Ephesians 2

Last night we watched the movie "The Social Network", which is the film about the starting of Facebook.com. It was an interesting storyline, but it was painful to watch. Although it is a well done movie, good acting, etc., I couldn't ignore the majority visual backdrop/background of the movie: partying, under-aged drinking, dabauchery, sexual immorality, greed, and revenge.

Now, I am the first to say I can be an over-sensitive movie-watcher. I have a hard time separating the story from real life, and the aforementioned themes tend to literally cause emotional turmoil for me. What I am trying to say is that at times watching the movie raised my heart rate, upset my spirit, and made me angry and anxious. I literally have an emotional response. In fact, because I know this about myself, I don't watch a lot of TV or movies because I find I am so sensitive to the values I don't agree with in my heart. Some may say, "that's a good thing because you are not calloused to immorality around you." Others say, "you can't ignore the world and hide from it, you just have to filter it and just sort of laugh about it. How are you going to relate to 'the world' if you don't know what is going on in it."

But really that is not my point of discussion. Although, it actually is a good discussion to have and pray about.

What was more interesting was the post-movie conversation Caleb had with me about it (disclaimer: Caleb knows this about me and generally is careful about the movies we watch). He was not challenging me to just "get over it" and not to minimize my conviction or response to media; but he challenged me to pray about it and ask God what He wants me to do with my sensitivity. He asked me a few questions such as, "does it give you more compassion for the lost? Does it make you want to reach out more to your nonchristian friends? Does it cause you to be grateful for what Christ has done in your life and where you would be without Him?"

All good questions.

In the moment I was a little overstirred still, so I couldn't process it really well. Instead, I went to fold "the whites" on the couch. And then, in the middle of thinking about one particular extended party scene in the movie, the Holy Spirit brought to mind a passage of Ephesians 2 that I have recently memorized.

"For you were once dead in the transgressions and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air - the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom you also walked in the passions of your flesh, satisfying the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

I could visualize right in the movie the prince of the power of the air movie through the scene.

But then, the Holy Spirit continued to move me to the next verse,

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions,made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved..."

It was a really sweet moment to remember that Satan is at work in this world, and there is a lot of ugly emptiness in it, but God can redeem us! He comes to us, who are usually not looking for Him, and He opens our eyes to Himself, to truth, and to the grace which He pours out. We can rest in that hope and I can be oh so grateful for His reign, love, and presence in my life.

"For my grace I, Kristie, have been saved through faith. And this is not of my own doing, but it is a gift from God, not from my own works, so that I may not boast."

As for my thoughts on the origin/motivation for the creation of www.facebook.com? Well, I still have to mull that one over still :)