Friday, March 18, 2005
The worst offense
Well, Christian, while we were all concerned about sex and violence, not to mention the seemingly constant focus on "gay" characters and situations, in the media, stuff that ought to be far more offensive has passed largely unnoticed. First, it was the blasphemous and heretical portrayal of Jesus Christ in the widely-praised The Passion of the Christ. Now, coming soon to NBC, is The Book of Daniel, a show that will portray Jesus as a buddy to an Episcopal priest.
No, I've not seen the show, nor do I plan to do so, but regardless I feel justified in speaking out against this type of portrayal of Christ for several reasons:
Folks, this kind of thing ought not to be! It is an affront to Almighty God, and ought to be denounced from every pulpit with greater fervor than is used against the sexual immorality of our day. Sins against our fellow man are an affront to God, to be sure, and will be judged in the last day to the uttermost, but the sin of blasphemy is directly against God himself. Church, we ought to have weeped over The Passion of the Christ, but instead we praised it to the skies, so look what we have reaped.
Now, I'm in no way saying that it is impossible to portray Christian values in the media. Quite the reverse! In fact, we ought to rejoice when films such as Luther portray the life of a man who found grace in God's sight and lived a life of service unto him. Moreover, it would be wonderful if every movie and TV show presumed the truth of God's moral Law, showing the terrible fruit of sin and the availabilty of grace through Christ. There's even a place for humorous depictions of certain Biblical themes: surely there is much folly and foolishness in the life of sinful man that is well-deserving of laughter. Many of the greatest films touch on moral issues, albeit imperfectly, in an enlightening and profitable way. There is a great deal of subject matter that's perfectly proper in the performing arts, but what ought never to be tolerated is to portray God himself in any way, whether as Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. Far from praising such portrayals, the church ought to denounce them as an offense against God himself.
No, I've not seen the show, nor do I plan to do so, but regardless I feel justified in speaking out against this type of portrayal of Christ for several reasons:
- Jesus Christ is not to be portrayed in visual form, whether on film or in illustration. To do so is to make a graven image, a plain violation of the Second Commandment.
- Jesus is indeed a friend to sinners, as the great hymn reminds us, but he gave his life as a Savior for those sinners, thus paying the most terrible price imaginable. Trust me: The Book of Daniel won't come even close to portraying this side of Christ.
- Jesus Christ is King of Kings, Lord of Lords: God himself. As such he is an unsuitable "character" for any kind of entertainment. Period.
Folks, this kind of thing ought not to be! It is an affront to Almighty God, and ought to be denounced from every pulpit with greater fervor than is used against the sexual immorality of our day. Sins against our fellow man are an affront to God, to be sure, and will be judged in the last day to the uttermost, but the sin of blasphemy is directly against God himself. Church, we ought to have weeped over The Passion of the Christ, but instead we praised it to the skies, so look what we have reaped.
Now, I'm in no way saying that it is impossible to portray Christian values in the media. Quite the reverse! In fact, we ought to rejoice when films such as Luther portray the life of a man who found grace in God's sight and lived a life of service unto him. Moreover, it would be wonderful if every movie and TV show presumed the truth of God's moral Law, showing the terrible fruit of sin and the availabilty of grace through Christ. There's even a place for humorous depictions of certain Biblical themes: surely there is much folly and foolishness in the life of sinful man that is well-deserving of laughter. Many of the greatest films touch on moral issues, albeit imperfectly, in an enlightening and profitable way. There is a great deal of subject matter that's perfectly proper in the performing arts, but what ought never to be tolerated is to portray God himself in any way, whether as Father, Son, or Holy Spirit. Far from praising such portrayals, the church ought to denounce them as an offense against God himself.
