I have been pestering my good friend Casey Miller to write an post for this blog basically since it started (which was really only 4 months ago, crazy!) Now he has finally followed through and in spades! He gave me such a comprehensive post that I figured I'd split it in two pieces and ration out the awesomeness. It will probably be another 4 months before you get a post of this awesomeness so take it in stride guys. And without further ado...
Idolatry and Identity as
Illustrated by The Muppets
All throughout my childhood, the Muppets have been instrumental in my development. In fact, one could argue that without the Muppets, I might not even exist. You see, my parents first date was to see the Muppet movie. If their first date had been, say, skydiving, I might be a 6 foot tall 20-year-old named Whiz, or a lady soccer player named Nance. Really, I could have been anything, because we have no idea what happens when someone changes even the smallest piece of history. None of this, however, is relevant, because I am me, and in some large or small but nevertheless significant way, I am who I am because of the Muppets. My parents had Christmas ornaments of Kermit and Miss Piggy on our tree every year since before I was born, I watched Sesame Street and reruns of The Muppet Show all through my younger years, and no Christmas season is complete without the ceremonial watching of "A Muppet Christmas Carol". I grew to love the characters, the humor, the silliness, and the heart that is so evident in the Muppets, and it is these things that lead me to my passion for sculpture and puppetry today.
God gives us our passions for a reason, though we may not always understand them. Recently, however, I had a startling and unsettling idea pop into my head. What if my passions, or the things I call my passions, are actually idols? This may seem like a silly concept to some, but I became very concerned. I mean, the bible clearly teaches against idolatry - but what exactly is idolatry? Nobody today (or perhaps very few people today) worships golden calves or wooden statues, and yet most Christians would agree that we are not free from the temptation of idol worship. Most would say it simply takes on different forms, like money or power or sports or cars (or sports cars). The problem is, it seems like an idol can be anything. So how can we know that when we strive for our passions, we are serving God, and not an idol? I felt very torn up about this whole thing, because I have always felt called to puppetry, and I didn't want to give up on my calling, but I didn't want to go against God either. As I mulled it over for the past few weeks, I was lead to a conclusion by none other than the very thing that I was torn over - the Muppets! To explain my conclusion, I will first discuss Idolatry, and then move into its counterpart, Identity.
IDOLATRY -
When I watch the Muppets, I have to wonder - what makes them so good? Is it the acting? That is phenomenal, no doubt. Is it the writing? It could be - the characters are extremely likable, relatable, and unique, and the humor is hilarious. Is it the puppets themselves? They are very well crafted and fun to look at. Or is it the audience that makes the show? Their perception, influenced by their culture, certainly influences the whole. My opinion, of course, is that all of the above are true. And yet, none of these things on their own make them great. In fact, I don't even think that all of these things combined make them great. Somehow, as the old adage goes, "the total is greater than the sum of its parts." Yet, if this truly is the case, then there is a mathematical discrepancy. There is an unexplainable more in the idea of "more than the sum" - an extra "oomph" that moves it into the realm of "something special".
All throughout my childhood, the Muppets have been instrumental in my development. In fact, one could argue that without the Muppets, I might not even exist. You see, my parents first date was to see the Muppet movie. If their first date had been, say, skydiving, I might be a 6 foot tall 20-year-old named Whiz, or a lady soccer player named Nance. Really, I could have been anything, because we have no idea what happens when someone changes even the smallest piece of history. None of this, however, is relevant, because I am me, and in some large or small but nevertheless significant way, I am who I am because of the Muppets. My parents had Christmas ornaments of Kermit and Miss Piggy on our tree every year since before I was born, I watched Sesame Street and reruns of The Muppet Show all through my younger years, and no Christmas season is complete without the ceremonial watching of "A Muppet Christmas Carol". I grew to love the characters, the humor, the silliness, and the heart that is so evident in the Muppets, and it is these things that lead me to my passion for sculpture and puppetry today.
God gives us our passions for a reason, though we may not always understand them. Recently, however, I had a startling and unsettling idea pop into my head. What if my passions, or the things I call my passions, are actually idols? This may seem like a silly concept to some, but I became very concerned. I mean, the bible clearly teaches against idolatry - but what exactly is idolatry? Nobody today (or perhaps very few people today) worships golden calves or wooden statues, and yet most Christians would agree that we are not free from the temptation of idol worship. Most would say it simply takes on different forms, like money or power or sports or cars (or sports cars). The problem is, it seems like an idol can be anything. So how can we know that when we strive for our passions, we are serving God, and not an idol? I felt very torn up about this whole thing, because I have always felt called to puppetry, and I didn't want to give up on my calling, but I didn't want to go against God either. As I mulled it over for the past few weeks, I was lead to a conclusion by none other than the very thing that I was torn over - the Muppets! To explain my conclusion, I will first discuss Idolatry, and then move into its counterpart, Identity.
