Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Conflicted



Maybe I shouldn't be bothering to post this at all, but it was what was on my mind tonight because I was shown this video earlier this evening and I was honestly confused and conflicted about what they were trying to say with this skit. When it first started, it didn't make any sense to me at all. I didn't know what all the hand waving and puppetry was all about. Then I hated it when it portrayed Jesus as a bystander who was being pushed around by someone (Satan maybe?). But then there is the moment later in the skit where it looks like Jesus takes the girl's place, that was very touching to me. I don't know if the idea of substitution was what they actually intended, but that's how I took it.

Here's a comment off of youtube from an atheist's perspective:

I didn't think this was god related till I started to read comments... probably because I am an atheist and god is not a first thing on my mind... nevertheless, I really enjoyed the video. The performance was strong, acting beautiful and music made it very emotional... Speaking of music, does anybody know who sings this...?


I'm sure that there will be a wide range of opinions on this thing, but I really am interested in hearing what you have to say about it.

Update: If you too were wondering who sang the song, the band's name is LifeHouse.

8 comments:

Kent said...

LifeHouse is the band

Rick Gibson said...

Don't be shy Kent, tell me what you really think :-).

Kent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kent said...

I was going to. I am back now because I got to laughing while doing the dishes thinking I had answered a question on you blog asked by someone that wasn't doing it from you blog. LOL. Hopefully he will randomly run across your blog, amidst the millions out in cyberspace if he has not found out who the band is yet.

Rick, I haven't had time to watch it all yet. My wife ran across it this past weekend and I asked her what she was watching? She said it was pretty good. I was familar with the song and had gone in to see what was going on.

I will try to watch it tomorrow and comment...I work till 9pm on Thursdays

travis said...

I realize that I run the risk of overanalyzing a simple skit however it does portray that there was a relationship with Jesus in the beginning and to have him as a bystander does NOT do justice to the truth that Jesus is with us at all times. I love the idea of him taking the punishment and beating for our sins but Jesus the bystander part will only confuse those who wish to know more!

Kent said...

Rick, this is a tough call as far as I see it. I was very conflicted also watching Jesus seemingly on the sidelines. But it is a bit funny that I blogged earlier today about how the world get's in the way and hinders the life of Jesus in us and then I come over here to your blog and finally watch this video. Scripture does indicate that the cares and the things of the world will choke the word out of us and renders it unfruitful. Does that mean in those moments Jesus is off on the sidelines? I don't think so.

But we do have a worthy adversary that can cause us great destress and distraction and the effects of that can lead us to some dark places. Jesus still says there is nowhere we can go that he doesn't go with us.

One thing that does leave me conflicted in the end with this skit, is what about those stories that don't have a "good" outcome? Did Jesus chose not to intervene in those? I don't think so. And so I am left wondering this.....what does this kind of depiction cause in those left to deal with a situation where the outcome isn't a happy ending?

It seems to me in this very familiar scenario of how God is depected we are left with a picture of a very inconsistant God. And I just don't think he is inconsistant.

travis said...

I take back some of my previous comment. There is still something to this. She chooses to walk away and Jesus is still trying to reach out to her. This I would say is closer to the reality of the world than I originally thought. We consistently walk away from God and he continues to seek us. It is a good (not great) example of the darkness of our human nature.

K. said...

Rick,

I just found this video on my son's website (I guess it could be worse!) and I found it bothersome... I just posted a request for others to comment today as I was trying to make sure I had a grasp of reality and had not lost all feelings.

I've had a several people comment, but have promised to keep them anonymous for a time, as I wasn't even sure i'd leave the post up...

Seems like this is making the rounds and there are some people who feel positively and some who are just bothered.

My take on it... I think what really bothers me is that this seems to be an overt attempt to draw out emotional responses. And to be fair, I did have an initial emotional response. As it went on (and I used the words "puppetry" on my blog), I was frustrated #1 when "Jesus" was unable to interven and #2 when it took him so long!

I know this is coming a couple weeks out, but Kent directed me over here when he read my plea...

I do not want to totally dismiss this production, but I guess I just needed to know that I wasn't the only one who came away with the thought.. "You gotta be kidding me!"

I haven't mentioned any of this to my son,yet. I feel like I've been "deconstructing" for just about 2 years now and it took me almost 40 years to begin asking questions. He was raised very conservative, so he will have to walk that journey for himself. I'll be here to help him when the questions come, but right now, my questions are not his questions.