in point: My blog launches June 1st. Wonder Woman comes out June 2nd. My suggestion and proposed solution? Sign up for the blog and go see the movie! It’s the Deion Sanders way: not baseball or football, but both!
I am a child of the 70’s. As a young boy, my favorite shows were Wonder Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man, and I would be hard pressed to say which I favored more. It is interesting that The Six Million Dollar Man has never warranted a remake. I never quite understood this as it seems to me that Matt Damon could have brought a lot of Patrick Stewart plays Charles Xavier in X-Men credibility to the role.
And those shows did need some help with credibility. As much as I loved them as a nine-year-old, it was amazing how unbelievably hokey both series were as I re-watched them again with my kids in the early 2000’s. Now that they are adults, Wonder Woman, especially—with her invisible plane and “feminine” bracelets—provides them with a lot of eye-rolls and razz ammunition. I can’t defend myself but it sure has been a lot of fun to banter about it.
Fun is an important part of healthy families and life. The fact that this silly, campy show, along with its long-awaited remake, still brings a smile to my face is a helpful reminder to me of something Eugene Peterson calls “conversational humility.” In his book The Contemplative Pastor, he notes,
“Pastors especially, since we are frequently involved with large truths and are stewards of great mysteries, need to cultivate conversational humility. Humility means staying close to the ground (humus), to people, to everyday life, to what is happening with all its down-to-earthness… [We are unlikely] to become aware of the tiny shoots of green grace that the Lord is allowing to grow in the backyards of their lives. If we avoid small talk, we abandon the very field in which we have been assigned to work. Most of people’s lives are not spent in crisis, nor lived at the cutting edge of crucial issues. Most of us, most of the time, are engaged in simple, routine tasks, and small talk is the national language. If pastors belittle it, we belittle what most people are doing most of the time, and the gospel is misrepresented.”[1]
We need to build lives consistent with the expansiveness of the Lordship of Christ: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16, ESV) This “all things” expansiveness also includes how we interact with the created world: our simple, routine tasks, small talk, and, yes, even our smiles and silliness. True, life is not all exciting, fun, and sexy but it is not all boring, tragic, and ugly either. It is a mix—full and rich—and, especially for Christians, Scripture is clear: “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31, ESV). We reduce life to something smaller than God intends when we think this can’t include Marvel, DC, or even the raillery about which franchise is better.
[1] Eugene Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989),119-119.