Monday, April 14, 2014
387 - The People's Republic of ... Noah
Spirituality Column #387
April 15, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
April 15, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
The People’s Republic
of … Noah
By Bob Walters
It’s Holy
Week and for me it is a time of somber reflection about Jesus.
There is
relief, of course, in knowing that God in heaven did not abandon humanity in
all our sins. There is surprise –
looking around, and in the mirror – that we were created in God’s image. There is thankfulness that God thinks we are
worth the trouble. There is joy – freely
available to all – in God’s promise of eternal goodness, life, and love in His
heavenly Kingdom.
And … there
is ghastliness in what Jesus endured at the hands of man in order to defeat the
curse of death, restore humanity’s fellowship with God, forgive our sins, and
ensure our adoption as sons and daughters into the Kingdom of Heaven.
In all that, there is hope –
ultimate hope – embodied in the resurrection of Christ.
Easter celebrates it, but modern
culture widely misunderstands and grievously, severely underappreciates it. Easter is not a sign of our righteousness; it
is a sign of God’s faithfulness. We are
the child (Luke 14:5) that has used its freedom to fall down a well, and Jesus
is the shepherd that saves us because we cannot save ourselves.
But “saving ourselves” – i.e.,
trusting in our own righteousness rather than God’s, expanding on God’s
perfection to include ourselves, and re-writing God’s stories to insert
humanity in His glory – is the Easter-diminishing narrative of modern man.
Witness the hit movie “Noah,” described proudly by its
director as “the most unbiblical biblical movie ever made.” Because the Bible has so few details on
people, one screenwriter explained, human details had to be added to get a
“story.”
Well, no. The Bible is not centrally about man, the
Bible is first, last and always about God.
When the centrality of humanity is
elevated as in “Noah,” the story,
divinity and truth of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are lessened. More humanity, less truth, farther from God:
that’s man-worshipping, secular, People’s Republic society in a nutshell.
Even commentator Bill O’Reilly,
whose factual book “Killing Jesus” is a bestseller, struggles to get theology
right on his top-rated cable TV show. He
recently said he goes to church to “get his sins forgiven.” Aieeee!
That’s why Jesus died on the cross “once for all” (Romans 6:10, Hebrews
7:27), not why anyone goes to church.
Then O’Reilly soberly, narrowly, carefully, specifically described Jesus
as a philosopher. My hunch is that
O’Reilly, a Catholic, accepts Jesus as the Christ and Messiah, but couldn’t
bring himself to say it, not even on Fox News.
It underscores societal preference
for a people’s republic over God’s Kingdom.
And that’s no Bible story.