Beware of this MOVIE?

It’s so interesting to see what Christians get up in arms over. What I mean is that certain things go on in our world everyday and no one takes a second glance, while other things get so much attention that it fills up your inbox with “Beware of…” emails. All it takes is the involvement of an avowed atheist, the words “anti-religious,” an apparent attack at our religion, or something that poses a threat to our religious peace and Christians come out of the woodwork to protest and boycott. I guess you’ve already figured out that I’m talking about the upcoming release of “The Golden Compass.” I’ve already received three emails this week that are warning me of the plot line to “kill God.” While I don’t know anything about this movie, nor am I saying this movie is good, what I’ve read is that this movie could possibly attack our Christianity. It might seem as though someone were trying to persecute us. This is where the problem begins. Christians don’t get mad about the right stuff. We shouldn’t get upset and all bent out of shape when the world starts making fun of us or laughing at us or even for saying God doesn’t exist. We knew that was going to happen. READ what Paul wrote: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus WILL BE persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12) In reality, what better opportunity is there for sharing the gospel than when someone else brings it up–even if they’re trashing it? That’s not even my point. Let me get to what the real problem is. We shouldn’t get mad at movies that blast God out in the open for everyone to see–GOD can DEFEND himself. We shouldn’t rally our Christian brothers and sisters to boycott a children’s movie that has “anti-religious” themes! WHY? (Besides the fact that we could turn it into a great teaching opportunity). Because these are not the things we should be scared of. I’ll say it again: We should not be afraid of persecution. We should be scared of movies like “American Gangster,” which just came out this weekend. We should be scared of movies like the “American Pie” series and things with the word “UNRATED” printed on them. We should be rallying our brothers and sisters in Christ to run away from (avoid, boycott, not support, spread the word about, send a mass email about) the movies Satan so delicately places in our lives we don’t even notice they’re there. We shouldn’t waste our time like so many Christians did fighting the Harry Potter movies while Satan is busy releasing the trash that is in “American Gangster,” which I guarantee you many Christians have already seen and are going to see. (Based on the report on ScreenIt.com, this movie is a solid mixture of the “F” word, heavy porn/nudity, and brutal violence.) The reason I say this is because Satan is not going to convert a bunch of Christians to his side by releasing a children’s movie in theaters with an underlying, but possibly apparent, theme of killing God expecting people to go home thinking they should revolt against organized religion and become atheists. If you haven’t been paying attention, Satan doesn’t work that way. He’s so much better than that. He doesn’t come out saying, “Hate God! Follow me to hell!” Satan very slowly works his way into our lives, convincing us that sinful and evil things are normal and acceptable additions to our Christian world view. Before we know it, we are starting a war against something God told us was going to happen, all the while sitting back allowing Satan full access to our children and ourselves in numerous other ways, not just Hollywood, but the internet, cable, and music. Instead of saying “consider it pure joy” or “blessed are you when people…persecute you” or “if the world hates you, remember that it hated me (Jesus) first” and taking up our real fight against Satan’s covert schemes to infiltrate our homes and lives, we fall for the diversion and launch a full force attack against something that could ultimately give us an opportunity to share the gospel. You may disagree with everything I’m saying. That’s alright. You should just realize this: If it looks like Satan, sounds like Satan, and has a little pointy red tail…it’s not Satan. We should be busy rallying our Christian brothers and sisters “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Stand up and receive the persecution as if it were joy, then take up your sword and shield and fight a battle that will actually save souls–mainly your own.