Okay... This is one of those obligatory posts that you do because you are tired of hearing everyone else yap about something without tossing in your brain power. First let me say that I haven't had to read much about this from most of the blogs I read so for that I thank you.
I have however found a surprising amount of uproar in the mainstream media as well as the printed media from around the globe.
The issue at hand of course is the DaVinci code. So here are my thoughts.
1. Christians can be very stupid and near-sighted at times.
I read this article and again wanted to put a brown bag over my head and pretend I was Peter outside waiting on word of how Jesus was doing. Christians are infamous for acting emotionally and not using the most amazing piece of flab God ever created... Their brain! Throwing a fit only ups the hype factor of a movie. That sells tickets and books which puts money into the pockets of everyone who had a hand in the film or book. All of this pleases those at the top of the entertainment food chain so like a baby with no vocabulary they pound their fist and cry for more. This starts the cycle all over with another movie that stirs up those 'religious right wing freaks'.
Christians have got to collectively get a little more PR savvy and we should use our back-networks to tell our people to zip it over the trivial stuff. If it doesn't make cash it will fall by the wayside. But no... we cry and complain with every orifice and draw attention to ourselves all the while giving the movie promoters golden air time.
2. Protests and boycotts are so 90's Disney world.
I wouldn't even recommend a mass exodus from the theaters. I'd recommend we just let people pick movies they like to watch. Then ultimately the movies that make the most money will be well-produced epics that hold the audience for 90 to 120 minutes at a time, not movies that use 'offending Christians' as their main marketing strategy. Lets face it... the movie wasn't made and staring Tom Hanks because the book only sold 10 copies. The story is good, it's filed under fiction but the kicker was that Christians (i.e. Passion fans) would get ticked off. If your movie is in the news, you can sell tickets at a great R.O.I. . Get the Christians hacked off and you've got a winner. In the meantime a movie like "Because of Winn Dixie" goes to video in 2 hours because it doesn't tick Christians off and it actually falls right into their 'desired' category.
3. I don't know that God cares about this movie.
Care may not be the right word but maybe I mean to say that I don't think God is concerned abut this movie. In all of his sovereignty I don't worship a God who is shaking in his boots right now. Remember... Peter in his zeal and love for God cut off a dude's right ear. He was LITERALLY protecting Jesus and Jesus rebuked him for trying to change what scripture clearly revealed as well as what Jesus himself said would happen. (Sound familiar?)
Fast forward to today. How many people in Jesus-wear are walking around trying so hard to prevent Jesus from being the Hollywood homeboy? How many protests and picket signs can one Savior take? In many ways I think God is looking down at this saying "Hey... you guys are missing the point. I told you people would ridicule me. I told you that the world is at odds with me. Why are you so shocked? Why are you spending so much time walking around in circles with picket signs wearing those ugly 'den-of-thieves' Christian T-shirts? Why aren't you being more proactive and less defensive when it comes to things about me?
Honestly... God isn't panicked in Heaven. He's not getting off his throne and walking over to the "break glass for emergency" box. I can't see him picking up the red Bat phone or hitting the red emergency button under the proverbial cash register. God is confident. He's secure in who he is and no movie about him shacking up with Mary is going to make him less God.
In fact this movie provides a great segway for us to talk about the real Jesus... not the Hollywood Hippie version.
4. I say check the movie out.
I expect to see the movie myself and I hope to discuss it later at Starbucks with my neighbors. This is why I love Mark Batterson's lingo of "redeeming" aspects of culture. I told a friend on the phone today "The world is about as deep as spit spiritually... I can't see why Christians are freaking out. If they listen to one question that someone has about the movie they should be able to answer that question and take the rest of the conversation over to the real Gospel." This TO ME is what 1 Peter 3:15 is all about. Always being ready to talk about the hope that we have. Truthfully I don't know a true believer in Christ who couldn't do that. If someones life has been completely and utterly changed by the presence of God and the power of the Holy Spirit they should be able to take a question about Jesus and turn it into a show and tell time.
Instead of using our platforms and saying "Ignore the world and cover your eyes" we should be saying "Engage the world and open your heart and mouth."
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