{"id":25657,"date":"2019-04-18T14:45:40","date_gmt":"2019-04-18T20:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/?post_type=blog&p=25657"},"modified":"2019-04-18T14:45:40","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T20:45:40","slug":"game-of-thrones-and-the-church-people-a-parable","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/game-of-thrones-and-the-church-people-a-parable\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGame of Thrones\u201d and the Church People: A Parable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once upon a time, there was a little town that had a park where talented thespians from the local theater would perform plays for onlookers. They brought their own props and costumes and, to their credit, gave impressive performances there under the bright blue sky.<\/p>\n

There was a respectable level of interest in the troupe from the beginning, but things really took off when they began to showcase a series of plays with a fantastical medieval theme; they titled the series \u201cGame of Thrones.\u201d The storyline was replete with action, intrigue and interpersonal drama \u2014 enough to keep audiences on the edge of their seats and coming back week after week.<\/p>\n

To accurately reflect the unfolding narrative, it naturally became necessary for the actors to occasionally strip off their clothes, at times until they were completely naked. Then, because the storyline warranted it, they would simulate graphic violence, sex, and even violent sex \u2014 including rape \u2014 right there on stage.<\/p>\n

They became famous \u2014 even celebrated \u2014 for this. When local prudes began to complain about the potentially deleterious effects of the show, the troupe pushed back. This was art, and you don\u2019t spare your audience when artistic integrity is at stake. People need to see with their own eyes things like rape and sex and nudity to understand what they really are.<\/p>\n

As you can imagine, the performances became a huge hit and the audiences grew. About this time a curious group started showing up: church people. Not just the folks who stumble in to services on Christmas and Easter. These were the weekly attenders, the regular tithers, the small group leaders \u2014 even the pastor.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep playing on the swing set!\u201d they would holler at their kids while staring forward, entranced by the scene in front of them.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ll come get you when we\u2019re done!\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow believers caught wind of this and were disturbed. Why in the world would a Christian watch a performance featuring naked people? And in public?<\/p>\n

The Christian fans of the park performances shrugged them off. They liked the story, and it was just fiction anyway. Besides, it made them a lot more relatable to the unbelievers around the water cooler at work. They\u2019d have a lot to talk about on Monday, and they didn\u2019t want to miss out on what would certainly be some spirited discussions.<\/p>\n

See, I\u2019m just like everyone else<\/em>, thought the theater-going believers, with a sense of pride.<\/p>\n

And so they were.<\/p>\n

Sex and Death by the Numbers<\/h2>\n

I haven\u2019t seen \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d (and I don\u2019t have HBO, so there\u2019s that). But my question is: Why, with its level of graphic sex, nudity and violence would a Christian want to see it?<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, wait,\u201d you say. \u201cIf you haven\u2019t seen it, what do you<\/em> know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I know: Sara David over at Broadly wrote an interesting piece in 2017 titled \u201cCounting Every Instance of Rape, Death, and Nudity on \u2018Game of Thrones<\/a>\u201d and here\u2019s what she reported:<\/p>\n

Number of onscreen rapes: 17<\/p>\n

Number of instances of nudity: 144<\/p>\n

Onscreen deaths: 865<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t even include data from the last two years.<\/p>\n

Can someone please tell me why I would want to go to the park and watch the local theater troupe strip naked and pretend to have sex and\/or commit rape within a couple feet of me? Is there really any<\/em> justifiable reason?<\/p>\n

Fixing My Thoughts<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m sure there are dedicated fans out there who will come up with all kinds of arguments for why I\u2019m being a judgy prude. Whatever. I can\u2019t watch stuff like that and believe that Jesus could sit next to me and enjoy the show.<\/p>\n

Maybe I\u2019m weak, but that could be a good thing. Maybe I\u2019m really literal with passages like: \u201c[N]ow, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise\u201d (Philippians 4:8, NLT).<\/p>\n

You say, \u201cWe can apply this verse and point fingers at a bunch of \u2018non-excellent\u2019 things Christians do.\u201d I agree.<\/p>\n

But \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d is sure a great place to start.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2019 Joshua Rogers. All rights reserved,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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