Wednesday, October
18, 2017
Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and
seers to warn both Israel and Judah: “Turn
from all your evil ways. Obey my
commands and decrees—the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey,
and that I gave you through my servants the prophets.” But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who
had refused to believe in the Lord their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he
had made with their ancestors, and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols, so they became
worthless themselves. They followed the
example of the nations around them, disobeying the Lord’s command not to
imitate them. 2 Kings 17:13-15(NLT)
In
the film Forrest Gump[2]
the main character (played by Tom Hanks) tells the story of his life to several
folk sitting on a bench, all waiting for their bus. It is obvious from his speech patterns and
the unfolding story, that Forest is naïve, bordering on the challenge of mental
retardation. As a young boy he is teased
mercilessly, and struggles with being called “stupid” by ignorant people through
his entire life. A recurring response is
what Forrest’s mother gave him to say: stupid is as stupid does.
Forrest’s
mom must have read the Bible. God sent
prophets to warn Israel and Judah to keep themselves soft and pliable in the
hands of their God; they wouldn’t listen.
They fell into the same dumb trap as their stubborn ancestors, rejecting
holy living as a lifestyle, worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and
Joseph. Instead they began worshipping
idols, trying to fit-in with their neighbors.
Such is the nature of human beings; whatever we worship, we become. Idols are worthless, and when we place our
faith in such, we become as such, worthless.
Stupid is as stupid does!
This
astute Biblical wisdom about human nature imparted to Forrest by his mother (played
by Sally Fields in the movie) is a post-graduate course about Godly-wisdom in a
single sentence.
We humans
hold axioms that elevate us far above our pay grade. One of those axioms is that we know what is
best for us. Only living proves otherwise. And it always
proves otherwise! What turns everything
on its head is when someone like Forrest, seen and judged to be simple by the rest of us,
shows us how simply ignorant we can be.
Forrest’s whole life is all about doing the good and kind, or right
thing…the unselfish and loving thing for others. This is the definition of God’s kind of love.
Fallen
human nature is not that wise. And
therein is the coming of all the pain we experience in a culture such as ours
in the 21st century. Killing,
stealing, over-sexed, and covered with cold harshness, we, like the Emperor
with no clothes, imagine ourselves to be an advanced civilization. We are coming unglued as a species…and all
the time, like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, we congratulate ourselves for
everything going in the right direction.
I
can imagine Forrest’s mom asking the question:
How’s that going for ya?
For You
Today
It
is decidedly counter-cultural to reject the cultural nonsense that stands for wisdom
in our day…just ask Forrest Gump.
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