March 18, 2012

  • Sunday Devotional: Comic Characters who Teach You Truths

    In the Old Testament, there's a story about how Nathan went and told King David a tragic story about how a rich man stole a poor man's prized sheep. When David reacts to the story as any engrossed, interested listener would, Nathan suddenly turns the tables and says "You are that man!" David is ready to receive it because he wasn't thinking about himself, and his self-defense, rationalizing walls were down. Thus, books, movies, and TV can sometimes do us a great service by teaching us more about ourselves when we least expect it.

    Today's Devotional thoughts won't be so Christian per se, but I hope this helps you think about your soul from a popular culture perspective. I was recently thinking about how some characters from popular TV comedies helped me realize how certain habits can become faults in a hilarious way. I will present my three, then you can present yours. Ready?

    1. Michael Bluth, Arrested Development


    Michael seems to be the normal person in the Bluth family. He talks a great game about "Family" and about how he is trying to rescue the family. But in his own way, he is just as flawed as anyone in the family, and he can be quite selfish. He excused himself for it and rationalizes well. After all, he doesn't have the weaknesses on the outside that the other family members do. But yes...in the end, breakfast probably is more important than family for Michael.

    2. George Costanza, Seinfeld.


    George always seems to be concocting some wild scheme or plan, almost as bad as Kramer. The Summer of George is one such laughable moment. On the one hand, I love the scheming, and it's good to have ideas for change and keep moving. But on the other hand, there's times where instead of doing the simple, honest thing, George insists on making things as hard as possible--then he wonders why it failed and blames everyone else!

    3. Ross, Friends.
    I wrote a long post about all of Ross' weaknesses. He's his own worst enemy, sadly enough, and a good reminder of how doubts and thinking too much can cause problems. Fear can make even the best people foolish.

    So who are your three that have taught you about yourself?

Comments (3)

  • Hmm. I'll have to get back to you on that!  ;)    But this is awesome! I love your posts!  :)

  • Very insightful, sir!  I am definitely one to avoid responsibility for fear of doing more harm than good.  I do, however, genuinely care; it's just difficult to find an appropriate way to put that into action.
    I can tell you plenty of my flaws, but I don't think I watch enough TV to illustrate them the way you did.

  • I loved the concept of the Summer of George. I actually adopted in for my last summer between my final years of college. I decided to lay off and give myself a break from bashing myself for not being successful enough before I had to head into the real world. It was wonderful.

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