Jesus
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not "perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17)
Martin Buber
“In the relation to God, unconditional exclusiveness and unconditional inclusiveness are one. For those who enter into the absolute relationship, nothing particular retains any importance—neither things nor beings, neither earth nor heaven—but everything is included in the relationship. For entering into the pure relationship does not involve ignoring everything but seeing everything in the You, not renouncing the world but placing it upon its proper ground. Looking away from the world is no help toward God; staring at the world is no help either; but whoever beholds the world in him stands in his presences…” (from
I and Thou)
C.S. Lewis
“When I attempted a few minutes ago, to describe our spiritual longings, I was omitting one of their most curious characteristics. We usually notice it just as the moment of vision dies away, as the music ends, or as the landscape loses the celestial light… For a few minutes we have had the illusion of belonging to that world. Now we wake to find that it is no such thing. We have been mere spectators. Beauty has smiled, but not to welcome us; her face turned in our direction, but not to see us. We have not been accepted, welcomed, or taken into the dance. We may go when we please, we may stay if we can, no one cares. Now, a scientist may reply that since most of the things we call beautiful are inanimate it is not very surprising that they take no notice of us. That, of course, is true. It is not the physical objects that I am speaking of, but that indescribable Something of which they become for a moment the messengers. And part of the bitterness which mixes with the sweetness of that message is due to the fact that it so seldom seems to be a message intended for us, but rather something we have overheard. By bitterness I mean pain, not resentment. We should hardly dare to ask that any notice be taken of ourselves. But we pine. The sense that in the universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, the bridge some chasm that yawns between us and reality, is part of our inconsolable secret.” (from
The Weight of Glory)
Terrence Malick
Badlands (1972)
Days of Heaven (1978)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The New World (2005)
Martin Heidegger
“Truth is the truth of Being. Beauty does not occur alongside and apart from this truth. When truth sets itself into the work, it appears. Appearance—as this being of truth in the work and as work—is beauty. Thus the beautiful belongs to the advent of truth, truth’s taking of its place. It does not exist merely relative to pleasure and purely as its object.” (from “The Origin of the Work of Art.”)
Saint Paul
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (I Corinthians 13:12)
Marshall McLuhan
“All media work us over completely. They are so pervasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered.” (from
The Medium is the Massage)
Sufjan Stevens
And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid
(from “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”)
F. Scott Fitzgerald
“And as I sat there brooding on the old unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s long dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it, He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.” (from
The Great Gatsby)
Yasujiro Ozu
Tokyo Story (1953)
George Steiner
“All representations, even the most abstract, infer a rendezvous with intelligibility or, at the least, with a strangeness attenuated, qualified by observance and willed form. Apprehension (the meeting with the other) signifies both fear and perception. The continuum between both, the modulation from one to the other, lie at the source of poetry and the arts.” (from
Real Presences)
Paul Tillich
“What is the nature of a being that is able to produce art? Man is finite. He is, as one could say, mixed of being and nonbeing. Once he was not. Now he is and some time he will not be. He is not by himself, but thrown into existence and he will be thrown out of existence and cease to be for himself. He is delivered to the flux of time which runs from the past to the future through the ever-moving point which is called the present. He is aware of the infinite. He is aware that he belongs to it. But he is also aware that he is excluded from it… Out of the anxiety, and the double awareness that we are finite and that we belong to infinity from which we are excluded, the urge arises to express the essential unity of that which we are in symbols which are religious and artistic.” (from
On Art and Architecture)
Dorothy Sayers
“Poets have, indeed, often communicated in their own mode of expression truths identical with the theologians’ truths; but just because of the difference in the modes of expression, we often fail to see the identity of the statements.” (from
The Mind of the Maker)
Over the Rhine
What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.
Lord knows we've learned the hard way all about healthy apathy.
And I use these words pretty loosely.
There's so much more to life than words.
