Thursday, May 2, 2013

My review of the docmentary film STUCK....and who is to blame.

(I meant to write this post soon after seeing the STUCK premiere...however, April 15th happened to also be the day I got the call that a birth mom had chosen US! You can read all about that here if you like)

As I sat on the STUCK tour bus on April 15th speaking with Craig Juntunen (Executive Producer) I had the uncanny feeling that something was missing from this picture. And then like a wave it hit me.

I had made the incorrect assumption that any documentary film about children needing families would be motivated, at least to some degree, by a love for the Lord and a desire to be obedient to Him in caring for the orphan. But this was not the case. I quickly became aware that this movement sweeping the nation was very simply an effort to get the masses fired up about the politics behind International adoption, and get Washington's attention in hopes that the way things are would eventually turn into the way they think things should be.

I became increasingly uncomfortable throughout the 1 and 1/2 hour long film as each and every person on the screen opened their mouths and never, never, never, never did one person utter the words

Jesus
God
Church
Bible

I was uncomfortable, not because the film was inappropriate or entirely wrong, but because I felt as if I was watching someone else do my job....

.....and God was watching me watch someone else do my job.

Like a mother standing in a room watching while someone else comforts their crying child.
Like a father watching a stranger teaching his son how to ride a bike.

Like the Church, watching the world do our job. 

And we wonder why people call us hypocrites.

There are many issues with the way International adoptions work in this country. Do we need better oversight of our US adoption agencies. Oh yes. Do we need to improve the way the Hague Convention operates? Yep. Do children all over the world deserve to be in families rather than stuck in orphanages and institutions? Of course. But guess what friends? We can make legislation and perfect the process until we are all in happy agreement, but unless more Christian families STEP UP to ransom these children, what will be the point?

This is the part of the program where most Christians start to zone out with the "I am just not called" excuses. Let me just say this: We need more Christian families to step up for the orphan, but not every Christian family should adopt. If you give God the blank check with your life and your family and He doesn't lead you to adoption, then support someone He does lead. Same thing with International missions. You can either be a zealous go-er, a zealous sender, or disobedient (stole that from John Piper). Just DO SOMETHING.

We have many, many problems in this broken world friends. One of them is the millions of people who have not been reached with the Gospel. Another one is the people who have been reached, who claim Christ but only offer Him lip service instead of their lives.

50 years from now people will look back on today and they will think:

Adoption: Humane Society
Orphans: Brad & Angelina
AIDS: Bono
Poor: Government Welfare


What will they say the Church did?

What will they say you did?

Did you coast it out in your comfortable life, giving the bare minimum required to be able to keep your Christian club membership card? Did you warm a pew once a week and write a check, most of which will ultimately cycle back to serve you. Or, did you realize that your life is not your life at all. That we are here merely to bring Glory to our Father and serve Him alone while we are on this earth.

Ultimately, without the power of the Gospel this will simply be another movement. And, without Jesus himself coming back, nothing on this earth will truly ever be made right. We live in a fallen world and until He returns that will remain the case. But in the meantime, He left us with work to do.

And CHURCH, we are not doing our job.




1 comment:

  1. Good post. I think you should do your own documentary film on the global orphan crisis and call is "Step Up". :)

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