Why should Juneteenth be important for all Christians? Before we consider the answer, a brief history lesson will be helpful.

What is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth (June + nineteenth) celebrates the date in 1865 when the last stronghold of slavery in the Union, Texas, received a formal decree to liberate all slaves. Though the Emancipation Proclamation had been in effect for nearly two and a half years, many thousands of black slaves remained in bondage. While word indeed traveled slower in those days, the information seemed to travel slowest across the many plantations in Texas, where wealthy slave-owning plantation owners and southern gentility had fled after the Confederate Army’s surrender. From the onset of the Civil War, new mansions and plantations sprung up in Texas as the wealthy migrated to the westernmost southern state. Though most of the South had acquiesced to the demands of the Emancipation Proclamation, southern life in Texas had continued uninterrupted with all antebellum convention. So much so that when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Texas to issue “General Order Number Three,” some 250,000 black men and women were still toiling beneath the whips of their owners, none the wiser of the news of liberty issued by the Federal Government.

General Order Number Three

Now, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect, and at the head of 2,000 Union troops, General Granger had come to enforce the liberation of slaves. On June 19, 1865, General Granger made the following announcement:

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property, between former masters and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them, becomes that between employer and hired labor. The Freedmen are advised to remain at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

In short, the mass release of slaves was to happen forthwith. However, the transition that ensued was far from simple. Many slave owners kept their slaves in the dark until after the next harvest season, while others attempted to keep the news of their ordered release hidden altogether. Notwithstanding, when June 19 came the following year, the last vestiges of slave ownership had passed away, and the historic date became known as “Black Independence Day,” “Emancipation Day,” or “Juneteenth.” Ex-slaves gathered in their communities, celebrating their freedom with expressions of the unique culture they developed during centuries of bondage. These expressions included prayer gatherings, music, singing of spirituals, parades, historical readings, and the sharing of food. In the years following, the celebrations also included training sessions on citizenship, including learning how to vote. Presently, 46 of 50 states commemorate Juneteenth, Texas being the first to recognize it as a state holiday in 1980.

Why Would White Americans Celebrate Juneteenth?

Far beyond whiteness, how do any non-black Christians who are not descendants of slaves identify with Juneteenth? Even in the most perfunctory sense, all Christians could join Juneteenth celebrations in light of the Biblical encouragement to share in the joys of others (Romans 12:15). Though such a limited reason might be a step in the right direction, it would entirely and tragically miss the most profound and resonant Biblical connections to slavery to which the white American Church is beneficiary.

The Bible Is A Book for the Oppressed

The Bible is a book written by the oppressed for the oppressed. An exile wrote the Pentateuch to a nation of ex-slaves. The Prophets were written for the most part by societal rejects and cast-offs who experienced imprisonment, torture, and execution, and whose intended audience was a people headed towards, in the middle of, or headed back from exile. The Gospels were written by and delivered to a people oppressed by a foreign dictatorship. The Epistles were written by the persecuted for a persecuted and oppressed Church. The apostle John’s contributions to the Bible place a heavy emphasis on the Church being those who “overcome” (Revelation uses the phrase “to him who overcomes,” referencing the individual believers that make up the Church, nine times). In addition to societal oppression experienced by the Bible authors and audience, the entire message of the Bible points to the need for liberation from the ubiquitous bondage of sin. The announcement of the formal end of the oppression and enslavement of black people in America should resonate with all who understand their own need for spiritual liberation. Moreover, it should resonate with anyone who claims to worship Jesus, who identifies Himself as the one anointed “to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18).

Liberation is One of the Greatest Themes in the Bible

Beginning in Genesis 3, the protoevangelium brought hope to the first man and woman, who found themselves in thralldom to sin, death, and a world ruled by the serpent and his worshipers. Later, when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s descendants found themselves enslaved to the serpent-worshiping nation of Egypt and their proud god-king, the Lord God heard their cries. Seeing their mistreatment, He came to deliver His covenant people by His “strong hand,” crushing the gods of Egypt. After centuries of crying out to Him, and as generations lived in slavery beneath the taskmaster’s whip, He delivered the Children of Israel. Fast-forward to the final death-blow to the serpent himself. The greatest triumph over oppression came through the lashings and crucifixion of Jesus on Calvary. Our hope, the greatest hope for all believers, is the deliverance from death, from the effects of sin, and one day, from the very presence of sin. To see the end of the oppression of any people group should resonate with all who understand their own deliverance by Jesus from the serpent, sin, and death.

Juneteenth is About Equality and Unity

The issue of slavery was a major contributing factor in the Southern State’s decision to secede from the Union, ushering in the Civil War. And the case of Dred Scott was a significant contributing factor in the mass, anti-slavery sentiment in the Northern States.

On March 6, 1857, in what would become a watershed moment, the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott, a slave suing the Federal Government for freedom. While the case was complicated, then Chief Justice Roger Taney reduced the issue to this question:

“Can a negro whose ancestors were imported into this country, and sold as slaves, become a member of the political community formed and brought into existence by the Constitution of the United States, and as such become entitled to all the rights and privileges and immunities guaranteed to the citizen?”

His response to his question, and the sentiment of his assenting fellows, are summarized in his following statement:

“We think they are not, and that [black people] are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word “citizens” in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they were at that time considered as a subordinate and inferior class of beings, who had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, whether emancipated 18 or not, yet remained subject to their authority, and had no rights or privileges but such as those who held the power and the government might choose to grant them.”

