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| When Shawn Ryan looks in the mirror, he sees Vic Mackey |
Even though I’m a big fan of quality
television, we don’t have cable or anything like that. We actually use Netflix and
Hulu Plus for all of the entertainment needs in our house. The combined cost is
less than $20 and we have Netflix for movies and non-current shows, and Hulu
Plus for current shows that we’d like to keep up with. CBS doesn’t play ball
with Hulu for whatever reason so that means no Amazing
Race or Big
Bang Theory. Oh well. But I watch everything, usually in HD, on my nice
big TV through my PS3.
I started looking eagerly for Last Resort
to premiere because there was no way I was going to miss it, but, for some
reason, Last Resort was only licensed
to be watched on a computer and not on a TV. I have no idea why. ABC must just
want to make it more difficult for people to watch this show. So I’ve been
hooking up my laptop via HDMI to get around that and still watch it in the
living room. Why am I telling you this? Because I wouldn’t go to the hassle of
hooking up my computer to the TV for just any show. In fact, I don’t go to the
hassle for any other show. But Last
Resort is just that good.
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| "Nobody forget where we parked." |
Since ratings indicate that not nearly
as many are watching as should be, I’ll recap the basic premise. A nuclear sub,
the USS Colorado, in the waters near
Pakistan receives a suspicious order through non-standard channels to attack
Pakistan with nuclear missiles. When the captain and the XO seek confirmation
of the orders from someone they know—this is, after all, a pretty big deal and
the lives of millions of Pakistanis depend on whether they are nuked or not—the
Colorado is subsequently attacked by
United States forces, Pakistan is blamed and then gets attacked. Captain Marcus Chaplin (played by Andre
Braugher) sets up shop with his crew on the island of Sainte Marina,
threatening to use his sub’s nuclear launch capabilities if anyone gets too
close. His goal is to expose those in the government who set up the Colorado and to arrange for his crew to
come home to their families.
Like I said, it’s exciting stuff. And
the show deals with issues and concepts of loyalty and morality, which of
course makes it perfect for our study of theofictionology,
expounding on spiritual themes found in fiction. The most obvious place to go
here may be Peter’s famous statement when he was commanded to stop preaching in
the name of Jesus Christ: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). The
officers of the Colorado believe that
they have found themselves in a situation where their commitment to obey orders
has been overridden by a higher loyalty to the ideals of the United States and
the value of human life. That’s an interesting place to go, I think, and we
could have a nice little chat along those lines, but I’ve decided to go in
another (albeit related) direction.
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| This man does not consider nuking Pakistani civilians a fun pastime. |
The title of the show—Last Resort—indicates another theme that
the series explores. I’ve heard people say that this is unrealistic or even
audacious (not fans of 24
or Lost
I suppose), but that’s actually kind of the point. Captain Chaplin has reached
his breaking point and his actions are extreme, they are audacious, they are
absolutely radical. What brought him to this point? There may have been a
variety of factors contributing to this (and, in fact, there is reason to
wonder whether Chaplin is still playing with the whole fleet, as it were), but the
shady order to nuke Pakistan was the last straw. The man has been pushed to a
place where he was no longer willing or able to maintain the status quo. His
actions have made him unable to continue on as before, and frankly, things will
never go back to normal no matter
what the outcome. And that’s where I want to go.
Those of us who have made the decision
to follow Christ and get plugged in to a local church, we might think that we’ve
already reached our breaking point, and in some ways we have. It takes a lot
for us proud creatures to admit that we’re sinful, that we’re enemies of God
(Rom. 5:10), that we need help—and for us to cry out to a Savior. But
oftentimes we go from maintaining one status quo (that of our secular lives and
community) for another, which looks very similar in many ways, but with church
on Sunday morning. It is easy for the natural enthusiasm and momentum that
consumes us at the point of conversion to soon be lost in the status quo of
mainstream Christianity. What is the result of mainstream Christianity? Take a
look around at the United States and bear witness.
You may have heard the statistics
before. The Barna Group is a good source
for such things, if you are so inclined, and a lot of very useful numbers and
suggestions can be found in George Barna’s book, Growing
True Disciples, which I very much recommend. The short version is that
Christians, statistically speaking, do not live any differently from the world.
