Folks Are Real Flagrant These Days

So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. – Daniel 5:3-6

Today’s Reading: Daniel 5-7; 2 John

It’s wild how flagrant dude was with the stuff taken from the temple of God.

Recently I watched this really great movie with Audrey Tatou called God is Great, I am Not. In it she plays a woman who is on this search for faith. She starts dating Jewish guy and romance ensues; but the interesting thing is that she’s trying to be extra Jewish while he’s just laid back about his faith.

The moment that really stuck out for me was when his parents came to visit. She spent the whole time trying to impress them with her knowledge of their culture and faith and to prove that she was a worthy catch for their beloved son. It just so happened to be Hanukkah and the menorah was fully lit. She wanted to have a smoke and what did she do? She ignorantly grabbed the menorah and used it to light her cigarette!

It was one of those movie moments so absurd that it was tragically hilarious. Even with all of her effort to learn about his faith she was still so ignorant that she did this amazingly offensive act.

You know what’s crazy though. In the real world I see people doing similarly offensive things when it comes to Jesus. I’ve heard of movies where Jesus is giving someone a blow job and all other kinds of wildness. I’ve heard people mock and insult Jesus’ name around me or to others. It makes me wonder, how is it ok to just totally disrespect Jesus? The actions of the king of Babylon made me think of this. Just as how he had the audacity to go and drink wine out of the holy cups of Israel it seems like folks today think it is ok to do anything and everything with the character and identity of Jesus.

I wonder if there is some kind of cost to pay. I wonder if there is a writing on the wall coming for folks who do that. I don’t understand why folk think it is ok. Maybe they don’t believe in anything themselves so they can’t relate. Maybe they are just ignorant about what they are doing. But often times it seems like it is a deliberate attempt at disrespect.

The deeper I get into my relationship with God the more that these things bother me. There seems to be a profound loss of respect when it comes to spiritual things in our culture. I’m not Muslim but you won’t catch me insulting or otherwise defaming Muhammad.

It’s not cool to be disrespectful.

There are certain lines of disrespect that we shouldn’t cross. That’s just basic when it comes to treating other people how we want to be treated. If that’s the case then it’s even more so with God. But then again I guess not everyone believes in God like I do.

If it is a case of ignorance then that is one thing. We don’t know what we don’t know. But for those who know full well what they are doing I pray for mercy and love on their life that God may show them who He is in a way that gives them a chance at redemption and repentance.

Cause on the real, that stuff may be funny coming from an enthusiastic yet clueless girl in a French romantic comedy, but it’s not so fresh when it comes from a place that clearly and specifically tries to disrespect God.

Not a good look at all.