No "WorldMovers" class this Sunday

It's a Potluck Sunday, which means that we won't get to discuss part 2 of the end-of-2011 issue. Last Sunday we didn't get past the opening editorial by Joel Belz, but we had an excellent prayer time over the messages-that-we-would-like-to-send-to-Washington survey. Pictured at the right here is the cover of the next issue, which we will discuss and pray through on Sunday, January 15.

I would like to mention here one interesting item from the December 31 issue. We do not usually discuss the movie reviews, but Rebecca Cusey's review of The Girl with the Dragon tattoo jumped out at me. After pointing out all the moral flaws in the protagonist and emphasizing that the post-modern approbation for this character is that she is 'honest,"  meaning that each of her sexual partners knows they are not exclusive to her, she adds two thoughtful statements:

"Since redemption isn't possible, revenge takes its place.  With redemption and mercy out of the picture, the will to power becomes the ultimate goal of mankind."

It's the Worldview, stupid.

In two sentences, Cusey has given us a succinct statement of the probem with virtually all modern fiction. While it's a healthy thing that we review such movies and do not prudishly "judge" them because of bad langauge and partial nudity, most Christians miss the real point of what is dangerous: the worldview. It is dangerous because fiction manipulates us to identify with and "root for" the protagonist, and if the protagonist is devoid of wisdom or any redemptive character, then we "buy into" the lifestyle and activity of the "hero," no mater how "heathen" it may be.


I have preached this for years, but still thousands of Christian young people support these movies with God-provided money, chanting as they merge with the darkness of the mesmerizing theater, "It can't hurt me....it can't hurt me.."


Thank God for Rebecca Cusey sounding the alarm, anyway.  It's is good not to be alone in this battle.