Category Archives: spirituality

Locked Out of Heaven (Bruno Mars)

Posted on October 30, 2012 | 1 Comment

In his latest song to hit the charts, Bruno Mars sings a love song to sex in Locked out of Heaven. Bruno starts out by admitting he has not in the past had much confidence in love or miracles which has prevented him from putting his heart out:

Never had much faith in love or miracles
Never wanna put my heart on the line

But the sex he is getting now has changed that, and changed him:

But swimming in your water is something spiritual
I’m born again every time you spend the night

and takes him somewhere:

Cause your sex takes me to paradise
Yeah your sex takes me to paradise
And it shows, yeah, yeah, yeah
Cause you make me feel like, I’ve been locked out of heaven
For too long, for too long

Sex is entirely about pleasure here. It’s all about what sex does for him and what he gets out of it. (There’s no thought for what she may think of it, by the way). What is more surprising is that this experience leads to some kind of repentance:

You bring me to my knees, You make me testify
You can make a sinner change his ways

What is being turned away from is unclear, but it is clear what is being turned towards:

Open up your gates cause I can’t wait to see the light
And right there is where I wanna stay

And stay and stay and stay:

Can’t I just stay here
Spend the rest of my days here
Oh oh oh oh, yeah, yeah, yeah
Can’t I just stay here
Spend the rest of my days here

Presumably forever, if it were possible.

In the past, I’ve shown how heaps of songs use salvation language, often in relation to relationships and sexuality, and by far Locked Out of Heaven wins. Bruno weaves spiritual language into every verse and every chorus.

And in a sense I agree there is something spiritual going on when a man and woman have sex. Sex engages the whole person: the mind, the emotion, the will, and the body. More than pleasure though, it bonds two people together; others have described it as an intermingling of souls. Speaking on the brief Kardashian wedding, Tim Keller from Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, describes the main purpose of sex as being the renewal or celebration of the marriage covenant.

But somehow this sex is about making Bruno new again, invoking the Christian phrase ‘born again’. Of course when Jesus used the phrase ‘born again’ he was not talking about the power of sex but rather our need to be made new, to become a new person and enter the kingdom of God. (See John 3) Somehow I don’t think that is what is in mind in this song.

According to Bruno, sex is the ultimate human experience and Bruno wants to have sex for the rest of his days. I don’t know where Bruno is on the map of spirituality but under atheism, these are probably reasonable statements. When you die there is nothing else so why not just live your life; why not get what you can get while you can get it? Under this worldview, sex replaces God as the saviour and pleasure replaces heaven as the destination.

If Bruno’s heaven in some way imitates the Biblical image of heaven then there is an incorrect assumption that the Biblical heaven is entirely about feeling good. Yes, there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears, all will be restored, and humans will no longer be constrained by tiredness or the curse of sin. But what makes heaven heavenly, ultimately, is the presence of God; living in the presence of the One who makes, sustains and redeems. And far from being an ethereal less-physical place the book of Revelation envisages the final destination of humanity in a fusing of heaven and earth:

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I hear a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Bruno, the good news for you is that while you may have been locked out of the heaven of hedonism, you are not locked out of heaven; you are not locked out of relationship with the living and eternal God. His grace is extended to you mercifully through the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Only this will yield the lasting joy you seek; joy which extends long after the rest of your days are done.

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What no-one hopes for: Revolutionary Road (2008)

Posted on September 14, 2012 | 4 Comments

Revolutionary Road is incredibly moving, but not in a good way. April and Frank Wheeler (Winslet and DiCaprio) live in a picture perfect street, living the American dream in the optimistic and prosperous 1950s. Behind the curtains, they struggle that they have not achieved all that they had dreamed. April and Frank put up facades to their neighbours and friends, while their marriage teeters towards self-destruction.

The film is skilfully and manipulatively written and both DiCaprio and Winslet bring their A-game to some of the worst things that two people could say and do to each other without causing physical harm: harsh language, manipulation, lying, bitterness, unfaithfulness, fits of rage.

In this way, Road stands almost antithetical to the other time DiCaprio and Winslet teamed up: in Titanic. Not that the relationship in Titanic was anything like ideal, but it presented a couple so swept up in their love (or lust) for each other that they would do anything to be together. In Revolutionary Road there is barely anything keeping them together except perhaps the need to save face.

