The True Meaning of Success

At the 2012 London Olympics in the men’s 1600 meter relay race, Manteo Mitchell ran the first 400 meters, slowly.  The internet erupted in criticism with angry Twitter tweets at his poor performance.  Here is what really happened.  As Mitchell started to run, he heard a loud pop and felt a sudden pain as his left fibula snapped.  He finished his portion of the relay race to make sure that the United States would qualify for the next round.  The event rivals the historical importance of what Kerri Strug did at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in her Gold Medal winning vault.

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What Mitchell had to say: “I felt I upheld the Olympic standard to the highest degree.  It’s not finishing first or second, it’s doing your best.”  He explained that he felt that he had to “do what I was called in to do.”

Christians are called to be witnesses (the Greek word is  μάρτυρας "martyrs."), even if sometimes doing so is uncomfortable or even dangerous, even if no one seems to be listening. 

In his book, Share Jesus Without Fear, William Fay points out that, for Christians, "success is sharing your faith and living your life for Jesus Christ.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with bringing anyone to the Lord.  It has everything to do with obedience."  Obedience , not results, is success for a Christian.  Results come from the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit indwells every believer.  "... we have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, living in us ..."  

Jesus Hats

JesusHats,com is a site which sells Christian baseball hats and T-shirts.  The idea is that the hats and shirts will cause someone to ask about Jesus.  This can be seen as a subtle form of evangelism; "a witness you can wear."

Whenever I visit a Christian website I always gravitate toward the statement of beliefs to see who the people behind the site are.  Dalen (Dale) Garris, of Waxahachie, Texas is the patriarch of this family-owned business.  I found that I can agree with some of Brother Dalen's beliefs and strongly disagree with some others.  This does not stop me from thinking that Jesus hats are a very good idea.

Evangelicals

In the Book Comment I posted on December 11 for the book, Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites ..., I spoke of the religious designation, Evangelicals, and noted that there may be some confusion as to exactly what an Evangelical is.  The definition is not hard and fast and depends partly on who is doing the defining.  The list below is one to which most Evangelicals would agree, though some would add more items to the list:
1. A personal commitment to, and a personal relationship with, Jesus Christ.
2. Usually they are aware of a definite date on which this relationship began.
3. They believe that they are destined for Heaven after their physical deaths because they have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior.
4. Their personal sense of identity is strongly tied up in their faith.
5. They feel that they have a divinely mandated responsibility to share their faith with non-believers.
6. They are convinced that Satan is a real personal entity.
7. They believe that salvation is a gift from God gained through faith alone, not by works.  Works are merely an evidence of faith.
8. Jesus is the only person to have ever lived a sinless life.
9. The Bible is accurate in everything which it teaches.
10. God is the Creator, all-powerful, perfect, and utterly holy.

Film Comment: Island of Despair

Godard, Rohmer, Truffaut, Chabrol, Almodovar, Oshima, Fellini, Rossellini, Bergman, Curtiz, Hitchcock, Frankenheimer, Chaplin, Ozu, Welles, Mizoguchi, Zefirelli, Polanski, Ford, Capra, Scorsese, Penn, Malle, Wilder, Allen, Burton, Cameron, Bertolucci, Spielberg, Naruse, Bunuel, Melies, Zhang, Kurosawa, Woo, Besson, Brooks.  Jesus Franco is not one of them.

Jesus Franco Manera, with over 190 films to his credit, is one of those unstoppable film directors (like the immortal Ed Wood) who don't let a lack of money and no real directorial talent stand in their way.  They love making movies and churn them out year after year, sometimes making as many as twenty in one year.

Most of Franco's films exist in multiple versions, with varying lengths, varying content, released with different scenes included for different countries, and most also exist in badly edited pornographic versions with inserts (yes, that is the technical term) of material totally unrelated to the rest of the film.  The producers heavily cut up the films, doing whatever was necessary to get people into the theater. 

The film I viewed for this post is possibly Franco's most accomplished effort, with big name actors (Mercedes McCambridge, Herbert Lom, Maria Schell, Luciana Paluzzi, and Rosalba Neri) and what seems to have been at least an adequate budget.  The film, just as do most other Franco films, exists in a pornographic version; I'm sure this was to the later horror of the legitimate actors who appeared in the non-pornographic version which I viewed.

Island of Despair (1969), originally titled Der heisse Tod (The Hot Death), is best known as 99 Women.  It is a WIP (Women in Prison) film, one of the first.  A group of 99 female prisoners are held in a castle prison on an island where they are stripped of their identities, known only by their prisoner numbers.  The main prisoner is 99.

The brutal superintendent (McCambridge) is an Iron Maiden who rules with a sadistic hand.  Under her administration, prisoners frequently have lethal "accidents."  She also has an arrangement with the corrupt governor (Lom) of the men's prison on the other side of the island.  He visits the women's prison to make use of it as his own personal harem. 

The government has become aware of the horrible conditions in the women's prison and sends an earnest prison reformer (Maria Schell) to correct the situation.  Of course, everything goes horribly wrong, and, at the end of the film, the reformer sadly leaves the prison which she knows has not changed at all.  The hopeless situation remains hopeless.  The reformer leaves with the female prisoners standing in the prison yard, staring at her back as she goes through the gate.

Christians often come across hopeless situations which seem to be beyond redemption.   People many times do not wish to hear what we have to say.  We may be tempted by their rejection to simply turn and walk away, to exit the gate.  And, realistically, we may not effect any change no matter what we do.  So, what is "success"?

In his book, Share Jesus Without Fear, William Fay points out that "success is sharing your faith and living your life for Jesus Christ.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with bringing anyone to the Lord.  It has everything to do with obedience."  Obedience, not results, is success for a Christian.  Results come from the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit indwells every believer.  "... we have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, living in us ..." 

Film Comment: The Big Picture

We've all realized after the fact that we have missed opportunities for witnessing to people; people who were obviously "ready," under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The one who was not ready was us.

The Big Picture (2000) is a short film apparently available only as an extra on the DVD release of Daybreakers (2010), a vampire film with a twist.

In The Big Picture, a young woman politely but firmly rebuffs the supper invitation offered to her by her nerdy neighbor, who sadly walks back home in the rain. He has brought her a flower and obviously has worked for hours, perhaps days, to build up enough courage to speak to her.

At first to her distress, and then to her growing delight, the woman is astonished when her television begins showing her a progression of images taking place in her living room. She sees images of the nerd becoming her boyfriend and then her husband and then the father of her beautiful children. She sees herself, in the living room, with her teenaged daughter and sees herself happily growing old with her devoted husband. Of course, she decides to go across the street to accept her neighbor's supper invitation. It's then that she learns the truth: one must respond to opportunities when they become available or they may no longer be available.

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1 Peter 3:15

Book Comment: Share Jesus Without Fear

Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay takes away all your excuses for not witnessing to others. The book talks about common reasons people don't share their faith, from fear of rejection, fear of friend's reactions, fear that they really don't know enough, fear that they will look stupid, etc. Fay points out a promise from God to a man who was afraid to step up: "...I will be with thee..."Exodus 3:12.

Fay gives step by step instructions for those with no idea where to start. He gives a list of Share Jesus Questions to ask those to whom you talk and clear answers to many of the objections and dodges which they will almost surely throw back at you. And then ... he tells you the secret: It is not your job to convert anyone to Christianity. It is your job to be obedient and step forward when called.

When you share the Gospel you have obeyed, you have succeeded. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts and converts the unbeliever.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16