He also said that “a perpetual and impassable barrier was intended [by the nation’s founders] to be erected between the white race and the one which they had reduced to slavery, and governed as subjects with absolute and despotic power, and which they then looked upon as so far below them in the scale of created beings, that intermarriages between white persons and negroes or mulattoes were regarded as unnatural and immoral, and punished as crimes, not only in the parties, but in the person who joined them in marriage. And no distinction in this respect was made between the free negro or mulatto and the slave, but this stigma, of the deepest degradation, was fixed upon the whole race.”

Though intended to end any future discussion of emancipation, the verdict had the opposite effect. The pronouncement proved incendiary, igniting an incredible backlash against the reprehensible decision (and forever tarnishing the involved justices’ reputations). The pro-abolition populous of the Northern States sought to elect a champion who could bring reform to such sinfully racist courts, finding one in the young representative from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln. His inauguration was the final blow that pushed the Southern Confederacy to secede from the Union, igniting a civil war.

Contrasting the repugnant decision in the Dred Scott Case, however, was the announcement read by General Granger eight years later in Galveston, which included crucial corrective verbiage. He proclaimed that the freeing of slaves “involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property, between former masters and slaves…” Finally, as General Granger read aloud “General Order Number Three,” the last outpost of slavery within the United States was confronted with the biblical truth of the Imago Dei: all people are equally created in God’s image, and deserving of dignity. While racism didn’t end that day in Texas, the date of June nineteenth commemorates the end of legal ownership of slaves in America. The announcement made that day meant that all people, including former masters and slaves, had equal value. This idea of the raising of black slaves to the position of equality with all other peoples as divine image-bearers should fill our hearts with poignant joy every time we sing the Christmas song, “Oh Holy Night:”

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love, and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name, all oppression shall cease.

Juneteenth Celebrates the End of a National Sin

Slavery in America, and the slave trade itself, has been wrong from the beginning. The practice of stealing and selling people was a typical, wicked practice among the nations that surrounded Israel. However, God explicitly outlawed such evil, declaring it to be punishable by death (Exodus 21:16). Even still, the buying, selling, and owning of slaves became prevalently common in Europe and America. Sadly, this practice was not limited to the secular population; many self-identifying Christians owned slaves. Among such are many names revered in America, including founding fathers and ministers of the Gospel. However, no matter their background or justification, the ownership of slaves is and has always been wrong.

Though the institution’s sinfulness was less evident to many domestically, for many Christians outside of America, its stain was obvious. After experiencing a radical conversion to Christianity and having sought the counsel of John Newton about whether to remain in public office, a young William Wilberforce resolved to “commit his life and work to service of God” and to remain in politics with “increased diligence and conscientiousness.” His later meeting with Rev. James Ramsay would prove momentously significant, as he heard firsthand of the horrifying conditions and treatment of slaves on British sugar plantations and transport ships. With a strong desire to put his Christian principles into action and serve God with his public life, Wilberforce soon began a quest that would outlive him, but would eventually result in the abolition of slavery in most of the British Empire.

Charles Spurgeon also championed an anti-slavery, abolitionist message from his pulpit and published works. He made his position on the equality of slaves plain by regularly receiving ex-slaves into his Pastor’s College and his pulpit. He articulated well his feeling toward slave owners when he wrote: “I do from my inmost soul detest slavery . . . and although I commune at the Lord’s table with men of all creeds, yet with a slave-holder I have no fellowship of any sort or kind. Whenever one has called upon me, I have considered it my duty to express my detestation of his wickedness, and I would as soon think of receiving a murderer into my church… as a man stealer.”

Spurgeon’s sermons became so unpopular in the Southern states of America that published comments from many states included insults and attacks on his character and a call to host public burnings of his printed sermons.

As grateful as we can be to such men for their legacy of Christian love and commitment to Gospel-centric equality, many of their contemporaries viewed such stances with apathy or opposition. However, Juneteenth marks the final victory for the many voices that stood against the abhorrent institution of slavery. Our country is still beleaguered with abominable national sins, but Juneteenth marks the day when a world-sized, centuries-spanning sin was finally conquered.

A Lesson for Modern Americans

The historical slave trade in America is gone. As with any national-level sin, however, there remains deep social wounding and scarring that will take generations to address truly. If a nation genuinely desires to see restoration from a national sin, there must come a time when, like in the book of Nehemiah, the nation owns up to them. To magnify James 5:16 beyond interpersonal relationships and to project it over an entire country, we must see that healing comes through the ownership and transparency of our sins, and through prayer. Juneteenth symbolizes the day an unrighteous institution was broken, and when God Almighty delivered America’s domestic slave population. But it can also signify a day when non-black Christians rejoice WITH our black brothers and sisters who were physically set free. We can celebrate the many Christians who rose beyond apathy and fought and spoke out against the great injustice of slavery. We can listen and talk about the Savior who came to release the captives and free the oppressed, and by whose grace we all stand on equal footing before the Cross. Perhaps through the commemoration of this monumental day, we can begin the much needed, Christ-honoring, and neighbor loving healing that Jesus died to make possible.

Why should Juneteenth be important for all Christians? Because after generations of calling on the Lord for deliverance, our black brothers and sisters were set free. And setting captives free is exactly what Jesus came to do.

. . .

Postscript

As I worked through various articles and writings on the subject of Juneteenth, one piece of information in particular stood out to me; a song called, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” by James Weldon Johnson. The song was originally written as a poem but was later put to music by his brother. It was first publicly sung by 500 schoolchildren in celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12, 1900, in Jacksonville, Florida. It has become a popular song to sing on Juneteenth, and also became a cherished song during the African American Civil Rights movement. It’s both a beautiful and haunting song, and the final verse presented here resonates with similar gratitude to God that Israel expressed in song in Exodus 15:

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand.
True to our God,
True to our native land.

