Lent Day 5 - The Imitation Game

As you can see, I'm in an Oscars mood.

I saw all of the films save one: American Sniper. I'll watch it one day. Out of the 8 films, I had 4 Favorites:

1. Whiplash
2. Theory of Everything
3. Imitation Game
4. Selma

In that order. None of these won best picture. Womp, womp.  But congrats to all the winners everywhere! All of the nominated movies and actors were wonderful this year. Probably one of the best awards shows in years.

But...what does this have to do with my Lent blog series? Why am I on Day 5; what happened to yesterday's blog?

For the first question...you'll see. For the second, I have decided to skip Sundays on a Catholic  technicality (though I'm not Catholic). Technically, Sundays are not part of Lent, as it's "the Lord's Day", a celebration day, and a sort of sabbath. A sabbath from blogs.

In Today's reading in 40 Days of Growth (which is technically yesterday's reading that I skipped), I was given this awesome passage:

Be imitators...like kids!

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. - Ephesians 5:1-5

Disclaimer: There is a lot going on in this scripture, and I'm probably not going to do it justice.

This scripture made me think immediately of The Imitation Game. Particularly a scene where Alan Turing is explaining what the "Imitation Game" is:

Alan Turing:  It's called "The Imitation Game...would you like to play?
Detective: Play?
Alan Turing: It's a game. A test of sorts. For determining whether something is a... a machine or a human being.
Detective: How do I play?
Alan Turing: Well, there's a judge and a subject, and... the judge asks questions and, depending on the subject's answers, determines who he is talking with... what he is talking with... All you have to do is ask me a question.

That was the movie definition. Officially, Turing was describing the Turing Test, which is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.

So to be an imitator of God, is to, in a very real sense, "play God." When we hear that phrase "to play God" it has an immediately negative connotation. But here we have Paul commanding this of Christ followers! However, the way in which one "plays God" is specified. It doesn't mean to decide if someone lives or dies, or to hold someone's future in the palm of your hand and crush it at your pleasure. That's Hollywood stuff. To truly play God means to walk in love and to give yourself up for others.

"I came to seek and save that which was lost" - Luke 19:10

"I am come that they might have life; and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -Romans 5:8

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage - Philippians 2:6

If Jesus was humble...why are we so proud? If Jesus is loving and accepting, why are we hating? If while we were dirty, God put His hand on us, why do we act like some are untouchable? Distasteful? And if Jesus came so that "they" (I'm thinking that's like everybody) might have life, why are we picking and choosing the people we think are good enough for God's kingdom? 

Clearly somebody is losing the Imitation Game! If we're playing to win, we're supposed to exhibit loving behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of...God!

This is tall order. Especially because Paul follows up his request for imitation with the Ephesians' current situation: immorality, impurity, greed. All the things that arise out of a lack of love.

I have to admit I'm a poor imitation. On the wrong day, at the wrong time, if someone asked me a question, they'd definitely know who they weren't talking to: the Holy Spirit (aka God).

And, it's not just me. People are looking at the church with more and more skepticism everyday. For so many reasons. But is one of them that they're hearing my voice. Your voice. Bobby, Sue, and Jane's voice? Is it because people can easily tell who they're talking to, because it sounds nothing like Jesus?