Truly Incorruptible

It seems like the whole country has been out to the movies lately. According to the box office records, a new contender has moved up the charts and has taken over the number two best-selling spot which was  held by the 1977 Star Wars classic. If you haven’t seen it, The Dark Knight is one of the greatest movies of all time. With all of the hype and excitement surrounding this blockbuster hit, is it possible to find a deeper meaning within the caped crusader’s struggle with the devilish Joker?

If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t worry; I’m not going to reveal any key plot elements or twists. I want to look just under the surface level of the movie and see what’s there. In order for a movie to be as big as The Dark Knight, it has to have certain ingredients that draw viewers back more than once. Contrary to what you may think, sexuality, filthy language, and bloody violence are not the things most people desire to see in a movie (only 2 of the top 50 highest grossing movies are rated R, with one of them being The Passion of the Christ).

Some aspects that bring people back to a movie multiple times are a suspenseful battle between good and evil (not one where you know exactly what’s going to happen), a character they can identify with (maybe not literally, but with the struggle that the character is facing), and something unexpected (either a great plot twist or amazing creativity in the storyline). Obviously, these can/will be different for everyone, but for me, that “something unexpected” is being able to draw a spiritual parallel to the movie. When I walk out of movie and say “That was great,” it means I was entertained. When I walk out a movie and say, “That was utterly amazing,” or “that was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen,” it means I saw something more than a good explosion.

In The Dark Knight, the world is given a glimpse of someone who doesn’t compromise his morality despite being faced with the toughest of decisions, some determining who lives and who dies. By never using lethal force—not even when it could be easily justified, Batman sets himself apart from all other heroes. The Joker even says to him, “you really are incorruptible” (one of the best quotes in the movie). Christians everywhere can learn a lesson from the standards that Batman sets and upholds for himself. No one told him how to be hero or how to fight crime with honor; rather, his instructor in Batman Begins wanted him to kill a prisoner in the name of justice to complete his training, which he refused to do.

At it’s core, Batman is just a fictitious character created for our viewing pleasure. However, if you walk away from this movie only seeing good special effects, great acting, and a very intriguing plot, you’ve missed an amazing point from which we can all benefit. Temptations face us everyday and call us out in front of our loved ones and friends. They [temptations] laugh at us when we fail and push us over when we’re on the edge. Satan tests us and tries us until we reach the end of our rope and all he wants to see us do is self-destruct. The way in which the Joker was portrayed in the movie plays a direct parallel to Satan’s involvement in our lives. Alfred summed it up best when he was explaining a story to Bruce and said, “Sometimes all people want is to see the world burn.” There’s no explanation. There’s no reasoning behind it. Satan simply wants to destroy us and take our families and friends down too.

How do we stand up to a force like Satan? How do we compete with someone, who, like the Joker, doesn’t care how many people die in the wake of his destruction? Simply put, we don’t. Christ does. Christ in us allows us to make a stand. He gives us the ability to not back down. He gives us the strength to keep going. He is the reason we don’t give in and stay uncorrupted. “The Voice of Truth says ‘do not be afraid’” Just when Batman was about to give in to the Joker’s demands and reveal his identity, Alfred reasoned with him and helped him understand his role in the seemingly endless tragedy. From here, you must go see the movie for yourself. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.

One more thing, when you approach the Christ and the Bible, make sure you see more than just a good story because Christ is real and he sets us an even more amazing example than movies or fictitious heroes ever can. “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” 1 Peter 2:21. Follow in his steps.

Christ’s Condemnation!

Why do people in the church and Christians in general spend so much time deciding who’s saved and who’s going to hell? (Personally, I thought that was God’s job.) I’ve seen footage of die-hard believers standing in front of “places of immorality” holding signs saying “Turn or burn!” and “Hell is Waiting!” I’ve read articles and listened to sermons condemning individuals, specific groups of people, and entire churches to hell. Is this the model Christ laid out for us to follow? Did Christ go around telling people they were going to hell?

