Movies, Society and Finding Our Compass

There were a couple of movies that came out the last few years that received a lot of attention from the “Christian” community. One was The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe from C.S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles; the second was The Da Vinci Code from a Dan Brown Novel. Now the attention these two movies received was drastically different, but in retrospect I think the movie that actually opened up more valued conversation for me was the Da Vinci Code, the one that was adverse toward my Christian beliefs. I had some great opportunities to talk to people about the fallacy of all those theories.

So, what’s my point? Maybe we need to change the way we look at things that are contrary to what we believe and instead of feeling threatened by them, see them as opportunities to engage others with what we believe. Take for example the up coming movie “The Golden Compass” If we read and know what the intention of the story is, then we probably know more than most who would see it, which gives us the opportunity to answer any questions that might arise from what is being portrayed. I have never pursued a question about my faith, that hasn’t in the end strengthened my faith, it just takes seeking to find, knocking for the truth to be opened up and asking to get the answer.
All this makes me wonder, how did Christianity spread so quickly throughout the Roman Empire one of the most depraved and hedonistic civilizations the world has known? What was the attitude of those early followers when confronted with opposition to their beliefs? Confronted with the intense idolatry, rampant sexual perversions and complete dishonesty. I mean we never read of Paul saying “get out of Corinth, the place is filled with prostitutes!” He did say run away from the immorality, but he also said, ”…I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.” (1Cor. 5:10 NLT). It seems to me that he is implying that they should expect to find just that type of behavior in the midst of the world they lived in, shouldn’t we?
What would happen if we as followers of Jesus actually followed in His steps or those of Paul? What if we really knew and experienced the transforming work of God in our lives and believed it would do the same for everyone who would have faith in as well? Would we worry less about keeping ourselves “safe” and more about stepping up and into the heart and heat of the conversation?
It’s interesting that the origin of the word “pagan” which has come to mean an unbeliever or heathen, first came from the Latin word which means, country dweller. You see there was a time when the followers of Jesus did not run out of the cities to keep themselves from all the wickedness that was there (Rome being the very heart and epicenter of the know world), but instead remained there until the only ones left who had not heard about Jesus were out in the outskirts, the country, the Pagans. They too like Paul had this idea in their heads that they could actually impact the entire world. And you know what? They did! Their compass, like God’s pointed toward the heart of the world.

… Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem. “And after that,” he said,

“I must go on to Rome!” (Acts 19:21)