The Gospel According to Forrest Gump #1: Introduction

Carol and I are at the end of a few days of R & R in the mountains of Tennessee. Yesterday we ate lunch at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Gatlinburg. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere exceedingly fun. Over lunch I mentioned something to Carol I have said many times over the years-- the movie Forrest Gump is the most profoundly quotable movie I have ever watched. There are probably others, but I have never seen them.

Good communicators of the gospel make serious and important connections between the Good News of Jesus Christ and the contemporary situation. In so doing one does not need to baptize the contemporary culture (and God forbid that the church try!), but neither does it reject without qualification what civilization has to offer (nothing good in witnessing to the gospel ever comes from such a posture). Some church movements of late have cozied up to culture too closely lacking serious critical analysis of the culture they have engaged. Some Christians who identify themselves in these movements are rightly reacting (though too strongly) to the opposite extreme listening to older preachers wax on incessantly about the evils of culture leaving the impression that nothing of the civilization can be redeemed. The truth, as is often the case, is to be found somewhere in the middle.

My dining experience yesterday has motivated me to make good on something I have said I have wanted to do for some time-- reflect on many of the various and wonderful quotables in Forrest Gump attempting to make those connections to the gospel. I will attempt to publish a post once a week, but it will more likely be every ten days to two weeks. The danger here in making such connections is two-fold: making strained connections on one end or drawing superficial associations on the other. Hopefully, I can avoid both.

So, I am going to try out my sea legs over the next few weeks as I wade into the waters of the Gospel According to Forrest Gump.