Saturday, February 28, 2004
Barbarians at the Gates of Glory
Someone asked me if I thought the Bible was pornographic based on my condemnation of The Passion of Christ.
I certainly would not call the Bible pornographic. It is true that Christ suffered for us horribly, but the Bible is written in such away that while
we know what he suffered, we are not exposed to every stripe, every blow, every drop of blood, and every agonizing detail of a gory and horrific way to die. By the decree of God and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, those details were left out for a reason. The crucifixion is one fourth of the Gospel. Jesus was born, lived, died and was resurrected. The Bible is not pornographic in its depiction of any of these things. The Word of God is governed by the Spirit of God in its accounts, and if we attempt to supercede that wisdom by creating our own ideas of how the Image of the Invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation was born, lived, died and was resurrected, we are in deep water and sinking fast.
I doubt any of us would attend a film that contained equally graphic sequences of the birth of Christ. Do we need to see that to identify with his humanity?Would we attend a movie about the life of Paul that graphically depicted what went on in the temples of Corinth to help us get a grip on the depth of depravity Christians faced in that day? How would we feel about taking our children to see an accurate reproduction of the slaughter of every living thing in Ai or Jericho? Is is necessary for us to watch babies being placed in the cherry-red arms of a brazen Persian idol for us to grasp the evil that was in the land in the days of Daniel? I cannot find scriptural warrant for "educating" our children in this manner, or "building ourselves up in our most holy faith" by exposing ourselves or our families to such things.
If a man were being beaten to a bloody pulp by a mob in the presence of our family, we would not stand by and watch, or move our children so they can "get a better view" in order to understand the effects of physical violence on the human body, or to show them what the effect of sin does to the minds of mankind. We do not invite people over to our home to fornicate so we can give our family some idea of what the disobedient do in secret (or in public). We arrest people who expose children to sexually graphic images, and we condemn adults who view those images. Why? Because they are inaccurate depictions of the purposes of God. They violate His order. They corrupt His design. And they are a perpetuation of the original defilement of His image that occurred in the Garden of Eden. My conviction is that the graphic nature of this movie will violate the purity of those who see it. It will provoke a response that God did not intend. It will ravage the consciences of its viewers, not to the point of conviction, but to the point of violation of those God created to have fellowship with Him.
Our understanding of the effect of visual images seems to go out the window when we talk about the depictions of violence, gore and torture depicted in this movie. Like sexual pornography, they are designed to produce a response. One man who went with his wife stated that his wife described the movie as "a whole body experience." A movie that is a "whole body experience" is not just a movie. It has gone past entertainment and evoked an emotional reaction so intense that a physical response occurs. Many other movies have impacted the minds of the viewers in a similar manner: Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Silence of the Lambs. Saving Private Ryan. Somehow, because this is a movie with Biblical content, we think that is a good thing. We condone it, even though what we see in the movie far surpasses what our minds could produce as we read the pages of scripture. We praise the movie, because it doesn't just make us think, but it makes us feel. It stimulates us in a way that scripture doesn't. We get to see what God left out of His account. Our itching eyes and ears are salved, and we are changed. I can't see how we are changed for the better.
I've got some great photos of my wonderful wife. There are plenty of memories and emotions those photos produce when I look at them. But if you asked me to choose between the photos and the woman, I will load up every scrap of Kodak paper and give it to you in a heartbeat. Any of us would do that. Why? Because the actual relationship is more valuable than the images of the relationship. And whatever the photos help us remember, all that they represent is lost if we are without the living, breathing spouse. Take away the person, and all you have is a memory. We serve a risen saviour. We worship the Living God. Jesus did not leave us a "photo album". He left us His word and His Spirit. By His design, these are decreed as sufficient for our understanding of what occured at Golgotha. We should not substitute our own images to help us remember what He did for us, or rely upon our own depravity to reproduce the heinous crimes of those who hated Jesus. If we do, I believe scripture teaches that we are guilty of crucifying Him all over again to our own shame, and quite frankly, I believe our judgement.
As patriarchs we all have to choose what we will do about showing this movie to our families. God will hold us accountable for our choice. The men here who take their wives or their children to see this movie will be responsible for the spiritual, emotional, and yes, even physical effects it has on those in their charge. Keeping in mind that we are not our own, but we were created to leave an inheritance for those who will come after us, I will not flinch in reading the scriptural account of the cruxifixion to my children, but this movie will not be found in the material or historic archives of my estate for the reasons listed above. May God give us all the grace to know how we should live.
