7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
God wants us to come before Him with a spirit of humility, exhibiting a childlike attitude, recognizing that without Him, we can do nothing. We are called to set aside worldly wisdom and to not be arrogant in what we think we know, but to depend on His Word, as He illuminates truth by His Spirit. He wants us to depend on Him, not just when we get in a tight spot and think we need Him, but at all times, because the truth is, in essence, that we always need Him.
It is so important to a vibrant, productive Christian life that we allow the Lord to shape our
convictions. Romans 14 illustrates this selfless attitude:
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
This weekend marked the release of The Peanuts Movie, which finished a strong second to the latest 007 film. As a article on the KSL-TV website points out, the family of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz wanted to introduce the "Peanuts" characters to a new generation of children, and the obvious answer was a movie. His daughter, Amy Schulz Johnson, says it had to be done right, and that the idea came from her brother, Craig Schulz, and his son Bryan. They pitched it to a studio, with the condition they would have final say on all creative decisions.
For instance, as Amy points out, "When you go to most movies, you get what they call the 'bathroom humor,' and just crude jokes or innuendos, and they struggled for three years of trying to do that, because that's what's normal," adding, "So the people working under the producers and directors, they're younger people, maybe didn't grow up with Peanuts, so that's what's normal for funny, but not for 'Peanuts.'"
She said her nephew Bryan was especially passionate about maintaining the integrity of the characters her grandfather created. Johnson relates, "People were trying to put things in, and it was literally down to certain words," adding, "Not necessarily a bad word, just a word, and he would say 'No, if that word hasn't been said in the comic strip, it's not going in the movie.' So he would look through hundreds of books, trying to see, 'Did that character ever say that word?'"
Conviction was not only a cornerstone of Schulz's life, but it was apparently passed down. And, I think we can be challenged to make sure that our values and our Christian convictions are modeled for our children and our families, and to realize that God has given us people in our lives to influence in a positive way - His way.
Finally, I think that Peanuts portrays a childlike approach to a variety of issues that is really refreshing. Maybe we get too sophisticated these days; perhaps we need to refresh our thinking about what it means to possess the faith of a little child, as Jesus taught. We don't have it all figured out, and we need the wisdom of God in order to confront the challenges that are upon us - and we acquire that as we humble ourselves before the Lord.
+++++
It is so important to a vibrant, productive Christian life that we allow the Lord to shape our
convictions. Romans 14 illustrates this selfless attitude:
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
This weekend marked the release of The Peanuts Movie, which finished a strong second to the latest 007 film. As a article on the KSL-TV website points out, the family of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz wanted to introduce the "Peanuts" characters to a new generation of children, and the obvious answer was a movie. His daughter, Amy Schulz Johnson, says it had to be done right, and that the idea came from her brother, Craig Schulz, and his son Bryan. They pitched it to a studio, with the condition they would have final say on all creative decisions.
For instance, as Amy points out, "When you go to most movies, you get what they call the 'bathroom humor,' and just crude jokes or innuendos, and they struggled for three years of trying to do that, because that's what's normal," adding, "So the people working under the producers and directors, they're younger people, maybe didn't grow up with Peanuts, so that's what's normal for funny, but not for 'Peanuts.'"
She said her nephew Bryan was especially passionate about maintaining the integrity of the characters her grandfather created. Johnson relates, "People were trying to put things in, and it was literally down to certain words," adding, "Not necessarily a bad word, just a word, and he would say 'No, if that word hasn't been said in the comic strip, it's not going in the movie.' So he would look through hundreds of books, trying to see, 'Did that character ever say that word?'"
The family members reflect a stubbornness that was a characteristic of Schulz, which was manifested in the process of getting "A Charlie Brown Christmas" aired on television. As Johnson says, her father refused to allow anyone else to change his vision, despite objections from the network about the Biblical quotes, and nearly everything else about the cartoon. She says, "They didn't like the children's voices, they didn't like the scripture, they didn't like the jazz music, they didn't like that there wasn't a laugh track, they didn't like anything about it." She added, "They said, 'We'll play this one time. This is a disaster. We're not ever playing this again.' And it's played more than anything."
And, of course, you remember that glorious line after the recitation of the Christmas story by Linus: "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." And, there is information that portrays the spirituality of Charles Schulz as a mixed bag. The Peanuts Wiki says:
...In personal interviews Schulz mentioned that Linus represented his spiritual side.
Schulz, reared in the Lutheran faith, had been active in the Church of God as a young adult and then later taught Sunday school at a United Methodist Church. However, he remained a member of the Church of God until his death.
In an interview in late 1999, however, Schulz stated that his philosophical views had evolved over the years: "The term that best describes me now is 'secular humanist'".
In the 1960s, Robert L. Short interpreted certain themes and conversations in Peanuts as being consistent with parts of Christian theology, and used them as illustrations during his lectures about the gospel, and as source material for several books, as he explained in his bestselling paperback book, The Gospel According to Peanuts.So, what do we learn from this snapshot into Schulz and Peanuts? Well, for one thing, you recognize the power of conviction. The son and grandson of Charles Schulz held to a very high standard, and did not want his father's comic strip characters to be corrupted by Hollywood, if you will. I would say they learned this from their father, who had not allowed his convictions to be compromised regarding the content of the Christmas show. Schulz developed characters who connected with readers, with overwhelming success.
Conviction was not only a cornerstone of Schulz's life, but it was apparently passed down. And, I think we can be challenged to make sure that our values and our Christian convictions are modeled for our children and our families, and to realize that God has given us people in our lives to influence in a positive way - His way.
Finally, I think that Peanuts portrays a childlike approach to a variety of issues that is really refreshing. Maybe we get too sophisticated these days; perhaps we need to refresh our thinking about what it means to possess the faith of a little child, as Jesus taught. We don't have it all figured out, and we need the wisdom of God in order to confront the challenges that are upon us - and we acquire that as we humble ourselves before the Lord.
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