Mission Impossible

One of my favorite television series as a kid growing up was Mission Impossible.  I saw every episode more than once.  I know Hollywood has updated the concept in recent years with three new installments from Tom Cruise.  I'm not talking about that series; I'm talking about the black and white version.  I'm talking about the one without special effects, unless you count exploding reel-to-reel tape recorders!  The thing that kept me tuning in week to week was the notion of the Mission Impossible team taking on seemingly insurmountable odds to reach what seemed to be an impossible goal.  I never doubted their superhuman ability; I had confidence that within the next 60 minutes they would triumph, and the world would be safe again.

What is the Best Way?

We have focused our attention for the past few months on ways Christian believers assess their culture and relate to it.  Some believers find ways to successfully interact with culture as they encounter it on a daily basis.  Others prefer to withdraw from much of what culture has to offer and limit the flow of culture's influence on their lives.  Most of our attention in previous months has assumed that culture is the way it is and devised ways of relating to it on those terms.

But, what about Christians who seek to change their secular culture for the better?  What is the best way to do that?  I've been giving some thought to those questions in recent days as I have been looking at material we are discussing in my class on History of Christianity 2.  We began the course by looking at the Reformation era of Church history.  What caught my imagination on these questions about changing dominant culture was the different methods employed by a couple of the central figures of the Reformation.  I think their efforts can inform our approach today and offer us food for thought for our own efforts.

A Positive Influence on Culture

I am teaching a course this semester to our freshman honor students entitled Exploring Humanity through Film.  We watch films one night each week that illustrate key phrases of the Apostles Creed.  This week we watched The Mission by Roland Joffe.  Even though it premiered in 1986, its powerful message gives it holding power to the present.  The story takes place in the 1750s in South America where the present-day borders of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil meet.  If you know anything about that part of the world, you know the area is just upstream from the world-famous Iguaza Falls.

The plot line of the film chronicled the ministry of Jesuit missionaries working among the Guarani Indians.  I suppose the film intended to inform viewers of how missionaries and their outpost mission got caught in the winds of conflict brought on by the economic and political tug-of-war between Spain and Portugal for this land and its people.  That message came through loud and clear, and I understood it well.  The film left me with deep feelings of support for the missionaries and their converts who found themselves caught in this battle.  What's more, the film reminded me of the struggle that continues to this day between Christian ministry and geopolitics around the world.

And The Survey Says

An NBC News poll reached my desk today that has the news media abuzz.  This poll had the highest number of responses that NBC has ever received with a research question.  The question: "Should we keep the words "in God we trust" on our money and "under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance?  The American people affirmed with a resounding 86% positive response that we should keep references to God in both our pledge and on our money.

The overwhelmingly positive response to this poll pleases me.  At the same time, however, I stop and pause at another question.  That is, why are we as a culture questioning societal references to God in the first place? 

Better Felt

We've come full circle.  Over the past three months, we have considered the notion of our Christian faith from three different perspectives.  First, we talked about the importance of knowing for certain what we believe as we move further into an age of uncertainty.  Next, we talked about the importance of having a common vocabulary in declaring our faith.  Last month, we looked at the requirement of agreeing upon our vocabulary definitions.  This month I want us to consider drawing this discussion together with one more essential requirement for our Christian beliefs, especially as it relates to holiness.

A belief system with a common vocabulary and set of definitions will always top the list of requirements for articulating our Christian faith.  However, more than just talking about what we believe, we must also experience it.  Without personal experience, our belief system remains sterile and academic.

Know for Certain

I grew up on a farm that had a range of rocky hills along the western property line. My siblings and I climbed rocky trails to the top of those hills more times than I can remember. I never got accustomed to the fact that the trails looked the same season to season and year to year. I often imagined farm kids 100 years ago climbing those same trails just as we were doing and seeing many of the same sights we were viewing.