There was no greater toy in childhood than Masters of the Universe. Who could trump He-Man? G.I. Joe, Thundercats, and Transformers had nothing compared to the Master. Those same words and thoughts were the parental controversy that I was somewhat unaware of playing with my action figures. In my mind He-Man was the best, but in conservative minds, He-Man was competing with God's sovereignty.
I realize my previous post about the Golden Compass was similar to the same arguments opponents voiced about He-Man, Harry Potter, and now the Golden Compass. Parents have been encouraged to flee from fictional stories that run opposed to God and His salvation. Magic, Witches, protectors of the universe, jedi force (oh wait, Star Wars gets a pass from Christians since it only promotes Pantheism) To set the record straight, I loved He-Man; I enjoyed Harry Potter; I looked forward to seeing Golden Compass. When I discovered the worldview behind this movie was antitheistic, to the point that a child kills the god-character in the final book, I was disappointed. It is imperative that Christians engage movies like the Golden Compass but that does not mean removing ourselves from the discussion by stating our moral objections. Every storyline has a gospel. Our point of engagement is finding out what makes the story in view a "happy" ending. How can we relate that happy ending to reality and forming a worldview? What makes the wrong worldview a disappointing, happy ending? If we are serious about talking to people that do not have a relationship with the Creator of the Universe, then let's engage people through every means possible. Sometimes we see "bad" movies, hang out in bars, and be friends with people totally different than ourselves. Why? In order to give them the true, fairy tale, the real magic - the grace of Jesus Christ.
I remember my mother telling me He-Man was only a toy, just something to play with. I never asked Mom if He-Man would forgive my sins, never crossed my mind. She did tell me about a man who really is Master of the Universe, and one day His kingdom will crush Snake Mountain totally and finally with one, fatal stomp.
1 comment:
I like your thoughts here, John Mark. We need to be able to see the worldview behind movies and books and people's ideas first, in order to enter into a relevant discussion about the gospel with them. That means looking for elements of the gospel story and figuring out how to connect that with where they are coming from, in hopes that they will see the beauty of Christ!
great post!
we'll miss you guys as you're away. see you after the holidays! (maybe as three instead of two!)
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