This post will comprise my insights on an amalgamation of current events in our culture that have recently occurred and are about to happen:
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you are familiar with the Uvalde, TX school shooting and other recent shootings that have followed thereafter. As I watched the press conference on FOX News to this historic shooting in our nation, I read a headline that said “Man had evil in his heart.” The only thing I could think as I read that headline was “Duh”. But as I thought about the headline more, a lot of thoughts began to surface. I liked how the headline pointed out that this shooting was the cause of an individual and not the cause of a gun. After all, people pull triggers, not guns. But what I didn’t like about the headline is the fact that every man has evil in his heart (Romans 1:18 – 3:20). This biblical doctrine is known as the total depravity of man. None of us is good, not one (Romans 3:9). Obviously, there are degrees to evil for the average person doesn’t leave his home and go out on a mass murdering rampage. However, to act like the shooter is the only one to have evil in his heart or that we are by our nature, better that the shooter is a gross misunderstanding of Scripture. Scripture is quite clear that God alone is good (Mark 10:18). We have all sinned is some way, shape, or form and need forgiveness from a Savior named Jesus who never has.
A few weeks ago, the movie Top Gun: Maverick came out! I have never waited so long for a movie to come out. The main reason I had to wait so long was due to the interruption caused by Covid-19. The original release date was July 12, 2019. Thus all in all, with previews included, I must have waited nearly four years or more for this one movie. I must say the movie was worth the wait! I watched it on IMAX and there wasn’t a dull moment. If F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets can’t get your heart racing and your motor running, I don’t know what can. For many, the movie was a return to the good ole’ movies of the 1980’s. People enjoyed the patriotism exhibitied in the movie as well as the non-wokeness. It is still possible to see a movie that isn’t politically motivated—Thank you Tom Cruise!
However, with the celebration of July 4 around the corner, I do need to point out a warning. Patriotism is a great thing, but as James K.A. Smith has often noted, patriotism can easily slip into a cultural liturgy of its own whereby we end up worshipping our own nation more than we do the God of the nations. In the movie, the F/A-18 pilots on mission must maintain contact with their air traffic control tower so that communications can remain intact and directions can be followed. Perhaps you remember the original Top Gun where the F-16 pilot requested a tower fly-by, was denied, and then directly disobeyed orders, resulting in the commander spilling coffee on himself inside the tower. This was a humorous scene in the movie but acts of disobedience in real-life can often prove disastrous. Actions have consequences, but all actions begin in the heart. This is why Jesus equated murder to hate and adultery to lust (Matthew 5:21-30). The heart is our air traffic control tower. In it, we have the choice to obey God or disobey him. The heart is much more than an internal organ. Rather, the heart comprises all that we are as persons. It includes our mind, will, emotions, and more. Thus, I think it fair for me to say out of my heart that the shooter in Uvalde, TX did not obey God when he acted on his impulse to murder innocent children and that his act was unpatriotic to the core.
We have lots to thank God for this July 4! I still believe the USA is the most blessed nation on earth. However, our hearts remain rotten until we submit them unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Even then, we have much to root out (Romans 12:2; 2 Cor. 10:5). Moving toward Christ-likeness is a never-ending journey this side of heaven and is what I call discipleship. The capacity to accept the Savior and to follow him is what makes life worth the living. Over the centuries, there have been a great number of Americans who have taken up their cross and this is what has truly made America great! I am grateful for soldiers who have sacrificed their life so that I have may have freedom but I am even more grateful for a Savior that has sacrificed his life so that I might have forgiveness. If memory serves me correct, I once came across a coin that said “Stand for the flag” on one side and “Kneel for the cross” on the other. Is this what your heart is telling you?
How will you be celebrating the Fourth this year? America at its heart contains many good things. I’ll be celebrating with family and friends and by watching a baseball game with fireworks to follow. This brings to mind a quote from another famous movie: “They’ll watch the game and it’ll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again.” – Terrence Mann in Field of Dreams. If I have time this Fourth, I might even eat some ice cream and apple pie!