James Meehan - A Lot Just Happened
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Vince Parker: Welcome back to Culture Makers. I'm Vince Parker.
James Meehan: And I'm James Meehan.
Vince Parker: James, how you been, man, you good?
James Meehan: I am doing super well. As of today, my baby is eight days old. Still breathing, still kicking, still pooping, still peeing.
Vince Parker: So that's gotta be exciting right?
James Meehan: Yeah, man, it's exciting. I was talking to my wife. I'm like, maybe I'll just take him to work with me.
Vince Parker: Okay.
James Meehan: But that was incredibly impractical because I can't actually feed him. So he's at home with my wife right now.
Vince Parker: That would have been awkward. Yeah, maybe we'll talk about that one day. Probably not, maybe one day. So let's just dive right in, because not only did you have a new baby, a lot of things happened so let's just kind of start this off real easy. Super Bowl's coming up and we now know who's in the Super Bowl.
James Meehan: Yeah.
Vince Parker: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady did his thing.
James Meehan: Come on, bro, the GOAT.
Vince Parker: That what I said. But I had a lot of people who've been arguing with me. They're like, he's not the great...
James Meehan: About him being the GOAT?
Vince Parker: Yeah, they're like he's, yeah, I just, I don't know if I can get into that. And then Kansas City Chiefs are in it. It's like the young gun versus the old gun who you got.
James Meehan: So I lived in St. Louis.
Vince Parker: Okay.
James Meehan: For three years. When I lived in St. Louis, that was back when the St. Louis Rams won The Super Bowl. Then the next year they were beaten by the Patriots. And so ever since then, my philosophy has been, "Man I'm just going to root for the people that beat us", because the St Louis Rams were terrible forever. There's not even a St. Louis Rams anymore. And so because of that, I ended up becoming a Tom Brady fan.
Vince Parker: Okay.
James Meehan: And the thing is, is you just can't argue with the stats. And so, because of that Tom Brady with the Buccaneers, I'm all about it. Because one of the arguments that a lot of people would make is that, "Oh, Tom Brady's only good because he's with the Patriots", well, that argument is done.
Vince Parker: Done.
James Meehan: It's gone, like here he is in the Super Bowl again.
Vince Parker: I'm with you. So let's just kind of move on 'cause I'm with you, Tom Brady, nothing to argue there, lets just go with that.
James Meehan: And nobody watching this video would possibly be a Kansas City Chiefs fan.
Vince Parker: But if you are hit us up in the comments, it's okay. We understand we'll pray for you. Let's talk about some more greatness that kinda got taken out this weekend.
James Meehan: Come on dude'
— Conor McGregor, fight, did you watch?
— Unfortunately, I did not because UFC pay-per-views are way too late at night. And like I said, I got an eight day old baby now and my wife would not have been happy with me staying up all night, watching that. But, I did watch the highlights on YouTube immediately afterwards.
— You've got to get them before they, take them down, right?
— I'm not gonna lie, I was a little bit disappointed.
— Okay.
— Because I wanted the 2016 Conor McGregor comeback. Like that's what I was hoping for after he came back and rocked Donald Cerrone and just destroyed him. Earlier, I guess it would've been last year.
— Right.
— Yeah, Last year I was like, okay, McGregor's back. He's making a run for the title, but here's the deal. Dustin Poririer is a beast.
— Didn't know what hit him.
— So here's the question. Christians watching sports, and both these sports are more on the violent side. Would you say?
— Yeah.
— I mean, the only thing more violent might be like bull fighting, which is a whole other topic. So let's not talk about that but, apparently we're watching them. Does that mean it's okay or like, what's your thoughts on that?
— Here's the thing. I think it's okay to watch them. Now, I could be totally wrong. I enjoy watching them. I think that if you find yourself watching football or mixed martial arts or something and you're just getting super angry and you try to take that anger out in aggressive manner and violent toward other people, you should probably abstain from watching combat sports or football. But if you're the kind of person who can watch it for entertainment value then I think there's nothing wrong with that.
— I agree with that. So let's move on.
— Okay.
— One of our viewers, Lucy had a question. Can Christians play video games? What do you think?
— I hope so because I play video games.
