Trying to play God?
Many die-hard Beatles fans will be thrilled to learn that they may not have heard the last from John Lennon. On April 24, iN DEMAND pay-tv service will host a seance to contact the late Beatle for a paying audience. A recent article tells all about the pay-per-view show that will certainly create controversy. The shows producers did not get consent from Lennon’s estate but came up with their newest idea solely on what they think would attract viewers.
Hearing this reminds me of a time when a desperate man named Saul had realized that God was no longer with him as a result of his bad choices. What did he do when he needed to hear from God yet God was silent…he took it into his own hands and had a seance to call back the recently deceased prophet of God named Samuel (1 Samuel 28:3-25). After Samuel comes back and gives Saul a message from beyond the grave it says that “immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel’s words” (28:20).
It strikes me as sad that we feel the need and the right to take matters into our own hands despite what it may take to get there. Yes, I do believe that mediums can summon “spirits” from the beyond the grave (but I would suggest that it isn’t God giving them the ability to do this) despite the fact that the producers of the show had tried this idea before with a show in which they attempted to contact Princess Diana from beyond the grave only to fail in the connection (although they still managed to make a hefty profit in their failure). What is our society willing to pay to get what we want?
This is the personal blog of Jeremy Jernigan. Husband, father, teaching pastor, and student of truth.
what is society willing to pay to get what we want?
well, how bad do we want it? druggies will do almost anything to get enough money for their habits. a man in love will climb trees and brave running into her father for just another conversation with the angel of his dreams. Peter wanted to be crucified upsidedown so as not to disrespect his Lord. when we want something bad enough, there are no obstacles. i don’t know if you meant the question on such a grand scale or not, but i rather admire the way God made us that we can become so focused on our goal so as to push all other things aside, which transcends beyond just our society and into human nature. misguided as some ambitions and wants might be, there is still something we should be proud of in our fight to make things happen. the same motivation behind paying to hear Lennon one last time lies behind the civil rights movement and the Revolution too. a want to see something happen. proper guidance and direction is all that’s needed after that to make it truly effective.
Well, you are taking this from a different perspective. While it may sound glorious to hear that we can overcome any obstacle to reach our dreams, that isn’t really what I’m referring to. I guess a better question would be “What are we willing to compromise to get what we want?” If getting what we want involves going around God and His plan to get it than is it really a noble thing for us to be working so hard to achieve? What does it mean if we have to use spiritual forces outside of God to get what we want?
So you’re saying you aren’t going to buy it on PPV? WHAT!?!?!, I was planning on watching it at your house. Seriously, though, I heard about this last week and I had the same reaction, riddiculous. My thought on it though doesn’t have to do with what we’re willing to do as sinful mankind to get what we want, but rather what people will do to make a quick buck. John Lennon, tragically killed, Princess Diana, also tragically killed, and these kinds of people strike nerves in people. Nerves that run deep, so deep that they’ll pay money for some crackpot to contact their dead hero/heroine from beyond the grave. I think it’s really just a sorry ploy by the producers of the show to make money off of morons. I may be coming out of right field with this last comment, but, I don’t see this situation as much different than what TBN and other such “televangilistic” orginizations do to make money. They’re playing on the emotions of gullible people.