To watch or not to watch?

Ooh, a Da Vinci Code-related post! Now's my chance to jump on the bandwagon and boost my ratings.

On my friend Ryan's recommendation, I was listening to a talk by Pastor Joel Biermann this morning. The thrust of his message was that our character is molded by our surroundings. One thing he suggested is that we really need not read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code or see the movie, because it's not really a salutary influence upon our minds and beliefs. In addition, our money would only help to support these types of entertainment. But I, for one, have read the book and watched the film (which, I say, was a confusing and rather poorly-rendered adaptation of the book).

Part of me really wants to agree with Biermann: During the film, my friend Sam, who hadn't read the book, said that the film's bloody scenes and sexual innuendo "quenched her spirit." And I think that we are accountable for the entertainment choices we choose, as to whether or not they are actually beneficial. "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify" (1 Cor. 10:23). Is watching The Da Vinci Code a worthwhile use of two hours and $8?

But with everyone and his mom in both America and Turkey having read this book, I honestly would've felt like an ignorant fool if I didn't read it. I wanted to know exactly what was being purported about the historical Jesus and the Church, not merely what some website or apologetic book tells me. In the same way, I want people to read the Bible for themselves, not simpy to pass judgment based upon secondary sources or hearsay. I do likewise and read the Qur'an. (And I might add that doing so has only further solidified my belief that it is not divine in origin.)

In a similar way, though I've never been one for basing sermons off of popular films (no more Braveheart or Lord of the Rings, please!), Paul himself models that we are to be knowledgeable about popular, secular things. He frequently quotes Greek poets (Acts 17:28; 1 Cor. 15:33; Tit. 1:12). [Disclaimer: Don't even think you can justify watching any and every film, no matter how grotesque or indulgent, just so you can be a "more knowledgeable evangelist." Films like Eyes Wide Shut do not count!] So should those of us who are Christians concerned about effectively communicating the gospel of the rescuing Christ to others bear with entertainment like The Da Vinci Code or The Last Temptation of Christ even when they are hardly edifying to one's faith?

And while you're online, please check out www.jesusanddavinci.com.

Do clothes really make the man?

I know it's just a dumb cliche, but this question actually has been floating through my head a bit these days. Here in Turkey--a land renowned for its mustache-wearing machismo--tight clothing for men is en vogue. Of course, that's sort of true about much of Europe, but there's no escaping the leg-squeezing jeans and narrow-cut, open-chested shirts sported here. Sometimes I even see men's capris.

Being involved in a Latin dancing club (cha cha, salsa, rhumba, and the like) here at Istanbul Technical University, I've entered into a world where men actually move their hips and wear tight black pants and shoes with heels. It seems like a lot of students here are really into Latin dancing, despite being something we in America would probably shun. Last night I was at the Bosphorus University Dance Festival with some friends, and as I watched some of the performances, I couldn't help but think how much some of the wardrobe and moves were reminiscent of figure skating. In my high school there was a guy who figure skated, and despite the athletic skill and strength demanded by it, he got mocked constantly and called "gay" or "fag".

So this makes me wonder if there really exists a true expression of manhood within any given culture. On the one hand, I easily recognize now that real men are not defined by being "wild at heart" (sorry, John Eldredge), for in Latin cultures, the men do dance and are thinly built and wear heels. But the Bible does beg the question, for propriety in church worship is based upon the distinction that there are to be visible differences in male and female fashion (see 1 Corinthians 11:3-16, where the main concern is that women cover their heads to respect their husbands and show that they're married, sort of like wearing a wedding ring nowadays):

"Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? " (1 Corinthians 11:14-15b)

Now, it must be understood that there is nothing wrong or ungodly about long hair for males itself; Samson and other Nazirites had long hair and were men commended by God. Absalom had long hair, too. Paul is not making absolute distinctions about hairstyles (or any other fashion, for that matter). But he does seem to be saying that the natural order of things indicates that there ought to be visible distinctions between men and women. But what those distinctions are is left up to the prevailing cultural trends. Would a man living in America right now be wrong to wear capris or to figure skate? Is it wrong for both men and women to have same-length hair (be it short or long)?

April fools' was a month ago . . .

. . . which is precisely why I was a bit surprised when I read on CNN.com yesterday that a recent survey shows that most American youth do not know where either Louisiana or Iraq are on a map. In fourth or fifth grade I had to memorize the map of every country in the world and know every world capital. I'm not kidding. And I did it, now allowing my team to dominate the recent Union Church of Istanbul "International Quiz Night".

Having lived in Turkey for night eight months now, I'm growing appalled at just how ignorant America is of the rest of the world--and also how much of an impact America has on the world. Students here begin learning English in middle school, and in order to begin their formal university studies, they must pass the hazırlık, a difficult English proficiency exam. And their awareness of world history, events, and politics seems to me much higher than that of most American students. And when I'm with my German friends, I'm even more blown away. Almost every German now speaks English well, if not other languages in addition to that. I constantly feel challenged and even ashamed that I know only a bit of German and Turkish, and my effort in studying them is scarcely what I'd consider stout.

