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Due: 1 August 2010
Twilight - A period or condition of decline following growth, glory, or
success: in the twilight of his life. A state of ambiguity or obscurity.
New Moon -The phase of the moon occurring when it passes between the earth
and the sun and is invisible or visible only as a narrow crescent at sunset.
Eclipse - A fall into obscurity or disuse; a decline:; A disgraceful or
humiliating end; a downfall
First off, let me say that I love the Twilight Series. When these books
first came out, I literally inhaled them; I read them so fast. But a quiet
revelation, has changed all that. As I have seen the deterioration these
movies have caused in the lives of people that I love, I don't like them
anymore. Sounds extreme? Read on.
Let's summarize the overall plot. There is a teenage girl, who meets a
family of vampires and falls in love with one of them, Edward. This girl,
Belle, initially is horrified at the thought of vampires ( creatures who
kill to survive); a natural reaction to something that is obviously evil.
But as she spends more time with them (the evil ones), her natural
compassion grows for them, and then she starts to make excuses for them ('it
wasn't their fault that they are like that', 'they don't kill humans only
animals', etc). These excuses justify her giving into her natural desires to
spend time with them, to like them. Then eventually these excuses and her
emotions creates a desire in her to be what she initially was horrified of.
The evil became acceptable to her.
On the other side of the lake, there is a native American family, that had a
legacy that if there are ever vampires in their area, their children, upon
adulthood would turn into werewolves to protect, not only their families but
all the people in that area. The sole purpose of the werewolves is not to
kill the innocent or animals like the vampires but to protect them. Belle,
initially was friends with Jacob, a werewolf. Then she met Edward (evil).
Jacob (protector) tries over and over to protect and warn Belle, but she
keeps choosing Edward (evil) over him.
Isn't that us in our Christian walk? We have been taught the difference
between the realm of life and the realm of death. We have counseled and
reached out to others to share with them the power of the realm of life and
the destruction of the realm of death. Yet, in our moment of smugness, of
thinking that it cannot happen to us, we put ourselves in situations where
we are sitting right smack in the middle of the realm of death. We justify
to ourselves and others, why we are there ('I'm there to impact the
nations', "I am reaching out'). Only to look up and to realize that our
environment is not doing the changing but we are. We have begun to look like
our environment --- the realm of death.
Thankfully we have leaders, mentors, and friends who love us, so they try to
warn us and may even try to protect us. But just like Belle, we dismiss
those concerns and justify it by saying " They just don't know him, the
situation, etc.". All the while the truth (Emet) has not changed. Evil is
Evil. There are no gray parts in evil.
In the end (***spoiler alert***), Belle becomes what she despised and knew
as evil. She chose that because it felt good to her flesh and that
outweighed everything that she had been taught. And in order for her to do
that, she had to separate herself from all forms of good in her life (her
father, mother, and friends). And all the people in the movie theatre
sighs. "How Romantic!!" What!?!?! Didn't you just see what happened? She
chose the wrong side!! She chose her flesh over what was right!! She chose
the realm of dark over the realm of light!!! And you call that romantic?
19 "Now this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, but people
loved the darkness rather than the light. Why? Because their actions were
wicked. 20 For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it,
so that his actions won't be exposed. 21 But everyone who does what is true
comes to the light, so that all may see that his actions are accomplished
through God." (John 3:19-21, CJB)
So how did Belle miss this? How do we miss it sometimes as well? Open Door.
Belle entertained evil. She was overconfident in her ability to withstand
evil. She forgot that evil understood what her deepest desires were (to be
loved and accepted), and with that it had an open door to her life.
Believers are like that as well, I am like that. I have put myself in
situations that I think I can handle, but I did not realize that I would
have to fight my situation AND my flesh... And the next thing I know, I look
up and I am sinking in the same pit of sin that I was to supposed to help
others out of.
Think about it; would Belle been as interested in Edward if she was in a relationship with someone else? Only if she did not value that relationship
very much. Yet we are. Our relationship with G'D should surpass any other
earthly relationship. And why shouldn't it? He fulfills all of our needs, He
protects us, He has plans for us that CANNOT fail, He never lies to us,
Infidelity is NOT a possibility, He loves us, and on and on. I can go on
for days to describe the love G'D feels for us, and it still wouldn't be
enough time. But this sums it up:
16 "For G'd so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that
everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly
destroyed. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the
world, but rather so that through him, the world might be saved. ( John
3:16-17, CJB)
Yep, that's me ---- I am on Team YHWH!
Questions
1. Re-read the definitions that are written in the beginning. Describe
the relationship of these moon stages to the storyline of Twilight. Describe
the relationship of the moon stages to our struggles in our Christian walk.
2. What causes a believer to transition from a "sold out" Christian to
a lukewarm Christian? Does our environment (places, peoples, activities)
impact that transition?
3. What keep us from learning from our mentors, and choose to learn by
our mistakes? What is Yeshua's model for learning?
4. Do you have any open doors in your life that may be a potential for
the enemy? If so, what can you do to close those doors. |