. . .

Notes

Congressional Research Service – Juneteenth

Library of Congress – Dred Scott Case Decision

Texas State Historical Association – Juneteenth

“Wilberforce, William (1759–1833)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press

https://www.spurgeon.org – The Reason Why America Burned Spurgeon’s Sermons and Sought to Kill Him

Lift Every Voice and Sing Lyrics – PBS

Every corner of the globe has been shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic. Death tolls, lockdowns, and major economic downturns will have a ripple effect that will echo for years to come. It’s impossible to truly know how much socioeconomic scarring will persist in the years and decades to come, but I think both expert and common opinions agree that the world’s social landscape has been irreversibly changed. The seeds of fear, doubt, anger, and confusion have been sown, both by the abrupt spread of coronavirus and by the response to it. These seeds have sprouted confusion, misinformation, suspicion, mistrust, and civil tension. And sent into the midst of this social firestorm are the armies of the Kingdom of Heaven, the followers of Jesus. However, this army isn’t made of indestructible, impervious Heavenly fabric; we are still carnal, that is, still fleshy. We are not altogether unaffected by the plague like the Hebrews of Exodus. Though we have pledged loyalty to Christ our King, we are still affected by the same fear, doubt, confusion, anger, sickness, and loss as the multitudes of people around us who don’t have the hope of Jesus. However, the places we find comfort and the means we use to cope will make all the difference in the world, one way or the other, to the people God has sent us to minister to.

Things To Lament

As has already been articulated in my friend Char Brodersen’s excellent article, lament can be a powerful, humble, worshipful response to the very real confusion, hurt, and anger we feel in times of suffering. And Jesus promises to never abandon or forget us (Matthew 28:20; Romans 8:38-39) in these bleak, dark nights of the soul, having experienced similar feelings of heaviness (Luke 22:44), grief (Isaiah 53:3), abandonment and confusion Himself (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Psalm 22:1). Not only does God know what it feels like (Hebrews 4:15), but He also gives us the tremendous stories of our fathers of the faith dealing with similar emotions in books like Job, Lamentations, and the Psalms. The Psalms particularly, as Char illustrates, provide a framework for expressing lament, complete with examples we can apply. Perhaps the most significant encouragement comes from seeing successful passage through such seasons for people like David, and from seeing the peaceable fruit that God brings into his life, and by extension, can bring into our lives through seasons of lament. Even though lament is an intensely transparent, intimate process, it is something we can model openly to our spouses, our children, and our neighbors. Successful public Christianity isn’t the art of hiding and faking our emotions; it is illustrating God’s faithfulness through all seasons of life, through our words, deeds, or the transparent revelation of a life dependent on His love and help. Seeing a mature Christian work through grief and lament and seeing how God helps His friends through it can be an incredibly encouraging thing for those watching.

Less-Than-Godly Responses

However, because we still engage daily with our struggle against our sin-nature, godliness isn’t the only response we can have. There are many sinful practices that we might be running to during this season, seeking comfort in places we ought not go (and inadvertently leading others to go). Some examples might include burying oneself in social media, over-eating, consuming pornography, heavy drinking, binge-watching movies and shows, or indulging a litany of fascinations with fruitless pursuits. These are things we can turn to when we’re uncomfortable. We can reach for these things for the comforting numbness they can temporarily offer. However, most of these things are obvious sinful vices, either being outrightly evil in nature, or evil via overindulgence. There is one interest, however, that may be more of a blind spot to the Christian. And because it can be justified as a righteous effort to keep the church informed, a-la the “watchman on the wall,” its ability to distract and redirect Christians away from their missional purpose make it a formidably dangerous indulgence: the embracing and spreading of conspiracy theories.

The phrase “conspiracy theory” may be overly conspicuous. Most purveyors of less-known information, or clandestine truth, would be slow to identify their convictions with such a novel title, or with calling their information theoretical in nature. However, of the Christians that cast their lots in with those who proliferate secret societal, spiritual, or political truth, there is something important that must be considered. The indulgence of a desire to know and proliferate the secret truth behind the intentional release of Covid-19, the rigging of elections, the scheming of evil powers, or any number of possible political intrigues, is destructive in itself. Why? Because sharing conspiracy theories supersedes the sharing of the Gospel.

The incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus meets our deepest, most earnest human longing: identity, purpose, acceptance, and a destiny. Ultimate peace with God and rest from all labors comes through the person and ministry of Jesus. But pursuing and sharing conspiracy theories quickly becomes an analgesic disconnect from real suffering in the world that needs redress by a Savior. Immersing oneself in the hunt for clandestine purposes and systems of evil acts as an emotional anesthetic, providing only a brief, anodyne numbness that shadows the satisfaction that can only come through Christ. Connecting the dots of destruction with the threads of evil becomes an urgent crusade of truth, with a desire to spread the knowledge that will save lives, save the Church, and save the country. Instead of ministering love, compassion, hope, or the Gospel of Jesus, conspiracy theories revolve around messages of fear, suspicion, and doom; news that is tone-deaf to a suffering world made of real people.

Dealing With Wrongs the Wrong Way

While many would promote the idea that this virus is a political device, the grief from effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are far from imagined. As of this writing, there have been 3,170,335 confirmed cases of Covid-19 globally, resulting in 224,708 deaths. Of the 1,028,217 confirmed cases in the United States, 59,446 of those cases have resulted in death. This is something to lament. These numbers represent lives ended, families shattered, and loved ones being parted from people they care deeply about.

