Josh Benner

Tag: big bang theory

  • Young Sheldon episode tackles struggles in faith

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    While it’s a comedy about a boy-genius, CBS’s “Young Sheldon” took up some heavy theological topics in last weeks episodes titled “A crisis of faith and octopus aliens.”

    The show is a spin off of the Big Bang Theory where Iian Armitage plays Big Bang Theory character Sheldon Cooper as a child. It’s a comedy featuring this boy who’s incredibly brilliant in a family that’s pretty ordinary. His mother Mary (played by Zoe Perry) is an Evangelical Christian.

    In this episode,  a family friend passes away and Mary’s character is thrown into a Spiritual crisis.

    Her pastor tries to help by saying what works for him (serving others). Serving others is great. Serving others is healthy and it can be helpful to some people in a time of depression, because it shifts your focus onto others and their needs. In the episode, Mary attempts to throw her into service, church activity, Bible studies, plants a new garden. Yet she still can’t get over her sadness.

    She turns to drinking and withdrawing from faith, stops saying grace and doesn’t go to church one weekend. Sheldon notices the changes in her behavior and reaches out in his concern.

    “Faith means believing in something you can’t know for sure is real, and right now I am struggling with that,” Mary says.

    Sheldon doesn’t believe in God, but throws in an apologetic for his struggling mother:

    “Did you know that if gravity was slightly more powerful the universe would collapse into a ball? Also if gravity was slightly less powerful the universe would fly apart and there’s be no star or planets,”

    “Gravity is precisely as strong as it needs to be and if the ratio of the electromagnetic force to the strong force wasn’t one percent, life wouldn’t exist, what are the odds that would happen all by itself?”

    -Young Sheldon

    When his mom question points out that Sheldon doesn’t even believe in God, he says he doesn’t, “but the precision of the universe at least makes it logical to conclude there’s a creator.”

    I really thought it was a great episode. I appreciate how it dealt with the subject of a person hitting a Spiritual wall. Because a significant part of Mary’s character both on Young Sheldon (and the same character on Big Bang Theory) is that she’s an Evangelical Christian. I didn’t think the episode was making fun of faith, rather I thought it was a sincere look into real struggles.

    The road of faith is not without its twists and turns, not without its bumps. It’s not without construction and slow downs.

    The temptation can be to want to make ourselves busy. That’s what Mary’s character initially does. But in the face of tragedy, in a world where people sin and where death is a result of that sin and where death is a consequence of the fallen world that all will face, to take that to God, and to lament the death that is in the world. It was not the original creation for the world, and it goes against our natural inclinations. Lament is a common practice in the Bible. It’s a practice that I think the modern American church (especially WASPs often overlook).

    Lament is an expression of grief and sorrow. Lament is based in the reality of who God is. Lament is based in a high view of the goodness of God in a fallen world.

    I think it’s important to be humble and to recognize that God is God and we are not. That God is sovereign.

    I think it’s important for Christians to remember the promises of God. And to remember them for what they are, not as caricatures or distortions. God doesn’t promise that life will be without pain (he promises the opposite). God doesn’t promise life will be without loss (he promises the opposite). God doesn’t promise that we’ll always be happy with our situations, or that things should be easy, or that we’ll be free of suffering. He promises the opposite.

    Sometimes our major misgivings with God come from a faulty understanding of who God is or what he has promised. Life is hard. The Bible doesn’t hide from that reality. Some churches can create this pressure that everything should always be ok, or that if you have enough faith, you should always be happy. Those aren’t Biblical views.

    The promises that God does make are that those who mourn can be blessed, for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4). That everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). That nothing can separate us from the Lord of God (Romans 8:38). That there is grace and redemption for sin and that God has given us every Spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). That God hears the prayers of his people (1 Peter 3:12). And so many more promises the Bible makes.

    Sadly, many people turn away in times of despair.

    Where is your hope?

