A couple weeks ago, Beki and I had a night to ourselves, so we decided as part of our evening we would go out and see a movie. It was just a PG film, supposed to be family-friendly entertainment. We could have taken the kids. But as early as the previews, we were glad that we didn't. What was supposed to be a mild Disney film started with a joke about abortion.
One of the trailers was for an upcoming film called Obvious Child. A better name for it would have been "Oblivious Child." It's the fictional story of a comedienne who had a one-night stand, got pregnant, and decided to get an abortion. This is all in the two-minute movie preview, complete with the character getting drunk and taking her clothes off. Preceding a PG-rated movie!
Two of the critical praises for Obvious Child went like this: "Hilarious, heartbreaking, and totally genius." I don't know whether to laugh or cry, but I guess that's the point. "The most winning abortion-themed rom-com ever made." Good heavens, that's a genre? How is a one-night-stand romantic, an abortion comedic, and what on earth are those subjects doing at the beginning of a Disney movie?
Afterward, I approached the manager of the theater and told her what had just played during the previews of a PG-film. I came to her very peacefully, taking it on good faith that she didn't know about the trailer. I was relieved when she shared my surprise. Appalled and embarrassed would be apt descriptors. And she assured me she would take care of the mistake right away.
Nonetheless (and I didn't tell her this), the damage was done. I mean on me. I'm damaged goods now. How much can I trust a movie theater to not show my kids adult subjects? Even when I've watched a movie or read up on it enough to know that the content is okay, can I believe the theater isn't going to throw in some random preview to, say, I don't know, a movie that makes a joke out of drunkenness, one-night-stands, and abortion?
(Is it intentionally ironic that the movie is called Obvious Child? It seems like the film's producers are deliberately taunting those who hold the pro-life position. "Oh, yeah. We agree with you. It's obviously a child. We're going to have our character murder it anyway and get the audience to sympathize and laugh about it.")
It's another reminder that the world cares nothing for my children. No matter how good a person's intentions might be, if they're of this world and they do not worship the Creator of all things, they see no eternal worth in my kids. They don't see the image of God my children were fashioned after. They don't even see the marks of the loving Creator upon themselves. Why would I expect them to see my kids that way?
I once said to someone I was witnessing to, sharing the news of Christ with him, that I cared for him more than he did. That seems like an offensive thing to say, but he wasn't offended. By his demeanor, it almost seemed like he agreed with me. Perhaps he understood that because I saw him as eternally significant, created in the image of God, I actually did love him more than he loved himself.
I don't really know what was going through his mind, so I'm only speculating, but maybe he saw himself as nothing more than a blip on the radar. Here today, gone tomorrow. A product of a one-use-and-then-dispose-of culture. It's of little wonder one-night-stand-and-then-abort is expected to be a relatable and ha-ha funny plot point. It would be only to someone who might find value in moments of life but not life itself.
A week after sitting in a movie theater getting a two-minute promo for an abortion comedy, we were at a clinic watching a 3D ultra-sound of our baby girl. The kids oo'd and aw'd at seeing the image of her face for the first time.
On Sunday, I shared a picture from the ultrasound with the congregation and introduced them to my daughter. That's quite a contrast -- from the "Obvious Child" on a screen in a theater to the "Obvious Child" on a screen in the church.
And that's the way it's supposed to be. This world is fallen and will be until Christ returns. We're to be the light of the world, shining the hope of the gospel into dark spaces. The world doesn't care about a person's eternal significance. We do. We are obvious children made in the image of God. That is why we must desire as God does that none should perish but all should come to repentance (1 Timothy 2:1-7).
One of the trailers was for an upcoming film called Obvious Child. A better name for it would have been "Oblivious Child." It's the fictional story of a comedienne who had a one-night stand, got pregnant, and decided to get an abortion. This is all in the two-minute movie preview, complete with the character getting drunk and taking her clothes off. Preceding a PG-rated movie!
Two of the critical praises for Obvious Child went like this: "Hilarious, heartbreaking, and totally genius." I don't know whether to laugh or cry, but I guess that's the point. "The most winning abortion-themed rom-com ever made." Good heavens, that's a genre? How is a one-night-stand romantic, an abortion comedic, and what on earth are those subjects doing at the beginning of a Disney movie?
Afterward, I approached the manager of the theater and told her what had just played during the previews of a PG-film. I came to her very peacefully, taking it on good faith that she didn't know about the trailer. I was relieved when she shared my surprise. Appalled and embarrassed would be apt descriptors. And she assured me she would take care of the mistake right away.
Nonetheless (and I didn't tell her this), the damage was done. I mean on me. I'm damaged goods now. How much can I trust a movie theater to not show my kids adult subjects? Even when I've watched a movie or read up on it enough to know that the content is okay, can I believe the theater isn't going to throw in some random preview to, say, I don't know, a movie that makes a joke out of drunkenness, one-night-stands, and abortion?
(Is it intentionally ironic that the movie is called Obvious Child? It seems like the film's producers are deliberately taunting those who hold the pro-life position. "Oh, yeah. We agree with you. It's obviously a child. We're going to have our character murder it anyway and get the audience to sympathize and laugh about it.")
It's another reminder that the world cares nothing for my children. No matter how good a person's intentions might be, if they're of this world and they do not worship the Creator of all things, they see no eternal worth in my kids. They don't see the image of God my children were fashioned after. They don't even see the marks of the loving Creator upon themselves. Why would I expect them to see my kids that way?
I once said to someone I was witnessing to, sharing the news of Christ with him, that I cared for him more than he did. That seems like an offensive thing to say, but he wasn't offended. By his demeanor, it almost seemed like he agreed with me. Perhaps he understood that because I saw him as eternally significant, created in the image of God, I actually did love him more than he loved himself.
I don't really know what was going through his mind, so I'm only speculating, but maybe he saw himself as nothing more than a blip on the radar. Here today, gone tomorrow. A product of a one-use-and-then-dispose-of culture. It's of little wonder one-night-stand-and-then-abort is expected to be a relatable and ha-ha funny plot point. It would be only to someone who might find value in moments of life but not life itself.
A week after sitting in a movie theater getting a two-minute promo for an abortion comedy, we were at a clinic watching a 3D ultra-sound of our baby girl. The kids oo'd and aw'd at seeing the image of her face for the first time.
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| Preview of coming attractions: Baby Girl Hughes! Coming November 4th. |
On Sunday, I shared a picture from the ultrasound with the congregation and introduced them to my daughter. That's quite a contrast -- from the "Obvious Child" on a screen in a theater to the "Obvious Child" on a screen in the church.
And that's the way it's supposed to be. This world is fallen and will be until Christ returns. We're to be the light of the world, shining the hope of the gospel into dark spaces. The world doesn't care about a person's eternal significance. We do. We are obvious children made in the image of God. That is why we must desire as God does that none should perish but all should come to repentance (1 Timothy 2:1-7).