EDITORIAL: Is it Code or evangelistic opportunity?

Posted: 5/12/06

EDITORIAL:
Is it Code or evangelistic opportunity?

Sometimes, I feel utterly naîve.

Take The Da Vinci Code, for example. I actually read the book. A long time ago. So, when I heard Opie Taylor (Ron Howard) and Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) were going to turn it into a film, my thoughts ran along these lines: “Hmmm. The premise is hokey, and I’m sick of middle-aged leading men running around with twentysomething starlets. But in the hands of two wildly famous and likable stars, the movie probably will make a lot of money.”

Never did I expect the movie to raise such a ruckus. Oh, I know—movie audiences far eclipse book readers. (Although, if you really value a good story, read a book.) So, you could see it coming: Media, marketers and moviegoers would all get aroused by the the film premiere, as if Dan Brown’s novel hadn’t been sitting on bookstore shelves for months.

Still, media hype has represented only a flicker of the Da Vinci furor. Every time the flames of controversy have flared up, Roman Catholic clerics and Protestant preachers have been pumping the bellows. They’re afraid the masses will be led astray by Brown’s plotline. Here’s how Eugene Cullen Kennedy, writing for Religion News Service, succinctly describes it: “The book’s plot falls into the ‘you can’t make up’ category—that Jesus fathered a child with Mary Magdalene and that the Holy Grail is not a chalice but their bloodline. Their descendants now live—where else?—in France, and the Church has covered all this up, along with the female role in the origins of Christianity. But, of course, novelist Dan Brown did make all this up.”

Does Brown’s plot deviate from orthodox Christian belief? Absolutely. If it were presented as truth, would it be heretical? You bet. Will movie patrons believe it? Only the ones who believe giant gorillas actually hang from the Empire State Building and prehistoric animals spoke English. Sensible folks from all walks of life are more likely to recognize it for what it is—a made-up story.

If you put yourself in their shoes, you can understand why some who sound the alarm act as they do. Roman Catholics are worried people will think (a) the Church manufactured the story of Christ for its own gain and (b) members of Opus Dei are as scary as that albino monk. Hard-line fundamentalists are worried somebody won’t think as they do. They believe their job is to keep their noses in the air, sniffing for the “burning rubber of error.” This renders them insensitive to sweeter-yet-pungent aromas of fiction, such as satire, irony and humor.

The Christian response to The Da Vinci Code marks where sincere, committed Christians stand along the fault line of the culture wars.

Some well-meaning Christians are mortally afraid of falsehood. They care about their souls and the souls of others, and they fear a pandemic of untrue-flu. They worry that falsity will overtake the unwary, so they try to stamp it out, even if in the stamping they damage innocent bystanders and the merely curious. Frankly, I worry for them: Do they really believe truth is stronger than falsehood? Do they believe God, who is Truth, can hold out against and overcome the Great Deceiver?

Other Christians see social and cultural phenomena—such as the movie premiere of The Da Vinci Code—as an opportunity. Yes, we live in an uncertain world. Satan will tempt us and even use books and movies to try to get us to doubt our faith. But they understand moments of danger also are moments of possibility and promise. They realize even when Satan may have life stirred up, that only means more people are spiritually aware and seeking answers. And those are the times when the cause of Christ can advance.

Fifty-five years ago, the wonderful theologian/ethicist H. Richard Niebuhr wrote a book called Christ and Culture. He urged Christians not to succumb to the temptation to follow a Christ who wages war against culture, but to embrace the Christ who transforms culture—to be agents of positive, healthy, Christlike change in the lives and institutions around them. All the hype surrounding The Da Vinci Code provides alert and caring Christians with just such an opportunity in the next few weeks. Your friends and neighbors will be buzzing about the movie, giving you a unique opportunity to speak about Christ and matters of faith when they’re open-minded and attentive. If you want to strengthen yourself with historical and theological facts, visit Jim Denison’s excellent website, www.godissues.com. He’s been writing and talking about this topic and can help you talk intelligently to others. Lean on truth; don’t fear falsehood. And don’t be afraid to speak your faith.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.