Kicking the 'Golden' Dead Horse One More Time

Well the movie’s debut came and went and from an entertainment economic standpoint “The Golden Compass” did not live up to its billing. After 5 weeks in the theatre, its gross revenue in the US was just north of $55 million. In comparison, “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” earned $47 and $65 million, respectively, in just their opening week.

By the way, this wasn’t due to any boycott of the movie but rather due to an unfair, pre-mature marketing of the movie as the alter-ego of Narnia and T.L.O.T.R. (Note to self: If I ever decide to become a movie producer, avoid and eradicate all comparisons to blockbuster productions prior to the release of my work).

Although the point is nearly mute now, for those that would be interested, this is a message I posted on a Christian forum hosted by Crosswalk booksellers:

“Regarding (the dead-horse becoming) Golden-Compass issue I would suggest that it is, at least to some extent, naive to think that by avoiding a movie one can avoid competing and even hostile world views to historical Christianity. Unless you live isolated in a bubble on a desert island somewhere (which you most likely don't if you are reading this) than you cannot escape living in a reality which has a supreme Creator but is also pervasively tainted by the effects of the fall. Jesus says, "You are either for me or against me." There is nowhere in between. There is no middle-ground. Therefore we are constantly bombarded with messages (verbal, non-verbal, print, visually, reality, etc.) that either promote the kingdom of God or oppose it.

At the same time, we must also know ourselves very well (in addition to those whom we have relationships with and for who we care for) so that we don't place an insurmountable stumbling block in front of us. There are a vast amount of decisions that you and I have to make every day based on kingdom principles. God has seen it in his good pleasure to not tell us the answer to every predicament we will find ourselves in (that conversation would never end, by the way). Instead, he offers a Way which if followed doesn't answer all of the questions but rather redeems our motives. Contrary to what many evangelicals would like to propose apologetically to a relativistic culture and, in spite of the existence of absolute truth, most issues are not black and white. Life is far too complex for them to be. This is a good thing. It requires us to use the God-given brain and heart that we have. In every decision we make we must consider the fact that we as Christians are still divided in our loyalties, we have a mixed bag of motives, we live this side of heaven for the purpose of propagating the kingdom of God in a kingdom opposed to that reign, and we must understand how to communicate with that kingdom.

BTW, even if you are isolated on a desert island, unless that desert island exists somewhere post-second-resurrection, you still are having to deal with contrary-to-God tendencies and proclivities--in other words, you and I have yet to turn our entire lives, thoughts, actions, inactions, etc. over to God in order to love him with all of our heart, strength, and mind. In other words, we still are communicating (hopefully very, very inconsistently) that we don't fully and wholly believe and submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and therefore are communicating something anti-kingdom of God!”