I have been planning to post on this subject for the past few weeks, but knowing that this was going to take a while, I am just now getting to it.
Over the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about “The Code”. Some Christian groups say peeps should boycott it, others say go see it; others say that they can’t believe such a movie is being made, while others admit that it scares them. Frankly, I don’t understand all of it….
Have I read the book? No, I have not, nor do I intend to. I have a hard time reading books so it’s not something that I would normally do. I have read and heard about the premise of the book. I have heard from peeps that have read it, the so-called “experts” on both sides (peeps who like and dislike it), and everyone in between. But here’s what’s really bugging me…..
I don’t understand why Christian’s are so fearful of a movie? Where in the world is our faith? Do we think that little of God and His sovereignty? I can’t even count the number of upset, angry, and fearful Christians I have seen as a result of this book, and for what? A MOVIE? A BOOK?
The day that
Say what you will about this movie, but for whatever reason, God has allowed it to come to fruition. I would suggest that we spend more time engaging the Holy One rather than getting up in arms over a piece of 8mm film.
I would submit that most Christians are lazy and never share their faith. I would also submit that many ask God for a way to share their faith at work. This fictional work (or perversion of Truth) is allowing such the opportunities that many have been praying for. Instead of protests, let’s praise the Almighty that He has put His Spirit within each of us that have accepted Him and allows us to enter into conversation about who He is. My question is do we really want to have such a conversation? Would you be able to have such a conversation with somebody? Do you know Him?
I am not saying that we shouldn’t call out heresy, we should. But I do question our motives for protesting a movie. If we do it out of fear, I would submit that our faith in who God truly is lacks. He’s bigger than a movie or someone’s fictional book. I wonder if people even know the One on whose “behalf” they are protesting for.
Get to know Him, trust Him, be like Him, fear Him, but not a movie……
Posts
7 comments:
Christians should never be afraid to call out hearsay. Or heresy for that matter.
I looooooove that spell check!
Good post.
The way I see it, it is a huge opportunity to answer questions, debunk myths, and point people to Jesus. We should be thankful for the opportunity, not fearful. Maybe some are fearful b/c they either can't articulate truth or they don't have the truth to begin with.
I guess protesting, boycotts, etc., may seem like an expression of fear, but I think it would be hard to say that is the main motivating factor.
As Ryan said, I am for calling out heresy. Yet for the most part, the protests, boycotts, and the RCC are taking the whole thing way too serious (RCC talking about sueing Dan Brown and the movie).
So in some ways, some in the church are taking it too far, but if you listen to talk radio, and read the commentary in the news, people are buying into the ‘fiction’ quite a bit. Latest polls suggest that even though people know the book is fiction, it is agreeing with what many people have suspected the church has been doing all along (keeping some secrets). That is reason alone to be willing to explore the topic and be prepared to engage in conversation about the book, instead of being afraid to address the issue.
I trust God is completely in control, but I am not shy to say that it more than gets under my skin when people say hurtful things about God, His church, and what we believe (one actor in the Da Vinci Code movie recently said that the Bible should be labeled fiction). If you have been witnessing even a little, you'll agree that it is a lot harder to witness when you are on the defensive trying to answer questions or talk about issues that take away from the gospel. That bothers me too, but it also gives us more 'response'-ability, which can be a good thing since we have to be more prepared. Any time you prepare more, you have opportunity for more insight into God.
The problem with the book isn't that it does a good job of messing up people's thoughts about the church, Jesus, etc., it is the fact that it is doing it deceptively. Here is an excerpt from Jeff Millers critique from pastors.com: There is really only one page in the entire book that gives me problems. It is the very first page. Frankly, this has come back to bite Brown many times. It is page number one if you look at the book, and the page is entitled, “FACT.” The last sentence says, “All descriptions of art work, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” Documents? Really? So all his descriptions of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Library, the New Testament, the Bible – all those descriptions of documents, I gather, he is claiming to be accurate. Dan Brown said in the ABC interview that he began as a skeptic, but he became a believer. He, in fact, says he personally believes that the early Church deliberately covered up Mary Magdalene’s importance as Jesus’ wife and the mother of his child. Yes, it is a novel. It is fiction, but he believes it, and a lot of other people believe it.
At FC we did a one time ‘Da Vinci Code’ message a few years ago when the book first came out. It was great b/c it opened the door for a thorough apologetic, not only for the approx. 2/3 of our congregation that are saved and growing, but the approx. 1/3 that aren't.
What do you think of all the books, and church services dedicated to the 'Code' lately?
Grace and peace,
Mark
hhhmmm...
I don't think the primary motivating factor behind Christian's protesting is fear. I think we are called to speak up about the heresy and make known the deliberate lies that are in the book. But I haven't really seen too many Christian protests up here...so maybe I'm just speaking for what I protest against when people talk about the book in the elevator.
Personally the DaVinci Code has really broken my heart as I've heard non-Christians that I've prayed for and longed that they know Jesus quote the book as reasons not to believe. Yes, it did give me opportunities for spiritual conversations but that's because our God is sovereign and fulfills His purpose. We don't deem any heresy or sin acceptable because God works good out of it.
Honestly, the book made me very angry when I read it. I had to stop within the last chapter or so because I couldn't handle the blasphemy. There were things stated as facts that even I knew to be untrue (ie saying the Dead Sea Scrolls had hidden secrets about Jesus). I do pray that God will make all of us bold and speak His truth lovingly when those situations come up - that He would work good from this book and movie.
Thanks for the comments thus far, keep 'em coming!!
Just a few thoughts:
Mark, great to have you back, man! I totally agree with your comments. For the record, for the most part, the books and teachings that I have seen are good and I'm good with them. I still think it's amazing though that some of the things we are teaching and preaching about God are things that we should have been teaching about all along.
If this movie has done anything it has helped the church get back to TEACHING basic apologetics (not just give a "happy talks" about everyday living) from our pulpits and class rooms.
As I stated, we should call out heresy, but my point is that we should not fear this movie or anything else that our culture throws our way. Should it really surprise us that non-Christians write books and make movies that are heretical? If so, why? They have not come to accept Truth, so why would we expect them to make movies based on Truth.
Does it make me sad that this movie pokes fun and makes up lies about my Savior, yes, absolutely it does. But I also think that if the church did a better job of TEACHING the facts and truth of the Bible, and not just spew feel good stories (not saying that all churches are in this boat, but I think if we were honest we would say that most would be), we would see the church being more offensively minded with the gospel and not defensive to movies.
I still think, however; this movie scares most of us because we really believe that the great deceiver can get one over on God. We should all joyfully rest in the fact that at the end of the day, God will get His way. Either God is in control or He’s not….
BTW, I just came across a post on a blog from a friend of mine. He's got a great take on this as well. Enjoy!!
http://bartimaeusministries.blogspot.com/
that was a good post you linked to.
I couldn't agree more, we need less "happy talks" from our pulpits.
at FC, our Easter services were basically an apologetics message about the evidences of the ressurection.
Post a Comment