God vs. Gatsby

Around 3am recently I started watching the 2013 movie version of The Great Gatsby. My newborn needed to eat and I needed something to keep me awake. 

Have I seen this movie before? Did I read it like I was supposed to in high school? 

I couldn’t remember the answer to either of those questions because my brain was, and continues to be, fried. But if the answer was yes, I must’ve forgotten most of the plot because it felt like I was watching the cool 1920’s costumes, the gorgeous mansions, and the captivating story for the first time. 

After I finished the movie a few days later (I had to watch it in chunks), I sat in stunned silence as the credits rolled. 

That was… amazing. 

Then I laughed a little at myself: “Breaking news! Someone thinks one of the best selling storylines of all time is a good story!” Ha! 

In case, like me, you perhaps didn’t read it thoroughly like you were supposed to during your junior year of high school, I will try not to spoil it for you and instead encourage you to go watch it for yourself. 

Or you could do the proper thing and go straight to the source by reading the book. I currently have one brain cell hanging on for dear life at the moment, so reading fiction isn’t in the cards at the moment… but in another season I hope to actually read it. 

But until then, I wanted to point out two things I felt like God was putting on my heart as I continued to reflect on the storyline that seemed to leave a lingering bitter-sweetness. 

First, when consuming things that are secular, it’s great to remember the “chew and spit” method described by a great ministry: Mama Bear Apologetics 

Podcast video: https://mamabearapologetics.com/mba057-teaching-kids-chew-spit/

Please check them out, they are doing such great work and, if you have the capacity to read books right now, I loved the book they put out called, the same as their ministry, Mama Bear Apologetics. 

Essentially the “chew and spit” method asks, “How is a Christian supposed to consume content?”

And notice I didn’t say “secular content” - we must be discerning regardless of the source because there are some “Christian” shows / songs / movies / devotionals, etc. that are also not promoting the right things. Sometimes those ‘Christian’ sources are the worst offenders because people just assume it’s biblical when sometimes it’s not.

The hard truth is we should be discerning everything we consume. This is where the “chew and spit” method comes into play. 

It’s less of a “front-end filter” and more of a follow up discussion you can have with yourself or others. It asks, “What is the creator portraying as good? What is portrayed as bad? What is being laughed at (which normalizes it)?” From there it asks the most important question: “And how does this line up with what God says?”

At that point you can pray and discern if you should keep watching it. 

ANYWAYS, for The Great Gatsby I really felt like the author (fellow Minnesotan F. Scott Fitzgerald) did a great job highlighting the downfalls of adultery, the love of money, and idolizing things (in this story, idolizing “the past.”) 

Now I’m not saying this movie should be streamed in church on Sunday… but if you ask me, the story lines up pretty well with what God says about those topics over and over and over again in the Bible. 

Which leads me to point #2: We really need to get to know God better.

In The Great Gatsby we learn that hundreds of people flocked to these big, expensive parties at Gatsby’s behemoth of a house, but no one really knew him. Most people had no idea what he even looked like. 

Rumors swirled and swirled around about him, but only Nick (the narrator) finds out the truth. 

And that’s the difference between God and Gatsby that I wanted to point out. Gatsby wanted (perhaps “needed”) to be elusive, but God really wants to be known by you.

Being unknown was pivotal in Gatsby’s success. That said, it still is a sad thought to think that all those people had no problem taking and taking and taking from him without ever once pausing to say thank you; without ever once stopping to get to know their generous host. 

Do we do that with God? Do we accept all the wonders of a great party and then drive away at sun-up without ever looking back at our gracious host? 

Unlike Gatsby, God is (metaphorically) standing at the beautifully ornate front door of the mansion. There’s music and laughter coming from inside. What do we do? What should we do?

Are we stopping to thank the host? To strike up conversation and get to know Him? Or are we giving a quick nod hello and heading inside towards our friends that are waiving us over? 

It says in Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”

The things revealed belong to us….

I love that part - it’s so amazing that God has given us “the inside scoop,” a peek behind the curtain… What a precious gift.

In theory, that gift should lead us to say, “Well… what has God revealed to us? What does He want us to know about Himself, the world and spirit realm He created, the ‘right and wrong’ that He designed, the purpose of all this…?”

