It is always good when the Superbowl is not much of a game because then I do not have to feel terrible about actually looking forward to various companies trying to shill their products to me. Well, this year, the game was good. And yet I still sat there and watched most every commercial.
And on the whole it seemed like the ads this year where focused on some good themes. Dads who play with their kids were lauded, girls were told to to not allow their gender to stifle their confidence, and several juggernaut corporations suggested the world would be better with a few kind words here and there.
I guess I should be happy that Katy kept her clothes on, the commercials sought to be positive, and a good game broke out in the midst of all the other entertainment. But my overall thought was this. How sad that we need Dove, Coca-cola, and McDonalds to preach to us about goodness and happiness.
What a big hole we have in society when the thought of saying something nice must be paired with an order of fries, the thought of not being jerks to one another must be sent on waves of Coca-cola via the internet, and the model for fatherhood now comes from the holy trinity of Dove, Nissan, and Toyota.
It seems to me that the way our part of the world has been hollowed out over the last decades is finally being noticed. People are recognizing the need for dads, for morality, and for true joy. But the canyon that exists in our society today cannot be filled up with Coca-cola and Fries. It cannot be cleaned up with all the Dove soap in the world.
Many secularists are trying to to find a way to fix what is broken without returning to the things they left behind when they ran from God. But it will not work. Indeed, our souls will be restless until they find their rest in Jesus.
May we in the church best honest about the cavernous holes that exist in our modern culture and may we place Jesus into each one not only through blogs and sermons but in every interaction we are blessed to have. There is indeed a need for dads, for girls to have confidence in who God has made, and for kinds words to warm the cold parts of our world. But only Jesus and his gifts are able to truly fix what is wrong. Let us turn to Him.
