Years ago when I managed a local Domino’s Pizza the managers were given a book on leadership to read. I don’t at this point recall the title or author but I kept it in the bathroom at the store to read on break. (A manager’s break was when you had to go to the bathroom and it lasted until a phone rang) I read enough to know that I was not tempted to take it home and finish. I suggested that instead let’s read Hornblower and the Hotspur, now that is a book on leadership! I learned by the example of the young Captain Horatio Hornblower about being decisive even when you felt conflicted, of the importance of maintaining discipline without being a tyrant, of having a well trained crew, that you can’t lead and live in fear of stepping on the feelings of those you lead, staying calm in the midst of turmoil, making decisions and excepting the consequence good or bad, and giving of your best and expecting the same of those in your charge. You see Horatio Hornblower was a hero despite his frailty, who held a profound affection for his crew yet maintained an appropriate detachment from them. How’s that for a book on leadership? And that’s just one book in a series of 11 novels and a couple of short stories.
Likewise I have heard sermon after sermon, about the sinful nature of man, many brilliant men have endeavored to set in order an understanding of the carnal nature and man’s propensity to err. All of them combined do not create the profoundly understandable picture that Robert Lewis Stephenson did with the short novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Our nation is at a crossroads and the stakes are high, the next election will likely determine the fate of the country for generations to come. Over the next couple of weeks I want to really examine the candidates and issues that are beginning to come to the fore front as the primaries loom closer. However if we as conservatives are able to redeem our constitution from the hands of the liberals and we effectively limit the oppressive role of government from our lives we will still not have arrived. The country is so much more than its politics, and the cultural war is even more vital than the political one. As we struggle to revive our culture one crucial aspect is found in the power of literature and its natural extension into the realms of the film and stage performing media.
It is wonderful that we have an alternative religious media; I thank God for “Christian literature” even if so much of it has a decidedly feminine slant. Family friendly Christian film such as Fireproof and Facing the Giants are of great value but they simply are not enough. We need Christian fiction, but so much more we need Christians who write main stream fiction. George Lucas never sat out to write Buddhist fiction, but his world view comes out clearly in Star Wars. Gene Roddenberry had a view that man could evolve into a better being and brought those views to Star Trek. Now don’t get me wrong I love both, especially Star Trek’s original series where courage honor and duty were the most critical recurring themes. In the midst of failing deflector shields and straining warp drives valuable moral lessons were learned without ever having the sense we were being taught a lesson. If anyone doubts the power of story telling in the teaching of morality remember that Jesus used stories to teach.
My pastor is a brilliant man and a fine writer in his own right, who often quotes Oswald Chambers. Now Oswald Chambers was a brilliant man and I would love to have a fraction of the understanding he had, but when I read him my blood doesn’t rush in my veins, he doesn’t move me the way Bethany Hamilton does. That’s why I take so many opportunities to promote Soul Surfer. That’s why we need a revival of the Judeo-Christian philosophy in the culture today.
So many things have to happen to save this country, and they all begin with prayer and revival, and revival always begins with an acknowledgement of sin. As long as we allow the moral relativism of the entertainment community dictate the popular culture we will always face an uphill battle in this critical revelation of our own sin. As long as cohabitation is presented as an acceptable stage in courtship and alternate lifestyles are glorified it will be ever more difficult to return to a culture of marital monogamy.
It was our idea at one time to do away with the bad by restriction and standards, such as the Hays Code which governed Hollywood between 1930 and 1968 with a certain level of success, (although a couple of the best scenes from my favorite movie King Kong were cut unnecessarily) but good or bad, right or wrong that genie is out of the bottle and putting it back would be a monumental task. My advice now is for Christians and others with a traditional moral view to blessed with the abilities to write or act should do every thing in our power to get good stories written and published, filmed and distributed with the traditional values intact: For those of us without those talents to support those who do with our viewing time and entertainment dollars.
Until next time, keep on the firing line.
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