And yet it’s so easy to slip into one of two camps. Camp 1 is thinking whatever we know right now is “enough” and that it doesn’t matter if there’s more out there. Camp 2 is thinking that we already know everything there is to know about God so “why would we keep diving in?”

I pray that anyone reading this, myself included, is blessed with a fresh desire, a renewed curiosity, about God. May we never slip into either camp!

But maybe you are curious. If that’s you, (yay!) are we going straight to the source or are we letting others speak for Him?  

I can promise you one thing: Satan has a lot to say about who he thinks God is and the world repeats his (Satan’s) narratives to us constantly; even if, or rather especially if, you aren’t searching them out. 

I want to ask, “So whose voice are we going to let in? The endless chatter of the world or God’s direct word?” 

But that gives us way too much credit. The reality is that we don’t choose to let in or keep out the voices of the world… They are in the air we breathe, they are like the songs playing in an elevator that we have to ride; we can not escape the influence of these narratives. 

Remember: everyone has a worldview, everyone has a theology. Even if they haven’t labeled it or overly thought about it, they believe something about God. 

So instead I will ask this: What volume do you have ‘God’s own words about Himself’ at? Is it loud enough to drown out Satan’s narratives that are sneakily shaping our view of God without us even knowing it?

Satan is referred to in the Bible as “the prince of this world,” so of course he is going to play his lies on a loud speaker as loudly as he can while we are in his domain. Why? To keep us from knowing and (hopefully) following God; to keep us from the power of the Holy Spirit offered to us so we can experience GOD’S KINGDOM while we live in Satan’s kingdom. 

Does that make sense? If not, blame my single braincell. I hope the story is starting to come together and that the desire to get to know “the good guy” of the story  is increasing.

If it is, let’s go straight to the source (The Bible, which is called “The Revealed Word of God” by some). 

If we don’t go there, it’s like someone wanting to learn about a historical figure but refusing to read the autobiography the historical figure wrote about themselves.

Human: “There are so many different views on God, there’s no way to really know who / what God is.”

God: “I gave you an entire book.”

Human: “I guess I’ll have to just go with my gut…”

God: “I gave you an entire book filled with history, descriptions, laws, stories that show how I act & respond in certain situation that help illustrate the points-“

Human: “It’s just a shame! Oh well. I guess I’ll see what my favorite influencer has to say...”

 God: *lightning strikes, thunder booms, the sky goes dark*: “READ THE DANG BOOK, YOU IDIOT!!” 

Just kidding, God is much more gentle and forgiving than I am, but you get the point. 

I’ve said it once (see my other blog post titled “Stop Doing Devotionals”), and I’ll say it again: I was the worst offender when it came to Bible illiteracy. 

I really thought I knew all there was to know about God and, “if there were little details here and there that I missed” that it was fine. “Who cares? What's wrong with watching the movie instead of reading the book?” (*wink with a self deprecating cackle as I hope you pick up on the joke*) 

But please please don’t do this all by yourself. God has blessed some amazing teachers with the gift of teaching and wisdom that can help you digest what you’re reading. As we read, let’s ask ourselves, “What does this say about God?”

But what if I find the Bible… boring? 

I get it, I used to think the same thing. But I also used to hate broccoli and now would eat Beef and Broccoli over a nice heap of fried rice any time, anywhere. 

So what you feel about the Bible can, and probably will, change if you give it a fair shot. A good teacher can make any topic much more interesting, so please don’t read the Bible alone! 

My top resource at the moment is the chapter by chapter commentary that’s very user friendly: the Through the Word app

https://throughtheword.org/platforms/

The last thing I’ll say is that knowing more about God can only bring good things to your life. Common phrases we use to encourage each other like, “I’m praying for you” or “God loves you!” Or even repeated scripture like, “Be still and know that I am God” only bring comfort if we actually know of God’s love, will, power, plans, etc. - all things that are tied to knowing who God is.

I want you to be comforted. I want you to truly be at peace. I want chains to be broken off of you in the spiritual and earthly realms. I want miracles to happen in your life. I want you to witness God’s kingdom here on earth. 

And you know who else wants those things for you? God. 

Follow up reading for anyone who isn’t sure they can trust the Bible as a reliable source:

https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-reliable.html

I’m writing / editing this from my phone in between nursing sessions so please forgive any grammar / spelling errors!