Sunday Matinee #91 Thank You for Smoking
Handing out blessings instead of "cool points."
Mark 10:2-16 | EnterTheBible.org
Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost | 10.06.2024
Context: Mark lifts up a brief but brilliant moment of Jesus engaging with children. While teaching, some people bring children to him but are rebuked to leave him alone. Yet Jesus says no, I am for everyone, and that includes children.
13 People were bringing children to him in order that he might touch them, and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Thank You for Smoking | 2005
IMDb | Letterboxd | RRMC
Context: Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) appears at his son, Joey’s (Cameron Bright), classroom for “What do you do?” day. The problem? Naylor is a lobbyist for the tobacco industry. What he has to say to these young elementary kids, including Kid #3 (Courtney Taylor Burness) is nothing short of shocking, including to the Teacher (Marianne Muellerleile).
Kid #3: My mom used to smoke. She says that cigarettes kill.
Nick Naylor: Really? Now, is your mommy a doctor?
Kid #3: No.
Nick Naylor: A scientific researcher of some kind?
Kid #3: No.
Nick Naylor: Well, she doesn't exactly sound like a credible expert, now, does she? Don't feel bad! It's okay to listen to your mom. I mean, it's good to listen to your parents... Joey! All I'm suggesting is that there will always be people trying to tell you what to do and what to think. There probably already are people doing that. Am I right?
Class: Yes.
Nick Naylor: I'm here to say that when someone tries to act like some sort of an expert, you can respond, "Who says?"
Kid #4: So… cigarettes are good for you?
Teacher: No!
Nick Naylor: No, that's not… That's not what I'm getting at. My point is that you have to think for yourself. You have to challenge authority. If your parents told you that chocolate was dangerous, would you just take their word for it?
Class: No!
Nick Naylor: Exactly! So perhaps instead of acting like sheep when it comes to cigarettes, you should find out for yourself.
Teacher: Okay, then!
Commentary:
Kids, amirite?
You can only shake your head and smile at the disciples trying to keep the children away from Jesus. There is something so truly ignorant in their actions. We don’t only know better today as readers looking back. One would hope that even back then, if we were in the area, we would know they’re being ridiculous. Here’s the greatest teacher the people have ever heard, they want their children to receive his blessing, so you’re just going to say no to that? Come on!
Jesus has a heart that is all about love and trust. That is how these children live their lives, with love and trust. Theirs is the kingdom of God. Or, to put it another way, their approach to life is the right approach to life. You and I both know the world is not perfect and there are gobs of bad actors out there, so true innocence may seem out of reach. But innocence is different than ignorance. The disciples let their ignorance of Jesus’s desire to embrace the children - yes, even the sticky loud children with vegetables up their nose - crowd out their ability to value innocence in a seemingly corrupt world.
When Jesus rebukes them, he models what welcome and love looks like. There’s no ulterior motives here, no marketing schemes, no giveaways so it’s free this time and costs next time. It’s just love. That is innocence.
Nick Naylor is what one might call “morally flexible.” As a lobbyist for big tobacco in Thank You for Smoking, Nick and his associates are always looking for the next group of smokers. Today, Nick is in a classroom of children. He doesn’t hand out cigarettes, of course, but he isn’t handing out blessings or spiritual truths, either. In the den of innocence, he is trading in ignorance.
Does he raise reasonable points of logic? Sure, but there’s a big difference between “Have faith like a child” and “Challenge authority and experts and find out for yourself when it comes to cigarettes.” Does he say it like that? Not quite. But that’s his job as a lobbyist. To say it one way that implies it another way in order that you walk away with a new way of thinking.
In both the Gospel of Mark and this scene, we see the influence and modeling that adults can have for children. I won’t pretend to have all of the answers, but I will say the children are watching, like it or not. When they see us deny them something - be it the love of God or a pack of smokes - they notice it and often wonder why. If it’s forbidden, is it more enticing? If it’s encouraged, is it more exciting? There have likely been hundreds of studies to figure this out. Our challenge as responsible people in this beautiful, broken world is to value people for their purity, humility, and openness, not their place in the next market segment.
I have read studies that show youth and young adults stay with faith - or come back to faith - if they have at least one loving adult who they’re not related to who encourages them in their faith when they’re young. Have you had this in your life? Who are you there for? Who was there for you?
At the time of this writing, I’ve never had a cigarette. You know what’s funny to do now? See a friend who is smoking and say, “Hey, give me my first-ever cigarette.” They panic at the thought! They have zero interest in being a lobbyist to a fellow adult who knows better, who isn’t ignorant.
But who’s innocent? Kids, amirite?
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