Additionally, and even though the increase is slowing, in the 6 weeks preceding this writing, more than 26,000,000 new unemployment claims have been filed. As America (and much of the rest of the world) has been forced into lockdown, thousands upon thousands of businesses have closed; many of whom will never reopen. The entire globe is experiencing the economic downturn as the suffering of lost income spreads among the working class. This is something to grieve. This is upsetting. This is suffering for those directly affected, as it is for who care, and it’s worth lamenting to God about.

However, reading, sharing, and spending time indulging conspiracy theories about why this is all happening, and who is gaining from it misleads people into focusing on the wrong things. There is evil and injustice in the world that we have to reconcile, yes, but not by focusing on it and exposing it. Political intrigue absolutely existed in Jesus’ time. From the various Herods to the Romans, and everywhere in between, Jesus, his disciples, and the first-century church were surrounded by secret plots within the government and society. But Jesus did not arm his disciples with knowledge and facts about the secret dealings of the Jewish religious leaders and the Romans. Neither did He seek to publicly connect all of the political threads of power back to the satan, whom the Bible credits with being the power behind Earthly powers (Matthew 4:8, 12:25-26; Luke 4:5; Ephesians 2:2, 6:12, Colossians 2:15, Revelation 11:15).

The Wrong Weapons

Jesus did not direct His followers to political passivism. On the contrary, both He and the rest of the body of New Testament scripture seek to motivate the disciples of Jesus to political action: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you …”(Matthew 5:44., NKJV). “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is”(Mark 13:33). “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Jesus did want us to take action against the injustice happening in the world at the hands of corrupt government, corrupt officials, or corrupt angelic powers, but it wasn’t through the whisperings of conspiracy, the spreading of leaflets, the emailing newsletters, or even through military might (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). However, the actions that He does prescribe are recommended on the basis of their efficacious destruction of The Enemy’s structures of power. His example and His instruction to us was this: to pray. Notice, He doesn’t give us step two of His plan of action. We aren’t encouraged to pray until we see it isn’t effectual. In fact, we’re told that our prayers will have a significant affect (James 5:16), though He never promises that said affects will meet our expectations. Regardless, pouring our passions into an unprescribed means of seeking justice for perceived injustice is, at best a misdirection of spiritual resources, and at worst, a fight against God’s own hand. Scripturally, how many times has God used evil plots and powers for His good purpose? And of those times, how often does God encourage His faithful to organize rebellion and fight the powers? Consider Daniel’s quiet, powerful rebellion (Daniel 6:10); one that changed governmental law when such change was considered impossible.

The Wrong Good News

We are called to expose the world to Jesus. All wrongs committed long before us, and all committed long after us (should the Lord tarry) will be made right by Jesus Himself. And any and all people marked with sin endemic in every member of the human race can receive mercy, grace, and the power to become God’s family, through the work of Jesus. This good news is what the NT writers call “The Gospel.” This is truly the greatest news. There is no message greater, more powerful or more transformative.

However, when conspiracy theories enter the social interactions of Christians, the true “good news” can find itself on equal footing, or worse, as an inferiorly prioritized, secondary position. This can be because the subject of the conspiracy is more closely tied to our sense of security than the news that Jesus will make wrongs right. Culturally, especially in America, we fear that conspiracies will have their way with society, leading to times of persecution for Christians and unchecked corruption in our government. If culture rejects Christ, people will go to Hell. But if culture fails to take action against a political conspiracy, we will lose our country. We will lose our strength to lobby. We will lose our voice. We will see a new age of moral decline. And as scary as the later scenario is, the former scenario is much, much worse. Perhaps this is a bold claim, but it seems fairly self-evident within scripture that spiritual freedom has a much higher priority than physical, political freedom.

Prior to Jesus’ advent, Israel was waiting for relief in the form of a Davidic, warrior king-messiah to take away the scourge and blight of Roman rule. And to many Jews of the day, Jesus was an absolute disappointment. He performed miracles, spoke truth to power, arrived in Jerusalem on a donkey like Messiah was supposed to, and the people responded by crying out “Save us now, son of David! Save us now!” And He did. He gave up His life to save them from the true enemy: sin. This was not the enemy that they wanted Messiah to conquer. But this was indeed the enemy that Messiah came to conquer. In the priority of His purview, God is not willing that any should perish in their sins (2 Peter 3:9). But as He proven repeatedly, He is willing to allow His people to suffer, be persecuted, lose their rights, and lose their lives, considering the souls of humanity as the greater priority. It was this eternal hazard, spiritual death, that He judged as requiring action, as opposed to confronting evil systems and liberating His people from corrupt government rule in the form of Rome (or similarly corrupt governments and political agendas).

Christ Is Triumphant

We must not forget, especially during times of intense trial, difficulty, and temptation, that Christ is our triumphant king. He has championed the abolition of our captivity and has begun a new work within us that will not cease until we see Him in glory with our waking eyes. He has established His supremacy above the principalities and powers of this world, both demonic (Colossians 2:15) and human (1 Corinthians 3:18-20). More than that, He has made the Enemies’ machinations impotent against His people (Isaiah 54:17). His strength is greater than all the powers of evil, and all of their wicked schemes (Psalm 37:12-17; 1 John 4:4). Though He promises trials, difficulty, and suffering, we are to hope in this: He has overcome the world (John 16:33). I pray that you will consider how you use your influence. What message are you preaching? What groups are you aligning yourself with? Are their goals aligned with the goals of the Kingdom of Heaven? Are yours?

