As human beings, born into a fallen world, our default position, if left unchecked by the redemptive power of God, is to break toward sin. In Jesus Christ, we can break free - in His strength, we can move in a new direction while recognizing that we have a propensity to do what does not please the Lord. In Ephesians chapter 4, we are told to:
(22) put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,23and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,24and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Our default is depravity, but in the Spirit of God, who now lives in our hearts if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can experience the power and wisdom to make good and Godly choices, to walk in a manner pleasing to Him, to honor God in our thoughts - and our actions. If we accept God's gifts of true righteousness and holiness, and recognize they are available to us, we can rise above the sin that so easily entangles us and experience a fresh touch of His Spirit.
The apostle Paul, in Romans 7, shows the contrast between the inward person, the spirit, activated by the indwelling Spirit, and the human desires resident within the old self, the sinful person, and reinforces the teaching that our human default setting is depravity:
22For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.24O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?25I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
I am attracted to spiritual truth contained within popular culture...as we think deeply and critically about the entertainment that we consume, it can provide a platform to not only examine our own lives, but also to relate to others as they are exposed to various types of media.
Jackson Cuidon writes for Christianity Today that the AMC program that is entering its final season, "Breaking Bad", is perhaps the most important show on TV. Now, this is certainly in no way an endorsement of that program - it has some language and other issues, but this apparently contains some teachable moments, and if we can process some of the themes and even engage in discussion about some of these elements of spiritual truth, then there could be a benefit.
Cuidon sets the show up for us: Walter White is a poor and ridiculously overqualified high-school chemistry teacher with a palsied son and a surprise baby on the way. Then, he is diagnosed with lung cancer. Teaming up with his old student Jesse Pinkman, Walt cooks methamphetamine in an RV meth lab, in the hopes of saving up enough money to provide for his family before he dies.
But Walt doesn't die of cancer. His treatments seem to cure it, or at least put it in a remission deep enough to make us viewers forget about it. Walt comes to the point where he could stop making meth—and continues, ostensibly in service of his family. Then he comes to the juncture again, and chooses to cook meth still, with all the violence and secrecy and heartbreak that it entails. Again and again, Walt is offered opportunities to go back to a normal life, to stop being an outlaw, and at every possible point, he declines. His story is the ur-example of someone whose life continues to go downhill.
Cuidon continues to elaborate: He says that Breaking Bad is a five-season rebuttal to the idea that there are choices that matter and choices that don't. Walt's pride at a dinner table is ultimately as important to the villain he becomes as his murder, his lying as corruptive as his violence. In director Vince Gilligan's eyes, there's no differentiating between Walt's pride and his rage and his enviousness and his determination to succeed at all costs, to be the Kingpin, the only one. Telling the story of how Walt chose to become the villain takes every minute of all 67 episodes aired so far.
You do not accidentally end up a drug kingpin, says the show...To echo James K.A. Smith, there are very few, if any, "morally neutral" practices. We get shaped by the things we do, or don't do, even unintentionally, even if you're not paying attention.
Warren Cole Smith of WORLD writes that Breaking Bad is one of the most interesting dramatizations of the doctrine of original sin seen in many a year on television. Series creator Vince Gilligan, who was raised Roman Catholic in Richmond, Va., said he pitched the series like this: “You take Mr. Chips and turn him into Scarface.” What he’s discovered in the process is that we all have the capacity to become Scarface.
James Legrand writes at Patheos.com: "Behind all of Breaking Bad's artistic and technical brilliance is a clear and consistent picture of human nature fully consistent with orthodox Christianity. Perhaps no other show has ever presented such an honest and carefully drawn picture of total depravity." He does point out, though, that "Breaking Bad doesn't show any redemption answering the depravity. Over its first five seasons, the show grows increasingly darker. And judging from recent hints dropped by Gilligan, there doesn't seem to be any light on the horizon. For some viewers, Christian or otherwise, this imbalance may be troubling. Yet judging from contemporary culture—including Christian culture—Breaking Bad's emphasis on sin may be needed today. Many Christians need to be reminded again of Blaise Pascal's observation that 'those who have known God without knowing their wretchedness have not glorified Him but have glorified themselves.'"
Again, this is not an endorsement or even a recommendation. It is interesting that Christian writers are calling attention to the moral clarity - the distinctions between good and evil - and the degree of depravity that is wrapped up in the human condition, as depicted in Breaking Bad.
That is not an inconsistent message than what we find in the Scriptures. The Lord is very clear to draw a distinction between what is pleasing to Him and what is not. And, as I said earlier, the default position for all humanity is depravity. We are all sinners with an incredible propensity to break the laws and the heart of God - but, while the world of Breaking Bad highlights the struggle, but apparently does not offer a redemptive element, the ways of God can tell a different story. We have to acknowledge and even embrace the struggle, as the apostle Paul did, but we can know in our hearts that we have a way out - we can break free, if you will. But, in order to experience true freedom, we have to have an honest evaluation of ourselves - the Law condemns us and identifies us as sinners, without hope if we remain in a state apart from God. But Galatians tells us that the Law is a tutor, to lead us to Christ. When we recognize what sinners we are, we realize that we have a great Savior, who has come to redeem us, to relate to us, and to set us on a path of peace, joy, and victory over the sin that will ensnare us. If we believe that our choices contribute to our life story, we can rely on Christ and His Word to make solid, informed, and effective choices.
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