A Plastic Existence

So I have some reflections, perhaps some observations, and when all is said and done we’ll see how shenanigany they are. Some of these observations may be good, some may be bad and some may be a bit of both, but the end of all of it should be a healthy dose of repentance all around.

First off, I love action movies. That’s not what is in need of repentance, though some may say so. I also had the distinct advantage of growing up in the 80’s. I was born in the 70’s, so I was able to marinate in all of the over-the-top 80’s goodness. As a kid, I would watch all of these muscled up action heroes and think, “that’s amazing,” and “I want to be like that.” They were big and strong, and larger than life. They were desired by women, and had a desire to protect them and kill the bad guys. They had a moral code, but seemed to play by their own set of rules. As someone who grew up without a dad in a mess of a home these characters were amazing. Flawed? Yes, but they somehow transcended the mess, and as a kid, that was inspirational even though it was pretend.

I say this, because there seemed to be an innocence to it all that doesn’t exist today. Some of this is good and some of this is bad. So, when I was a kid, if you told me these guys were juiced up and were messed up people in real life, often making a complete mess of their homes and relationships. Furthermore, that they were no different than many of the bad guys in their films, or at least not much different than the douches all around me I would have said, “No way.” And of course, the actors denied any wrong doing themselves, and scandals were much easier to keep under raps then.

This wasn’t exclusive to film, but was all over sports as well. Like grown men in their late

thirties gaining thirty pounds of muscle “naturally” between seasons and then breaking homerun records. Wow! Hard work does pay off. Or the woman whose boobs grew two sizes between films, and has definitely not had any work done, because that type of thing happens all the time.

True, it was all a façade, which was unhealthy, but I wanted to believe it could be real. Was it unhealthy? Yes. Was it fleshly? Yes, but in some respects, there was a youthful ignorance and innocence to it all. As you grow old, not only does youth sprout wings and fly away, but so too does the innocence and ignorance that was bound to it. You see the play that is being run on you, and you are able to see behind the curtain of Oz the great and powerful, who turns out to not be so great or powerful. And of course, when you ride the wave of fame or success or physical prowess or beauty it always comes crushing down.

Seeing behind the curtain, though traumatic and robs you of your innocence is good. Lying is sin and tying to live out that lie is always stupid. However, culturally, instead of turning around to reach our destination we just continue to drive faster in the wrong direction. The world that our kids are growing up in is much different that the world I grew up in. There is no ignorance, nor innocence anymore. Everything is in your face always all the time.

Instead of stepping back and saying, “yeah, all of these things were unhealthy, and unrealistic and artificial,” and really reevaluating what we should want to be and aspire to be as humans. Thus, asking ourselves what greatness and success and beauty really are and what we are really living for, we’ve gone in the exact opposite direction. We’ve looked in the factory and seen how the sausage is made and instead of fasting, we’ve gone on a binge. We’ve seen behind the curtain and instead of repenting, we’ve all said, “I want my own curtain.”

This is true across the board in every area of our lives and unfortunately, the church is no

exception. Just think of all of the time and money and energy spent on ginning up numbers. We are like the Prodigal with an extended line of credit. It’s true, the mega-church movement isn’t what it was, but all the same impulses are still there and social media has just perpetuated this on steroids.

All of this has resulted in a plastic existence. It’s fake, but we keep telling ourselves it’s real. And it’s not just the dude that is all juiced up or the chick that’s had tons of work, it the millions of people living on plastic to fill their homes with stuff they don’t need to impress people they don’t like. Or the millions of young adults who have sold themselves into slavery through students loans. Nobody is playing long ball, and asking themselves what is going to happen when that pendulum swings back. The Piper never loses his tab, and it always comes due.

It’s all plastic fruit arranged in a nice bowl…and it looks real and nice from a distance, but it’s fruitless, tasteless, lifeless. In trying to obtain this “super” life to validate our existence we don’t realize we are robbing ourselves of the things that actually make us better people, Ecclesiastes anyone? Plastic fruit looks good until you’re hungry.

What are the long terms effects of all of this? The more we try and achieve something

unnaturally or try to tightly hold something that is naturally fleeting and passing away, the more those things will be nooses around our necks, or if you will idols on our backs. I bring this up because I don’t think this trend is going to change anytime soon.

In fact, it is very rare for someone to willingly get off this ride once it starts. That is to say, this car is going to continue to drive faster in the wrong direction until the wheels fall completely off. Unfortunately, we’re not just talking about an individual, we’re talking about an entire country, though many of us are in the trunk trying to figure out how to get the zip ties off before we go over the cliff.

All of this boils down to an image problem, and a marketing problem that begins in the human heart. We are image bearers and we gravitate towards, and reflect what we behold. If we gravitate towards the flesh we’ll produce that which is of the flesh. This may be awesome for a time, but will always be a fresh cut flower. If we gravitate towards the Spirit we will produce the things of the Spirit in our lives. Paradoxically, this doesn’t remove our enjoyment of the things of this world, but rather enhances it, because it allows us to put everything into perspective through Christ.

Let me wrap this randomness up with the words of the Preacher,

“Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.” Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

Cheers!