Patrick Swayze and Tom Cruise taught me everything I know about being a husband and how to treat my wife. It is sad but true. After Lindsey and I got married we weren’t quite sure how a husband and wife were supposed to act. After all, neither of us had ever been married before and we weren’t quite sure how to treat each other, talk to each other, or think about each other. So, we turned to what we knew: Pretty Woman, Top Gun, and Dirty Dancing.
Our individualistic/isolated/short cut lifestyle made it impossible to invest the kind of time and stillness necessary to understand the covenant we had just entered into. After some frustrating and confusing struggles of trying to figure out why marriage on the big screen didn’t help our marriage in real life, we finally received the wisdom we sought. We set our eyes upon and imitated couples around us whom we admired greatly.
I am realizing that my faith often falters in the same way. I find myself frequently imitating Evangelical pop culture instead of Christ. I substitute cheap and easy behaviors for the life Christ has called me to imitate. I bury myself in silly things like speaking Christian-eze or listening to the right radio station or being seen at the appropriate church function and call that being faithful.
I long to keep my eyes focused on the author of my faith who so clearly demonstrated a life of service and care for others while mired in the everydayness of life. I look forward to getting my hands dirty as soon as I finish putting my new icthus on the back of my car.