— Okay, but I would agree. I think Christians can play video games. I think the video game you're playing determines how you play or not. You're reactions, like you talked about with watching football or UFC helped determine should you be playing that particular video game 'cause everything you do has some kind of emotional reaction or charge to it. But Lucy, thank you for that question. And we would say, yes, we believe it's okay for Christians to play video games. But if you live in your parents' basement and you're 45 and that's all you do, you might rethink it.
— I know for me, when it comes to playing video games every once in a while, I will just take an extended break from video games 'cause I've got a super addictive personality. And so like when I get into something, I get into it. And so with video games, every once in a while what I'll do is like, man, I've been playing this a little bit too much. I'll just take like a week or two weeks off of video games altogether and just fast from it. So that way it doesn't take over my life
— Next up new President, new Vice President exciting. Here's why I get excited about the new vice president.
— Okay, yeah.
— Kamala Harris, first female, vice president first black vice president.
— Come on.
— I think it's great that when people get to see themselves in the mirror, when they look at their Vice President it just lets them know, "Hey, there's anything possible"? What do you think? Any thoughts or just..
— I mean, I think that's it like, I think that idea of anything is possible and being able to see yourself in those positions of influence is really impactful for a lot of people. And I think that is going to be a really cool thing for tons of young women growing up to be able to see, "Okay, that's possible". And I think that's incredibly valuable. The other thing that I'm really thankful for is like the world didn't end, you know, cause there's all of these different rumors about what was going to happen on inauguration day. And it was super peaceful.
— That was nice.
— That's just like, yes, please.
— That was the 2021 I was looking for.
— Right, I know because...
— We will chill like...
— Right. 'Cause like a couple of weeks ago when we were talking on our last video we talked about all the craziness that happened.
— Yeah, we just like, straight crazy. So yeah, glad that we moved on from that. Now we have another viewer question.
— Dang okay look at y'all with all the questions.
— Right.
— Keep 'em coming.
— But here's the thing. I cannot pronounce the names. So I apologize upfront. I don't want to butcher it because that just seems disrespectful to butcher someone's name.
— He's probably wise.
— But here here's the question. Can Christians watch anime? First of all, do you watch anime? You like anime, how do you feel about it?
— So for the question, "Can Christians watch anime"? My answer to this is the same thing about can Christians play video games? I hope so.
— Okay.
— Because I'm a big anime fan, Dragon Ball Z is I would argue one of the greatest shows of all time. So I remember Vince, whenever I was a wee little lad my dad broke his leg, and so, and I was like four or five, six, seven. I don't know how old I was but I would come home from school everyday sit on my dad's lap while his leg was broken and we would watch Dragon Ball Z together.
— That's a good family memory.
— And dude it was amazing.
— That's good.
— And I have not stopped watching Dragon Ball Z now 20 years later. And so what I think about anime and video games and all of these themed things is, I always ask the question is how is this influencing me? Now what I like about Dragon Ball Z is the main character, Goku, is the personification of hard work and self sacrifice. Right? Over and over and over again. The dude puts in the work he trains so that he can beat the bad guys and save his friends and family. And I love that about him and over and over again he sacrifices himself for the good of others which is exactly what the heart of the gospel message is when God literally became a human being to die on a cross for your sins.
— Amen.
— And for mine. Now I'm not saying that Goku is Jesus.
— No.
— I'm just saying...
— Goku is not Jesus.
— Disclaimer, but I think that there are really cool things that we can pull from these different shows that are really really good and true and life-giving. Now at the same time, there are other anime that I choose not to watch because they include themes and elements and graphic nudity and things like that, where it's like, no, like, I'm going to avoid that because that's not helping me become the person that God's made me to be.
— So when you're watching your anime question it, is it life giving.
— That's good.
— Right? Are things that are healthy you can pull out of it versus going, "Oh my goodness, when I watched this..". So yeah. I'm with you, anime. Hey, if you've never watched One Punch Man by the way, check it out.
— Oh, don't worry, I've watched it.
— Man, so good to me, but hey, not a recommendation, just saying. I love the Dragon Ball Z.
— Come on bro.
— Definitely a recommendation. Let's talk about music here, right? Like music is the thing that moves us. And I want to talk specifically about a song it's called "Driver License".
