{"id":20837,"date":"2019-01-17T18:28:41","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T02:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=20837"},"modified":"2019-01-17T18:28:41","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T02:28:41","slug":"morgan-freeman-is-just-an-actor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/morgan-freeman-is-just-an-actor\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Freeman is Just an Actor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSecularism is the loss of the true life of the Church, the alienation of Church members from the genuine Church spirit. Secularism is the rejection of the ecclesiastic ethos and the permeation of our life by the so called worldly spirit. It should be stressed that secularism of the Church members is a gravest danger. The Church has several \u2018enemies\u2019”[1]<\/a>. This quote seems to be an aggressive, and yet very appropriate warning to the church regarding the world-view of secularism. Paul the apostle warned Timothy that, \u201cthe time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.[2]<\/a>\u201d The church seems to be facing an even greater trial than disbelief; today, it faces the issue of dis-concern. Charles Taylor wrote, \u201cThe crucial feature here is a change in the understanding of God, and His relation to the world. That is, there is a drift away from the orthodox Christian conceptions of God as an agent interacting with humans and intervening in human history; and toward God as architect of a universe operating by unchanging laws, which humans have to conform to or suffer the consequences[3]<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other day, I shared in an interesting conversation regarding the many roles of Morgan Freeman. On one hand, he has done roles for religious movies, such as Ben-hur and both Bruce and Evan Almighty. To the other side of the coin, he has played roles in \u201cLucy;\u201d which is a movie boasting evolution; and \u201cTranscendence;\u201d which seems to follow the life of a man who is able to transform himself from human to deity. To further add to the variables, Freeman has also been known for making documentaries discussing the evolution of the universe as well as the origin of religions. When he was asked about God, the following was one of his responses:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen did I say I was a \u2018man of god\u2019? \u2026[I am a man of] faith! There\u2019s a big difference\u2026 We take a lot of what we\u2019re talking about in science on faith. We posit a theory\u2026 and until it\u2019s disproven, we have faith that it\u2019s true. If the mathematics work out, then it\u2019s true. Until it\u2019s proven to be untrue[4]<\/strong><\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

My point here is not to attack Freeman\u2019s faith or beliefs, but rather to demonstrate the variety of beliefs that plague the modern person. On one side the church cries out for the Creator; on the other, science is crying out for evolution. \u201cCertainly belief is contested and contestable in our secular age[5]<\/a>.\u201d Perhaps this attitude expressed by Smith is the point; unless we can re-establish the necessity for believing in the God of Creation; then why believe in anything. However, the struggle for the church to ever do this seems less likely every day; the reason\u2026Christianity is a matter of the heart. According to Taylor, \u201cthe direction of the heart is that of the whole person, body and soul.[6]<\/a>\u201d Christianity expresses a similar concept through Christ\u2019s teaching; \u201cFor where your treasure is, there your heart will be also[7]<\/a>.\u201d The world has decided to follow their own heart; in other words, they decided to follow what makes them happy, rather than viewing the long-term benefits of Christianity.<\/p>\n

Aside from the numerous movies that came to mind through this reading, I also thought about the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19. In this story, we see a young man that can only see his immediate wealth rather than the opportunity with Christ, who is literally standing right in front of him. Today, I believe the same is true of many: they have stopped looking for a long lasting, eternal relationship with God, and instead pursue the more immediate gratifications of the flesh. In fact, even those within our churches are attending less frequently; always justifying their absence with worldly excuses. We have decided that God will understand that we found other things more important to Him. I preached a lesson a few weeks ago that asked the question; \u201cWhere will you be when trials and persecutions come?\u201d I talked a lot about the way the world speaks to us and the need to not listen to it. Following services, I was given many accolades and praises; and yet, Sunday evening showed only \u00bc of our church population in attendance.<\/p>\n

The reality is that the church is trying to overcome a very selfish societal attitude. Secularism\u2026Individualism\u2026or Ijustdontcareism is a plague that is infecting the masses and afflicting the churches. We started a new study in Proverbs this week, and I cannot help but relate to the imploring wish of Solomon:<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasure; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.[8]<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Smith wrote regarding Taylor by saying, \u201cOur secular age is cross-pressured with respect to meaning– or more specifically, the \u2018meaning of meaning;[9]<\/a>\u2019\u201d I believe the problem is more selfish than that; I believe we have been taught for too long that life is about \u201cyou\u201d. We are so self-focused on personal attention and personal gratification that we have become blind to the most important item\u2026GOD.<\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/h1>\n

Kershaw, Tom. The Religious and Political Views of the Influentials.<\/em>June 18, 2012. https:\/\/hollowverse.com\/morgan-freeman\/ (accessed January 17, 2019).<\/p>\n

Nafpaktos, Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of. Secularism in Church, Theology and Pastoral Care.<\/em>2017. http:\/\/www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org\/articles\/pastoral\/hierotheos_vlachos_secularism.htm (accessed January 17, 2019).<\/p>\n

Smith, James K.A. How (Not) to be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor.<\/em>Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2014.<\/p>\n

Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age.<\/em>Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007.<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a>Nafpaktos, Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of. Secularism in Church, Theology and Pastoral Care.<\/em>2017.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>2 Timothy 4:3-4.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age.<\/em>Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007. P 270.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>Kershaw, Tom. The Religious and Political Views of the Influentials.<\/em>June 18, 2012. https:\/\/hollowverse.com\/morgan-freeman\/ (accessed January 17, 2019).<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a>Smith, James K.A. How (Not) to be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor.<\/em>Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2014. P 61.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/sup>[6]<\/a>Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age.<\/em>Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007. P 276.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>Matthew 6:21.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a>Proverbs 2:1-5.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a>Smith, James K.A. How (Not) to be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor.<\/em>Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2014. P. 122.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSecularism is the loss of the true life of the Church, the alienation of Church members from the genuine Church spirit. Secularism is the rejection of the ecclesiastic ethos and the permeation of our life by the so called worldly spirit. It should be stressed that secularism of the Church members is a gravest danger. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[835,1037,833,1422],"class_list":["post-20837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-action-adventure-comedy","tag-charles-taylor","tag-dminlgp8","tag-james-k-a-smith","tag-secularism","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20838,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20837\/revisions\/20838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}