In the end, Frank and April’s friend Howard (the realtor’s husband) just wants to forget about the failed marriage and dreams and turns down his hearing aid as his wife laments Frank and April. And after nearly two hours of emotional violence, I felt like joining him!

Perhaps one of the reasons why Revolutionary Road hit me so hard was that my wife and I watched it soon after becoming engaged. We were excited, riding a wave of joy and looking forward to starting life together. So much of this movie was the opposite of what we hoped for our own marriage, and the opposite of what I imagine most people want for their lives; not because April and Frank never achieved their dreams, but because they allowed their disappointment over what they didn’t have to destroy what they actually did have, and in the worst possible way. When love, peace, forgiveness, and self-sacrifice are absent, we can create a living hell for ourselves.

At the heart of the tragedy of Revolutionary Road was the Wheelers’ lack of contentment. It’s okay to want to do great and fun things with your life but how you go about your life, as ‘Road‘ shows, is much more significant. When your dreams fall apart, contentedness will keep you from falling apart.

For Christians at least, contentedness begins with

  1. knowing whose you are – out of his mercy and grace, God bought you with Jesus; you belong to Him;
  2. not comparing your life with others – God has brought you to where you are;
  3. doing what God wants you to do – God’s priority is to make you more like Christ, growing in maturity and love for others.

Practically, loving others means putting the interests of others ahead of our own in our relationships and in all of life. Just as Jesus did (Philippians 2). That would be a revolutionary road to walk.

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Seven Notes of Grace on Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’

Posted on September 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

Over at Seven Notes of Grace, Ros reviews Katy Perry’s hit song ‘Firework‘. Remember the lyrics:

Do you know that there’s still a chance for you, ‘Cause there’s a spark in you
You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine, Just own the night like the 4th of July
‘Cause baby you’re a firework, Come on, show ‘em what you’re worth

The song expresses the potential of human beings to do great things but I know I fail often and in many different ways. But as Ros writes:

God’s truth bleeds through this song, as it proclaims that we are unique beings, the intentional creation of a loving all-powerful Creator. Amen to that! But what she needs to know is that our potential to “shine” comes from outside of us. It’s not “deep inside of you“, as Perry says, waiting for us to ignite it. Our “full potential” is realised when we make peace with God, through Christ, and He enters into our life.

In this way, God shows us what we’re worth! Read the rest of the Seven Notes review here.

Official Firework music video here:

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True Grit (2010) – Part 3 of 3

Posted on August 30, 2012 | Leave a comment

In Part 2,  we examined Mattie’s plunge into a place of death, and how through perseverance, Cogburn rescues her, a picture of what Jesus does at the cross. We find don’t find out what happens next – we find out what happens a quarter century later, because this event has so defined Mattie’s life.

The first thing we observe is that Mattie bears the scars of that cold winter everywhere she goes. I still have both my arms but I can imagine that when you lose an arm, life will change. Many things may have mellowed Mattie over the years – it’s hard to know with a 25 year jump cut – but maybe something of her zest was lost in that pit too. Certainly, the loss of her arm is part of what she means by “Everything in this life must be paid for,”; this is how she pays for killing Cheney.

In Part 1, we saw that Mattie’s sense of justice was based on an Old Testament ethic, and even Cogburn sees his guns as delivering ‘wrath’. Yet, as a Christian, her quest is inconsistent with the teaching that vengeance is God’s domain – because in all sins, God is first and foremost the most offended party. Rather, Jesus says:

35 …love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:35-36)

See what God is like? He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked! We sinners deserve judgement, but instead of taking revenge, God is merciful. Jesus dies for the sins we do so that we don’t have to (1 Peter 2:23-25). We do not earn God’s favour by doing good works but receive this gift of salvation by grace and through trusting Jesus.

Of course, the grace of God in no way eliminates the need for judicial punishment – the Apostle Paul teaches governments exist to punish wrongdoers (Romans 13)* but it does calls us to rethink our personal notions of justice, forgiving those who wrong us, as we have been forgiven. One might say “it is the old West”, but at the heart of Christian theology is forgiveness for those who deserve judgement.

As victorious as Mattie seemed in securing justice for her family in the death of Chaney, I wonder if in the end, whether retribution gives her what she wanted. In her delirium, she sees Chaney slipping away in the night, suggesting perhaps justice hasn’t been done. Perhaps retribution wasn’t the satisfying thing she thought it would be. Compare the victorious music when she has the drop on Chaney to the reflective epilogue. The story shifts dramatically from what Chaney means to Mattie, to who Cogburn is to Mattie.