In your efforts to be Christlike and attain what the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:21 (To live is CHRIST), ask yourself this question, “Would Jesus tell someone they were going to hell?” Not meaning generically, as in the sense of an “unrepentant sinner” or “one who doesn’t do my Father’s will,” but, like we do today, would Jesus condemn a specific person or specific group of people to hell? According to scripture the answer is YES, but before you start feeling justified and pat yourself on the back, you might want to know who received Christ’s condemnation because only one group of people did. Search your New Testament; who was it and why did they deserve Christ’s condemnation?

Was it the prostitutes and tax collectors with which Jesus ate? No…he actually chose a tax collector, Matthew, as an apostle. (Matthew 9:9)

It should have been Peter after his triple denial! But it wasn’t. Christ used him to build the church. (Matt 16:18 )

Surely it was the men who nailed Jesus to the cross! Right? No…he forgave them. (Luke 23:34)

Well, then who was it?

It was the religious leaders of the day. That’s right. Those who were in charge of communicating and teaching the word of God were the ones to receive Christ’s condemnation. See for yourself:

Matthew 23:15, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”

…and a few verses later…

Matthew 23:33-34, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.”

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know a lot about the Pharisees and teachers of the law. What matters is that they were the ones in charge of teaching God’s law to the people, much like today’s elders, ministers, and preachers, and they received Christ’s condemnation. I hope and pray that if Christ walked the earth today the outcome would be different. But are today’s church leaders doing the same things the Pharisees and teachers of the law did to provoke these words from Christ?

What led the Pharisees to receive Christ’s condemnation? What led Christ to call the Pharisees “sons of hell?” What were the Pharisees doing that would make a convert “twice as much a son of hell?”

Read Christ’s words to the Pharisees and teachers of the law in Matthew 23:

“They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”

“Everything they do is done for men to see…”

“You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.”

“You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”

“You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools!”

“You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.”

“You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”

“You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”

“You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.”

“In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?”

It seems as if Christ is not only focusing on the sheer hypocrisy of the Pharisees, but also on their inability to understand and discern what is most important in the law, its meaning and purpose, and how to apply it to their lives. The Pharisees were focusing on all the wrong things. They were “straining out a gnat” by making sure they give exactly 10% of their spices but neglecting the “more important” aspects of “Justice, mercy and faithfulness.” Does this sound familiar? Are there rules you follow to the “n”th degree while failing to see the poor man standing right next to you?

The details were consuming their ministry to the point that they were forgetting the big picture. What would that look like today? … Preachers, elders, and ministers taking scriptures out of context, making them into commandments and laws, only to forget the abundantly clear verses that talk about love, grace, and forgiveness. … Making up rules for the worship service that are found nowhere in the scriptures and then allowing them to be raised into the focal point of the service instead of Christ. … Telling a congregation that their salvation depends on these “self-imposed” rules with no justification. … The mentality that Christ cares more about what a person wears to worship than what they were doing 12 hours earlier. … Thinking that it actually matters what translation of the Bible we use. … Does that look anything like you, your church, or the Christians you know?

Being a minister, this realization makes me take my position more seriously than ever before. But for those of you who aren’t ministers or church leaders, do you think you’re exempt from the plague that brought down the Pharisees? You’re not. While it may be easier for people in the leadership positions of the church to fall into these hypocritical lifestyles, that doesn’t mean everyone else is safe and sound. Regardless of who you are, what role you play in the church body, or how long you’ve been a Christian, you are just as susceptible to the downfall of the Pharisees and I am.

Our only hope of preventing Christ’s Condemnation is not allowing ourselves to acquire the detrimental legalistic self-righteous religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. If we succeed in keeping this plague out of our minds and hearts, we will succeed in keeping the other more important aspects of the law of Christ in our minds and hearts: love, grace, and forgiveness.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

Words Cannot Express

Written words cannot express the experience that I was blessed with this past week. I could spend time elaborating on the mind-numbing travel that I endured to India and back, both trips including flights over 12 hours long, however that would detract from the message I need to convey. You could look at the one thousand pictures I returned with, but that too wouldn’t do justice to the sights, lessons, and people I encountered. If you’re interested in the photos, go to http://youth.wecoc.org/India. So here is my attempt at communicating the life-changing experience of my mission trip to Aurangabad, India.

