Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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I Am Still Ambivalent About Harry Potter

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Keeping some perspective on Harry Potter

Harry Potter StarsI was forwarded a recent article denouncing Christianity Today for not taking a strong Anti Harry Potter stance. While I have had my own issues with some of the writers at Christianity Today and there are things in that CT article with which I do not agree, let’s put all the hyperbole aside and take a deep breath.

If your desire is to remove magic from your kids’ reading list, some of the best literature must be taken away. Need I remind you that Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia and just about every other fantasy novel or series have magic in them? Magic is a staple of the genre. In a previous post in this blog, I made some observations about this genre which point to our need for something bigger than ourselves. There is value in using literature to explore the big questions that confront us. These are question such as, who are we, why are we here and where are we going? These are subjects that fantasy literature explores.

With the release of the first Harry Potter book, some in Christendom began predicting that J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter would team up to destroy the faith every child and convert them to occultic practice. I haven’t seen evidence of this. Before we restart the anti Harry Potter hysteria, let’s find some evidence that the predicted impact is in fact taking place. The burden of proof is on the side of the doom-sayers.

So Why Am I Ambivalent?

I am ambivalent because there are some things in the Harry Potter books that I did not like. Like real life, the good characters sometimes do things that are wrong. They break rules, are sometimes disrespectful and tell lies. In this, Rowling has done nothing more egregious than present heroes that are flawed. Yet, at times while reading the books, I wanted to shout “shame on you.”

To be fair, I should point out that heroes are what they are because they get the most important thing right in a particular situation. Pick any hero from sports, war, history, religion, science or the arts and you will find a flawed individual who did well in his chosen endeavor. While I don’t like the flaws, they are what they are and flaws in book characters are consistent with flaws in real people.

Are the Harry Potter books great literature? I’m not qualified to determine this. I can say that they present a compelling story and force the reader to examine important questions. The Harry Potter books are entertaining and engaging; they do draw you in. Yet, I can’t say that I would watch the movies or read the books again. I have lost count of the times I’ve read The Lord of the Rings but Harry Potter does not compel me back in the same way.

The Harry Potter books are here to stay, which is perhaps an indicator of their quality as literature. Since they are here to stay, why not use them as a starting point for substantive discussion as opposed to using them as a jumping off point decrying the general decline of western culture and Christian influence? The books could be a good starting point for discussion about right and wrong, what is important and the purpose of life.

What do you think?

Hard Headed but Soft Hearted

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UncertainIn Matthew 10:16, Jesus enjoins his disciples to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. John describes Jesus as being “full of grace and truth” in John 1:14. Both of these verse show that we are to be precise and determined in our thinking but open and gracious in our behavior toward others. To simplify this, we are to be hard headed but soft hearted.

Yet, I see in Christendom the complete reverse at times. “Scholars” equivocate on the truth of Scripture and ill treat those who stand for that truth.

We need to stand firm on Scripture while taking care that we are not offensive or provocative in our presentation of truth. We are to be firm on what Scripture says and flexible where Scripture provides freedom. Jesus should be our example in this.

I see in Jesus one who never equivocated on the truth, yet the sinners, drug dealers, prostitutes, homeless, terrorists and extortionists followed and adored him. Jesus was attractive to a sin-sick world. The church needs to take a look in the mirror and ask why we are not attractive to that same world. We are supposed to be representatives of Jesus, yet somehow we tarnish his image as we bear it.

Perhaps the starting point is for the church to do a better job of understanding the Gospel and releasing the good news from the behavioral modification that too often passes as evangelism. We are not called to change people, that is God’s job. We are called to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus and the gospel are fully capable of affecting the desired change.

Let’s be hard headed as to what the gospel really is. It really is good news that a dying world longs to hear. But let’s be soft hearted toward those who desperately need the gospel. They need us to be resolute and loving. If we are that lost world might start finding Jesus again.

What do you think?

What is Caesar’s and What is God’s?

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Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17 and Luke 20:25 record the familiar phrase “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” The fact that all three of the Synoptic Gospels record this saying is an indication to me that it is very important. There is something here that I am supposed to get.

Hearing this taught while growing up in the church and reading the Gospels for myself, I never encountered any idea that this passage might be saying anything more than it is right to pay taxes.

The government has the authority to demand taxes and we are called to be obedient and pay them. Recently, when reflecting on this verse, it seems to met that In addition to taxes, the government, or world system, can demand our time, our effort and our intellectual power. In short, Caesar, as representative of the world system can demand our resources from us.

The world can demand our resources but what are we to render to God?

1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us that we, as believers, have been purchased for God, therefore we belong to God. The thing that we need to render to God is us. To render myself to God is to acknowledge that he is in the ownership position and I am to do his bidding. We get a sense of this from openings verses of Paul’s letters where he refers to himself as a bond slave of Jesus Christ. Paul had that sense of ownership that we are to have.

We are to render our resources to the world and our selves to God. This seems very straight forward and should be easy, right?

it is not so easy. I have observed in myself and others that the opposite often takes place. It is too easy to have a punch-the-clock mentality with regard to our Christianity. Put in the time, give our tithe, perform that ministry, and we satisfied our obligation. I sometimes get it backwards and give myself to pursuit of what the world tells me I should value while being content to give a small portion of my resources to God. It is to easy to get this entirely backwards.

Jesus, quoting from Isaiah 29:13, said of the Israelites of his day, “this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. (Matthew 15:8). There are times when I’m going through the motions and my heart is not wholly devoted to God, even when participating in church or ministry.

Perhaps the beginning of revival is for us to examine ourselves for misplaced affections, repent and give to God what is his. He bought us at a very high price.

Psyched out by the hills and what to do about it

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Bike HillWhen riding my bike I am often psyched out by hills. To my shame, I must admit that I sometimes change my route because of them. When I am not the one choosing the route, I will be thinking of the hill (if I know about it) long before I get to it. The hill has me primed for defeat long before it is time to climb it.

Now, as I ride less often than I used to, I have the excuse that I am not in shape for the hills, but I struggled with the thought of hills even when in good condition. My problem is mental before it is physical.

In considering this, I find that the same is true in my spiritual life. I am often psyched out at the thought of sharing my faith or letting people know the good news of Jesus Christ. I can get overwhelmed at the idea of not being able to handle objections, questions or hostility.

In response to the question of hills on the bicycle, there are two things I can do to overcome this fear. The first is to work on conditioning so that the physical aspect is not the problem. The second thing is to take the hills as they come and not get psyched out before getting to the hill.

In the same way, there are also two things I can do in response to the fear of sharing my faith. The first is to study so that I can present a reasonable explanation of what I believe (2 Timothy 2:15). The second is to take the objections and questions as they come knowing that I don’t have to have all the answers. In Luke 12:11-12 Jesus promises that when his followers are brought before rulers and authorities, the Holy Spirit will bring guidance about what to say. Since we are commanded to make disciples (Matthew 28:19) and the only way to make disciples is to share our faith, the promise must hold true whenever we are seeking to represent Jesus to those who need him.

So, I need to borrow from a Nike slogan for both hills and sharing, “just do it.”

What do you think?

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