An Interesting Walk

It has very nearly been one full week since I left home to come to Grand Rapids. Classes will begin this coming Tuesday, but in the meantime, I have taken a good amount of time to get settled in and familiarize myself with the city and surrounding areas. My good friend, Ben (right), came for a visit since he was in the area and we had fun walking around downtown and taking pictures. We actually had an interesting experience with a guy who saw me taking some pictures. We weren't sure what to think about him at the time...well, now that I think about it, I still don't quite know what to think about him... 

His name was Mike, and unfortunately I didn't ask to take his picture, though I thought about it. He stopped to ask about the camera, so I very carefully let him see some of the pictures I had taken. He then went on to talk to Ben and I for well over an hour about all sorts of stuff. I guess he was trying to witness to us, but some of the things he said struck us as odd and somewhat suspicious. Anyway, he did bring up some interesting points about turning the other cheek (do you see where this got a little weird?). He said something to the effect of, "If I were to come up to you and say, 'Hey, that is a nice camera. Give me that camera.' Would you turn the other cheek and let me have it?" Even though it was a sort of weird conversation, it got me thinking about why I wouldn't just give my camera away. The most obvious reasoning is that I need it for school. But is that "Christian" reasoning?

What should a Christian do when they are attacked or robbed? Is it right for us to yield to violence? Jesus did indeed say, "...if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Mat. 5:39b). Interestingly enough, I was actually able to turn to a Wikipedia article for some insight. The gist of the interpretation is that if the person being slapped were to turn the other cheek then the person doing the slapping would have to slap the person in such a way that was a challenge to an equal. In other words, "It's on like Donkey Kong!" Okay, maybe not that far, but you get the idea. The verse wasn't meant to tell Christians to simply bow down for physical abuse.

Okay, what about the verse that says, "Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back" (Luke 6:30). That one seems a little harder to get away from. What I gather from various commentaries is that this verse refers to borrowed goods. Someone asking to borrow my camera and someone demanding that I give it to them are two very different things. The first interpretation has Jesus giving advice for how to deal with everyday dealings with other people. The second interpretation – the one saying we should just give to the people who take from us – has Jesus advising we simply go along with criminal activities. It just doesn't make sense for Jesus to tell people to allow criminals to get away with crimes, and I really don't think we should. But there does seem to be another side to all of this. 

Didn't Jesus allow Judas to steal from the money bag (John 12:6)? Didn't Jesus let people beat Him and ridicule Him on His way to the cross? Isn't that an aspect of Christianity that we are meant to imitate? I think this is beautifully illustrated in the movie "Les Misérables".

That scene has always challenged me. It is very right and very good to do what the priest did, but can I do the same? I just pray for wisdom that if the situation arises, God would show me clearly what I am to do. People are always more important than things, but giving someone my camera so they can go buy drugs does not seem like the most loving thing I could do for that person. 

I would love to hear any thoughts you have on the subject, so feel free to post a comment.

Another Wonderful Day at My Desk

There is nothing quite like working on a project with plenty of pizza on hand. I'm still trying to work out a few issues with my sister's next drum cover video (keep a lookout for the Youtube link when I get it done). I need to try to resolve the audio problems in another program before I can get back to working on the video portion. Just downloaded the program from Adobe Cloud so I'll need to get used to it....

What's Up with the Name of this Blog?

Hello everyone! Welcome to the next chapter of my blog making. I'm really hoping to keep up with posts this time around, so please check back often or subscribe. Also, let anyone else in on the blog if you think they would be at all interested.

So let me get down to business. What's up with the name of this blog: Aspiring Toward Greatness? The first thing I need to explain is what greatness actually entails. What is greatness really? It would be easy for me, as an aspiring filmmaker, to look to all of the great filmmakers and say that those men are great (and they are great filmmakers), but I'm looking for something even greater.

Christ said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man come not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mat. 20:25-28 emphasis added). The greatness I am hoping to seek in my life everyday, as well as through this blog, is the sort of greatness that Jesus portrayed for us when He washed His disciples' feet. The sort of greatness He showed when he went to the cross and surrendered to the will of His Father (John 12:27-28).

This is a momentous task. Honestly, all I can do is aspire for this sort of greatness. I don't have the strength to attain it on my own. Thus, I raise my hands in surrender and pray for the Holy Spirit to have His way in me that I might be able to direct my hope toward Christ. I cannot be great, but He can be great in me, and that is my great aspiration. Sort of brings new meaning to the verse "...he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4b). The greatness of the world is nothing compared to the greatness of the love that Jesus showed us by becoming a servant. I seek to follow that example, and right now that means I need to follow Him into the film industry. You might be thinking, "Oh sure, he just wants to say God is calling him to film because it is something he wants to do." Yes, filmmaking is something I am truly passionate for, but I am passionate for film because of the glory it can bring to God and the witness it can be to men. I am seeking to make films that bring people to a greater realization of who God really is. I want as many people to see those sorts of films as possible. Currently, our culture is very dedicated to watching a vast amount of movies and TV shows. I want to use media to meet people where they are and show them how to aspire toward greatness; true greatness.

I hope you can join me on this adventure and I will do my best to keep things up to date around here so you can see what projects I'm working on and hear little bits of things I'm thinking about. Feel free to pester me if it has been a while since I've posted and I'll try to get something put together.