We live in a world of Earthly kingdoms that are passing away. Following the way of Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, and Julius Caesar, all Earthly kingdoms will pass away. And try as we might, America will join them. But our citizenship is not with America. Neither is it with Britain, Ireland, Romania, or any other human-led sovereign nation. Our citizenship belongs to a Kingdom that will never pass away. Reflect on where your treasure lies. As you engage on social media platforms, email conversations, etc., are you striving for a Kingdom with no end?

Your efforts can be used for God’s everlasting Kingdom. And He wants to partner with you in the spreading of the most-worthy message, the most-worthy name, and your most worthy attribute: Christ within you, the hope of glory. As Paul speaks to the Colossians (and to us now), may it similarly be said of us that it is truly “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end (we) also labor, striving according to His working which works in (us) mightily” (Colossians 1:28-29). Focus on the Gospel. Don’t spend your influence preaching a message eternally less significant than Jesus.

Bibliography

2020. Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. March. Accessed April 29, 2020.

Zarroli, Jim, and Avie Schneider. 2020. “Deluge Continues: 26 Million Jobs Lost In Just 5 Weeks”. 04 23. Accessed 04 29, 2020.

While many are under “shelter in place,” lock-down, quarantine or self-isolation orders from their local governments, the team at CGN wanted to provide a list of resources to help encourage, educate, and edify you, your families and your churches. While many of us are still working from home, and some might be busier during this global crisis than we usually might be, we all are experiencing a dramatic increase in time at home.

The following is a list of resources we’ve compiled with the hope that your time away from your friends, family and churches can still be a time of connection, growth and fun. Check back often, as we will keep adding to the list as we find new, interesting things.

Church Resources

Below is a list of tools that some of our CGN network churches and friends have put together to support their local church members. These are free tools for personal or church use, but they can also be an inspiration for finding creative ways to care for the members of your local church.

https://cccm.com/?an=coronavirus-spiritual-toolkit – Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa has compiled a “Coronavirus Spiritual Toolkit” that includes sermons from Pastors Brian Brodersen and Chuck Smith, children’s ministry resources and youth resources.

https://www.calvarysd.com/calvarykids – Calvary Chapel San Diego has created some great tools for children’s ministry, including videos, worksheets, and projects.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCXbIYesAzrRsB8oLE7fZw – Pastor Riley Taylor of Calvary Fellowship in Seattle, WA, created a series of YouTube videos about social distancing and the Church.

https://cclasvegas.org/coronavirus-updates/ – Calvary Chapel Las Vegas has some great ideas/examples of some ways to reach your local community.

https://www.refugecf.com/covid-19 – Refuge Christian Fellowship in Santa Rosa, CA, also has some great resources and ideas/examples of ways to support & reach your church community.

https://www.parkhillsd.church – Park Hill Church in San Diego, CA, also has some great ideas on how to reach out to your church members.

News Resources

In a time of such fear and confusion, it’s helpful to have a few places to go for updates that give data without the fanfare or partisan bias. Here are some reputable sites and tools where you can gain real-time data without the drama and find insightful articles relating to public health and safety.

who.int – World Health Organization

cdc.gov – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

coronavirus.gov – The official US Government website for coronavirus information

Coronavirus Resource Center – Harvard Health Publishing’s Coronavirus Resource Center

https://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/ – Los Angeles County Public Health – Great advice for individuals, health workers, workplace managers, etc.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html – Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has an excellent resource center featuring a live-updating global map and other tools charting the progression of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Personal Resources

Here are links to some great resources to help pass the time, by yourself or with your family, without passing on the intellect. Below are links to free educational videos, free virtual museum tours, and some movie/TV recommendations.

Museum Tours

https://britishmuseum.withgoogle.com – The British Museum of History

https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne – The Louvre Museum

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner?hl=en – Google Art Collection from all over the world, including Musée d’Orsay, Paris, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and many more.

https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/tour-virtuali-elenco.1.html – 360º Virtual tours of The Vatican

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/rijksmuseum – The Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam

https://www.uffizi.it/en – Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/national-portrait-gallery – The Smithsonian Institute’s art collection

https://www.benaki.org/index.php?lang=en – Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49YeFsx1rIw – A 5-hour, 1-take tour of The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

https://static.museothyssen.org/microsites/exposiciones/2020/Rembrandt/index_in.htm?_ga=2.85457945.1634159812.1584550656-746559554.1584550656 – The Rembrandt Collection at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid, Spain

“Balenciaga and Spanish paintings” – A collection that presents pieces of art alongside designs by the famous fashion designer referencing these works.

https://tech2.npm.edu.tw/720vr/museumen/views.html – The National Palace Museum, Taipei City, Taiwan

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visiting/virtual-tours/google-virtual-tour – The National Gallery, London, England

Movies/TV

The Bible Project – If you haven’t explored the Bible Project’s video catalog, these are incredibly accessible, insightful Bible overviews and lessons for the entire family. While they’re entertaining enough to keep kids engaged, the theological depth of lessons is robust enough for pastors and seminary students.

The Chosen – The Chosen video series is an aggregated narrative of the synoptic Gospels. While some fictional liberties are taken, they are used to intertwine the setting and characters, and never twist or distract from the Biblical source material. Steam this from your smart device to your TV for a great cinematic experience with the family. If you purchase the first season, the proceeds go straight toward funding the next season.

