Reggie Weems

I wish I had more time to write about Benazir Bhutto’s death and its Middle East ramifications but time won’t permit such a luxury.  Immediately after her assasination, Jay Smith sent an e-mail from London with a picture of himself and the former Prime Minister.  By God’s gracious intervention, he had debated her at Oxford in 2002 and she responded with an invitation to tea and further conversation about their upbringing, he as a Christian in India and she as a Muslim in Pakistan.  Oh, how Christians can and should tie the daily news with prayer and a heart for global missions. 

Benazir knew it was only a matter of time before she would lay her life down for the people of Pakistan; it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ at all, but simply, ‘when.’  And yet, in October of last year, her passion for her own nation moved her to return from exile and join the Pakistani people in their quest for freedom.  After her return she was asked about her possible death and replied that her life was not her own but belonged to the millions of Pakistani people whom she served.  How noble to die for your friends. 

 When I heard about her death my thoughts immediately went to the hymn that asks,

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

Immediately after her assasination, Pakistan eruped into a series of violent protests throughout the country.  In the aftermath, many people will die as a result of her death (26 already).  And Benazir, herself a Muslim, and countless others will step into a Christless eternity where, in spite of any good accomplished on this earth, people are judged solely on the basis of their relationship to Jesus Christ, Who is the centerpiece and cornerstone of God’s redemptive plan amongst humanity and the Judge of all the earth.  Each of us can remember when we were burdened down by our sins and held captive to sin. 

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

Unlike Benazir’s death, many will live because of Christ’s death.  What wondrous love was God’s, that Jesus Christ, died, not for His friends as Benazir did, but for His enemies.  Paul asserted that many people might die for their friends just as some people would die for other people whose lies merited saving (from a human perspective).  The incredible thing about Jesus’ death is that He died for His enemies (Romans 5:8); for a people whose lives only merited eternal damnation.  It would be as though Benazir died for Al Qaeda, the very people now being blamed for her death.  Amazingly, this is exactly what the Lord Jesus did.  He died for the very people who hung Him on the cross, as Peter later verified (Acts 2:23) in his Pentcost Day sermon.

Is it any wonder then that our hearts are lost in awe as we contemplate the cross?  Here we are, just days after Christmas Day and we are once again, reminded through history’s events, that what Jesus did was singuarly exceptional (as I preached on Sunday morning before Christmas).  Our response is awe…and action - to love God with our hearts, minds, souls and strength (Deut 6). 

Let us pray for the people of Pakistan who will spend and even expend their lives for temporal freedom while Jesus offers eternal freedom.  He does for us what no government or President or Monarch could ever accomplish.  May these events spur us to greater love for our Savior and greater service to a world in need of our Savior.  As we pray and work, let us also sing a song of triumph to the Lamb. 

To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb Who is the great “I Am”;
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
While millions join the theme, I will sing.

May millions of those voices be Pakistani!

The Christmas season certainly evokes a wide range of responses from people.  The wise men anxiously longed for the coming Messiah.  Herod did everything he could to destroy any thought of the baby’s birth.  Anna and Simeon nervously anticipated the Savior’s arrival.  Simeon must have been surprised that he could hold God’s redemption in his own hands.  The Pharisees attempted to ignore it altogether.  Today people argue over greeting one another with “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas.”  One child…so many responses…but in some way, everyone responds to Christmas.  No one avoids Christmas or evades God.       

But since Christmas is particularly a Christian holy day, how Christians respond to Christmas sets the tone for everyone else.  How do Christians respond to Christmas?  Both in scripture and in history people who hear about Jesus’ birth respond with music and lyrics, songs that attempt to express the truly inexpressible.  We can learn a lot from the songs we sing so think for a moment about the Christmas carols that fill our churches and thrill our hearts during this season.

 “O Come let us adore Him.” “Then let us all with one accord sing praises to our heavenly Lord.”  “Come rich and poor to own Him, the King of Kings salvation brings, let loving hearts enthrone Him.” “O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.” “O come with us, abide with us, our Lord Emanuel.” “O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for Thee.”  “Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay close by me forever and love me, I pray. Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care, and take us to heaven to dwell with Thee there.”  “O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel.”  “Come Thou long expected Jesus.”  “Fall on your knees, O hear the angel’s voices.”  “Let every heart prepare him room.”   

These songs reveal how Christians respond to Christmas and they are proper responses to the birth of Christ.  Did you notice something that each of these songs had in common?  They’re all invitations.  Christmas is God’s invitation to know His Son Jesus Christ and its this knowledge that fills your life like the baby Jesus filled that manger in Bethlehem.  At Christmas the church invites people to join in adoration of Christ and people invite the Lord Jesus into their lives.  There’s no better reponse - the church joins shepherds and angels in proclaiming Jesus as the world’s Savior.  People respond by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.  It is the most important invitation ever offered and the most important invitation to which you will ever respond.  And how you respond determines your eternal destiny.  So by all means, respond to God’s invitation by inviting Jesus to be your Lord and Savior.  You’ll never sing Christmas carols the same again.    

