Light-work

Could a Terminator Reinvent Idolatry?

The fourth installment of the Terminator movie series is scheduled for release this May. Although the storyline of each movie reflects slightly different time-lines, a computer with artificial intelligence that realizes self awareness is central to each plot. This is not the first time men have spun tales about "when good inventions go bad." Frankenstein fits the profile, as does HAL in Space Odyssey, and a host of lesser lights from sci-fi movies screened during the cold war. But the Terminator series (and a TV spin-off, The Sarah Conner Chronicles) has made the possibility of men creating sentient beings seem believable.

Should the believable become real, a key stumbling block to idolatry would be removed. In yesterday's post, Idols are Dumb, we observed that the attraction of idolatry (which is self-worship) is compromised by the fact that an idol can't speak. So, when a man build's an idol to sing his praises, it bites that said idol has nothing to say!

What if a man could construct an image that speaks? And what if that image could declare the praises of his creator? And what if that image could come up with other witty things to say based upon its superior intelligence? An idol that speaks and is smart - what would men do if they beheld and heard such a thing? I am confident that virtually everyone would be totally smitten by the thing.

Well Known or Well Thought Of?

I can't help myself- I find the "AI Effect" fascinating. You may not know it by this term, but I suspect you recognize it. When I watch the first stage of American Idol (AI) where they do auditions at US cities, I am not seeing anything new - mostly a steady stream of remarkably bad singers (or can't singers) who believe (can they really be serious?) they are THE NEXT AMERICAN IDOL.

I don't know what diagnosis to give this - is this a delusion? Or do they suspect, in the secret recesses of their hearts, that Simon just may be right, despite all their invective to the contrary? Can the antics these people with marginal talent (I am too kind!) are going through be anything more than just that, antics?

I think the answer lies in understanding the "AI Effect," which is a transcendent longing to be well known. Grown men and women who ought to know better are willing to make a spectacle of themselves in the hope that, for at least a few moments, they will be seen and heard by millions. For many contestants, this force is so powerful that it overwhelms their ability to ask a simple question: For what am I well-known?  Because of the AI Effect, a vital connection escapes them. They are not well thought of, and their efforts have only succeeded in EXPONENTIALLY EXPANDING THE CIRCLE OF THOSE WHO THINK SO!

The AI Effect can be observed in many venues around us, notably You Tube. The local church is not immune to it. It is easy to think that the challenge before us is to be well known. We could invest lots of dollars in an advertising budget and publicity campaigns to "put CBC on the map."  But of much greater significance is the question, "For what are we known?" Churches in our community have become well-known, but for the wrong reasons, most of them related to schisms and splits. Our challenge is not to be well known but to be well thought of. Our energies are well spent when they are directed at becoming people worth knowing, people with whom an association is genuinely beneficial, precisely because we are servants of God.

Jesus once addressed a church in Asia minor with these words, “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev. 3:1). This church had a reputation; it was well known; it was regarded as a "church on the map." The sad and sober reality was captured in this assessment: The church in Sardis is dead!

I plan to focus my energies on being someone worth knowing because I make God look good. How about you? Do good in the name of Jesus to all with whom you come in contact. You might not be known by millions, but those who do will consider it, and the God whom you serve, a blessing.

It's OK to be Lost

The long awaited fourth season of "Lost" has started - we sure didn't get much story development for a two hour investment. Maybe next week. I am intrigued by the fact, however, that this series has shaped our understanding of the term "lost." The term is an apt descriptor for passengers on Oceanic flight 815 before the plane ever went down! As we get to know them (mostly through "flash-backs") we realize they were carrying way more baggage than what's strewn about the crash site.

Take Jack, for example. Prior to being lost on the island, his life was driven by a hopeless quest for an alcoholic father's approval, skewed by an inability to accept his divorce, and crazed by the transfer of his wife's affections to another. But on the island, he is rescued from himself. He gains a sense of purpose, embraces his role as a leader, and rallies the survivors to defy "the others." Jack is FOUND at the one place where he is LOST. In several "flash forward" scenes introduced in the finale of season three, we are teased by Jack's realization of precisely this truth.

It is fascinating that this series is using the term "lost" to describe those whose lives are a mess. The world might take umbrage at being called "lost," but no more. Network television has now endorsed the use of the term "lost" for those who need a fresh start, whose lives need saving. That this salvation is realized as one is lost is an even more stunning revelation. It sounds like something Jesus would say: "Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it" (Luke 17:33).

I am definitely NOT saying that "Lost" is preaching the Gospel. But, the popularity of the series opens up GREAT topics for conversation.  Here are some questions you might use:

1. What does the title, "Lost," say about the main characters?  How are they lost?
2. What character do you most identify with? Why?
3. For most of the main characters in the series, they get a fresh start on the island - do you think its possible to get a fresh start in real life? How?
4. Is it possible to lose everything you thought was important and discover what really matters?

I suspect that when we unlock the secret of this island, the good news of salvation in Jesus will NOT be the focus. But, between now and then it's OK to talk about what makes a man lost, and how sometimes  losing your self is the best way to find a life worth living. Your conversation might open a door to sharing the Gospel, the story of the greatest rescue mission of all human history.