(from “Latter Days”)
Soren Kierkegaard
“He will grant thee a hiding place within Him, and once hidden in Him he will hide thy sins. For He is the friend of sinners... He does not merely stand still, open His arms and say, 'Come hither'; no, he stands there and waits, as the father of the lost son waited, rather He does not stand and wait, he goes forth to seek, as the shepherd sought the lost sheep, as the woman sought the lost coin. He goes--yet no, he has gone, but infinitely farther than any shepherd or any woman, He went, in sooth, the infinitely long way from being God to becoming man, and that way He went in search of sinners.” (from
Training in Christianity)
Richard Linklater
Before Sunrise (1995)
Waking Life (2001)
Before Sunset (2004)
George MacDonald
“In what belongs to the deeper meanings of nature and her mediation between us and God, the appearances of nature are the truths of nature, far deeper than any scientific discoveries in and concerning them. The show of things is that for which God cares most, for their show is the face of far deeper things than they; we see in them, in a distant way, as in a glass darkly, the face of the unseen. It is through their show, not through their analysis, that we enter into their deepest truths. What they say to the childlike soul is the truest thing to be gathered of them.” (from
The Voice of Job)
Emily Dickinson
The Bustle in a House
The Morning after Death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted opon Earth –
The Sweeping up the Heart
And putting Love away
We shall not want to use again
Until Eternity
John Steinbeck
“In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved. Indeed, most of their vices are attempted short cuts to love. When a man comes to die, no matter what his talents and influence and genius, if he dies unloved his life must be a failure to him and his dying a cold horror.” (from
East of Eden)
Bob Dylan
He woke up, the room was bare
He didn't see her anywhere.
He told himself he didn't care,
pushed the window open wide,
Felt an emptiness inside
to which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate.
(from “Simple Twist of Fate”)
Walker Percy
“What is the malaise? You ask. The malaise is the pain of loss. The world is lost to you, the world and the people in it, and there remains only you and the world and you no more able to be in the world than Banquo’s ghost.” (from
The Moviegoer)
Sofia Coppola
Virgin Suicides (2000)
Lost in Translation (2003)
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Kathleen Norris
“Church is to be participated in and not consumed. The point is not what one gets out of it, but the worship of God; the service takes place both because of and despite the needs, strengths, and frailties of the people present. How else could it be?” (from
Dakota)
Marilynne Robinson
“Whenever I think of Edward, I think of playing catch in a hot street and that wonderful weariness of the arms. I think of leaping after a high throw and that wonderful collaboration of the whole body with itself and that wonderful certainty and amazement when you know the glove is just where it should be. Oh, I will miss the world!” (from
Gilead)
N.T. Wright
“Preaching the gospel means announcing Jesus as Lord of the world; and, unless we are prepared to contradict ourselves with every breath we take, we cannot make that announcement without seeking to bring that lordship to bear over every aspect of the world.” (from
What Saint Paul Really Said).
David Bazan
It's weird to think of all the things
That have not been keeping up with the times
It's ten o' clock the sun is down
Just begun to set the western hills on fire
I hear that you don't change
How do you expect to keep up with the trends
You won't survive the information age
Unless you plan to change the truth to accommodate the brilliance of man
The brilliance of man
(from “Letter From a Concerned Follower”)
G.K. Chesterton
“Gazing at some detail like a bird or a cloud, we can all ignore its awful blue background; we can neglect the sky; and precisely because it bears down upon us with an annihilating force it is felt as nothing. A thing of this kind can only be an impression and a rather subtle impression; but to me it is a very strong impression made by pagan literature and religion. I repeat that in our special sacramental sense there is, of course, the absence of the presence of God. But there is in a very real sense the presence of the absence of God. We feel it in the unfathomable sadness of pagan poetry; for I doubt if there was ever in all the marvelous manhood of antiquity a man who was happy as St. Francis was happy.” (from
The Everlasting Man)
Gus Van Sant
Elephant (2003)
Paranoid Park (2008)
Solomon
"I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor--it is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by." (Ecclesiastes 3:10-15).
Jack Kerouac
“What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing?—it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” (from
On the Road)
St. Augustine
"Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee..."
Martin Luther
“Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen."
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
The Son (2002)
The Child (2005)
I would suggest that Tim Tebow is the Oliver Cromwell of the NFL. His zeal and sincerity have given him a confidence and leadership ability that is quite rare these days. He will be the Cromwellian Lord Protector of Denver until the Johns, Elway and Fox, flinch and restore the Broncos to the old Monarchist ways.
