As The World Turns
One of my all time favorite cartoons
was Charlie Brown. The Peanuts gang was
a diverse group of kids made up of boys, girls, and even a dog and a bird. They were talented in their own ways and
worked through a lot of difficult situations.
And as some of you with kids might know, a new Peanuts movie is in the
theaters.
I read a recent article titled ‘How
Peanuts Took Faith to Culture’. The
G-rated movie remains reverent to the original series, a cartoon series that
witnessed Linus reading the Biblical Christmas story from the book of
Luke. A controversial issue even in the
60’s!
Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, had
been a Sunday School Teacher.But rather than sounding ‘preachy, he looked at
the beauty and charm of a childlike perspective regarding the difficulties in
life. For Schulz, it wasn’t about IF bad things would happen to us, it was
about how we deal with them WHEN they happen.
Because no matter how much we try to deny or avoid difficulties, they
will come.
Even Schulz’s heros were
flawed. They looked similar to Peter,
David, Moses, and Paul; sinful, messed up Biblical heros. Snoopy for example, often got the Peanuts
characters out of trouble or guided them with canine wisdom. This dog character in some ways was a hero
and yet deeply flawed. He was lazy, sarcastic, sometimes a coward, and through
his dreaming it was evident that there were moments in which he was weary of
being a dog. In other words, he was a fairly
accurate caricature of the typical Christian.
Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang
dealt with deep issues related to faith.
They confronted struggles such as loneliness, insecurity, sadness, and
complicated relationships without trying to hide or deny them. Despite their best efforts, sometimes the
characters failed.
In the words of the article’s author, “Schulz’s
highlighting of human nature wasn’t an indictment on people [judging their
shortcomings] or a way of showing disdain for them. It was a way of underscoring all of our brokenness,
and how remarkable it is that God still loves us unconditionally, whether we
get fixed or not. God’s grace never
changes. It doesn’t matter if we ever do kick the football, or if we fall down
every time we try. God has promised to
always be there.”
The world continues to turn no
matter what we are going through. Life is a journey, anything but perfect, with
opportunities to grow and mature in our faith. Through the generations we see
the end of previous norms and new beginnings.
Change is going to happen. Change
needs to happen if we plan to remain relevant to new generations.
The Church is not immune to change
and has been evolving since the life of Jesus.
The way Church has been practiced for decades (or longer) is no longer
sustainable. People are leaving the old
programmatic styles and traditions. How
are we going to transform from doing Church to being Church in the 21st
century? Like the Peanuts gang, it takes
courage and vulnerability to face our need for change. The Body of Christ will need to look in the
mirror and ask, where is my trust? Is it
in God or is it in my traditions?
Death and resurrection is the basis
of the Christian faith. It is not
limited to physical death and eternity in heaven. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2nd
Corinthians 5:17, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”
Referring to the temple in Jerusalem,
one of the disciples said, “Look, Teacher!
What massive stones! What
magnificent buildings!” Jesus responded, “Do you see all these great
buildings? Not one stone here will be
left on another; all will be thrown down.”
Buildings and traditions come and go but
God never leaves. God transcends
traditions, styles, and habits. In an
evolving world that can be difficult to accept, Jesus is still present. How do we, like Charlie Brown and the Peanuts
gang, face the reality of difficult issueswith courage and trust that God is at
work? How do we proactively lead the
Church in a new era?
We don’t live in a vacuum, frozen in
time like a museum. We are called to
share the Gospel message in whatever context we find ourselves. Christ’s promise of love and forgiveness has
survived 2,000 years while the way that it has been delivered is always
changing. Let’s remember that the place or tradition of worship is not the
foundation of our faith. Jesus is. As the world turns and time moves forward, our
priority and trust must remain in Christ as we walk into an unknown
future. Amen.