With the relatively low taxation of American citizens and our near-isolation on the North American continent, foreign language education has been tossed by the wayside as budgets get trimmed. (Thank you so much, George W. Bush and NCLB.) Now I know that 90% of our students will never leave the continent, but with the increasing number of immigrants entering the U.S. and with growing globalization, we cannot expect everyone else to learn English and conform to us while we lazily sit back upon our laurels as some self-deemed great nation and savior of the world. (And does anyone even realize that the Gulf War was largely started because of the conflicts between people who misunderstand one another's worldviews, i.e., America is founded upon a Platonic law/guilt-based worldview, and Iraq upon a shame-based one?)

I really want to see a greater priority placed upon learning about other cultures and languages, as well as the fine arts, in our schools. I know it's going to take time, and there's no quick "band-aid" approach. Language learning needs to start young. But it's something worth fighting for, especially for those who wish to see America remain a strong and effective presence in the world. How can we boast in ourselves when we don't understand and evaluate all cultures, when we can't even communicate in order to learn? Our ways are far from perfect or well-thought-out. Industrialization can lead to dehumanization on dangerous assembly lines. Our concepts of dating lead to the highest divorce rate in the world. And people in other nations are left to shake their heads, cringe, or curse. They're not perfect, either, but we just need to get on the ball.

Ich liebe Deutschland!

Every three months I have to leave the country to renew my visa, and I was blessed to find an inexpensive plane ticket to the great city of Berlin to visit my friend Dorothee. The five days I spent there were sort of bittersweet: I remembered how much I like Germany and its culture, which made it sort of difficult to leave and go back to Turkey. It was cool, too, that though I could scarcely remember a word of German, a lot of it started coming back to my mind while I was there. I'm starting to wonder--and even wish--that I might have a future living in Germany. And please do not scold me for not eating the traditional foods that I love: Knödl, Sauerbraten, Rouladen, or Spätzle. I was on a budget and hanging out with three near-vegetarians! Sadly, I didn't even get to enjoy a Masskrug (one-liter mug of beer) at all, either. Bummer.

"Whoever wants the world to remain as she is, does not want her to remain."

On Saturday we went to the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen. The 45-degree, windy, and rainy weather was appropriate. Though I had once before been to the camp at Buchenwald, it was still rather surreal to think that the grounds upon which we walked were not long ago a place of unspeakable atrocities: beatings, starvation, arbitrary murders, forced 25-mile treks for the sake of testing army boots, days spent standing in subzero temperatures with but a thin shirt on, and being hung from a pole so that the shoulders are dislocated.

But the scary thing that struck me was that these crimes weren't devised or carried out by monsters or animals. They were done by humans just like you and me. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9). It's easy to pass these things off and comment, "Who could ever do such a thing?" Yet was it any different with the vile death of our Lord Jesus? Whose sin was it that forced him to endure the lashes and being shamefully stripped and hung upon a tree? The desires that lied within the hearts of the National Socialists are yet in ours. We want to pass the blame. We put up defense mechanisms to defer complicity and make ourselves feel better about ourselves. We want to find meaning and value in ourselves and who we are--for some it's nation and race, for others it's intellect or beauty or academic/job recognition--rather than in being servants of God Most High. We wish to say along with Nietzsche, "God is dead," and we run from the light into the darkness.*

Sunday night was Walpurgisnacht, known as the night when witches are free to rome the earth and gather at the Harz mountains in Germany to convene with the devil. It's one of the main holidays in Scandinavia and central Europe (and mentioned twice in Johann von Goethe's remarkable Faust). In addition to being a night of pranks similar to Halloween, it's also marked by shadowy happenings of occult practices and sexual revelry. Mostly, people gather to drink in a sort of bohemian, festival-type atmosphere, but in years past things have turned violent, with fights, fires, and rioting. We joined some other Christians from Berlin at one of the parks where this night was being celebrated, to pray for the safety of people and police and for the breaking of evil spiritual forces at work that night. The four hours we spent in the park were a rather tense time, but it was amazing to see how God and his angels worked for peace. The newspapers reported that this was the most peaceful Walpurgisnacht in Berlin to date.

Back in the fall, my friends (more like family) Lee and Joella discovered Gemeinde Neues Leben (New Life Fellowship) tucked inside a much larger, old church building in Berlin. Ever since they told me of this tiny but faithful community, I've been praying for them. What a blessing it was to actually be there and visit the church! The pastor was nearly in tears that I was there and that I had been praying for them. And in fact, with Doro and my presence, that made five visitors--exactly what they'd been praying for all week! I was asked to share about my life and work in Istanbul, and then several people gathered to pray for Doro, for me, and for our team.

"What is the Confessing Church?" - Nazi pamphlet

Berlin is not only World Cup-crazy; it is also the city with the largest Turkish population outside of Turkey itself. Germany is home to some four million Turks, and when I was in Berlin's Wedding and Kreuzberg districts, their presence was notably felt. Please take a moment to ask of God that his people in Berlin would have both desire and discernment in reaching out to their neighbors.
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*Consequently, I think we need more books like Golding's Lord of the Flies, O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find, and Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. So few books are willing to deal strictly with either the reality of Satan or the evil within our own hearts that can only be cured by Jesus Christ.