"Inspired by..." the Original

When our children were young some of our bedtime readings were the delightful “My Father’s Dragon” trilogy. Netflix recently aired a movie version of the story, so we thought we’d watch it. My wife made it through the first twenty minutes. After about forty minutes, my son and I opted to switch to “listen mode” for the remainder while doing other activities. On the whole, it was disappointing.

The plot didn’t actually follow the story. At the end of the film, the credits said, “Story by…” “Inspired by ‘My Father’s Dragon” by Ruth Stiles Gannett. The film used the name and key elements of the original story (like…the dragon), but completely rewrote the plot. In other words, it was NOT “My Father’s Dragon.” The feedback on the Internet is generally positive and given much of the material (even cartoons) being produced today, it was a welcome breath of fresh air. But…it was not the same story as the books. I don’t know how the showrunners made their adaptive choices, and it may be that the original just wouldn’t have worked as a movie. After all, I’m not a media expert. I’ve seen this happen before (I’m looking at you Disney and your terrible adaptation of John Carter).

I’m not sure about our arguments for “adapting” something. Sometimes, it feels like we choose to “update” or “adapt” something just because we want a change. Perhaps it is some misguided thought that old ideas aren’t interesting, or maybe we’ve assumed that complicated or “edgy” or intense is better than simple, charming, or whimsical. Whatever it may be, sometimes the adaptation isn’t faithful to the original. It may “capture its spirit” or it may just be plain off-the-mark. But in either case, it’s not the original.

In the life of faith, its okay to be inspired by Jesus as long as we also recognize that we are to be “imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1). Before anyone objects, I know we can’t be perfect imitators of God and that is not what Paul is calling us to. But our aim is to reflect Him as accurately as we can in attitude and action (and words!). In another famous passage, Paul calls us to be transformed so that we may delight in God’s will. For Christians, there is no update or adapt, there is only imitate – the original is perfect.

Sometimes originals should simply not be tampered with.

Pursue Christ – He is enough,

            Pastor Jeff

Surprise Salamanders

We have a small water feature in our front yard. It has needed some repair for a couple of years, so a few weeks ago, my son and I disassembled the rocks to reset the pond and rebuild the waterfall (There’s an illustration of needing a solid foundation in here, but that’s for another day). As we were emptying the pond, we suddenly saw movement in the water. I was surprised, it was too big to be an insect and we have never put fish in this pond. As we carefully finished emptying the pond, we found two salamanders. But these were special salamanders, they are called neotenic salamanders. Among salamander species, there are some in which not all salamanders develop to full maturity. They live their whole lives as underwater creatures, retaining their gills and tail fins.

I wonder sometimes if as Christians we aren’t a bit neotenic. We are invited and empowered by the Holy Spirit to mature into beings that are at home in the sphere of the eternal, but we sometimes wind up still living more comfortably in the temporal and temporary. Didn’t Paul challenge us to “set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2). We are quickly distracted by what is right in front of us (our circumstances), or what emerges out of us (our feelings), and so, miss the grand wonder that inspires great artists, deep scholars, compelling mystics. When, by the gift of faith through the grace of God we are “in Christ,” we’ve been born from above (John 3:3). Heaven is our home, and we are sent as emissaries of heaven.

I’m not suggesting that we all become mystics, quite the contrary. What I am thinking is more along the lines of being mindful to ask the question, “How does my identity in Christ shape the way I am present in this moment.” In other words, how do I reflect Christ in the ordinary: when I’m driving, when I’m shopping, when I have free time, when I’m talking with someone who really annoys me…You get the idea.

Paul tells us that we are the “aroma of Christ” to those around us. I think this captures the idea well. We need to be “regular” enough to be relatable. But we need to reflect heaven enough to raise questions about the One we love and serve. This means thoughtfulness about what we value, what we think about and how we think about it, and how we think about the world. It also means the resolve to stick with it when we encounter resistance, resistance from within ourselves and resistance from those around us.

 I think neotenic salamanders are fascinating. I think neotenic Christians need to make a choice one way or the other.

Pursue Christ – He is enough,

            Pastor Jeff