IDOLATRY -
When I watch the Muppets, I have to wonder - what makes them so good? Is it the acting? That is phenomenal, no doubt. Is it the writing? It could be - the characters are extremely likable, relatable, and unique, and the humor is hilarious. Is it the puppets themselves? They are very well crafted and fun to look at. Or is it the audience that makes the show? Their perception, influenced by their culture, certainly influences the whole. My opinion, of course, is that all of the above are true. And yet, none of these things on their own make them great. In fact, I don't even think that all of these things combined make them great. Somehow, as the old adage goes, "the total is greater than the sum of its parts." Yet, if this truly is the case, then there is a mathematical discrepancy. There is an unexplainable more in the idea of "more than the sum" - an extra "oomph" that moves it into the realm of "something special".
So
what is that oomph? Our definition of
it is important, if not crucial, because our definition is what makes the
difference between and idolater and a worshipper of the one true God. Now, let
me make a disclaimer, lest this
seem irrelevant to my readers. While I see this "oomph" in the
Muppets, and thus will be using the Muppets for my illustrations, the
"oomph" can be found in many places. In fact, I think we all see it
in different places. For one person, it might be watching an amazing dancer do
an amazing dance that somehow transcends the sum of the dancer's charisma,
technique, choreography, and song choice. For another, it might be playing a
sport with an amazing team, the experience of which transcends the sum created
by the people, the rules of the game, the thrill of competition, and the
delight in victory. Somehow, there is something extra there.
So
back to the question, what is that extra something? That something, of course,
is Christ. Or rather, it is a small glimpse of Christ. Christ IS the something,
the underlying life force, the magic behind it all, the unexplainable oomph. The great author and theologian C.S. Lewis described
this well in his book, "The Problem of Pain."
“You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words: but most of your friends do not see it at all, and often wonder why, liking this, you should also like that… even in your hobbies, has there not always been some secret attraction which the others are curiously ignorant of - something, not to be identified with, but always on the verge of breaking through, the smell of cut wood in the workshop or the clap-clap of water against the boat's side? Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling (but faint and uncertain even in the best) of that something which you were born desiring, and which, beneath the fix of other desire and in all the momentary silences between the older passions, night and day, year by year, from childhood to old age, you are looking for, watching for, listening for? You have never had it.
“You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words: but most of your friends do not see it at all, and often wonder why, liking this, you should also like that… even in your hobbies, has there not always been some secret attraction which the others are curiously ignorant of - something, not to be identified with, but always on the verge of breaking through, the smell of cut wood in the workshop or the clap-clap of water against the boat's side? Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling (but faint and uncertain even in the best) of that something which you were born desiring, and which, beneath the fix of other desire and in all the momentary silences between the older passions, night and day, year by year, from childhood to old age, you are looking for, watching for, listening for? You have never had it.
All
the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of it
- tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away
just as they caught your ear. But if it should really become manifest - if
there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the sound itself
- you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt you would say 'Here at last is the
thing I was made for.'"
That oomph, as described by Lewis, is a glimpse of God that we see in something, but is not the thing itself. The thing itself may be the best approximation by which we understand the oomph here on Earth, but it remains bigger, separate. Because without that oomph, what is there?
Think about it like this. When Jim Henson puts on Kermit the Frog, Kermit seems to come to life. But what is that life? Obviously, he is not alive like you or I, but somehow, the puppet makers, the writers, Jim Henson, and even the audience, have worked together to give him the spark of life. Without that spark, he is just a pile of fabric, some words on a page, a combination of gestures.
That oomph, as described by Lewis, is a glimpse of God that we see in something, but is not the thing itself. The thing itself may be the best approximation by which we understand the oomph here on Earth, but it remains bigger, separate. Because without that oomph, what is there?
Think about it like this. When Jim Henson puts on Kermit the Frog, Kermit seems to come to life. But what is that life? Obviously, he is not alive like you or I, but somehow, the puppet makers, the writers, Jim Henson, and even the audience, have worked together to give him the spark of life. Without that spark, he is just a pile of fabric, some words on a page, a combination of gestures.
So
to relate this to idolatry - idolatry comes when we make the hand motions, the
words on the page, and the lumps of fabric the object of our worship. This
seems silly, but we hear this all the time; people living for dance, for the
thrill of the game, for the joy of human interaction. And while all these things are
meaningful they
are only so when they have that indescribable OOMPH behind them. Without that they are passing,
inconsequential things. On the other hand, if we acknowledge that we love these
things because
of the magic they produce then we love something eternal. When the fabric wears away,
when the arm grows tired and the pen runs out of ink, the OOMPH is still there,
and the OOMPH is Christ; is God himself. Everything else was a visual aid, a
prop, a conduit through which this oomph could materialize and become real to
us.
The
idolatry is not the joy we take in the manifestations - it is the error of
making the manifestations the end-all be-all, instead of looking to the man
behind the curtain, the one who it all points back to. In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul says this -
"…where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues,
they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know
in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect
disappears…Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; but then we shall
see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am
fully known." (1 Cor. 13:8-12, NIV)
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