[I was in no way prepared for the experience that I had while in India. I've been out of the country before, but only during high school, and I obviously have grown incredibly in my spiritual life since my high school days.]

Very rarely does a person have the opportunity to experience a life-changing trip like the one I experienced. When we landed and walked off the plane and into the Aurangabad Airport, I sensed that something amazing was going to happen over the next 7 days. At first I thought that feeling was due to not sleeping for 36 hours, but later I realized that God was preparing my heart for the people of India. Coming into a culture that is as far apart from American society as anything can be opened my eyes to a side of the world that I knew was there but only in the back of my mind. I knew people suffered for the gospel. I’ve heard stories about families disowning their own children because of Christianity. I knew that poverty in other countries was much more severe than in America. I knew people sacrificed for Christ. I just didn’t know what any of that really meant. Theory is one thing. Reality is something completely different. Reading a story about someone living in poverty for the sake of Christ is a good story. Walking into a home that was smaller than my dorm room in college and seeing that there was only a twin bed for the parents, that the two teenagers slept on the floor, and the family used public bathrooms everyday because they had no running water in their house hits you in a way that transcends words and pictures. Having people treat you as if you were a celebrity and bring out the equivalent of Ritz Crackers to serve you when you come into their home when they live off of less than $100 a month opens your eyes to what generosity really means. Walking away from these experiences and going back to a hotel room with running water, air-conditioning, and room-service makes you think about the kind of life you’re living and whether you’ve ever learned what it means to be “in need.”

Now I must say that this hotel room was about $30 a night; so we weren’t staying in some 5-star hotel. But like I said, the poor make about $3 a day and are above average in their communities. Most of the people, if I were to guess, live off less than $1 a day. Middle class would be someone who makes between $150-200/month, about what a typical American family spends on three or four restaurant meals a month.

The purpose of our trip was to visit and teach at the Aurangabad Bible College during the mornings and spend the afternoon and evenings preaching gospel meetings in local churches and villages. The Bible college is a 2-year program that enrolls 15 students per year. My congregation, the West End Church of Christ, fully supports the work of the school, including the professors’ salaries, rent on the school and dorms for the students, as well as other needs. Don’t start thinking this is like a Holiday Inn for these students, like when you went off to college. The dorm life is not easy for these students. Before West End purchased mattresses for the students, they slept on a piece of fabric on tile floors. I believe the 30 students share 2 bathrooms, which is also where they wash their clothes. If they don’t use the bathroom to wash their clothes, they take them out on the front porch and wash them on the floor. In the dorm, school, and every other house or apartment we visited, no one had air conditioning. Just open the door and turn on the fan. It wasn’t too bad while we were there because the temperature stayed around 75 degrees. But in the hot season or cold season, you’d really miss that central A/C. I spent the week teaching on 1 and 2 Timothy while Russell taught on Congregational Development and other various topics. Despite the conditions these students lived with, they were very dedicated to their studies and had developed an amazing knowledge of the Bible. The Aurangabad Bible College is doing an outstanding job bringing up ministers of God’s Word.

The need is endless in India. We spent our evenings preaching gospel meetings in churches around Aurangabad and in villages outside the city. You wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the condition of the people living inside the city. While they are living in sub-standard conditions in less-than ideal situations, many had transportation (bicycle or motorcycle) and some kind of permanent roof over their head. However, just driving down the street would reveal tent-communities on the sides of the road where the poorest people had settled. It was a sight to behold. Sometimes six or seven people would be living under a tarp held up by some sticks with blankets for walls and a pile of burning trash keeping them warm.