Cogburn begins as somewhat of an outcast, an alcoholic sleeping in the back of a Chinese man’s store, whom La Boeuf dubbed as having ‘nothing to offer’. People gossip about Mattie when she arranges for Cogburn’s body to be moved to her family plot. When Mattie, in essence, adopts Cogburn into her family. She thanks him and welcomes him, only a quarter century late.

And even though she laments that time slips away from everybody, she has much for which to be thankful. Mattie can finally stand by a graveside and affirm from the beginning of her retelling that “There is nothing free except the grace of God”, because she has experienced it – in the troubles of her life, in regret perhaps, she’s leaning on the everlasting arms. As she remembers Cogburn, she’s reminded of the one who has carried her through, who in her deepest darkest night plunges into the depths of her despair to rescue her from pain through pain, suffering and perseverance. With true grit.

*In the shack, Mattie and LaBoeuf discuss the difference between malum in se (an act that is inherently wrong) and malum prohibitum (an act which is wrong because it is prohibited). The Gospel is concerned with rectifying malum in se by turning people back to worship God through Christ’s work on the cross.

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True Grit (2010) – Part 2 of 3

Posted on August 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

In Part 1, we met Mattie, Cogburn and La Boeuf, and saw the prominence of faith in framing and enabling Mattie’s quest. For all the beauty of Mattie’s faith and innocence to this point, True Grit is ultimately about revenge, or is it justice? When Mattie pulls the trigger, the difference will not matter.

Mattie, perhaps in her naivety, does not care much for guns. In her desire for retribution however, she may wish she did, as she stumbles then tumbles headlong into the pit – a pit of despair and dread, helpless and alone, echoing the experiences of the writer of Psalm 88:

3 I am overwhelmed with troubles
and my life draws near to death.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like one without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off from your care.

Death reigns in this pit, under the curse of snakes, and Mattie glimpses who she will become without a rescuer. In biblical imagery, the snake (or serpent) stands behind the original sin, which brings the curse of death on humanity. Mattie says earlier to Ned Pepper she has seen a lot of bad things, but in killing Chaney she is now an active participant.* Hence, Chaney’s shooting, Mattie’s plunge and being ‘bit’ together represent Mattie’s loss of innocence and symbolize the fall of humanity in Genesis 3.

But for Mattie, all is not lost – her rescuer is at hand! Cogburn calls after her and she cries back, and we can identify three key elements to Mattie’s rescue: a saviour, sacrifice and endurance. Cogburn, her saviour, descends from the light into darkness, with strength and (fire)power. Psalm 40 describes the salvation of God (from physical and spiritual turmoil) as a reaching down and lifting out:

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

But for Mattie, Cogburn arrives seconds late, and she is bitten by the snake. Mounting her on the pony, they ride through the night – Mattie delirious under the curse of the snake – until Blackie is spent. Cogburn does the difficult thing and in a sense Blackie’s life is given for Mattie’s salvation. Now, it’s all down to Cogburn to carry Mattie on foot, through the cold winter’s night, out of the wilderness.  She leans on his arms – she can do nothing else.

Mattie will be safe only because of Cogburn’s endurance, and only once he is sure of her salvation does he rest, after persevering through extraordinary hardship. Cogburn’s endurance is also his redemption – the one who has “nothing to offer”, gives everything, for the sake of this ‘lost’ child. It’s a shadow of what we see perfectly in Jesus Christ: the one who crushes the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15), the divine Son who steps down from light (“heaven”) to the dark world, and endures the cross (Hebrews 12:2) to rescue sinners. For those who put their faith in Christ, God “delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)

Mattie’s salvation is both cinematically poignant and deliberately couched in Biblical imagery. But the story doesn’t end there: both Mattie’s retribution and her salvation will stay with her for the rest of her life.

Stick around for Part 3.

*For an explanation of Genesis 3, the passage featuring the talking snake, fruit, fig leaves, and a curse, watch The God Who Is There – Part 2 – The God Who Does Not Wipe Out Rebels.

^ In the novel, Mattie’s physical salvation points her to spiritual salvation: as Mattie is carried along she brings to mind “the stone that the builder’s rejected has become the cornerstone”,  (Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 28:16), an allusion to Jesus (Acts 4:11)

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