We as a people fear death. We do not understand death and so we fear it. We have allowed Satan to make us believe that death is the end of all things good. A prime example of our own cultural misunderstanding on this is during the movie 'The Last Samari'. When Tom Cruz's character is having one of his 'conversations' with his captor Katsomura and they are discussing the death of COL George Armstrong Custer. Katsomura was impressed with COL Custer's courage and death. To him it seemed a glorious death and something to be admired, while Tom's character was repulsed and very upset about the loss of so many men unnecessarily. Tom's character, like most Americans, places a high value on life. Which is not wrong by any means. But in this case it brings into question if there were anything he felt worth dying for? Was there nothing in his life that was worth his life? Then why was he in the military to start with? Was it just a job? His addiction to alcohol speaks volumes to his inability to live with his life choices and where they were taking him. In contrast, Katsomura's life was about sacrifice and a willingness to die. He in fact embraced death and looked forward to a glorious death in the service of his Emperor.
This is a totally alien concept to our culture even today. We fear dying as an end of all things. Even when we state that we believe our Father in heaven and He has promised that death is not the end, we still doubt and fear. Jesus told us that He was returning to the Father to prepare a place for us so that where He was we could be also. Yet, we have not listened to the Spirit and lived our life like we were truly free of the fear of death. Doubt me? When I was a child, my parents let me ride in the back of a pick up truck. Today, we do not. Life is too precious. We HAVE to wear seat belts. We have to wear helmets when riding bicycles, or knee and elbow pads when riding skateboards. What about sports games? How many new rules govern the game of football compared to 10 years ago? 20 years ago? Bull riders wear helmets and ballistic vests now. I am not saying that these are bad...I am pointing out that we have lost our fearlessness. We are losing a lust for LIFE. God created man to be free to conquer the wild things. Yet we are making things so protected and safe that there is no real feeling of conquest. We in turn fear death and do not really LIVE. Instead, we turn to movies and other types of 'entertainment' to momentarily loose ourselves in a false reality of adventure where even if we do 'die' we will automatically re spawn and live again to exact our revenge upon our fake enemies and eventually live out our fantasy of conquest and adventure, destroying all the opponents in the most realistic fashion that the creators of these fantasy worlds can generate. We spend hours and days and yes even YEARS if you think about it, of our lives, living a false life inside these false worlds that were created to addict us to them so that we would want nothing more than to live inside them all the time. So now we are chained to a job that we hate so that we can afford to live and pay the bills, only to provide us the necessary income so we can return home to live a lie in a false world of movies or games that we truly want to live but no longer have the courage to pursue. All because we need the safety and security of knowing that we are not in danger...really? Is that what we were called for? Or were we created for more?
I struggle with these same issues. My time in Iraq left me searching for an escape from reality for a time. Something to help me get away from being in a war zone. So like so many soldiers, I turned to movies and games. These helped me escape reality for a time but they are also addicting in that upon returning from theater you still feel the NEED to play whenever you are under stress and want to get away. The doctors and psychiatrists call it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and you can call it whatever you want but it is an inability to readjust to life without the fear of immenant death. Death is a reality in a war zone and one that you live with and learn to enjoy the adrenalin from. Upon returning to 'civilization' there was no constant need for adrenalin and nowhere to go to stimulate that need, so many soldiers are trying to create an environment where it can be found...such as in a movie or game. This is how Satan has perpetuated the lie that life is dull and useless. The only way to live is through a game or movie.
God did not call us live inside a game or fantasize about what life could be like through the lives of movie stars. He called us to LIVE. He wants us to actually believe in something so strongly that we would be willing, like Katsumoto, to give our life for it. I have always held my life as worthless compared to that of my wife and children. I would die to protect them. I also willingly volunteered to deploy for the tours in Iraq. In the movie 'Open Range' Kevin Costner's character tells a group of men in a bar that, "You may not know this but there are things that naw at a man worse than dying." So the question is this, are you truly a man? If so, what is it you believe in so much that it is worth dying for? Is there nothing in your life that you would be willing to lay down your life to protect? God created inside each of us a desire to worship Him. We may not recognize that it is a need to worship our Father, but we each know that there is an emptiness that NEEDs to be filled and we search to fill it with something. Therefore, we spend an inordinate amount of time searching for something to fill that emptiness. Sex, Drugs, Alcohol, games and movies will only stimulate that need for a short while and then it will make its empty presence felt again demanding even more stimulation. That is the lie that Satan uses, that you can become complete by filling it with something besides God. But the truth is this, there is nothing that Satan can offer that will complete you that is whole or big enough to fill that emptiness except our Father and His Spirit. Now the question is, would you be willing to die for that? If filling that emptiness that exists within each and every one of us required the knowing sacrifice of your life, would you be willing to make it? Could you watch as the gates were opened that released the hungry lions into the arena that meant you were to be eaten alive? Could you quietly kneel with your hands tied behind your back and your feet tied together, while a mad man screamed islamic words behind your back and then slowly began beheading you with a dull knife? Could you watch your own son butchered in front of you by an angry crowd and then pardon them for their crime? Satan says that death is the end and wants us to fear it and question our ability to earn salvation so that we are afraid to truly LIVE for Christ. If we truly were not afraid to live for him as a disciple, then what could be accomplished by Christ's body? If we truly were not afraid of death then we could freely ask Satan, "Where O Death is your Victory? Where O Death is your Sting?" as written in 1 Cor 15: 55.
We need to stand on the victory of our Lord Jesus who overcame death and rose from the grave to sit at the right hand of our Father victorious waiting for our return to live with Him forever. Not in fear but in Victory as a true Child of God. I am not there yet and am still overcoming my addictions and temptations. Yet, I know that Father promised that He would help me to live a life of freedom and victory in Him as long as I keep looking to Him for grace and mercy.
No comments:
Post a Comment