    People put hope in a lot of different things. For some, they put hope not in God but in the Church. The Church is great, but that is not our hope. For some, people put their hope in their efforts, their pursuits, their activities. That too will inevitably fail you. Our hope must be in the good, loving, and eternal God of the universe.

    Spiritual depression is common in the Christian life. Some of the greatest leaders in the history of the Church struggled with it. Because, as Mary said in the show, faith is believing in something you can’t know for sure. And when that is coupled with our sin, with our unfulfilled hopes, and with the sin that is in the world, sometimes there are struggles. There can hopefully be solace in knowing that. You’re not alone.

    And while we change, God is unchanging. And God continues to invite us into life through his son Jesus.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • “Living Biblically” series an opportunity for conversations about faith

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    Last night, CBS premiered its new show “Living Biblically” about a man who’s life is suddenly thrown into a crisis when his best friend dies and his wife finds out she’s pregnant.

    Lead character Chip Curry (Jay R. Ferguson) evaluates his life.

    He had tried to throw himself into his work as a movie reviewer. Although his office shows off worldly decadence. A coworker is having an affair. Chip’s boss is cold hearted and only cares about the bottom line.

    Chip goes to a bookstore in an attempt to find a self help book, but ends up coming across a Bible. “Do you believe in signs?” Chip asks the bookstore’s clerk.

    As a sort of project, Chip decides to entirely throw himself into living Biblically for the next nine months (premise based on the book “the year of living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs).

    Chip’s wife who’s a physician and who has a focus on science is skeptical of the role of faith. But she tries to be supportive of her husband.

    Chip talks to a priest (and later a Rabbi) and seeks out their counsel as he tries to live Biblically.

    The pilot had a couple of humorous moments, but I also find comedies hard to judge based on their first episode.

    Some Christians will absolutely dislike this show. For instance, because of situations like a coworker having an affair (spoiler alert: after Chip throws a rock at the coworker, he evaluates his decisions and comes clean to his wife and later thanks Chip). But there will be people who find some of the subject matter crass. But those situations are also necessary in a series that revolves around a character trying to living Biblically in a culture where that’s countercultural.

    Executive producer Johnny Galecki (of Big Bang Theory and Roseanne fame) said that he wanted to do a comedy about religion. Galecki cites his own Catholic upbringing and has talked in interviews of how many who are involved with the production of the show are devout in their beliefs.

    In an interview with the Television Critics Associated Winter Press Tour, Galecki said, ““I think, hopefully, [people of faith] will find this show a cool take on what a lot of people base their entire lives around.”

    From other interviews Galecki has done, it seems that one of his goals is for people to be able to have honest conversations about religion. The show hasn’t set out to mock religion.

    Although it is a show about faith, it’s a man exploring faith. I don’t necessarily consider it to be a family show, but it’s a relevant show in that many are on spiritual journeys in society. The show is more of a cultural commentary. The vast majority of Americans believe in God. And through various situations of life, many face times where they truly begin to more seriously seek God out.

    As we see in the show, there are different sources of truth that people try to pursue. There are many sources of purpose to which people look.

    And then there’s Chip, who has thrown himself into Godly living. So many in our society are lukewarm to faith and seem to believe in a God who affirms whatever they want to do. Chip, on the other hand, is trying to truly live a Godly life. In that, there are times when he doesn’t understand but he follows.

    There are situations where he faces conflict about knowing what is Biblical but facing challenges to his newfound values. We see this when Chip and his wife run into the coworker who’s on a date and where Chip is conflicted about telling the truth vs playing along with his friend’s lie in order to avoid an uncomfortable situation).

    By the end of the episode, even secular characters are noticing positive aspects to the changes in Chip’s life (one says he might even need to start).

    What the show is trying to do is very difficult. Have a comedy about religion that appeals to a large audience. But for many in America, regardless of beliefs, I think that this show can achieve one of Galecki’s goals about being a thought provoking look into religious life in America.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.