Good Christian B-Word?

I posted this a year ago and thought it was worth a repost since ABC just released the show last Sunday now and calling it "GCB" and "Good Christian Belles" instead. Sneaky...

March 9th, 2011:

          I just read an article posted by a friend that ABC is developing a show for TV called "Good Christian Bitches." The article is slamming ABC and the producers for even dreaming to create such a show. The article sums up the plot, "The plot centers on the life of reformed 'mean girl' Amanda, played by 'Talladega Nights' actress Leslie Bibb, who returns to her hometown of Dallas to find herself fodder for malicious gossip from the women in the Christian community." The proposed tagline for the show is,"For Heaven’s sake, don’t let God get in the way of a good story!"

          This does not shock me. I expect the world to be the world. I expect non-Christian people to do things that a Christian would consider offensive and vulgar. That's the currency that the world, especially moder median, often deal in. I'll offer this for you to chew on and maybe this will give us some perspective.

          There is a sadness in my spirit connected with this story and it has nothing to do with the negative perception cast by this show. My sadness comes from the fact that, if we really thought about it, this is a totally feasible concept. The article quotes a "Christian publisher" named Tessie DeVore saying, "A show like this can damage perceptions [of Christians in this country]." I'm sad to tell her that it is apparently too late. Perceptions already seem to be damaged.

          If Christians in our world and The Church (capital letters on purpose) were functioning correctly this would be a rediculous concept. The sad reality is, it's not. The concept of this show is totally believable. This falls at the feet of church leaders (myself being one of those). We must work harder to cultivate a culture of love, respect, and purity of living. Let me say, before I go any further, that this show focuses on the problems of one gender, but this problem transcends gender, age, nationality and socio-economic identity. It is not just tied to females.

          I cannot give you a silver bullet to fix these problems in The Church. I can't explain why the ideosyncrocy exists within The Church that allows us to accept gossip, backbiting, clicks (from students to adults and across gender) are perfectly acceptable in The Church of our modern era. I can tell you that there IS hope for something better. There IS at least one way to pursue a resolution to this problem if we cannot fix it outright. Galatians 5 tells us that we should purue, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." It says that against those things there is no law. I think that means you can't go wrong pursuing those things in your life.

          If The Church were being The Church this wouldn't be a news story because it would be laughable. People would say things like, "That's silly, Christians don't act that way?" Instead it's totally beliveable.