When you go out into the villages, you really experience poverty. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing in all of America-even the poorest people living under bridges, compares to the lives these people wake up to everyday. The homeless in America have shelters serving hot food and donation centers giving out care packages. They have the Salvation Army and Rescue Missions opening every evening with clean sheets and sanitary showers. Just 15 miles outside of Aurangabad are people living in conditions that resemble the 3rd and 4th centuries. While some people have electricity, many do not and no one has running water. The women walk long distances and draw water from a well or lake or something and carry it in buckets on their heads all the way back home. American wives have it so easy. As we drove to these villages, we would pass countless women carrying sticks for firewood or water on their heads. The homes looked like something you would see in National Geographic. Mud walls with thatch roofs made up many of their dwellings. Some would be lucky enough to have metal roofs and a real door. Needless to say, when three Americans (Russell, Jim, and myself) rolled into town in our Toyota (NOTE: We hired a driver. It is NOT safe to drive in India unless you’re from there.) it was as if George W. Bush was arriving in Knoxville. Shaking hands with hundreds of people at every village and people begging for us to take a picture of them (with our camera–if I remember correctly, only one person in one of the villages had a camera and took our picture) became the routine in every place. Many, if not the majority, of the thousand pictures I took were of the people because they loved having their picture taken. It made them feel so special to have an American pay so much attention to them.

We preached at ten congregations, six were in villages and four in the city, and baptized almost 150 people. Well, we didn’t do the baptizing; the local preacher would baptize them. Sometimes there would be a baptistery, but at one village the people were baptized in a drinking trough for the cows. To see so many people accept Christ after hearing his name and listening to his story for the first time touched my heart and really revealed to me what it means to have a child-like faith. These people were not corrupted by the arguing, fighting, hypocrisy, and name-calling that goes on between churches today. They were not skeptical or suspicious of our motives or message. They didn’t need us to prove to them that we weren’t out to trick them. They just listened to the message of Christ, and when we presented it to them, they accepted it! Praise God! Faith and spirituality in America have become so distorted and polluted that whenever you bring up the name of Christ, people think you want their money and are trying to trick them, or you’re telling them they’re going to hell, saying they’re stupid, wrong, ignorant, evil, or immoral, and if they don’t change and believe exactly like you do, there’s no hope for their soul. Is that the method of Christ? Is that how Christ spread the good news?

Don’t get me wrong here, that’s not how it always happens. Every once and awhile you’ll come across someone who is open to listening. But don’t you wonder why it has become that way? Why are people so afraid of Christians in America and not afraid of us in other countries? Well, it’s because so many people have held a position of faith or called themselves Christians and turned out to be evil, greedy, immoral, a liar, a thief, an adulterer, a child molester, a murderer! Now is this to say that there aren’t hypocrites in other countries? Of course not. Wherever there is faith, there will be hypocrites. In America, however, the media has a tendency to publicly malign the faith whenever they can to accentuate the fact that these people “called themselves Christians.” That type of publicity, seen all over the world, has done terrible things to the cause of Christianity, especially in America.

The other reason the message of the gospel is readily accepted in these situations, as it was at the day of Pentecost, as opposed to in America, is because it didn’t come with any stipulations. We didn’t require them to answer a list of questions testing their knowledge of Acts or asked them to recite the plan of Salvation. We didn’t ask for a written report explaining why they wanted to be baptized. We just presented the truth of Christ’s sacrifice and offered the saving grace of Jesus. The way we went about it while in India was exactly how the apostles taught new converts in the first century. These 150 people who were baptized over the past week knew everything they needed to know to be baptized and receive the gift of eternal life. They knew Jesus was God’s son, that he died for their sins, he rose from the dead, and eternal life comes through Jesus’ blood and baptism. What more is there?

So you’ve heard about the baptisms, the poverty, the living conditions, the Bible College, and the extreme need the people of India have. Now we get to the real problem: What are we supposed to do about it? Our brothers and sisters in Christ are living in need while we have plenty. They suffer while we’re comfortable. We turn on the TV to relax; they don’t even have a soft pillow on which to lay their head. Then we have the audacity to complain when gas prices go up 10 cents! It’s time to stop complaining about our plush American lives and learn to be content with what God has given us. Make this your LIFE-SLOGAN: “But Godliness with Contentment is GREAT GAIN!” (1 Tim 6:6) Paul goes on to write, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (6:7-10)

Don’t think you can focus only on the word “contentment.” God doesn’t tell us to “be content and forget about all the hurting people out there.” It said, “GODLINESS with contentment is GREAT GAIN.”

