3 Things That Are Good About ‘Breaking Bad’

Pastor Bob O'Bannon

A lot has been written about “Breaking Bad,” the popular AMC TV show, since its last episode was airedback in September. The last eight episodes recently arrived on Netflix, so that’s why this analysis comes a little late in the game. Yes, be forewarned — there are spoilers to follow.

“Breaking Bad” is not for everyone. It can be hard to watch. As one person said, you crave it and dread it at the same time. It is about a man (Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston) who is diagnosed with cancer and needs to find a way to make enough money to provide for his family when he’s gone. So he starts manufacturing methamphetamine, and finds out he’s really good at it. He makes a lot of money. His cancer goes away. He makes even more money. Along the way, we witness some heartbreaking scenes, some squeamish violence, and some profound lessons about the moral universe in which we live.

Here are three good things about this show:

1) It vividly portrays how sin can increasingly harden one’s heart. The story of Walt reminded me of the story of Saul in I Samuel. Both were men with great potential and many gifts. Both gave the appearance of moral uprightness — Walt repeatedly claimed his actions were for his family; and Saul often claimed to be serving God (I Sam. 15:20). Both had many opportunities to humble themselves and repent. But they refused. And each time they refused, their hearts got just a little bit harder. This is the power of sin: it enslaves (Rom. 6:16) and it ensnares (Prov. 29:6). And as both Walt and Saul demonstrate, those who harden their heart will fall into calamity (Prov. 28:14).

2) It highlights the fact that all personal choices are significant. At the beginning of the show, Walt is depicted as a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher living a quiet life in the suburbs. At the end of the show, he is a ruthless drug kingpin who strikes fear into people’s hearts. “Breaking Bad” takes all five seasons to show us the small, incremental steps that were taken to get Walt from one place to the other. Jackson Cuidon has written an interesting analysis in Christianity Today on the role choices play in “Breaking Bad.”  Our choices are not morally neutral. They change us. As Cuidon writes, “We get shaped by the things we do, or don’t do, even unintentionally, even if you’re not paying attention.” C.S. Lewis wrote something similar: “[E]very time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before. . . all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature.” Walt’s choices turned him into the latter.

3) It raises the question of how Walt’s actions can be considered wrong if there is no God. What got me interested in “Breaking Bad” was a quote I saw from the show’s creator, Vince Gilligan. He said: “I feel some sort of need for Biblical atonement, or justice, or something. I like to believe there is some comeuppance, that karma kicks in at some point, even if it takes years or decades to happen. My girlfriend says this great thing that’s become my philosophy as well. ‘I want to believe there’s a heaven. But I can’t not believe there’s a hell.’ ” In other words, we all have an instinctive desire for justice to be served, especially for people as wicked as Walter White. And if there is no hope that things will one day be put right . . . well, here’s how Gilligan says it: “If there is no such thing as cosmic justice, what’s the point of being good?”

4 Things to Remember If You Are Discouraged by the Moral Deterioration of Our Nation

Pastor Bob O'Bannon

Ross Douthat has written an article in the New York Times in which he says same-sex marriage will inevitably be legalized in all 50 states, and that all that is left for proponents of traditional marriage now is to “find out what settlement the victors will impose.”

It’s a pretty bleak prognosis. But there are at least four things to remember if you are one who is discouraged by the rapid changes that are taking place in our nation.

1. The leaders of our nation have been appointed by God. Pontius Pilate was in a position of authority to deliver Jesus over to be crucified. In John 19:11, Jesus said to Pilate: “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” Rom. 13:1 tells us that the governing authorities have been “instituted by God.” Our president, our Congress and our Supreme Court are in charge because God put them in charge. But remember — God can remove people from power just as quickly as he placed them in power. (Is. 40:22-23)

2. We no longer live in a pro-Christian culture. Back in the 1960s, it was socially desirable to be a Christian churchgoer. The church enjoyed a place of prominence and respect in the culture. That is no longer the case. Many observers say we now live in a “post-Christian” culture, which means the basic values and convictions of Christianity are no longer assumed or even desired. This is alarming to many Christians, but it is certainly not unusual. For much of history, the church of Jesus Christ has been a marginalized, maligned and sometimes persecuted group. The psalmist, writing about 3,000 year ago, captures what many Christians feel today: “My foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.” (38:19-20)

3. We should not shrink back from speaking the truth. It does not follow from points 1 and 2 above that we should therefore resort to apathy or indifference about what is happening in our culture. Paul warns us not to take part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but “instead to expose them.” (Eph. 5:11). The psalmist says he hates “every false way” (119:128), and that his eyes shed “steams of tears” because people do not keep God’s law (119:136). As believers we should be prepared to respectfully but boldly take a stand for Christian truth, and take the hits that will inevitably result.

4. Our ultimate hope is not in the salvation of America. There is Biblical precedent for being passionate about one’s country. Paul suffered “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” because of the spiritual state of his fellow Jews (Rom. 9:1-5). He longed for them to be saved (Rom. 10:1). So it is good to long for revival in the United States, that our fellow countrymen might be reconciled to God. But the final culmination of God’s redemptive purposes will not be found in a “reclaimed America,” but in the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth, where godlessness will be eradicated and righteousness finally will dwell (2 Peter 3:13), where all of God’s people from a multitude of nations (Rev. 5:9) will gather around the throne and worship Jesus forever.