In Acts 17 Paul debates the Athenians concerning the existence and sovereignty of God and in the process turns the tables of their own literature over on them.  Evidently Paul was abreast of Athenian poetry and Greek thinking sufficient to utilize the material in his discussions concerning God.  It may be that multitudes of Christians do not see the movie The Golden Compass but the church’s absence from the theatre will not erase the movie’s influence from the ethical consciousness of a young generation and their parents.  In that regard, Christians should have some sense of what is going on in the culture around them regardless of actual participation in the various venues that are contrary to Christianity. 

For Philip Pullman, the great danger to human existence and well-being is the evil Magisterium which represents Christianity in general and the Catholic church in particular.  The Magisterium will do everything possible to squash individuality, freedom or expression.  While it’s quite true that the movie ‘tones down’ Mr. Pullman’s rhetoric he is no less intent on creating a world void of God’s presence and the church’s influence. 

So what’s a Christian to do?  First, Christians must be personally convinced of the reality of God, the actuality of the fall in the garden, the impending doom that results from sin and able to support their belief from Scripture.  Acts 17 would be a good place to start.  There Paul, speaking to a Greek audience who doubts the existence of any god, goes all the way back to creation to prove God’s existence.  He never had to do this with a Jewish audience whose thinking was framed by the knowledge of the God of the Old Testament.  From there Paul makes a direct line to the cross and then onto judgement.  In the process he uses the Athenians version of The Golden Compass to prove his point.  Now that’s savvy - using the very medium intended to disprove God to prove God. 

Children everywhere will be talking about this movie if for no other reason, the mass marketing that occurs with every children’s movie.  Some will have seen it and others will have not.  Parents must certainly take personal responsibility for their children’s hearts and minds, teaching them to think, believe and live biblically.  It’s a great opportunity for parents to speak with their own children about discernment, especially with regard to education or the media.  Children can learn to become critical (not mean but able to critique) thinkers in circumstances like these.  As parents pose questions about the underlying philosophies that drive the movie (even without seeing it) children can learn to look beyond and behind what is easily visible to discover the world of intent, metaphor and the power of images, be they words or pictures.  In today’s overly communicated society and mass media driven world, there is probably little escaping an awareness of The Golden Compass.  But we can prepare our children to discuss the merits of Christianity and use the opportunity to witness to their friends.  And we as adults can be ready also.     

A great resource for children is The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones.  Just released this year, the book is appropriately subtitled, Every Story Whispers His Name.  It begins with creation and winds its way through the Bible into the book of Revelation - every story looking forward to or rejoicing in Jesus Christ as the Redeemer, Rescuer.  Teana enjoyed reading the stories so much she purchased a copy for the two of us and we have begun reading it together.  The wonder of God’s love and Jesus’ rescue will make you weep with every chapter. 

There is no question that The Golden Compass represents yet another challenge to historic Christianity but it is not a challenge for which God, the Bible or the church is unprepared.  The gospel of Jesus Christ has endured much in its history only to thrive in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.  Remember, Christian apologetics is both a reasoned defense and a reasonable confirmation of the Christian faith. 

The Great Commission Christian’s response to this movie is dictated by Scripture.  Some Christians will argue against other Christians (even in the same church) for going to see the movie or for not going to see the movie.  But light fighting light does not decrease darkness.  Other Christians will simply complain that the movie exists but complaining about darkness doesn’t change the darkness or create light.  In the midst of the darkness of this “present evil world” someone must be light…be light.  Jesus didn’t just send a light, He was “the light,” in person, in practice.  The Great Commission requires us to go “in” to the world.  Jesus did not pray that we would be removed from the world but that we would remain pure in it.  Truly, for the kingdom’s sake, if Christians are not going to use the movie as a platform for the gospel let’s at least not criticize each other, violating Romans 14:4 or condemn sinners who are already condemned (John 3:18).             

As in ages past and different circumstances, The Golden Compass provides the church of Jesus Christ with another opportunity to declare the glorious marvel of a God Who created, sustains and saves.  His ways are right and best.  All that He has declared in His word is true and cannot be invalidated.  He alone has the wisdom to declare humanity’s greatest need and provide a remedy that will direct us to eternal joy.  For that, Christians don’t need a golden compass, they already possess a glorious Scripture and an all-sufficient Savior.                