“Well,” we might say, “even if we’re still living like we’re slaves to sin, at
least we’re effectively communicating Christian belief, right?” (Note: I don’t
know why we’d say that. I wouldn’t say that. I don’t think James [the
half-brother of Christ/epistle author] would either. If you want to say it,
however, go ahead.) But, no, it’s not true. Barna reports a massive gap between
what the Bible teaches and what believers who attend evangelical churches
believe (e.g. 40% of believers say that Jesus committed sins and over 25% deny
a physical, bodily resurrection). Add to these numbers the fact that some estimates
say that as many of 88% of children raised in evangelical churches will abandon
their faith by the age of 18, and I think it’s fair to say that mainstream
American Christianity has a crisis on its hands.
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| "Eenie, meenie, minie, moe..." |
But have we reached the breaking point
yet? Do these numbers do it? Have we reached the point—and frankly I don’t know
if we ever will as a unified church whole in this country—where we come to the
conclusion that the attitudes and behaviors that have gotten us to this point
are not going to fulfill the task we’ve been given? If we reach the breaking
point, our goal will not be to merely maintain the status quo and look like all
the other smiling faces in church but to pick up our cross daily and follow
Christ (Luke 9:23), to be the servant of all (1 Cor. 9:19) and to make
disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19-20). Yes, I said make disciples, not get them
to attend church. Jesus made disciples. Paul made disciples. The world was
turned upside down as Christianity spread like wildfire. We live in a place
where everyone (well most, anyway) believe in God but very few live like it.
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| White afro or not, Keith Green saw with clarity. |
Thirty-four years ago, in 1978, Keith Green
asked of a lukewarm church, “Do you see, do you see all the people sinking
down? Don’t you care, don’t you care? Are you gonna let them drown? How can you
be so numb, not to care if they come? You close your eyes and pretend the job’s
done. . .How can you be so dead when you’ve been so well-fed” (Asleep
in the Light)? Do we stand here in 2012 and believe anything’s
different? And even if our church culture remains the same (or just as lukewarm
and just as ineffectual), must you and I remain the same, too?
On Last
Resort, Captain Chaplin reached his breaking point. At that moment,
everything changed. Only a fool would think that he would ever be able to
return to the status quo after the actions he’s taken. And you know what? He
just might make a difference?
Now, what about us? What about
believers in 2012? If you have not yet reached your breaking point, then I pray
that God brings you to that point. If you have, then I’m going to give you some
very clear directives from Scripture regarding what to do next. First, begin
investing spiritually in lives. Invest in the lives of those who don’t know
Christ, show them His love, pray that the Holy Spirit will give you an
opportunity to share the gospel with them and be ready when that opportunity
comes. This is why you’re here. Second, continue to invest spiritually in
people by making disciples. If you’re unsure how to make disciples, there are
four Gospels that share Jesus’ methods. Find a believer who needs guidance and
guide them. Live life together. Show them how to follow Christ. Based on the
statistics above, corralling people like cattle into large group meetings and
preaching at them isn’t quite so effective as we would like to think. So go
back to the methods of the Master. He made disciples. He commanded you to do
so. Now do it.
Once you start 1) investing in
unbelievers and 2) investing in believers, I encourage you to take a look at
your life and learn to slow down to really see others. There are needs
everywhere. Meet them in the name of Jesus Christ. What if you made a
commitment to stop the car every time you see someone pulled over by the side
of the road? Maybe they need some gas, maybe they need a jump. When they thank
you for your help, make sure they know that you’re doing this to show them the
love of Jesus. If that opens a door to share more, take it. If not, know that
the Holy Spirit will use your obedience and your servant’s heart regardless. Do
you think such a commitment would be in line with Scripture’s commands to love
our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27)? Do you think Jesus might make that
commitment? Do you think Paul would turn a blind eye, or stop and help? If so,
then shouldn’t you?
We need to live the lives we were
saved to live. We need to use our time on this earth to make an impact for the
life to come, the only life that actually matters. We will regret it if we don’t.
I certainly don’t want to go to heaven empty-handed. And I hope that thought brings
you to the breaking point.
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| Unfortunately, ABC pretty much hates you. And ice cream. And puppies. |
But, alas, television is a business
and quality counts for very little if not enough eyeballs (ahem, according to
antiquated Nielsen voodoo) are watching. I suppose it’s not the worst news in
the world. After all, you and I generally have more important work to do than
watching TV, don’t we?
