And you He made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now
works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted
ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (Ephesians 2: 1-3)
At
43 and and a couple of weeks away from being the father of a high school
senior, I see things differently than I used to. Even the stuff I'd seen before I see
differently.
When
I was 18, I watched “Tango and Cash,” a buddy-cop action movie. I never thought it would win an Oscar, but I remember
thinking that it was fun. I remember
being unquestionably sold that the main characters, played by Sylvester
Stallone and Kurt Russell, were good guys.
They were good cops.
I
watched a rerun of the movie last night, and now I see it differently.
About
30 minutes into the “Tango and Cash” rerun,
I was rooting for the heroic fictional detectives when I realized that the
movie police had killed more people and blown up more property than the movie
villains.
We
know that the movies and other media glorify violence. Lots of research and not a small amount of
common sense (i.e. why do companies pay billions in media advertising if it
doesn’t influence behavior) demonstrate that media glorification encourages criminal
violence. You know, the bad stuff that
bad guys do.
But
what about the bad stuff that good guys do?
If
you were a kid who grew up on "Dirty Harry," "Lethal Weapon," Steven Seagal flicks, or "Bad Boys," what did you learn about being a cop? Hollywood told you that GOOD cops shoot lots
of people, and they beat up suspects for information, and sometimes the really
heroic cops“go rogue and deliver their own brand of justice.” (You have to read that last part in a deep,
dramatic, movie narrator voice.)
Most
real life police officers never shoot anybody, and they don't use the right
cross as their primary interrogation technique
But
if you believe the screens, they’re supposed to.
Just
like the screens tell us that:
Rappers
are SUPPOSED TO BE drug dealers, murderers, and misogynists.
Politicians
are SUPPOSED TO BE corrupt profiteers covering up their crimes by murdering
innocent people.
Preachers
are SUPPOSED TO BE con-men and perverts who believe in nothing.
Artists
are SUPPOSED TO BE drug-addicts and sex-addicts.
Fathers
are SUPPOSED TO BE clueless incompetents.
The media has contaminated our cultural mindsets and EVERYBODY drinks the tainted water, including the people who want to grow up to be heroes.
Hollywood
would turn us all into villains. And it is a masterfully directed plan.
Consider this: 73% of Americans are Christians, but the majority of mainstream media portrayals of Christians, including Fox News' choices for interviews, are negative. How can the most populous group in America be the most ridiculed group in America? Who's running the show(s)?
Ephesians 2 calls satan “the prince of the power of the air.” The spiritual prince of the airways is “the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.”
Evil
influence, evil intent has formed a media superculture that promotes, as
Ephesians 2: 1-3 says:
-
the lusts of our flesh
-
desires of the flesh
-
desires of the mind
-
WRATH
Hollywood
casts us as heroes but directs us to act as only villains do.
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who
put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and
sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5: 20)
The
closing verses of Isaiah 5 prophesy the consequences of playing the role that
the prince of the airways has written for us:
-
Corruption to the core/ root (v. 24)
-
Rejection of God’s moral authority (v. 24)
-
Death in the streets (v. 25)
-
Invasion and attack from foreign lands (v. 26)
-
Fear of a ruthless and relentless external enemy (v. 27-30)
Does any of that sound familiar, America? Maybe things aren't getting out of hand. Maybe things are following a very, very old script.
There's a scene in the Denzel Washington movie 'The Book of Eli" where the hero is talking to the female protagonist, Solara.
Solara: I want to come with you.
Eli: No, you don't.
Solara: I hate it here.
Eli: Then change it.
If you don't like where our/ your/ the story is going then it's time change directors. We can return to the Bible and choose Jesus' directions over the current revision to social acceptability on TV and online.
Hollywood
is what Hollywood is. They play their
role.
But if those roles are written by a diabolical author, then Christians cannot accept Hollywood's definition of a villain nor its definition of a hero. Both are written to achieve the same conclusion to the story.
Pull your role from another script.
How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed
according to Your word. (Psalm 119: 9)
Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
Blessed are You, O Lord!
Teach me Your statutes. (Psalm 119: 11, 12)
Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we
go? You have the words of eternal life. (John 6: 68
---Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry,
and rural leadership development.
Rev.
Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield,
Alabama; executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking
Organization (SAYNO); and director of
rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).
Subscribe
to my personal blog www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
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