Bless the hearts of our dear Catholic friends.  Only recently has Dan Brown villified the Catholic Church in The Davinci Code and now, British author Philip Pullman’s very popular children’s book trilogy (His Dark Materials) hits the big screen with the first book, The Golden Compass, in theatres this Friday.  The movie itself is presented very well with an excellent cast (what’s the world coming to - Two great actors, Tom Hanks and now Nicole Kidman play key roles in an attempt to defame the Catholic Church???) and great cinematronics.  Plus, the previews are nothing less than Narnian.  The positive and negative buzz surrounding the movie insures it will be well attended as it opens this weekend.  So what are its negative aspects? 

As an author, Pullman is an openly avowed atheist with a dislike (and that’s a kind term) for Christianity.  He has written to directly attack the Catholic Church particularly and Christianity in general.  He considers the church to be  authoritarian and tyrannical, represented in the movie as the Magisterium.  But it is actually Mr. Pullman who has a very overt agenda. 

Through the Golden Compass, Pullman hopes to offer a naturalistic moral compass (no pun intended) that invalidates the biblical narrative concerning the fall while simultaneously providing the spiritual age in which we live, and a young generation in particular, a new story-line that is not based on or honoring to the Scriptures.  Basically, he thinks the Bible got it all wrong.  What God considers sin is good and what Christianity considers good is really, really bad for humanity.  Thus, the on-going struggle against the tyranical God and His Church.  It’s a fantasy remake of “V for Vendetta” and Parliment is played by St. Peter’s Cathedral.    

Pullman has openly called the “original sin anything but,” has confessed a hatred for Christianity and intends (in the third book) to unashamedly kill God.  His characters say things like, “The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that’s all” and “Every church is the same:  control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling.”  Pullman openly confesses, “My books are about killing God” and “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.”   

In addition, Pullman is adamant in his dislike of C.S. Lewis’ classically famed Chronicles of Narnia which he considers “morally loathsome” and “one of the most poisonous things I ever read.”  He is quoted as saying, “I hate the Narnia books, and I hate them with a deep and bitter passion.”  He confesses that Narnia created a world that is “the Christian one….And mine is the non-Christian.”  One author wrote, “What Lewis did for Christianity, Pullman wants to do for atheism.”  And while its very fine for Mr. Pullman to endorse his world-view through children’s books or any kind of legal medium for that matter, must it be done with such negativity and distaste for things and people who have never been unkind or mean spirited to him?  I can deal with a lot from some people but it’s quite possible that sin against CS Lewis may not be forgiven in this world or the next.  (Oh, laugh!)  And if he hates Narnia so much, why couldn’t he just leave Lucy alone?  Why did he have to drag her name into his series?  And there’s so much more that Pullman has borrowed from the man (CS Lewis) and land (Narnia) he despises.  All of this goes to prove that if Pullman isn’t anything, it’s original, in his books or his atheistic intentions.

By the way, it was one thing for Lewis to positively portray what he believed in but Pullman negatively portrays what he doesn’t believe in.  It’s like, “Did you hear about the invisible couple who had children?  Yea, the kids were nothing to look at!”  Pullman spends three books trying to disprove what he doesn’t believe exists.  It’s like a blind man searching in a darkened room for a black cat that isn’t there.  It’s a rerun of the old atheist’s line, “I don’t believe in God but just in case He’s real, here are three reasons (books) why he doesn’t, shouldn’t or couldn’t.”  I’ve never understood all the hatred for something that doesn’t exist (according to the atheist).          

Still, for the atheist Pullman, Adam and Eve (who never really existed) were right to rebel against God (who doesn’t exist) whom the author views as a tyranical dictator, just as the children in his stories rebel against the Magisterium.  Sadest of all, ultimately, the knowledge of good and evil rests with mankind and its innate ability to choose between what is right or wrong without ‘the fear of the Lord.’  In reality, there’s nothing new about what Pullman intends in his trilogy.  It’s the old snake in the garden trick (’Yea, hath God said…?”) and it hasn’t worked yet.  Thus, the Golden Compass is neither the end of the Christian world or the dawn of a new world.  The movie may be great fun but the author’s intent hardly merits a yawn.         

Still, Christian parents should be fully informed about this movie and Pullman’s books.  No one should read the books or see the movie thinking that it is simply a neutral tale intended to entertain.  Remember, no information is neutral and this movie possesses an entertainment agenda second to none.  While The Golden Compass hides its eventual and surprising end - the death of God in book three - everyone should be aware of Mr. Pullman’s intent in creating a fictional world that excludes the sovereignty and eventually the very existence of God.  And certainly, no one should buy their children the books or take their children to see the movie without an understanding of the movie’s purpose.   

Tomorrow we’ll talk about a Christian’s response to The Golden Compass and how we can use the books and this film to advance the cause of Christ into a world that is increasingly unaware of the fall and its eternal consequences.  It’s true, The Golden Compass provides Christians with a wonderful opportunity to talk about God and humanity with both nonbelievers and their own believing families.  By all means, let’s take advantage of it.