A Hidden Life – This incredibly moving film is set in Austria amid the rise of Nazism in Germany during World War II. It is easily one of the boldest, most transparent movies on living a faithful, godly life to come from a secular studio in a long time. Tragic, somber, but hope-filled and powerful. Available for rent or purchase from Apple and Amazon.

Inn of the Sixth Happiness – This is a great, albeit dated film about missionary and hero of the faith, Gladys Alward, as she ministered in China in the 1930s and ’40s. While the story receives the glamorizing treatment of 1950s Hollywood, it is still a great testimony of compassion and love amid cultural and political difficulty. Available for rent from Amazon.

We also have a tremendous backlog of great discussions on both shows produced by calvarychapel.flywheelsites.com:

Things That Matter – Discussions hosted by Pastor Brian Brodersen on culturally and theologically relevant issues.

Living Grace – Cheryl Brodersen interviews different women to discuss their lives, ministries, and testimonies of God’s Living Grace.

Radio Theater

Family radio theater is a bit of a lost art form. Once the de-facto form of in-home electronic entertainment, the medium quickly gave way to television shows. On the one hand, TV added to family entertainment by combining the audio experience with a visual companion. But it also removed the opportunity for imagination to fill in the missing visual stage. While I’m a huge advocate for reading books out loud to your kids (which the radio should not replace), I also love how engrossing stories become (even for my youngest ones) when compelling books, masterful actors, and top-notch production come together through our living room stereo. You can stream these radio plays and dramatized books to a smart tv or connected speaker from any smart device.

Most of the productions in this list are brought to life by Focus on the Family, who have done a masterful job of reinvigorating this form of family entertainment. Every radio production of theirs is top-notch. I encourage you to browse through their catalog here. Please note that while most of their offerings are available for instant digital download, some are CD-only, and require shipping time and cost. Below are a few of my top picks. Many are available via Apple and Amazon, but the prices are lower when purchased directly through Focus on the Family’s website. However, if you already subscribe to Apple Music or Amazon Music Unlimited, search for these in the app, as they may already be available to you at no additional cost.

The Screwtape Letters – Andy Serkis, of Lord of the Rings fame, provides the voice of Screwtape, the diabolical demon tasked with instructing his young nephew on the nuances of oppressing Christians. A classic story penned by C.S. Lewis, this production is both an entertaining and insightful gaze into spiritual warfare and the tactics the enemy employs. Available here, on Apple and Amazon.

Oliver Twist – The classic Charles Dickens book about the life of an orphan boy, touches on themes of compassion, corruption and redemption. Available here, on Apple and Amazon.

Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom – A dramatization chronicling the life of German theologian and modern martyr, Deitrich Bonhoeffer. Available here, on Apple and Amazon.

The Chronicles of Narnia – Beloved by audiences young and old, the classic epic from C.S. Lewis is a literary masterpiece. The series can be purchased as a set or as individual volumes. Clocking in at over 22 hours, this will be a fun one to chew through with the family for many nights. This is an abridged version, so if you don’t want to skip any details, the books are highly recommended. Available here, on Apple and Amazon.

The War of the Worlds – Based on the H.G. Wells sci-fi classic, this production stars Orson Welles as the radio announcer tasked with announcing the news of an ensuing Martian invasion. This show is an RKO Radio production from 1938, and the production has a much more archaic quality than the previously listed, modern Focus on the Family productions, but its a classic in its own right. While intended as pure radio-drama fiction, many of the listening audience mistook the broadcast as actual news of a real emergency. While there’s hardly any danger of us falling into the same error as the audience of 1938, this is still a fun, (at one time) modern retelling of a victorian era imagining of an alien invasion. Available for free on YouTube here (audio only, as this was a radio broadcast), on Apple and Amazon.

This list will keep growing, so keep checking back.

Of the eight studio records that Kanye West has previously released, seven have gone “platinum.” Over the course of his career, he has been nominated for 68 Grammy Awards, leading to 21 wins. From publicly criticizing President George W. Bush’s relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, to interrupting Taylor Swift’s Grammy acceptance speech, to scores of controversial tweets and comments, Kanye West’s public life has been less-than-subtle, to say the least. True to form, a new development in his life has been announced with equal subtlety: This past Friday, Kanye West released his ninth studio album, titled “Jesus is King.” Note, there is no irony here, no sacrilegious double-entendre or mockery. The contents of the album support that simple, powerful, title statement: “Jesus is King.” By releasing this album, Kanye is presenting the most controversial subject ever to the world, the media and the culture: the preeminence of Jesus Christ. And by tapping into such explosively divisive and uncomfortable subject matter (to this secular age), he has exposed himself to the suspicion, contempt and rejection of the people that he needs most right now: the Church. The question we need to ask ourselves is, “Should the Church embrace Kanye West?”

What follows are a series of questions to develop a helpful framework as we consider our next move as “the Church.” Following that are key, objective evidences to consider, namely, verbatim excerpts of songs from “Jesus is King.” Finally, as we consider Kanye West’s blatant professions, thoughts and confessions, I present my conclusive thoughts. You may find yourself in total disagreement with my resulting thoughts on the matter. However, my desire isn’t to attack what I consider wrong-thinking or un-Christ-like perspectives with a corrective scriptural apologetic. My hope is to ask some basic questions, pressing into a deeper philosophy of love. I want to call the Church to prayerful thought and meditation about Kanye’s statements, and thereby, develop a healthy framework and a compassionate ethic that we could apply to similar “high profile conversions.”

