I'm the type of person who likes to have my ideas challenged and stretched so when One Punk Under God showed up from Netflix I was hope for some good material.
I was not disappointed, but while I was secretly hoping for some jabs to be taken at the mainstream church, what I got was an emotional, humbling, and ultimately hopeful experience.
I don't want to write a synopsis, but rather whet your appetite to watch this series from the Sundance Channel.
For those of you who don't know who Jay Bakker is, he is the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. After the collapse of their ministry, he became jaded with the church, got a bunch of tattoos, hung out in the punk rock scene, and ultimately came back to God and started Revolution in Atlanta.
The series is about his move to NYC and his life in general. The first episode doesn't seem all that great, just a lot of background info, until the last 5 minutes and you are in it for the whole series.
A couple of quotes:
Jerry Falwell clip talking to Jay's dad in front of the world. This is one of the guys Jim Bakker was hoping would restore him:
"...And Jim I must tell you that I would be doing a disservice to God. As much as I love you and care for you and will pray for you. I would be doing a disservice to God and to the church at large to allow you to come back here now or ever."
Nice, huh? So much for restoration. Gotta love the Radical Wing nut Religious Right.
These quotes are from Jay:
Speaking of becoming pro-gay marriage:
"Because if we serve a real God and the Holy Spirit is real...if...if you think its a sin then don't you believe the Holy Spirit will convict the person?"
The implications of that statement reverberated deeply in me. While I'm not necessarily pro-gay marriage, I'm definitely not anti-gay person which seems to be how the mainstream church has lined up.
And finally speaking of his dad and his parents:
"...The point is how do we handle it when people make mistakes. you know, I mean we can't follow human beings. I think that's the problem people made with my parents. You know I thought it was about Jesus and what Jesus did; not about what we do and I thought that, you know, we're gonna make mistakes but thank God we have Jesus."
Amen, I say. The 'head pastor' model is such a skewed idea from the gospel. It only sets people up to be unnecessarily burdened, and other to lose site of following Jesus.
Peace and love in His name!
MR
Seen it? Let me know what you thought.
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3 comments:
Hey Mike,
It's fun to see a new post from you. Haven't seen One Punk , but based on your recommendation would like to.
Blessings on Brother Falwell, but his certainty on "never" allowing someone to come back seems extreme and out of step with the scriptural mandate to "restore" a fallen brother.
I agree about Falwell. It's tough to love someone when you see that person hurt so many people in the name of Christ. Maybe even more importantly, the grief one feels when you see people who adhere and embrace to that type of thinking.
Well said.
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