I certainly would not call the Bible pornographic. It is true that Christ suffered for us horribly, but the Bible is written in such away that while
we know what he suffered, we are not exposed to every stripe, every blow, every drop of blood, and every agonizing detail of a gory and horrific way to die. By the decree of God and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, those details were left out for a reason. The crucifixion is one fourth of the Gospel. Jesus was born, lived, died and was resurrected. The Bible is not pornographic in its depiction of any of these things. The Word of God is governed by the Spirit of God in its accounts, and if we attempt to supercede that wisdom by creating our own ideas of how the Image of the Invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation was born, lived, died and was resurrected, we are in deep water and sinking fast.
I doubt any of us would attend a film that contained equally graphic sequences of the birth of Christ. Do we need to see that to identify with his humanity?Would we attend a movie about the life of Paul that graphically depicted what went on in the temples of Corinth to help us get a grip on the depth of depravity Christians faced in that day? How would we feel about taking our children to see an accurate reproduction of the slaughter of every living thing in Ai or Jericho? Is is necessary for us to watch babies being placed in the cherry-red arms of a brazen Persian idol for us to grasp the evil that was in the land in the days of Daniel? I cannot find scriptural warrant for "educating" our children in this manner, or "building ourselves up in our most holy faith" by exposing ourselves or our families to such things.
If a man were being beaten to a bloody pulp by a mob in the presence of our family, we would not stand by and watch, or move our children so they can "get a better view" in order to understand the effects of physical violence on the human body, or to show them what the effect of sin does to the minds of mankind. We do not invite people over to our home to fornicate so we can give our family some idea of what the disobedient do in secret (or in public). We arrest people who expose children to sexually graphic images, and we condemn adults who view those images. Why? Because they are inaccurate depictions of the purposes of God. They violate His order. They corrupt His design. And they are a perpetuation of the original defilement of His image that occurred in the Garden of Eden. My conviction is that the graphic nature of this movie will violate the purity of those who see it. It will provoke a response that God did not intend. It will ravage the consciences of its viewers, not to the point of conviction, but to the point of violation of those God created to have fellowship with Him.
Our understanding of the effect of visual images seems to go out the window when we talk about the depictions of violence, gore and torture depicted in this movie. Like sexual pornography, they are designed to produce a response. One man who went with his wife stated that his wife described the movie as "a whole body experience." A movie that is a "whole body experience" is not just a movie. It has gone past entertainment and evoked an emotional reaction so intense that a physical response occurs. Many other movies have impacted the minds of the viewers in a similar manner: Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Silence of the Lambs. Saving Private Ryan. Somehow, because this is a movie with Biblical content, we think that is a good thing. We condone it, even though what we see in the movie far surpasses what our minds could produce as we read the pages of scripture. We praise the movie, because it doesn't just make us think, but it makes us feel. It stimulates us in a way that scripture doesn't. We get to see what God left out of His account. Our itching eyes and ears are salved, and we are changed. I can't see how we are changed for the better.
I've got some great photos of my wonderful wife. There are plenty of memories and emotions those photos produce when I look at them. But if you asked me to choose between the photos and the woman, I will load up every scrap of Kodak paper and give it to you in a heartbeat. Any of us would do that. Why? Because the actual relationship is more valuable than the images of the relationship. And whatever the photos help us remember, all that they represent is lost if we are without the living, breathing spouse. Take away the person, and all you have is a memory. We serve a risen saviour. We worship the Living God. Jesus did not leave us a "photo album". He left us His word and His Spirit. By His design, these are decreed as sufficient for our understanding of what occured at Golgotha. We should not substitute our own images to help us remember what He did for us, or rely upon our own depravity to reproduce the heinous crimes of those who hated Jesus. If we do, I believe scripture teaches that we are guilty of crucifying Him all over again to our own shame, and quite frankly, I believe our judgement.
As patriarchs we all have to choose what we will do about showing this movie to our families. God will hold us accountable for our choice. The men here who take their wives or their children to see this movie will be responsible for the spiritual, emotional, and yes, even physical effects it has on those in their charge. Keeping in mind that we are not our own, but we were created to leave an inheritance for those who will come after us, I will not flinch in reading the scriptural account of the cruxifixion to my children, but this movie will not be found in the material or historic archives of my estate for the reasons listed above. May God give us all the grace to know how we should live.
