Musings on Marriage

Tag: Disciples

Disciples of the Internet

Have you ever heard of such a peculiar phrase – Disciples of the Internet?  I recently listened to a John Eldredge podcast by that name and was a bit offended by the phrase.  I thought to myself,

I’m not a disciple of the Internet, I’m a disciple of Jesus.

 But after listening to John’s podcast, I agree with his observation of our culture.  Because most of us use the internet every day, perhaps hours every day, our mindset has become different than it was decades ago. Back in the 1900’s, we didn’t expect anything to move too quickly.  Sure, we could drive a car, fly around the world in a jet, watch a spaceship go to the moon, but beyond that our lives were lived relatively slowly. 

We would linger with people, work and play outside, stroll down the street as we look around, observing the beauty.  Today, it is quite rare to see someone walk with nothing in their hands, simply enjoying their surroundings.  A far higher percentage of walkers hold their phones in their hand, quite oblivious to anything happening around them, immersed in their virtual world.

As John says,

You are a disciple of the system that tutors you.

When we type or speak a question into Google, we can get over 2 million answers in .03 seconds.  No waiting, no wondering, just immediate information.  And because our souls have become programmed for immediate answers, we tend to expect the same from God.

We have the world’s combined knowledge from over the millennia at our fingertips.  What more can we need?  The internet is amazing if you want to fix your washing machine, build a retaining wall, or learn how to prune a tree.  I am a big fan of YouTube; I love to watch music videos and podcasts.  But if I am looking for direction and wisdom from God I need to slow down, listen and wait.  Wait, you say?  Now that is tough for us in the 21st century.

Our faith is powerful, yet fragile – kind of like coral reefs.  It needs protection from distractions if we want to hear from our Heavenly Father.  Even though our technology has been continually speeding up, now travelling two thirds the speed of light, Jesus does not see that as a threat – something He needs to keep up with when communicating with us.

As He said himself,

I am the same yesterday, today and forever.

If He is the same yesterday, today and forever, then I believe he requires us to slow down, wait and listen – without distraction.  I just Googled “how many times is the word ‘wait’ found in the Bible?”  And the answer is, depending on the translation you use, over 120 times.  Here’s one place:

Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27:14

Sitting still and waiting is not part of our culture’s mantra, but if we ask the Holy Spirit to teach us that valuable discipline, I believe we’ll hear from God.  He is patiently waiting for us to talk to Him, so tell Him your troubles and frustrations, share your joys and pleasures.  Ask Him a question and He will answer you, probably not as quickly as you would like but He will answer. He is a good, good Father and His love for you endures forever.   

We live in a culture addicted to quick, but Jesus is waiting for you to come away from distractions, slow down and listen to Him and His Word.

The Chosen

Dear Daughters,

Several years ago a friend of mine posted a new TV series called The Chosen.  Again and again I would see his posts, commenting on how much he enjoyed it and encouraging others to watch.  I remember thinking to myself, I’ve seen several Jesus/Bible movies and have never been impressed with them.  Most of the characters looked like Americans, Jesus was always white and handsome, the plot lines seemed anemic and the dialogue stilted.  The Jesus in the movies never seemed real to me; he seemed other-worldly, not at all connected to his humanity.

So I never looked into it – until a month ago.  Recently, because another friend of mine was so enthusiastic about how she loved the series and had watched some episodes several times, I finally decided to give Season 1, Episode 1 a try.  It was titled

I Have Called You By Name. 

Completely different from any movie I’ve ever seen about Jesus, it opens with Mary Magdalene as a little girl, then as an adult wrestling with her demons.  It shows the every-day oppression of living under the Roman occupation, the hierarchy of the Jewish religious system, and the day to day grind of being a fisherman. 

As with any good movie, I had a lot of questions and wonderings about different scenes so of course I had to watch it again.  But the most amazing thing for me is the character of Jesus and how his humanity is portrayed – how he loves people in the red quarter, how he carves toys for the little children, how he celebrates with joy and dancing at the wedding feast of his friends.  The honesty and vulnerability of Jesus is refreshing.  He is not intimidated by the religious folk, the poor, the cynical or the Romans. 

On the other hand, the disciples are depicted as the self-centered, hard-to-get-along-with people they were.  Seeing the backstories of the characters helped me to see them as actual human beings who were deeply flawed, argumentative and obviously misunderstanding the entire mission of Jesus.  The apparent animosity between Peter the fisherman and Matthew who ruthlessly collected his taxes, was shown for what it was.  And yet, Jesus called them both to follow Him.  There were spats among the disciples – who was the greatest of them and arguments about how the whole traveling troupe should be managed.  There were biases toward classes of people and speculation about ideologies, mistrust of each other and definite opinions about life in general.  Peter, the guy who seemed the most opinionated of all, constantly gave Jesus helpful hints about how the ministry should be run.

I had never thought about Jesus continually traveling, setting up camp each night, preparing food, walking miles of dusty roads and constantly facing multitudes of people seeking healing, facing intense criticism from the religious folk and being entirely misinterpreted day after day by everyone around Him.

The official statement about the series: 

The Chosen is based on the true stories of the gospels of Jesus Christ.  Some locations and timelines have been combined or condensed.  Backstories and some characters and dialogue have been added.  However, all Biblical and Historical context and any artistic imagination are designed to support the truth and intention of the Scriptures.  The original names, locations and phrases have been transliterated into English for anything spoken.

The Chosen gets two thumbs up from me, and a huge thank you to my persistent friends for challenging me to watch the show.

Love, Mom

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