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Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
making the most of the time, because the days are evil. (Eph. 5:15-16, ESV)

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Things to Think About

Before Entertaining Yourself This Week

Pastor David G. Barker

            Ron Howard’s movie version of The Da Vinci Code will be opening in theaters across the country this week.  I have no doubt of its popularity and impact because the movie is based on a novel that was on the best-seller list for nearly two years and has sold close to 9 million copies.  The movie will attract even more than that because the power and brevity of the big screen appeals to the large number of nonreaders in the United States.

            Before you decide to join them and go and see the movie yourself, allow me to give you some things to think about.

             1)  “Yes, Virginia, this really is heresy and blasphemy.”  It isn’t “just a movie” or “just a book of fiction.”  It really does deliberately target and attack the historic Christian faith and the essence of the gospel, and it deliberately does so in a compelling and persuasive way.  All heresy is fiction and all heresy seeks to persuade compellingly.  But the gospel is the eternal truth of God.  There is nothing more precious and valuable and worth taking a stand for and even sacrificing (here in some small way) for.  Think about it this way.  Throughout Church history, men and women have died defending the truth against error and attack.  Now, the very same people who killed our spiritual fathers and mothers invite you to pay money, sit in a nice comfy chair with friends, eat popcorn, and be entertained with the message that Christ is a lie.

             2)  “Heresy has been very, very good to Mr. Brown.”  How much are you willing to pay to promote the causes of Hollywood, Gnosticism, Feminism and the individuals who advocate for them?  When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, they had to come up with their own straw in order to make the bricks that built monuments to the nation and gods of Egypt.  At least they cried out to God for deliverance.  Now, I know there are areas in all our lives where we contribute to things we conscientiously oppose but cannot avoid.  But here the choice is plain and right in front of you.  It is not essential to life.  It is only entertainment.  Pass it by.

So, what reason do you have for wanting to see this movie?

            1)  “I need to see it in order to dialogue effectively with others about it.”  No, you don’t.  You don’t need to wallow in mud to realize a pig is dirty.  In fact, it would be more of a conversation starter if you expressed to someone else that you have certain reasons or convictions for not seeing it.  Besides, what you really want to do is dialogue on the points and issues and questions that struck the other person.  You can do this very directly by asking questions such as “tell me what you saw that disturbed you?”, “what was most persuasive to you?”, or “what did you find most troubling?”  By doing this you avoid talking about things that don’t matter – like how much the movie was different than the book or how good or bad the acting and special effects were.  Of course, the real problem here is your being ready for such a dialogue.  You don’t do that by watching some movie; you do that by studying the Scriptures.

            2)  “Oh well, I’m just curious.”  I’m sorry.  I think this is the worst excuse of all.  It is an admission of mindlessness when we are called to be “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:6); it is a yielding to temptation when we are called to “flee idolatry” (1 Cor. 10:14); it is seeking to satisfy our own desires when we are warned of those who come to scratch our “itching ears and turn to fables” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).  Simple curiosity is next to idleness.  “A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident.” (Prov 14:16)

            3)  “Pastor, aren’t you being a bit legalistic?”  I’m not forbidding anything that Christ has given us freedom to enjoy.  But I am asking you to think and apply Barker’s rule: What is so right about this that I should give myself to it?  How am I edified?  How is Christ exalted?  How does this build up the Kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of man?  Again, we’re not talking necessary food and drink here.  We’re talking entertainment.  Just think and pray about these verses and how they apply to you:

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful;

all things are lawful for me,

but not all things edify. (1 Cor 10:23)

whatever is not from faith is sin. (Rom. 14:23)