I’m sorry but I really don’t see the connection between professional football
and Christainty. The average career of a professional football player is 3 to 4 years. Every year major injuries end their careers. And for most x football players they go through the rest of their short life (average life span 55 years) they are in pain and disfigurement. Football is one of the most violent sports ever created. It’s basically controlled war. And you tell me this is Christian….with the ultimate man of peace Jesus in it. Please!
NO we don’t need more Tebows.
We need people to do Christ work quietly and without fanefare.
There are lots and lots of Christians who do what Tabow does
but they give and serve as Jesus instructed…like the woman who gave anonymously in the temple. I’m sorry but I really don’t see the connection. What if a Jew did what he does, or God forbid a Muslim. Christians would be jumping all over the place screaming “look what they’re doing to Christian America”. Football has become THE secular religion so it’s only natural that Tabow would be announted a spititual saint. This is truly sad. The most violent sport blessed by THE man of peace?
who give
Mo,
It doesn’t seem like Brett’s point is to claim that football and Christianity are intertwined somehow (although I do get a sense that he would). He’s commending Tim Tebow’s character as a person and as a Christian. While Brett didn’t quote Scripture, all the points that he made about Tebow’s character could be backed up by the Bible. Is his profession so “bad” to you that we can’t even admire these Christian qualities?
For me the greatest Christian quality is the one that
you don’t have to state but simply live.
Tebow is definitely not the only Christian football player.
he’s the most obvious of course. So does that make him and
better Christian and those who you don’t see “acting” Christian
any less. a Christian.Christianty is a doing, a verb not just a noun. And the greatest
Christian ( I believe) are the ones who never have to say what they are
because their love of God is such a shining light that everyone wants
to be a part of what they have.
There are lots of Christian brothers who pray every time they get a touch down, in college and the pros. Tebow is not the first. But as a quarterback,
his prayers are more obvious but I really don’t think you can say he’s doing more than any other Christian player has done on or off the playing field.
But that’s not even the point, I was making. All of this “posturing” by him or any other player, for that matter that proclaims any of them as Christian,
as nothing to do with the Christ was all about. And this is even more so, in football a most violent game.
Let Tebow start loosing and see what the owners say. You think the owners of his team care if he’s a Christian or not? Come on.
Like Al Davis use to say is what they think “just win baby!”
(that) Light.
Personally I’m very happy for Tebow.
He’s a good man, period. But he’s not the only
Christian, though his faith is up front.
Through the years, I’ve seen many Christian
football players step up as leaders of their team.
They know what they are up against.
They know the odds and how easy it is to have
a career ending injury.
Thus…in need of prayer.
professional footbal players are treated like
gladiators. It’s that plain and simple.
As far as owners are concerned
do you really think they care if you are a Christian or not.
You state loosing or get hurt, you are gone.
A gladiator who got ate up by the lions/ the system
Thanks Brett. You are right – he has caused more people to stop and think about faith and why they are annoyed by him. I think we could call him a “stumbling block” and stumbling blocks are necessary for someone to see the gospel clearly. And I also like football. Not really pro football, but college. Enough with this silliness about it being violent. I would consider fox hunting more violent than football.
Yeah right, like fox hunting paralyzes 2 to 3 high school kids every year and gives a half a dozen college kids a permanent injury for life.
I like football too…but what does that has to do with Jesus is nothing.
No more than jets flying over and people singing the American Anthem
before…the game/war.|
He has not caused me to stop and think about my faith other than to think, how trivialized Christanity has become and that football is now THe secularized religion in America.
Look at the madness of Penn State and all college football programs where young men are recruited zealously for the money they can bring to a program. No it ain’t about Jesus..it’s about profit.
What are you going on and on about? Can you at least stick to the point that Brett is trying to make instead ranting about things that no one here is even talking about.
Violent: 1. Acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity (Webster’s)
Jesus, the docile man of peace, would never, ever participate in or endorse anything that we would describe as “violent”. Especially anything that involved good-natured competition, heavy training and rules that forbid one player from intentionally harming another with malice. And Jesus’ profession and lifestyle clearly were a testament to subtle, discreet actions that called zero attention to himself and guaranteed longevity and quality of life past his early 30’s.
Bobby Bear the great country singer had a hit years ago:
“Drop kick me Jesus through the goal post of life”
“End over end neither left nor right”
I think this is what Jesus and football is.
Something commerical and crass and bottom line…money.
