And Now For Something Not Any Different
On the television program Seventh Heaven, the father is a minister. One of the
plot lines involves the minister's son planning on marrying a young Jewish lady
and then he was going to "convert". The minister is against it, as is the girl's
father, a Rabbi.
But the minister's objection is not based on the teachings of Jesus Christ at
all. Rather, it is based on how he perceived that the son's conversion was a
rejection of himself. Jesus evidently has little to do with this man's faith. He
never once suggested to his son that he was turning his back on Jesus, "the
author and perfecter of faith." His conversion would be a denial of the atoning
death, burial and resurrection of the Son of God. But that did not seem to
matter much. He was angry that his son was rejecting the "path that the father
had chosen for him." Of course, he learns his lesson about how his son needs to
choose his own path, which is, of course, true. But that does not mean that the
whole family has to pretend that Jesus does not matter. The show ended with a
wedding and the Rabbi and the minister sharing the duties and "mixing" their
faiths. It appeared to me that the "Christian" minister was careful not to
mention Christ. Or perhaps it was habit; he may not think or speak much about
Jesus any other time either. At any rate, the fact that Jesus was never
mentioned and that the minister was permitted to add his own "traditions" to the
wedding suggests that Jesus must not be much a part of his "tradition".
Jesus is our standard of authority. He is our hope. He said, "I am the way, and
the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John
14:6). If the minister really is Christian, then this is what he believes. But
he doesn't: He believes there are other ways.
Jesus said, "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one
knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the
Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." (Matthew 11:27). This is
another statement of Jesus that our fictional minister rejects as false. It
evidently does not take knowing Jesus to know the Father after all.
The Scriptures of Christ's New Covenant proclaim through the apostle Peter, "And
there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that
has been given among men, by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12). This message
from the Lord, too, is rejected by the minister in the program.
Now, I am not saying that either the son nor the young lady he was marrying
ought to have been mistreated. Christians should treat others the way they want
to be treated. But I wish that the script writers of this and other series could
develop at least one character who not only claims to be a Christian, but
actually seeks to follow the teachings of Jesus. That would be really different!
By Jon W. Quinn
Front Page
From Expository Files 9.6; June 2002
