Bad Form

Every Wednesday we’ll post something having to do with doctrine and purity. Hope it helps.

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Bad Form

“Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.” – II Timothy 3:5

My wife and I have followed the NBC series Smash since its first episode, generally enjoying it; sometimes hitting the pause button when the occasional tryst or needlessly suggestive moment is featured. It centers on the evolution of a Broadway musical based on Marilyn Monroe’s final years, and provides a dynamite cast, terrific musical numbers, and the fun of watching a play sprout from inception to opening night, all from the backstage, insider’s viewpoint of the producer, songwriters, director and performers. It’s pretty good tv.

But last Monday it crossed a line many will applaud, some will boo, and others will miss altogether. Count me among the boo-ers, as this episode presented something I not only believe to be false, but also representative of a growing trend I call the “Nice-ification” of the faith. Nice-ification works something like this: If it’s Christian, it should be nice; if it’s nice, it’s good. If people do nice things, then God’s working in them, and a person’s niceness in general justifies his behavior in the specific.

Nice-ification took center stage Monday night in an episode concluding in a lively church service attended by a cast member fresh out of a one night stand with the man who’d been in a live-in relationship with the lead’s understudy; a writer whose adultery with a recently fired then re-hired cast member had nearly shipwrecked her marriage; the openly gay songwriting partner of the aforementioned writer; and the Marilyn Monroe understudy whose lover had the fling with aforementioned cast member and whose near obsessive relationship with the move star lead in the play had led to public speculations about her lesbianism, though at this point homosexuality seems not to be on her menu. Got it?

Oh, and they’re all in church at the invitation of the gay boyfriend of the gay songwriter, a thoroughly likeable young African American whose Christian family embraces his homosexuality, whose church and pastor likewise seem to have no objections, and who is the most decent, honorable and seemingly God-fearing character in the show.

Glad they’re all in church, truly. When non-believers walk through our doors we should rejoice. Trouble is, in this scene no distinction is made of belief versus non-belief; righteous living among believers versus immorality; saved versus unsaved. The Pastor opens the service enthusiastically, followed by the openly homosexual young singer who invites his friend the understudy (who’s been portrayed throughout the show with no reference to personal faith whatsoever) to join him at the altar to sing a blistering duet version of Kirk Franklin’s Stand. Everyone is moved; all characters are visibly tearful, excited, jumping out of their seats. And as a result of non-believers hearing good gospel music sung by an apparent non-Christian and a gay church member, they leave the church not saved, not repentant, but much nicer. And that’s what passes these days as fruit of the Spirit.

Nice is good, but truth is more than nice. Truth makes necessary distinctions, distinctions found in Scripture and traditionally held in high regard. Accordingly a believer in unrepentant sexual sin ought not to be leading worship; a non-believer should be welcomed but not given the platform; and evidence of regeneration will be specific faith in the work of the cross, a new nature, a new life. Nice will no doubt be part of the package, but not its essence. Here Smash, deliberately or not, promoted Nice-ification at high decibel in a bit of propaganda so artful it had Renee and I singing along with the performance, then muttering “How false!”, then singing and jiving again.

A form of godliness features the music, the lingo, the warmth and many of the good works associated with Christianity, absent regeneration, repentance, sanctification. It’s powder without power, an attractive presentation of what appears to be the gospel but is, in fact, another gospel. And while I hardly expect NBC to present sound doctrine, I hope its viewers take time to discern whether something with Christian trappings is inevitably Christian, and whether they’re viewing a form of godliness or godliness itself.

Because there’s genuine power in one; persuasion absent power in the other. It’s not necessarily nice to say it, but the difference between the two is critical.