Morality Tales
Have you ever felt a longing for adventure?
Maybe you’ve wanted to travel somewhere exotic?
Maybe it’s taking a risk to develop a friendship or romantic relationship?
Or perhaps it’s a longing to just find a significant cause? To find something that moves you...
Someone or something worth living for...
Stories, the best kind, awaken and develop this longing in our souls.
They beckon us into a fictional world to rethink our own, and in that, to rethink ourselves.
“If you understood any world besides your own, you would understand your own much better.”
- George MacDonald, Lilith
Like the characters at the beginning of a story, we often get bogged down in the status quo.
Sometimes it’s a dreary season, sometimes we’re discouraged by our circumstances, sometimes we have a difficulty we can’t overcome, and sometimes we’ve just lost our fight.
And something out of our control propels us into a significant life-change...
This week, the 2018 movie Ready Player One, will beckon us out of our stuck-ness and into a tale of unusual adventure.
But it’s more than just fun, excitement, 80’s references, and video games!
Touted as a story that is “Willy Wonka combined with the Matrix,” underneath Ready Player One hides a morality tale that harkens back to Medieval Christianity.
Ancient Christians would use morality tales to wrap spiritual-moral lessons in, with a series of trials for the main character, that puts on full display for us the development of our spiritual life.
Morality tales speak of the designs of the Creator, our experiences of testing and struggle, and the possibility that, as we endure with Jesus, He does a work in us that makes us ready to live an abundant life.
But like any good story, to be changed, we have to jump in...
If you haven’t seen Ready Player One, take a moment to dive in this week…
Ask the Lord to show you Himself in this story.
What is the creator of "The Oasis" like?
Who is the antagonist, and what is his strategy?
How is the main character able to overcome the series of challenges?
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal His story hidden in this morality tale.
And ask yourself, what is it that hits home with you as you watch!
See you Sunday!
Pastor Dave
PS. When watching Ready Player One, you’re going to find the melding of the generations. It’s chock full of 80’s references that many will know, from characters, to music, to quotes, while it’s set in a video game world—that of course relates to the younger audiences. It's also not a tame movie, so be ready for explosions, adrenaline, and, in any good morality tale, the contrasts of various moral options.
Please be aware when you watch and be ready to fast forward or skip any sections that you are not comfortable with, and I would encourage younger ones to wait on watching this until they're older. (Consider watching Willy Wonka with little ones instead, which is also a morality tale!)
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Dig Deeper this Week:
Watch the Bible Project Video: “Why God Tests Your Faith”
Create a Watch party for Ready Player One:
Gather with friends in your home or online to watch Ready Player One. Have fun. Ask questions. Converse afterwards. But begin with a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to speak to you specifically during the film, and be prepared to notice HIs nudges.
1 BONUS POINT: If you ask someone from a different generation what they think about Ready Player One?
2 BONUS POINTS: if you invite someone from a different generation to your Watch Party with you!