Fragmented Musing....

Have you ever had one of those times where your mind seemed to just go off on it's own journey, leaving you to just follow along to see where it ends up?  Sometimes it may be in the form of daydreams, other times you're flooded by memories, and then there are the times that something just grabs hold and won't let go of your thoughts, sending you right down a rabbit trail.

There are two movies out in the theaters right now that are fairly controversial within the christian community.... Disney's remake of Beauty and The Beast, and the big screen adaptation of the best selling book The Shack.  I've been watching the debates over these two movies for quite awhile now and it's left me standing somewhat alone.  Let me explain....

First off, let's look at Beauty and The Beast; a classic tale  full of life lessons, even from a spiritual point of view.  The current problem isn't with the story itself, rather it's with a statement the director made before it's release.  The Christian community went into an instant uproar; social media posts stating how you can't possibly be a christian if you sacrifice your standards and see this movie after what they heard about it, petitions to sign a boycott, blog posts galore..... all about something nobody had even seen, based only on a sentence that the producer said during an interview.  OK, let's just stop right here and think about something, shall we?  First off, we all know that the Disney corporation is very pro-LGBT; that's something they've never kept a secret.  But, they still, to this point anyway, have kept their parks, movies, TV shows, and merchandising family friendly.  We as traditional families still feel pretty darn safe watching their movies or spending our vacations at their parks.  Another thing to consider is that this particular movie is a musical.... acting within musicals is much "bigger" than in other forms of entertainment.... the gestures are bigger, the facial expressions are bigger, the vocals are bigger, etc.  Then we all must consider that within the entertainment industry the LGBT lifestyle is considered "normal" and mainstream; it's pretty natural assumption to think producers, writers, actors, etc are going to have their own personal agenda and "sneak" it in undercover.  It's been done since the beginning of time.  Innuendo, I believe is what you would call it.  It's everywhere you look, not just in movies and TV.

So, before I continue, I want to remind everyone of another very recent example of a Disney movie that the Christian community went into an uproar about because it supposedly had a "gay" scene... Finding Dory.  Here's the deal: I watched this movie with Hannah and Gracie, knowing what I'd heard about it, but figuring things were most likely blown out of proportion especially since, yet again, the uproar started BEFORE the movie was released and nobody had seen it.  Drum Roll, please...... I watched, looking for the problematic scene and I never saw it or I totally missed it.... and do you know what the problematic scene was that we in the Christian community were suppose to boycott this movie over?  Two women pushing a baby stroller in a crowd scene (keep in mind that this is an animated movie to boot).  THIS is what everyone had their panties in a wad over????  THIS is what we were suppose to boycott for????  THIS is what we as Christians were called on the carpet for if we chose to see the movie, and told that we clearly couldn't claim our christianity for if we were not willing to take a stand against it?  With that recent history in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but feel that it was something very similar with Beauty and The Beast.... So, I took Gracie and Hannah and we went to see it with our friends.  It was a beautiful retelling of this classic tale.  Disney production at it's finest, with the story and characters tugging at our hearts, getting us to cheer them on and BOOING Gaston, the villain.  Here's the thing, we went LOOKING for the problem, looking for the tweaked storyline of LeFou's interest in his hero Gaston, LOOKING FOR A CLEAR MESSAGE THAT GOES AGAINST TRADITIONAL FAMILY VALUES.  What we saw was a beautiful Disney Musical in all it's glory.  Yes, I suppose one could claim there was some innuendo in a few facial expressions, but frankly, I found NOTHING offensive and certainly nothing that I felt I had sacrificed my values as a Christian by watching or spending my money to see.  Even Gracie commented to me that she didn't hear any "gay" song or see anything that made her uncomfortable.

I'm going to stop right here for a moment and say that I know there is nothing "PC" about this blog post.... I am pretty sure that people on both side of the fence are reading this and frankly getting their prickles up because of one thing or another.  But, this is my blog and my opinion, so let's continue on;)

If you've read this far, I'm pretty certain that you're beginning to wonder what my point is, since I clearly don't have any issue with the movie itself, and furthermore, I'm no movie critic therefore my opinion really doesn't mean anything anyway.  Well, here it is...What's bothering me is how christians have purposely pitted themselves against each other and picked up a battle that isn't going to do anything to spread the Gospel.  On the contrary, what they are doing is damaging to The Good News of Christ.  Seriously, when I have christian friends whom I love and respect take the stance that "if you support this movie then you can't possibly be a Christian" I see the dangerous path they are on.  Please understand, I'm not saying we should "justify our sin", because I don't see anything sinful about this movie.  Anyone can find what they want to see.... if they want to see a blatantly gay theme then they are going to see it.  But I can point to even more "God" lessons in this movie than they can sinful ones.  I can watch this movie and see the Gospel message played out.  The messages of Grace, Redemption, Atonement, Forgiveness, Mercy, Eternal Hope, Sacrifice, just to name a few characteristics, is right there in glorious Disney color splashed across the movie screen.

What are we in the Christian community doing when we pit ourselves against each other?  Name calling, bullying each other in the name of Faith, issuing declarations and judgements that we have NO RIGHT to do.  It's called LEGALISM and Jesus himself warned us against it.  I would never deem to tell a brother or sister in Christ that they could not possibly be a Christian.  Yes, the Bible tells us that we are "known by our fruits" but a differing opinion doesn't qualify as knowing someone by their fruits.  Yes, we all make choices of what is right for us and our families, and yes, there are many things are are black and white.... but there are also things that are "grey", meaning that it's between us and the Holy Spirit.  If you feel a strong conviction about something then by all means, listen to the Holy Spirit and act (or don't depending on the leading He's giving you).  But we can't all expect the Holy Spirit to convict EVERYONE of the same things.  For example, there are many who have a strong conviction against even a drop of alcohol, and there are others who have a strong conviction against drunkedness yet feel comfortable having a glass of wine or a beer.  One is not right and the other wrong.... they may both follow the leading of the Holy Spirit but find what's ok for one is wrong for the other.  Telling Christian bothers and sisters they aren't Christians is hurtful, harmful, and dangerous.  It tears apart the body of Christ with infighting and it sends the message to those we are trying to win for the Kingdom of God that there is no room for them until they "get with the program and get it right".  Yes, I believe we should hold our brothers and sisters accountable according to scripture.... but having a difference of opinion about non consequential things is something completely different.  Silencing our brothers and sisters because they fear our backlash is no different than bullying.  Telling them they can't possibly be Christian because we "disagree" with them only accomplishes building up walls and tearing down relationships... not only with the brother or sister you disagree with, but also with those wondering what a personal relationship with God looks like.

Think before you react.... yes, there are most assuredly battles worthy to wage and we need to be a united community to be able to win those battles.  Tearing down relationships over the trivial things means only that we won't be effective in winning the BIG battle that has eternal rewards and consequences.  I encourage y'all to seek God's guidance when making decisions for you and your family, both big and small; and to understand that others are doing the same but may find a different answer in these "grey" areas.  Choose GRACE and LOVE over legalism, and let the Holy Spirit do all the convicting.... after all, that is what we are called to do.