It's Not Personal It's Just Business

From The Desk Of A Geek

It's Not Personal It's Just Business 

The term masterpiece is often seen as subjective, as some films will be considered masterpieces, but individual viewers may find them displeasing and dull. Often, those are reactions from people who want films to jump out at them such as certain action or horror films. However, most critics and scholars of film see The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II as masterpieces along with many film fans.

I find watching these films entertaining as well as educational. There are lessons about history (how immigration changed the landscape of large cities), culture (how values differ from one culture to another), and human nature (how people “take care” of each other).  But there are also moral lessons to be learned from The Godfather.

For example, sometimes “bad guys” are charming.  Don’t think of ‘Evil’ as always parading around with a pitchfork!  And, you can’t keep your private life ‘private’ – thinking that it will not affect your family – no matter how hard you may try.  And, ruthless Machiavellian schemes may make you rich, but there is a price to pay – guilt, loss, regret, betrayal – and damnation. 

One particular line from Michael Corleone in The Godfather II reminded me a great deal of how many Christians wrongly react to people who wrong them.  Tom Hagen, who is the family consigliere (legal advisor), asks Michael why he has become so filled with hate and why he wants to kill everyone.  Michael stares back at Tom, unfazed by the question and responds with coldness, “I don’t want to kill everyone, Tom.  Just my enemies.”  In other words, “Don’t make me out to be a bad person.  I don’t hate everyone.  I just hate my enemies.”  Of course one of the problems with this policy is that eventually the lines become blurred between ‘friends and enemies’, leaving no one around us safe. 

This unfortunately has become our justification for hatred.  We don’t hate everyone – we just hate the people who hate us, or annoy us, or defraud us, or wrong us, or take advantage of us.  And somehow, like Michael Corleone, we find this sort of response acceptable. Soon the lines become blurred between friends and enemies, and we justify behavior we would have never condoned.  

What happened to the words of Jesus?

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"

(Matthew 5:44-47)

I am not arguing that we should be naïve. Jesus certainly wasn’t and he called us to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”  I think the call of Jesus needs to be recovered in our treatment of those inside and outside of the Christian community. This does not mean we need to vacation together, or go out to eat as couples, or send our friends to patronize their businesses (especially if we don’t trust them).  

But, we can at least “greet” them, to use the words of Jesus. We can say ‘hi,’, ask how the family is doing, treat them with respect as image bearers of God, and pray for them as we go on your way.

Devastated by this loss, Michael retired to Sicily and and lived in Don Tommasino's old villa, where he once lived with his first wife Apollonia. He died there in 1997, distraught and alone, of a stroke while sitting in a chair in front of the villa.

I’m a sinner like everyone else, I do not want my life to end like Michael Corleone, bitter, lonely, and with regrets that cannot be undone.

My prayer for us is that we allow God help us to follow Christ, by loving those who despise us, and doing so wisely, while we trust Him to bring justice into our lives at the right time.

Lonnie...

Who Are You

From The Desk Of A Geek:

Who Are You

Here's a shocker, not only do I collect comic books, coins, stamps, and love superheros, I'm also a fan of TV crime shows.

Sometimes I learn things in strange ways. And I annoy the people around me because I get so excited about the things I learn, and the weird ways I learn them that I just have to tell all about it.

For example, I had a couple of thoughts the other day while watching a rerun episode of one of my favorite crime shows...C.S.I, I'm talking about the orginal C.S.I with Gill Grissom.

My first thought was, “Never eat while watching an episode of CSI.” My second thought was, “What if you could do a forensic investigation on a soul?” That question reminded me of King Saul.

The story of King Saul holds a strange and gnawing fascination for me. It covers miles of emotional ground. Some average guy finds out one day that he is king. I love that. Who among us hasn’t stapled a paper crown together and walked regally around our first grade classroom? Most of us secretly want to be king one day, and if it comes suddenly and as a surprise, 

all the better! 

That’s exactly what happened to Saul, son of Kish. He wasn’t in line for kingship for several reasons. He was from the wrong tribe. And more significantly, up until that point, Israel wasn’t ruled by a king. Saul was raised up out of total obscurity and given a unique opportunity to be a mighty man of God and a blessing to his people. He could’ve been great.

Most men that we think of as great aren't. Mostly they’re just high achievers. But the Bible never commands anyone to be a high achiever. It never tells men to amass great fortunes, build tall buildings, or wield great power. The Bible records one ultimate purpose for us: to love God (Matthew 22:37-38). 

This love will naturally work its way out into a number of behaviors, like Bible study and obedience. However, the first priority, our most important goal, is to deeply and wholly love God. In addition to that, fathers are to pass this deep love along to their children (Deuteronomy 6:5-7). 

That’s the true measure of greatness.

King David had all of these gifts, and he was for the most part a wonderful, shining example of a godly king. On the contrary, every one of these gifts were first given to Saul, son of Kish, but his knees buckled under the weight. He was crushed by the blessing

It is only fair to give Saul his due. He wasn’t the worst king Israel ever had. I would even argue that to the average man on the street, he would have to be considered in the top five of Israel’s better kings. He didn’t amass numerous wives. He didn’t marry foreign wives. 

He didn’t build and then worship idols. To his credit he achieved quite a bit. He fought against the Philistines, and he actually built a working kingdom where none had existed before. King Saul was a high achiever. But even with all of these achievements, Saul was a spectacular failure in God’s eyes

Let’s be the CSI team assigned to the disaster that is the life of Saul. Let’s do the forensic investigation. If we were to zoom in to the soul of King Saul, we would find it underdeveloped, emaciated, and diseased. Now a first-year forensic investigator of the soul might conclude that this resulted from all of the rebellious sins Saul had committed. The older, wiser, and more seasoned investigator would know from experience that though sin can cause this kind of damage, in the case of King Saul, total spiritual negligence warped his soul into this pathetic condition. One day while studying this story, I realized that King Saul is the absolute embodiment of the lukewarm believer.

He was neither the vilest nor the most wicked king of Israel. He was uniquely... lukewarm. That’s what scares me the most about the story of Saul. I would like to think that I am a little bit like King David. But truth be told, I am more like Saul. I am tempted to be lukewarm.

One of the most insidious symptoms of being lukewarm is a lack of pain. Leprosy is like that. It damages your nerves so you can’t feel any pain. You’re slowly being destroyed by the disease, but you just don’t feel it. The lukewarm soul is slowly being destroyed as well, and yet there is no discomfort. To even become aware that you are lukewarm, you need a jolt. You need to be shocked out of your complacency. 

Some years back I was jolted out of my complacency by a good wife, I was inspired by godly men, and I saw that love for Christ is my calling. I determined to be a godly man and pass my love for Him along to my kids and to a couple of younger men. I’m working at it. If the CSI team was looking into my soul today, they would see one perhaps on the smallish side, but one that clearly shows signs of recent growth

What about you? If you’ve been ignoring God’s prompting, snap out of it! Call out to God for help, However, let’s not be naïve, this is not for the faint of heart. It’s hard work. It’s routinely frustrating, and at times you want to give up. However, it’s more important than pursuing great power. It’s more important than amassing great wealth, and it’s even more important than becoming a king.

Lonnie...