Let's Know the Word

For five years of my life I worked at a video store. I think I can probably write a novel about the interactions I had with people during that time, but for me the job wasn't completely about the people. I liked the interaction, but it was the free rentals that really did it for me. From 1997 to 2002, I watched hundreds, quite possibly close to a thousand movies and loved every second of it! I loved it all: action, romantic comedy, science fiction, horror, all of it! Knowing the movies helped in the job as well. Remember that this was pre-Google (how did we survive???). I would get customers in person or even over the phone who would ask about a movie by vague descriptors or citing other movies as sources. "What was that one movie with the house filled with pop-corn?" (Real Genius) "We're looking for that funny movie that has that dude from 'When Harry Met Sally' where he plays like a cowboy or something." (City Slickers) I loved that stuff! I was really good at it! Getting to know the movies wasn't educational at the core, but the fortunate or unfortunate (depending on the movie) side-effect was that I got to know the movies personally as I watched them. In case you were wondering, all this reminiscing has a point, two of them, actually.

I have been thinking about evangelism lately. It's what we've been speaking about in youth group. It's the church's theme for the year. It's the primary purpose for everyone in the Church. A question that keeps coming up to my mind is why are we so terrified of evangelism? Even the word is daunting! One thing that really seems to jump out at me is the mistaken notion that we have to be able to recite the Bible to people. This idea that we have to know enough to evangelize is not just paralyzing, it's just plain absurd! When a customer came up to me wanting to know which movie had a dude dressed in black fighting Andre the Giant, they didn't need me to enact the entire scene. They just needed me to tell them, "That's The Princess Bride and, yes, we do have it on the shelf." We don't have to completely understand Leviticus to share the story of the Word of God. It's quite simple in four easy parts. 1) Creation was perfect. 2) Adam and Eve messed up perfection by disobeying, a practice we continue to this very day, but God offered the hope of a promised Savior. 3) The Old Testament set the stage for Jesus, and His death and resurrection provided the rescue that all people of all time have needed, do need and will need until He comes again. 4) On that day, what is evil will be re-moved and what Jesus has made righteous will be restored to the way things were before Adam and Eve sinned. See? The Bible, in a nutshell, is simple yet moving. It has the depth of hope and, yet, is completely understandable!

Now, having said that, I can tell you generally about movies that I don't care for (or in some cases absolutely hate), but movies that I love I know in great depth. If somebody has a question about the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I can give them an ear-full! If someone just says the word "inconceivable," I have a difficult time not following up with, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." (The Princess Bride) Here in the office, Glenn and I can go back and forth in What About Bob quotes. People hardly ever quote movies accurately. "Play it again, Sam." "Beam me up, Scotty" and "Do you feel lucky, punk?" are all beloved misquotes by people. Although these are not accurate, statements like these show that the person does, at least, know the essence of the dialogue of their favorite movies. We need to know our Bible, but it's not so important to get the wording exact. If you don't believe me, listen to how the New Testament writers quote the Old ... it gets pretty inventive. There's no grade. No one is standing behind you saying "That's, 'for God SO loved the world...' you lose 2 points." What we need is to hide God's word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11) because the Holy Spirit is around to remind us what we've stored away (John 14:26). This isn't a test, it's a joy. The moment I know more movie quotes than scripture, there's a problem. How many people know music lyrics like crazy but say they just can't know scripture?

Let's not just keep a Bible with us to look Christian-y. Let's know the Word of God. Let's jump into it! Let's ponder it! Let's write it on things. People need to know what we take for granted. Let's not be more eager to quote movies than share scripture. Let's know the Word, and let's share it with the world!

In His Grip,

BJ