Body Worlds 2 is an exhibition that is presently showing at the Ontario Science Center. This exhibition uses real bodies that have been transformed into plastic sculptures by Gunther von Hagens with a process he developed called Plastination.

You get to see the human body as it really is, through the posing, cutting, stripping away, disassembling and finally, the Tupperwaring of Von Hagens.

I would be lying if I didn’t say that I am both fascinated and creeped out by this exhibit. Interestingly, all of the donors willingly signed up to be immortalized in plastic and apparently there is a waiting list of 6,000 to join in being Barbie or Kenized.

The exhibition clearly shows the complicated beauty of the human machine but therein is my social/spiritual discomfort—you can’t vacuum form a soul. You can’t take the real essence of what makes us human and surround it in Playdo and then put it on display. After all, what makes us human is the fact that we were created in the image of God (Gen 1:27 ). You may be able to take the bodies of real human beings and turn them into plastic, but that doesn’t bring us any closer to understanding our nature or our purpose.

In the very least, Von Hagens process is merely a metaphor for our current society. It seems to me that our fascination with celebrity/entertainment and the shallowness of many of our relationships have turned our souls into the equivalent of Ken and Barbie. Maybe that’s what bothers me most about all this-some days I really do feel quite plastic.

Yesterday I happened to catch the last bit of a television commercial advertising a new summer replacement reality show. Actually it isn’t really a new reality show because I believe it’s been on before. The show is called, “Average Joe” and the premise, from what I can glean from a few seconds of hype, is that average guys compete to get their chance to be chosen as the “main squeeze” of a woman who wouldn’t normally give them the time of day. Almost sounds like a promising premise. Could it be? Could the superficial beauty queen discover that her knight in shinning armour might be found below the surface of your average Wal Mart dude? Nah! You see there’s a twist: it seems that anyone who gets booted off by the beauty for being too beastly is able to get an extreme makeover and then come back and try for “woo part two”.

Interesting — average Joe is told that even average is a stretch for him and then he’s given the chance at a new body. What happens when the new and improved Joe gets rejected a second time? Is the third option a chance at an extreme suicide? What happens if he gets picked? Would he really want to be with someone who rejected the real him, but now likes what a few knives, pulleys and metal bolts can do? That’s a great way to pump up the old self-esteem! Think of the message this show sends: “I’m shallow enough to be accepted for my superficial changes because that little cutie is hot!” Now that’s a match that will stand the test of time — as long as they can afford the surgeons and Botox! Maybe I’ll just read a book this summer instead!

I had someone call me today to ask a few questions about our churchThey’ve just moved to Toronto and are looking for a new church home. I love to get calls like that! With such a vast range of churches and spiritual pitfalls out there in the spiritual marketplace (for lack of a better term) people need to ask questions to make an informed decision.

To my way of thinking, great questions are:

1. What do you believe about Jesus and the Bible?
2. How do you believe we are saved (forgiven and brought into a relationship with Christ)?
3. What place does prayer have in your congregation?
4. How warm is your congregation?
5. What is your understanding of grace?
6. How important are missions to your congregation?

All of these questions give keen insights into the heart of Christianity. Unfortunately the person on the other end of the line didn’t ask any of those questions. Instead, she asked if we clapped our hands in worship. I gave her the most spiritual answer I could muster: "If we want to" She asked one other question about music, then said "thank you" and hung up. I don’t expect to see her in church on Sunday

Obviously we all have preferences and those preferences shouldn’t be dismissed, but, at least let’s put them in the proper context. They are preference: not doctrine. I am sure there will be clappers in heaven (how else will I turn off my bedroom lights?) I am sure their will be non-clappers as well (they’ll wear sleeping masks). Bottom line: If Christ is our focus and the cross our guide, it seems to me that our differences can become a celebration of diversity, not an artificial, superficial, legalistic benchmark of orthodoxy.