Being “in need” is a concept most Americans have never experienced. It’s hard to be “in need” when you’ve got a Wal-Mart down the street and an emergency credit card for when the car breaks down. Whenever you run out of something in the pantry, you hop in the car and go buy some more. If you come home from work late to find there’s “nothing” in the house to eat, you have dinner delivered to your house in 30 minutes or less. Simply put, we’ve forgotten the difference between “WANT” and “NEED.” When you think of being in need, think about not having food on the table for so long that you’ve forgotten what it feels like to be full. Think about not having more than two shirts to wear all together. Think about feeling insufficient in life because you can’t even provide the basics for your children like shelter and a bed to sleep on.

To be godly, you have to make a personal commitment to helping those in need. You have to come to terms with how much God has blessed your life and how much of that he is calling you to devote to helping people in need. Typically, we help others based on how much is left over in the budget at the end of the month. Christ calls us to rearrange our budgets to make room to help as many people as possible, which should be more than zero, and if that means you can’t go to Chili’s or Olive Garden more than once this month, then you’ll just have to deal with it.

Now take it one step further and learn what it means to rely on God to meet all your needs. (Physically and Spiritually)

But wait, when we don’t have a single “need” in our life, how are we supposed to rely on God to meet our needs? Why are we so fortunate to be born into a country like America while billions of people are born into countries where the majority of households don’t have running water? What are we supposed to do? The answer is this: Learn weakness.

Christians in America, compared to believers all over the world, have advantages in every aspect of life except in one area: spirituality. Why do I say this? Because Christ said this: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul responded by saying, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Can you delight in weakness? Have you ever been weak? Can you delight in insults? Have you ever been insulted for being a Christian? Can you delight in hardships? How hard is it to be a Christian in America? Can you delight in persecutions? Who has been persecuted in America? Can you delight in difficulty? How difficult is it to live in America? For when you are strong, you don’t know what it means to be weak.

Here’s what I’m saying: Having Christ’s power rest on us as Christians in America is unfamiliar territory. We’ve been trained to rely on ourselves, have faith in ourselves, trust no one besides ourselves, provide for ourselves, work for ourselves. Depending and relying on someone else is as foreign as living in another country. So what can we do? How do we learn to depend on God like the people of India depend on Him for their basic needs? How do we learn to rely on Him in all situations when we have self-help books and radio talk-shows answering all of our questions?

As sure as Christ is my Lord, I am living every moment of my life in pursuit of this answer, striving every day to fully and completely rely on Him instead of myself. May this be your life-goal: TO SURRENDER YOUR INDEPENDENCE AND FULLY RELY ON THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN TRULY MEET ALL YOUR NEEDS: JESUS CHRIST. Yes and Amen.

[If you want to know of some specific ways you can help the Aurangabad Bible College or the Christians in India, please leave a comment or send an email to: davis@wecoc.org]

Life is Meaningless

Imagine you had everything your heart desired. Imagine you could do everything you’ve ever dreamed of doing. Imagine you had more money than you knew what to do with and not a single responsibility or obligation of which to attend. Simply put, imagine your life is perfect…or is it? These thoughts must raise another question inside you. They must provoke you to wonder what your life would really be like if you could live like this. Would it really be bliss 24/7? Or is there more to life than just having fun and buying things?

Some people think that if they could just escape their jobs, buy this new thing or that new car, replace their terrible kid with the neighbor’s well-behaved one, improve their spouse’s personality defects, and get that perfect body they’ve always dreamed of, their life would be perfect. I know you’ve thought these things before, but of course, you’d never admit to it. You want to have the perfect life, but at the same time, want everyone to think your life is already perfect. So while you’re striving to get that promotion, working late, and neglecting your friends or family because you believe it will make the difference in your happiness, you fail to see the reality of your efforts: IT IS MEANINGLESS.

Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”

Why is it meaningless you might ask? A better job means more money, which means more stuff, and more stuff means you can give more to the church and help more people, right? That can’t be meaningless, can it? Well, if your attitude is truly one that is seeking gain in order to give back, that’s one thing. Usually, however, it doesn’t work that way. Most people seek gain because they want more stuff and justify their selfish desires by telling themselves they’ll be able to help more people, too. The reality is that those who don’t give out of what they have now won’t give out of what they have next week or next year. (Okay, back to the point…)

Solomon goes on to call wisdom meaningless, toil and work meaningless, fame and fortune meaningless, and advancement meaningless. For a man who was the wisest to live up to his day, negativity truly permeated his writing. But don’t think that was the purpose or intention of his writing. Let’s look at the glimpses of hope Solomon gives throughout the book of Ecclesiastes.

Life Isn’t Totally Meaningless…

(Side note) Whenever you’re feeling depressed by the condition of your life or saddened by the circumstances around you which may or may not be out of your control and you turn to the Word of God in those times, be sure you don’t open to Ecclesiastes.

Having just finished looking at the meaninglessness of life as written by Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes, we’re moving towards the glimpses of hope that are given throughout the book. Now that I think about it, “throughout” may have been an exaggeration. Regardless of how often, hope is found in the book; it’s just hard to find. Let’s look at Solomon’s messages of hope that he so sparingly hid inside his writing.

(In order to keep this relatively short, here is a good list of all the hopeful statements: Eccl 2:24-25, 3:12-14, 5:1-7, 5:18-20, 8:15, 9:7-10)

As we come to the end of the book, we are confronted with the final verses, hoping they will bring a happy ending to this wearisome book. Let’s focus on the concluding two verses found in chapter 12 verses 13 and 14:

Solomon writes in verse 13, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter.” After having all of the strength drained from your body as you pushed and endured through the twelve long chapters during which only slight glimmers of hope shone through the repetitive echoes of “meaningless, meaningless,” you finally reach the point where it will all make sense—hopefully. So what does Solomon write to conclude this depressing dissertation? “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” The Wisdom of Solomon can not be matched by anyone this generation or any generation has ever known (except Jesus). So for him to search so extensively for something of meaning and sum it all up in 14 words means you should stop what you’re doing and pay attention. I mean it. Stop and pay attention!

Fear God! Keep his commandments! This is the whole duty of man. Don’t you get it? Nothing in this world has meaning without a life devoted to God. Anything you do, anywhere you go, anything you buy, anyone you seek to have a relationship with—all of it will end up as a meaningless waste of time without God guiding it, leading it, and holding it each step of the way. Until you realize the full extent to which God should be and needs to be involved in your life, you are living a meaningless existence. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to the man whom God blessed with so much wisdom people still refer to him as, “The wisest man to ever live” (1 Kings 3:12).

The only meaningless days in life are the ones without God. Now it’s your job to make sure he has the lead role in each and every one.

I Saw The Golden Compass, Part IV

So there I was buying a ticket to the very first showing of The Golden Compass. I was somewhat anxious to get into the theater because of everything I had heard about the movie. As I was preparing to walk into the theater, I cleared my mind of everything I thought I was going to see in order to see the movie for exactly what it was. I didn’t want to judge it before I saw it, and I didn’t want to read into or assume anything based just on what I had heard. So here is my verdict on The Golden Compass: I enjoyed it and thought it was an excellent movie.

First, I’m sure you’re wondering about the whole “religious oppression” that is a huge factor in the books. Well, the group that is supposed to be “the Church” is nothing more than a generic governing body-a toned down approach from what the books portray. Actually, it is more than just a generic government, it appears from the movie that the “Magisterium” is the Government. They come complete with their own Police force, K-9 dogs, weapons, secret mechanical spy bugs, and everything. I’m sorry to say that I haven’t yet seen a religious group that has a police force (in the movie, the officers are called “Gobblers”). Needless to say, anyone who lives in America, with our separation of Church and state, will be totally unable to draw any parallels between the Magisterium and the Church. The character who is known as “The Authority” never appeared in the movie, but was mentioned a couple of times in an authoritative manner, but in no way were the references to “The Authority” spiritual, supernatural, deity-like, or godly in any way shape or form. (However, what the books say could be completely different…so watch out.)

