I have to admit, I am really starting to love Duck Dynasty.
I first saw an episode at my Mother-in-Law’s house and only grudgingly watched because she wanted me to see it. At first it seemed to confirm a lot of personal biases I have against the Southern culture…Red Necks hunting, being dumb and tacking on just enough faith to make them feel good. However, shortly after that I saw a blog post on The Gospel Coalition website about Duck Dynasty that revealed something much different than my short exposure. The faith of the family is real….and deep….and actually pretty sophisticated. While I still don’t identify with some of the Louisiana Bayou culture embedded in the show, I am developing a real appreciation for them. I recently watched a series of short videos that interview or spotlight most of the primary members of the family that star in the series. I was not only pleasantly surprised, I was amazed at their depth of character and universal commitment to Jesus Christ.
But what surprises me the most is that it actually seems to further prove that there is no basic formula for God using people. He has taken a genre of TV I generally hate (Reality TV) and is using it for tremendous good. He has taken a culture I very little appreciation for, and it is drawing me into it.
We often think that in order for God to use us we have to be different than we are. I imagine that there will be a whole bunch of new TV shows imitating aspects of Duck Dynasty because they have found the right “formula”. There will be many Christians that will try to emulate the family life of the Robertsons in order to duplicate their life. But I think that is missing the point. In an interview with Jase Robertson, one of the sons on the show, he pointed out that their family strength was developed not on the TV show, but in years of simply following Jesus.
Most of us want to be used by God in some profound way, but we rarely can choose that. What we can do is simply follow Jesus and let him use us as he wills. That isn’t as popular a method because it rarely gives us what WE want when we want it. However if we trust the Lord and walk in the direction he leads us he will use us in the way HE has designed. That is after all what it means to follow Jesus, isn’t it?