Disdain for Hype

Sometimes I wonder if people are annoyed by the event or person themselves or the hype surrounding it. The Royal Wedding, for instance, is really a monumental event. Any royal wedding is a significant occurrence, no matter the country. I personally feel like each wedding is “celebrity” news worth paying attention to rather than being fascinated by the Bachelorette wedding revelries and heartaches. The wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana is a landmark in history and I remember when she passed away. Prince William and his new bride are important symbols of their country, not just a public spectacle. This leads me to view people’s disdain for the Royal Wedding as potentially a disdain for the publicity and overexposure that we have to everything with social media outlets and the internet itself. Example: If the Beatles were around in today’s media backdrop, I wonder if a bigger population would have disdain for them simply because of the hype they generated. Or Elvis, Star Wars, Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe. All great pinnacles of our culture that carry weight, but could easily annoy a large amount of people. I am by no means comparing royalty to our entertainment industry with actual status, but entertainment can be seen as our version of royalty in a lot of ways.

I would challenge you to evaluate yourselves when criticizing an event that’s being hyped. Are you boldly uninterested in the subject matter and honestly don’t see the talent or reason for the attention? Or are you annoyed and turned off by the overexposure to the subject on Facebook and Twitter?

Our Fallen Nature

Crossroads is doing a series called "The Story" which explains how God is the main character of the story of life and the world. We're learning how humankind fits into that and the implications of our condition and nature with God.

The second sermon of the series focused on The Fall. In the Singles Community group, we discussed our Adam and Eve nature as a result of the Fall and how that affects our abilities to be what God intended. The following is from the resources provided in my community group as well as my analysis.

The dynamic between men and women was completely changed with the Fall. The second half of Genesis 3:16 says, “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” The word “desire” in the original language and context had a meaning related to “control” rather than a longing or submissiveness.

For women, our Eve nature results in our natural need to control things and to obsess over plans. We have a hard time accepting things that are out of our control: comparing ourselves to others, having grace to let men take the lead in our relationships, trusting God with our lives. Our struggle to be women of influence is compromised by our inability to trust in God’s best for us and to do it with a supernatural confidence and grace that can only come from God.

For men, your Adam nature is to be a passive leader. Adam did not stand up for Eve when God asked about the fruit, even though he was there when she ate it and could have changed everything. Adam could have taken a stand before God with Eve to set things right instead of just eating the fruit, saying “Eve, what are you doing? Let’s go talk to God and make sure we’re doing what he asked.” If this had happened, God would not have reacted the way he did. The Fall happened because Adam and Eve hid from God, not because they ate of the tree. Your struggle to be men of influence is compromised by a loss of conviction and assurance in what you believe as a Christ-follower, and to actively strive toward that on your own and in relationships.

A model of this is clearly portrayed in our culture in most TV shows and conversations between married and dating couples. Women are usually controlling and complain about everything to their husbands. And they always talk and complain about their husbands/boyfriends to their friends. Men are portrayed as lazy, unengaged with their children, and indifferent to the relationship. They willingly hand over control to the woman to make decisions so they can have a comfortable and selfish life in a bachelor mindset.

When we engage in relationships, there is a “weight of responsibility” regarding the view of those relationships and anything that you take on. It’s not a burden, just an understanding of that opportunity to be a part of something that’s worth pursuing. Your education, extracurricular involvement, your mentoring relationships, your friendships, and your romantic relationships imply significant responsibilities.

You have influence in everything that you do. It’s up to you whether you want to slide by and influence your surroundings by means of your Adam and Eve nature. Or you can become a man/woman of influence in Christ, drawing your confidence through him and finding supernatural results as we push each other towards Him.