— Okay, yeah.
— By Olivia.
— Yeah.
— Are you familiar with this song?
— So I heard about it. I looked at the lyrics. I haven't yet listened to it tho'.
— Okay, when you read the lyrics, what'd you think?
— Man that just is a really sad song.
— Is it not?
— That's what I thought.
— Right? Like there's a lot of hurt and a lot of pain going on there.
— Right.
— Right, like, so if you're not familiar with the song let me just kind of break it down for you. It kind of goes like this. So it appears that there's a young lady, Olivia who has been wanting her driver's license this whole time.
— Come on, makes sense.
— And, she's been talking to her boyfriend about it.
— Yeah.
— Like, hey, I can't wait to get my driver's license. Right. Because when I do, I'm going to drive to your house and we're going to hang out and it's going to be amazing. I can drive us places, right? Like this just sounds like a normal if you're 15 years old, about to turn 16 conversation. Well by the time she gets her driver's license they're broken up and he's got a new girl. Right, and now all these anxiety and self doubt are kicking in and she's like this new girl are the things I think I should be or want to be. And she's talking about how she's telling all her friends about it and like they're tired of hearing about it. And it's just, you can feel the hurt in that. I can see why it's the number one song,
— Sure, you're right.
— on the charts right now.
— Yeah. And there's not really an ending to it like it's not this clean, happy, like old school country song like lost my dog, lost my horse lost my truck and you get them all back.
— Go on.
— Right?
— Yeah, yeah.
— It's like, nope.
— Right.
— It started off sucky.
— And sucky.
— And sucky.
— Right.
— And I think that's why it reaches so many people.
— Sure.
— Why so many people wanna listen to it, because you're like, "Yo, I can feel that".
— Right it's relatable. That's my life. As I was reading those lyrics, it brought me back to all of my middle school and high school relationships and just how sucky they were, you know?
— Yeah.
— And, and I remember reading those lyrics and I thought to myself, man, if I had just gotten out of a relationship just gotten out of a breakup and I heard that song, I would have loved it because it would have helped me to know, "You know what? I'm not alone". These feelings that I'm feeling right now. They're not just things that only I have ever felt because I think that's what can be so tough is when we go through really difficult times that feeling of being alone and wondering is there anybody who sees me, is there anybody who hears me? Is there anybody who notices me? And I think because of that, I can see how that song would be incredibly relatable. Now the challenge with a song like that though, is like there's not a happy ending. There's not a point to hope or community or relationships to help us find the healing that we need. And so I think a song like that is a really great starting place for when we're feeling that kind of hurt and anxiety and depression. But man, we can't just stop living in those emotions. I think we've got to be able to surround ourselves with great people that are there for us to pick us up to encourage us to be there for us so that we know that yes, I can relate to the song but there's also people in my life that are there for me. And maybe for you, as you're watching this video you don't have people like that. I mean, we want to help you find those kinds of people. Because what we know is that none of us were meant to do life alone. And one of things I love about our church is we've got a switch online ministry which is a place for you as a teenager, wherever you are whether here in the United States or around the world where you can find community with other teenagers and adults who care about you and want to help you become the person that God has created you to be. No matter what situation you may find yourself in today they want to help you live a better tomorrow.
— James, I don't even want to add anything to that. That's amazing. But obviously I'm going to say something.
— Come on bro.
— 'Cause I already have, but you know that it's been a crazy couple of weeks, a lot going on. We love having these conversations kind of helping you navigate, James, how do you put it? We're not here to tell you how to think, or what to do, but what?
— Sure, we just want to understand how can we think a little bit more Christianly about all the things happening in our world, right? What would Jesus think about the things that are influencing us and how can we respond to those in a way where we're bringing life to the people around us.
— So if you're out there, make sure that you think.
— Come on.
— And process through what you watch.
— Yeah.
— What you listen to.
— Yeah.
— What games you play or whatever it is. And if you ever have a question, let us know put it on the comments, we'd love to answer it. We'd love to help you navigate or figure out, not to tell you what to do again, but just kind of help you think about what you're going through. Again, I'm Vince so glad you're here, this is...
— James.
— And comment, like subscribe, do all the things and we'll be back again for Culture Makers. So you guys later.