Monday, February 11, 2013

The Pulpit and Doctor Who


"Jesus came to live the life we should have lived and he died the death we should have died so we could have the life he intended for us."
-Tommy Allen, FEPC Pastor 

It struck me as strange to hear this. I had always known that Jesus died for our sins and gave us salvation once we accept him, but I never gave much thought to the concept of Jesus living the perfect life. We were stuck in this vicious cycle of knowing only God could save us and a man had to die with no hope of a hybrid on the horizon. 

The solution?? God was made human, lived the sinless life as a man, died as a sinner, and guaranteed life to all who follow Him. 

That sounds like a pretty simple formula. You're probably going to chuckle at least a little when I admit that I never thought about the notion that He had to live in order to die. I know, I'm just sooo logical and I never miss these things! But, wouldn't it have just been easier to pop into existence a few hours ahead of the crucifixion, implant memories into everyone's minds, toss a few choice evidence markers around, and then not die?? That sounds like an awesome beginning to a Sci-Fi show [referencing Doctor Who here] but it certainly leaves something to be desired, doesn't it?? 

I know that if I tried to live the 'perfect life' for even one day, everyone around me would get a small sample of Hell when I would inevitably fail. I know I can't be sinless. None of us could! Abraham, Moses, David and anyone you could ever think of, even your heroes, all failed at it, too. Until a man [who was also God] did it for us and gave us the credit. It's like going to school and getting the best grades but when applying for jobs you put someone else's name on your resume and offering to pay their loans in addition to yours. Doesn't really make much sense ...

I think I tend to forget the severity of His commitment and then a comment like this comes along, I'm floored again for a few days.



"Just today, nobody dies!"
- Christopher Eccleston, 9th Doctor 

^^ This ^^ is how my nerd-self understands what God is wanting for us; not to be taken from Him -- not to 'die'.

Do you know why Doctor Who is such an appealing show to me?? I'll give you a hint: It's not just about the stunning graphics. On some level, it's an amazing, endless fairy tale for adults. Seriously, our version of Peter Pan is a Time Lord! Instead of pixie dust we have the TARDIS. Instead of Hook, we have The Master or whichever antagonist is in whatever episode you happen to be watching. Wendy?? She's your companion of choice! London?? Still in almost every episode. Come on, are there no other places to attack Earth from outer space?? You travel light years to go to the same city five hundred times -- Get it together, aliens; you know what maps look like ...

I could go on [and I just might sometime in another post] but I digress to return to telling you what captured me about this BBC beauty. This man chooses to come and save the day over and over and over and over and usually without anyone knowing it. But he doesn't do it perfectly otherwise we could never relate to him. No, he makes mistakes like us, but he has power we can't begin to fathom. In this instance, the Time Lords are kind of like the modern "God: For Dummies" with a human twist in so we can grasp that concept with a little bit more ease. 

I'll leave that idea there for if I go too far I'll be forced to bring in Greek mythology to balance out the mix and explain things and then this whole post will go nowhere.

This is a just a small glimpse inside my mind. The musings of a nerd and bibliophile with a passion for tea and rain. Someday someone will read this and some part of it will make some sort of sense. Until then, I'll write some more, wear out my bible, teach myself to knit, and binge on books. 

And do some Doctor Who stuff, too. 

Maybe. 

1 comment:

  1. Thanks, Jenn ~ love that you're writing a blog!
    Kay

    ReplyDelete