Nov 26, 2007
What is the biggest difference between God and MTV?
(*Writers Note: In referring to MTV, I am not talking about the cable channel , but merely using the reference to MTV to sum up the negative forces of this present culture)
Well let’s face reality. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but somebody has got to do it. Team MTV is successful at making money and getting as many as people as possible to buy into their “way of life.” On the other hand, God is our Father and longs for us to live a life of happiness and fulfillment in Him. What’s the bad news you ask? Team MTV isn’t the slightest bit concerned about you personally. They don’t care about what you desire, what you struggle with or about the direction our culture is headed. In any act of selfishness, they care about themselves. The money, notoriety, and power…those are on the top of their priority list among many other things. God, on the other hand, is crazy about you. Not only because he created you, but because he has a plan for you. Not a plan that is influenced by the passing ways, but a plan that was conceived from the very beginning of time. Sounds simple right? Let’s go on…
I got to give it to them. Team MTV is very successful in what they have set out to do. The forces of our culture work diligently to capture our attention and distract us through TV shows, advertisements, magazines, music, video games and so much more. They have flooded our lives with noise and activity and made us simply reactionary to their influence. In that moment of reaction, they paralyze our uniqueness and desire to be great. It is no longer about an adventure of discovering ourselves, but merely accepting what they have to offer in fear of not “fitting in” or being a part of the “popular crowd.”
In the meantime, the Lord presents the alternative. In the end my friends, it is not about THEM. It is about ME & YOU.
Jesus, through the Church, is calling each and every one of us to recognize and embrace our true identity as Christians. Building on last week’s theme of understanding that we are sons and daughters of God, it is time to recognize that God has PERSONALLY invited all of us into a relationship with Him. Not a relationship that is burdened by rules, or that forces us to be one in the crowd or like everyone else. This relationship is unique, personal, and unlike any other relationships we have.
In Psalm 139 this relationship is described: “You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb…My very self you knew; my bones were not hidden from you, when I was being made in the secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth. Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.”
What will it take for us to realize that everything that goes on in our lives is in very reference to this understanding: That God loves us, created us and knows us intimately, and longs for us to be happy in Him.
At this point in time, we are giving Team MTV all the power. Day after day, they present to us their cheap version of happiness and reality. And we have taken that beating for so long, that it has become the context in which we live. They make it about them and not about us.
Today…what do you say we throw them aside and truly come to embrace a relationship from God where it truly is all about us? A blessed opportunity to know our true selves, to be fully alive, and be loved like we never have been loved before.
The difference you ask? It’s about us- truthfully it has never been about them anyway…
God Bless You!
In Him,
Rusty
Question of the week: How do you feel when you realize that God, the creator of heaven and earth, wants to have a personal relationship with you? Have you ever experienced this intimate relationship?
Next Week: Nothing Left…
Rusty is a Seminarian at St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward, Nebraska and is the co-founder of Live Greater Ministries. The Ministry's aim is to invite the youth of the Church into a dialogue about the present culture and how Jesus invites us to a relationship with him, finding true happiness and greater purpose. More information can be found on their website at www.livegreater.net.
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