The Questions We Should Ask

Can the Church embrace Kanye West? Should it? Should we keep him at “arm’s length?” How long do we have to keep him outside before we invite him into “the family?” Is “our family” of our own making? Did we establish it? Do we maintain it? Who is the one who invites outsiders into our intimate family fellowship? Who invited us in when we were outsiders? Do we have the right to exclude anyone from it? Or to deny their status before Jesus? On what grounds can we make judgments about their status?

Does Kanye need to prove his devotion to Christ any more than he has? Are we waiting for “time to tell” about his professions? Are we waiting for “time to tell” about ours?

Is it “time” that validates the legitimacy of a conversion? How long did Jesus wait before bringing Matthew “the tax collector” into the camp? What did Zacchaeus have to do to get Jesus, the Son of God, to validate his conversion?

What proofs are given in Scripture to test if one is genuinely saved? Are those verses good enough to satisfy ourselves in our own moments of doubt? Are those verses sufficient to meet our doubts about Kanye? What does it take to convince us that someone has fallen before the cross in repentance? Are their words enough? Will it also require actions? What would those actions need to look like? Are those actions enough to prove the changed condition of the heart? Is it valid for Christians to be suspicious of a person’s clear profession of faith in Jesus? Are those suspicions helpful? Or fruitful? Is suspicion of conversion something we’re called to? Is this how we cultivate disciples? Does it draw seekers in? Does it drive them away?

Do we misrepresent the common grace we’ve received by denying acceptance, fellowship or love to one who has confessed Jesus as Lord?

The Evidence to Consider

The following quotations are sections of lyrics taken directly from Kanye West’s new album, “Jesus is King.”

Excerpt from “Every Hour:”

“Sing every hour (Every hour, ’til the power)
Every minute (Every minute, of the Lord)
Every second (Every second, comes)
Sing each and every millisecond (Down)
We need you (We need you, sing ’til the power)
We need you (We need you, of the Lord)
We need you (Comes)
Oh, we need you (Down)”

Excerpt from “Selah:”

“Before the flood, people judge
They did the same thing to Noah
Everybody wanted Yandhi
Then Jesus Christ did the laundry
They say the week start on Monday
But the strong start on Sunday
Won’t be in bondage to any man
John 8:33
We the descendants of Abraham
We should be made free
John 8:36
To whom the son set free is free indeed
He saved a wretch like me
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah…”

Excerpt from “Follow God:”

“Tell me what your life like, turn it down, a bright light
Drivin’ with my dad, and he told me, ‘It ain’t Christ-like’ (Stretch my hands to you)
I’m just tryna find, l’ve been lookin’ for a new way
I’m just really tryin’ not to really do the fool way
I don’t have a cool way, bein’ on my best, though
Block ’em on the text though, nothin’ else next though
Not another word, letter, picture, or a decimal (Father, I stretch)
Wrestlin’ with God, I don’t really want to wrestle
Man, it’s really lifelike, everything in my life (Stretch my hands to you)
Arguing with my dad, and he said, ‘It ain’t Christ-like'”

Excerpt from “Closed on Sunday:”

“…Follow Jesus, listen and obey
No more livin’ for the culture, we nobody’s slave
Stand up for my home
Even if I take this walk alone
I bow down to the King upon the throne
My life is His, I’m no longer my own
I pray to God that He’ll strengthen my hand
They will think twice steppin’ onto my land
I draw the line, it’s written in the sand
Try me and you will see that I ain’t playin’
Now, back up off my family, move your hands
I got my weapons in the spirit’s land
I, Jezebel don’t even stand a chance
Jezebel don’t even stand a chance”

Complete lyrics from “God Is:”

“God is
My light in darkness, oh
God, God is
He, He is my all and all (And I’ll never turn back)
God is
Everything that I felt, praise the Lord
Worship Christ with the best of your portions
I know I won’t forget all He’s done
He’s the strength in this race that I run
Every time I look up, I see God’s faithfulness
And it shows just how much He is miraculous
I can’t keep it to myself, I can’t sit here and be still
Everybody, I will tell ’til the whole world is healed
King of Kings, Lord of Lords, all the things He has in store
From the rich to the poor, all are welcome through the door
You won’t ever be the same when you call on Jesus’ name
Listen to the words I’m sayin’, Jesus saved me, now I’m sane
And I know, I know God is the force that picked me up
I know Christ is the fountain that filled my cup
I know God is alive, yeah
He has opened up my vision
Giving me a revelation
This ain’t ’bout a damn religion
Jesus brought a revolution
All the captives are forgiven
Time to break down all the prisons
Every man, every woman
There is freedom from addiction
Jesus, You have my soul
Sunday Service on a roll
All my idols, let ’em go
All the demons, let ’em know
This a mission, not a show
This is my eternal soul
This my kids, this the crib
This my wife, this my life
This my God-given right
Thank you, Jesus, won the fight

Excerpt from “Hands On:”

“Told the devil that I’m going on a strike
I’ve been working for you my whole life
Nothing worse than a hypocrite
Change, he ain’t really different
He ain’t even try to get permission
Ask for advice and they dissed him
Said I’m finna do a gospel album
What have you been hearin’ from the Christians?
They’ll be the first one to judge me
Make it feel like nobody love me
They’ll be the first one to judge me
Feelin’ like nobody love me
Told people God was my mission…
…Make you feel alone in the dark and you’ll never see the light
Man, you’re never seein’ home and you never see the domes
I can feel it when I write, point of livin’ in the right.”

