WWTD?

Violet and I just finished Ted Lasso.  She missed most of the first season because she thought it was about soccer.  Then, after she lingered a bit too long downstairs before going to bed, she got sucked into the warmth and humor of the show as I watched an episode and she decided I could no longer watch it without her.  

This was my second viewing of the entire series and I would probably watch it again right now.  There’s something magical and attractive about this story and I think it goes a bit deeper than good writing, acting and humor.  I think Ted Lasso pulls at a string connected to every human’s heart.  

I first heard about the character on Instagram when friends were posting clips of the show.  I don’t watch a lot of TV and it’s easy for me to ignore these references but when I saw a clip of the main character throwing darts in a pub, the dialog got me.  This was when I discovered that we somehow had Apple TV and I started the series that night.  

So if you also thought it was a show about sports and ignored the social media hype for a few years, let me summarize it for you.  This really good guy takes a job he is likely not qualified to do and allows his love for others and his belief that people can be good to guide him through his own personal and career ups and downs.  It is a show about belief, forgiveness and love and yet it is not a show that mentions a religion or God in any meaningful way.  

I come from a Southern and Christian background.  For those of you not from here, the South (capital letter S) is a soup of a lot of different things that are all bathed in this broth of Christianity and humidity.   There’s a church (often literally) on every street corner and everyone seems to have some relationship to a church.  Grandma went there even if you didn’t.  Maybe you go on Easter and Christmas.  Maybe you attend regularly.  Maybe you can’t remember the last time you were inside a church but you’ll still put a check mark in the box beside “christian” any time you get a survey.  The weird thing about growing up in the South is that you’re just kind of assumed to be Christian.  Even when you are not religious at all, you grew up in that broth and you still identify with Christianity in some weird way.  

This is problematic for people who live here who actually do believe in and attempt to follow the teachings of Christ.  Mostly because the “culture of Christianity” and the actual ideology of Christianity are in such opposition to one another.

When I became an adult who was capable of thinking for himself, one of the first things I did was come to terms with what I had been taught in church for 20+ years and what I actually believed to be the teachings of Jesus.  Realizing that in many cases, these were two very different things, put me on a road that led to being an outsider in any local southern church.  

If you’ve only been paying attention to the current political situation for a few weeks, that’s long enough to know exactly what I’m talking about.  There are people who say they are “Christians” who are looking to control the government and hoping to pass laws that reflect what they think is representative of their religious beliefs.  You can watch a person who says they want Christian values vote to restrict the basic rights of other humans.  They may support laws that restrict or punish immigrants, they may support laws that restrict the rights of women and you may even see them vote to end supplying free food at school for poverty stricken children.  

Anyone who has looked at a New Testament even briefly will recognize Jesus’ teachings on how to treat the alien (immigrant) the women (Mary, Mary Magdalene, Martha, etc) and the poor and how these politicians are standing in direct opposition to those teachings.  

My first viewing of Ted Lasso had me on Google within a couple of episodes.  I was curious about the narrative and why it so closely matched the core of Christian beliefs.  I thought I might find that there was some intentional connection to Christianity but what I found instead was a host of blogs and articles written by “Christians” blasting Ted Lasso for not having more direct references to God or Jesus.  One called it “a Christ-less Gospel” and meant that in a very negative way.  I was surprised to find that Christians couldn’t be happy that such a great message of forgiveness and love was so popular and well received.  Instead, they were looking for fault, trying to tear down something that offered such hope and love to viewers.  

And then I realized, that’s what so many from the “culture of Christianity” want to do.  If it’s not their preferred version of the “truth”, they will attack it and try to kill it.  Their assumption that they subscribe to the only true version of religion means that everyone else is wrong (and probably going to hell).  

After a second viewing of the entire series, I think there’s something more going on.  

The “culture of Christianity” in my definition includes modern Christian churches along with many “church adjacent” people.  While their beliefs may vary on a personal level, they’ve all adopted a modern, American version of the Gospel of Jesus.  In this updated version of the Gospel, they play the part of “God’s chosen people” and they mix it with a hefty dose of “prosperity Gospel”.  All the scriptural references that suggest God will bless them are framed, stuck on their SUVs and tattooed on their ribcages.  Every scriptural reference that suggests a curse if you do not follow God’s laws is completely ignored.  Jesus is portrayed as a white, Republican, American man who wants gas prices to remain low, interest rates to be lowered and all of his followers to live in gloriously large homes while collecting their wealth.  In this narrative, the “Christian” living in the $500,000+ home with a successful career, multiple vehicles and a retirement plan also gets to play the part of the afflicted and oppressed.  They are the victim, the "persecuted" and anyone who doesn’t agree with them is the evil oppressor.  

One of the many flaws in this false narrative is that in order to believe this version, you must discard the complete teachings of Jesus.  I would also argue that based on correct cultural context, you would also have to discard all of the Old Testament scriptures as well.  I would also suggest that to believe this false narrative, you would also need to keep one eye closed at all times, figuratively speaking.  Sure, your church will ask you to give a tithe and perhaps an offering and the open eye allows you to give while the closed eye prevents you from seeing exactly where that money goes.  The church building, for example may be built off of a few million dollars worth of tithing while homeless people hanging out in the parking lot are asked to leave and no longer trespass on church property.  And yes, this is a real example from a real church in my area.  The money given to the church creates a very comfortable life for the ministers on staff, complete with housing allowances, annuity, vehicle allowances and a salary with more digits than yours.  Of course, career professionals should be paid, I just can’t imagine someone whose job it is to dwell on and teach from a text that continually suggests sacrificial giving to the poor and less fortunate would sleep well at night if they truly analyzed their financial situation.

Now, I realize you can’t just have unchecked vagrants coming and going in a social environment where kids are present.  I’m not saying we shouldn’t pay a pastor.  I’m not advocating for that at all.  I do think it’s odd that we’ve learned to close an eye to any way of helping the people closest to us who are in real need, while making sure to raise enough money to send a group off to a distant land to build a house or to build our own magnificent facility to be used a couple of days each week.  Why send groups away to “serve the poor” when you have a problem with the poor on your literal doorstep?  Why create a clean, dry space to remain empty 5 days a week when so many within walking distance long for such a space?

I could go on and on with examples, but you get the point.  

I know these people pretty well,  I’ve known them my whole life.  I understand why they would be threatened by a TV story that suggests that we can show love to the people in our lives in meaningful ways without committing our time and dollars to a local church.  I mean, if I were a church that had just taken out a loan of a few million dollars to build a building, I might look for ways to intentionally get more people to come to my church and give to my building fund.  I might get possessive about my church members and unconsciously look for ways to make my church look better or more “right” than the other churches in my area.  I might stop seeing all Christians as being on the same team and start to just hope that my team can help pay off this building debt.  

But we’re just talking about a TV show here, right?  Yeah.  So that Ted Lasso show….I recommend it.  Maybe watching it will put you on a path to think for yourself and reconsider some old, traditional beliefs.