(Let’s jump to the end for a moment to deal with one more issue concerning the Magisterium) As the movie ends, one of the witches is talking to Lee Scoresby, who is a pilot of sorts, and asks him if he has heard the prophesy of the war. She goes on to describe the war as one that will be over free will. The witch describes how the Magisterium is trying to control all people in all worlds and take away their free will. Lord Asriel, who is being held by the Magisterium at the end of the movie, if he has discovered a way to travel between the worlds, could possibly show the Magisterium how to get into these other worlds and then there would be no stopping the control the Magisterium would have. (Hopefully you followed that.)

With the mention of free will, you can think one of two things. First, you can think that this is a good sign that the Magisterium is going to end up paralleling a religious organization. However, then you’d have to reconcile the fact that God only gives free will, he doesn’t take it away–nor does any church I have ever known say they desire to end free will. If you went back a thousand plus years, you could possibly compare this mentality to the Roman Catholic Church that was one with the government, but it is too far a stretch to be any sort of modern day religious organization. Also, I have read many sources that say Pullman’s attempt was to attack the Catholic Church specifically. Secondly, you could view this “removing of free will” concept as merely the goal of an evil fantasy government organization, which it is and be at peace with The Golden Compass. I only need to say one more time that as the other movies are released, the foundation that has been established could indeed change into something else that is actually offensive, but to this point, it isn’t.

The Golden Compass is fantasy. Good guys and bad guys exist in a world where people’s souls walk alongside them in the form of animal personalities called “daemons” (pronounced “demons”). Polar bears are portrayed as the highest race of animals and exist as a fighting species fully equipped with body armor. By the way, the fighting polar bear scenes are the most exciting in the movie. As a note to parents, there is a bit of gore at one point, and when you meet the main polar bear character for the first time, he is a drunk. Another interesting thing is the mention of “Dust.” This is very vaguely explained but talked about quite often. Apparently the Magisterium is trying to conceal any existence of “Dust,” and at one point Lady Coulter (Nicole Kidman) explains that “Dust” is what happens when people disobey “The Authority.” She goes on to say that the Magisterium is trying to separate children’s “daemons” from them in order to keep the influence of “Dust” away. If that sounds confusing, it was confusing in the movie, too. Furthermore, the “Gobblers,” or police force, were actually stealing children by order of the Magisterium and sending them off to a medical-type research facility where “testing” was going on. Actually, they were performing the procedure of separating the daemons from the children.

Well, it is obvious from the movie that the Magisterium and Gobblers are the bad guys and Lyra (the main character) and the Gyptians (a group of renegade parents who are trying to protect the children from the Gobblers) are the good guys. The plot is very well done with the exception of the lingering problem of “Dust,” which I’m sure they’ll explain more as the trilogy continues. When the movie ends, it leaves no doubt that a second movie is in the works. Also, the religious boycott seemed to cause little disturbance. The Golden Compass grossed $26,125,000 opening weekend. Disney’s Enchanted was second place with a mere $10 million.

As I conclude my views on The Golden Compass, I have to say that it is pretty much impossible for anyone to come away from this movie with the impression that the Magisterium represents a religious organization much less the Church as we know it based on the movie alone. The only slight chance that could happen would be in the situation someone goes into the movie looking for something offensive and pairs the Magisterium with the Church only because they read a bunch of emails and heard a bunch of Christians talking about how the books were an attack on the Church. Parents can safely allow their older teens to watch this movie without wondering if they’re going to become atheists. But before going out to buy the books, be sure you read them first. The movie is said to be a “watered-down” version of the books.

Finally, while I enjoyed the movie thoroughly and thought the polar bears were incredibly entertaining, I am in no way saying that the trilogy as a whole will not at some point say, do, or imply some attack or condescension towards the Church nor am I saying the books are not anti-religious. Take the movie for what it is right now: Fantasy and Entertainment. I saw the Golden Compass and that’s all I have to say about it.