God or the Girl—again…
Ξ April 17th, 2006 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Theology, Journal |
Well, I posted a while back about the series that was coming out on A&E called God or the Girl. I have since seen this show and I must say that its quite well done. When I first saw the show come out, I was a little shocked and was using that shock really to blog about my feeling about this fad we’ve had lated of Reality TV. I was talking about how most “reality” shows are not real at all. They take what could be real people and put them in completely unreal environments where they are pretty well tested as to what their limits are. It’s not really all that real if you think about it.
God or the Girl is NOT this kind of show though. It’s a documentary, not a freak show. I can say that now that I’ve seen a few episodes. It’s interesting because MOST peopel aren’t facing the decisions these guys are facing. A couple of them had/have really meaningful relationships and are having to choose between a celebate life as a priest, or a family life as a husband. The show clearly depicts both choices as being good and worthy options. This is refreshing to see.
The whole show is centred only around Catholic priesthood though, which is kind of funny to me because my dad is a priest and I’m here. Some of these guys are almost tortured by the decision and I find it interesting because if I were faced with the decision as an Anglican, I would not have to choose celebacy.
It raises some questions about Catholism. I have spend a lot of time in the past thinking on Catholism and the claim they have to being the “one true church”. There are a number of things I struggle with in regards to catholism and one day maybe I’ll blog in detail about it, but for now I just think of the concept that in the minds of these guys on the show, they can not imagine a life where they are pastors AND husbands.
Consider this, if they have gifts in leadership, teaching, and pastoring, and they KNOW that, and they also have the drive and desire to be a husband and a father who is faithful and devoted to God and his family, then why is it inconceivable to them that maybe they are called into a priesthood that is not Catholic?
Here’s the problem with denomination - ALL denomination - we are too close-minded about what’s on the outside of our denominational walls. Why? We can’t seem to fathom the fact that God is working all over the world in many different ways and through the devotion of many different men and women of God from many different churches. How many Catholic priests out there would be far more effective if they were also fathers? How many protestant pastors would be far more suited to celebacy than they would ever really consider? How many staunch Anglican priests would God be using to actually be healing masses of people if they would only follow their own personal gifting and forget for a second about what’s going to keep the people in their church happy?
I guess we’re lucky that God can work in mysterious ways. He can find a way through no matter how inefficient we can be. It makes you wonder though.
And for the record, God or the Girl, is series worth watching. It’s factinating, respectfull and truthful while at the same time being quite entertaining. I will say this though - the theme song is DATED. And old Jars of Clay song. It’s just such a cliche “Christian” song. They’d be better off with a Lifehouse song or a Creed song.
If you get the chance, check it out. I’m not sure when it airs normally, but I know I saw it on A&E.