Not all change is progress
By Mike Haynes
Just wondering…
* * *
… why
“change” is such a positive word for people in churches, businesses, schools
and even families. A colleague of mine has this tag on the end of his
emails: “The seven last words of any
organization: ‘But we’ve always done it that way.’”
Not
necessarily.
With the
NCAA Final Four coming up next weekend, I go to the late basketball coaching
legend John Wooden for a rebuttal: “Although there is no progress without
change, not all change is progress.”
And according
to the late writer C.S. Lewis, all progress is not forward. In “Mere
Christianity,” Lewis wrote, “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong
road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in
that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”
He
obviously had repentance in mind, but also tradition.
In his
academic writing about literature, history and philosophy, Lewis was known as a
defender of traditional, classical education. He frowned on scholars who were
inclined to think just because an idea was “new,” it was better than “old”
ideas. He even suggested that when learning from books, “you should at least
read one old one for every three new ones.”
Lewis
didn’t want to lose the wisdom of the ages.
* * *
… whether movie
reviewer Peter Sobczynski (at rogerebert.com) really wanted to give the new
Christian film, “Do You Believe?” one-and-a-half stars out of four. His
comments are more negative than that.
He
criticizes the movie as “subtle as a sledgehammer to the toes” and likes the scenes
that are not so “overtly religious-minded.” I agree that many movies created
with an evangelistic purpose are short on creativity and tend to push the
message a little too hard. But what about this statement from Sobcznyski?:
“‘Do You
Believe’ will no doubt play well
with viewers already predisposed toward liking it because it has been designed
to reconfirm their already deeply felt beliefs rather than doing anything that
might cause them to think about or challenge those beliefs in any meaningful way.”
I could turn that sentence around to
say, “‘Do You Believe?’ no doubt will not play well with certain reviewers
already predisposed toward disliking it because it has been designed to
challenge their already deeply felt beliefs.”
Most Hollywood productions promote a
non-Christian point of view without doing anything that might cause viewers to
think about the Christian alternative in any meaningful way. While movies such
as “Do You Believe?” might not reach the creative heights of some secular
films, they are endorsing a singular world view – just as many “modern” movies
do. They are an attempt to even things out. And they attract large audiences.
* * *
… how I went
this long without ever hearing of Boney M or Daniel O’Donnell? Despite the
name, the former is not a rap artist but a black singing group that’s been
around since the disco era. Last Thanksgiving, my dad went to YouTube and
showed me Boney M singing the moving “Rivers of Babylon.” Then he played for me
the version of that song by O’Donnell, who apparently is a household name in
Ireland and performs in Branson, Mo.
I guess I
won’t discover all good music just listening to classic rock stations.
* * *
… who’ll be
the next full-time minister in my family. A few times, I’ve referred in this
space to “my cousin the preacher.” That’s Thacker Haynes, the Methodist pastor
in McLean for more than 20 years. I can’t use that description anymore, because
now I have two more pastor cousins (that I know of).
About three
years ago, I met Roger Smith. Although a distant cousin, he organized a family
reunion and has become a familiar face. He’s the pastor of Pleasant Valley
Baptist Church in Amarillo.
And for the
past few months, my cousin Scott Raines, who recently entered the ministry, has
been the congregational care pastor at St. Paul United Methodist Church in
Amarillo.
If I need
somebody to pray, I’m hooked up.
* * *
Have a
blessed Easter.
* * *
Mike Haynes teaches journalism at Amarillo
College. He can be reached at AC, the Amarillo Globe-News or haynescolumn@hotmail.com. Go to www.haynescolumn.blogspot.com for other recent columns.