He would throw out the money changers of this NEW temple
to greed. They are not (to me) his flock.
I would argue that Bobby Bare’s crass blend of Jesus + Football + Country Music was a providential setup for you to make that vintage ironic cultural reference for “such a time as this”.
But that’s what Jesus becomes in the marketplace of commerce,
crass and commercial to the LCD lowest common denominator.
And of course was was the opposite of this.
Here’s a good supplemental reading to your post Brett. It talks about how a Christian should live in this celebrity culture. http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2011/12/08/celebrities-heroes-and-slanderous-jealousy/
How, by the very definition of “lowest common denominator”, would you apply that term to “the most polarizing quarterback in the NFL”? The guy kneels in prayer every time he scores a touchdown, to the jeers and mockery of so many players and commentators. I think that Tebow is more aware than anyone else in the NFL that America is not a Christian nation.
So praying after a touchdown makes Tebow and Christian?
And he knows America is not a Christian nation because
some peope jeer him. Come on, they jeer and mock
the singing of the American Anthem too…because they think
“come on lets do this game”. To equate the jeers to Tebow
and America not being a Christian nation is nonsense. America is
a Christian nation not because of football, that crazy.
Sports is just the peace time way of war, when men are not
warring. Man hates peace… and loves war because there’s
a war within him…that ultimately he must win.
This is Christ message.
Great post Brett… Couldn’t agree more.
Bobby Bare had it right
“Drop kick me Jesus through the goalpost of life”.
That’s what the marketplace of fame, and commerciality
has done to the One.
Thank you once again for writing such well thought out and phrased posts. You are a breath of fresh air and encouragement to me, Brett. I so heartily agree with what you present so straightforwardly here.
I love how he glorifies the Lord :)
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Some of the comments in this post have helped to vividly illustrate to me how not only can one make an idol out of something one loves but one can just as easily make an idol out of something they hate as well.
Brett, I’m with you cheering for Tebow until you make this statement:
“If Christians want to make an impact or have a voice in this world, they must first earn that position by being great at something and working hard.”
Some of us will never be great at anything, no matter how hard we work, and some of us will never even work…as Christians, our place, our voice, and our impact is all unearned. Some won’t listen to us if they don’t see evidence of hard work or great talent, and we do earn some people’s trust and respect that way, but people to respond to truth wherever they hear it, however they hear it, if they are looking for the truth. We should be willing to speak for Jesus even when we
can’t get work, or when we aren’t great at anything. He doesn’t disown us for that.
He isn’t a performance-based God; but we as hard-working Americans want to see Him that way sometimes. That way, if we get A’s and succeed at work, we can call ourselves better Christians. It may or may not be true.
I read Klosterman’s article and share a similar sentiment about this phenomenon, although I think we should be (I hope Tebow would want us) less focused on him and more on Who his life reflects. http://musingsinmontage.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/a-matter-of-faith/
I think Tim’s actions bring to light the conflict in today’s church between standing by God v. standing by “men.” The idea that Christians shouldn’t proclaim Christ is simply a lie. Take Psalm 40, for example. It is an awesome passage about proclaiming God’s mercy and grace. Some believe that Christians should earn the respect of nonbelievers through example alone, as not to offend them; all the while Christians are asked to respect others’ proclamation of beliefs under the guise of political correctness. Any Christian would agree that faith without deeds is dead (James 2) but to not proclaim His glory just doesn’t jive with our “secular” actions. We all know people who are passionate about their country, or sports team, and will openly give glory to them…whereas Christians are not supposed to praise Jesus, who takes the penalty of our sins and gives the gift of eternal life with Him? Tim has been given a platform that most of us will never have he has decided, rather than keep the most important aspect of his life to himself, to use his spotlight to bring glory to his Savior. He has clearly chosen to stand by God, rather than “be cool” with everyone, which sounds a lot like Jesus.
But honestly (and unfortunately), as much as I’d like to think that all this controversy has come on account of Tim’s faith, I think it has much more to do with the win column. Nobody’s talking about Colt McCoy, another openly Christian quarterback, because he’s on a losing team. However, I think this topic comes at an important time when our country is losing hope in our president (& presidential candidates), our economy, and other “foundations” that aren’t as solid as the Rock.
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” – Romans 10:14
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