Complete lyrics from “Jesus Is Lord:”

“Every knee shall bow
Every tongue confess
Jesus is Lord
Jesus is Lord
Every knee shall bow
Every tongue confess
Jesus is Lord
Jesus is Lord”

A Few Closing Questions

Many within “the Church” remain skeptical of the legitimacy of Kanye’s repentance and of genuine reconciliation with Jesus. Do Kanye’s songs reflect enough? Is it even possible for someone to make the declarations that he makes without having experienced spiritual rebirth and regeneration? Can we move forward and embrace Kanye West as a brother in Christ, as a fellow disciple and as a fellow seeker? Do these lyrics declare Jesus boldly enough for Jesus to declare Kanye? Do his lyrics declare enough for me to accept Kanye? Should the Church embrace Kanye West?

The Bible has an opinion on this matter:

“…If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved'” (Romans 10:9-13, NKJV).

“…Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).

“…No one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Has Kanye said enough? Scripture makes it simple: Yes, he has. The Church should embrace Kanye West. The Church MUST embrace Kanye West. At this point, with as much as has been declared, it would be sinful, even shameful, to do anything less than rejoice with the Angels of God that a sinner has repented, and as the Church, to extend our most heartfelt welcome to him. Will he make mistakes in his sanctification process? Sure. Will the road ahead be ugly at times? Absolutely. He is going to need the same patience, compassion and love that we all need as we progress through our own sanctification.

My Conclusion

I would be happy to fellowship with Kanye West. I would be grateful to be a part of his community of faith and would be happy to accept him into mine. I would be honored to spend time with him as a fellow disciple. I pray the Church gives him the welcome embrace that he needs to continue down this new path. I pray that the Church supports him in the same ways that I need support. I pray for a lifetime of growth, maturity, fruitfulness and joy, in and through Jesus, for him just as for myself. I invite him to warm himself by the same fire that warms me, which is nothing short of Jesus Christ Himself. I want to welcome him into my family, the family of Jesus.

More than likely, you’re aware that Joker is in theaters. Maybe the film’s marketing reached you. Or more likely, you read about it in the news. My local theater had to close their release screenings¹ of it, a story that was featured in national news. Other headlines describe nervous audiences,² nervous theater owners,³ even warnings from the military.⁴ While some remain blissfully indifferent to the agita that has surrounded the release of this film, many are troubled by the culture, the portents and the moral weather patterns that come with Joker. As Christians, those portents and patterns in our culture are worth paying attention to.

Inspiring Violence

People fear that the film will encourage violence by glorifying violence. They fear the titular character will be inspirational to potential mass-shooters. In an age where mass shootings happen with increasing frequency, there are fears that a movie like this will empower such people to carry out their dark visions, committing twisted acts of “justice” against the evils of society or venting personal frustrations in an outburst of bullets. Concerns have been raised about the glorification of the character himself, whom the filmmakers are portraying in a much more sympathetic/relatable light than in previous interpretations. Joker is given a “real world” backstory, one that doesn’t involve toxic waste or superpowers. His creation is much more human, much more heartbreaking and, therefore, much more identifiable, especially to those more likely to commit acts of real-world violence.

Many found the very idea of such a film distasteful in light of the perceived connections⁵ to the Aurora Colorado mass shooting during a 2012 screening of The Dark Knight Rises. While that film didn’t actually feature the Joker character, negative links were drawn to his character from the series’ prior film, The Dark Knight, which had come out four years earlier.

Regardless of subjective connections to the Aurora shooting, the new Joker film from director Todd Philips has received its share of bad press, receiving the stigmas of “insensitivity” and “irresponsibility” from the media and the public alike. And this is my biggest issue with the tempest surrounding the movie.

Allow me to illustrate: The film is about a person confronted with increasingly difficult circumstances. As he attempts to cope, he also attempts to restrain himself; he has the tools to deal with bad situations, but he doesn’t want to go there. He must resist the temptation to give in to his “true self.” However, when bad people push him too far, he takes action. And that action reveals the justification he needs to abandon his inhibitions: a just cause. Even though people die, his actions are justified by the viewer because:

• He didn’t ask for any of this (innocence).

• The bad guys deserve what they have coming (guilt).

What ensues is a crusade of righteous indignation, as the “hero” rights the many wrongs that they (and especially the people they care about) have suffered. In the end, we applaud their vengeance because the hero did what we could never do: bring justice to an unjust situation and deliver some much-deserved retribution.

Now ask yourself this: What film or Netflix series did I just describe? Was that Tombstone or John Wick? The Equalizer or The Punisher? Perhaps a Tarantino? Or maybe the Taken series? Better yet, how many films can you think of that follow this formula?

Not a New Movie

This leads me to my first observation. This film isn’t new. What I mean is, it’s not an altogether new idea. It doesn’t cover new subject matter; it’s not a new plot; its essence isn’t new. Hollywood has been cranking out films very similar to this one for years. The context changes, the characters and their circumstances change, but the major plot arc is routine: Injustice occurs ↠ the protagonist is triggered to action ↠ moral lines are crossed ↠ retribution to evildoers ↠ the protagonist rests from his work. And far more than simply being prevalent, these sorts of movies are incredibly popular at the box office and among critics. So it shouldn’t be any surprise that direct similarities have been drawn between Joker and older films that seemed less worrisome, at the time, to the general public. Among those are works from renown director Martin Scorsese. What’s interesting to me is that his films have featured similarly disturbed characters, doing similarly disturbing things, but have been lauded by audiences, critics and the press for decades. Yet here we are, with a very similar film inciting fear and restlessness among modern audiences.

Another aspect that isn’t new about this movie is one of its key thematic ideas. It’s the concept of being yourself, being true to yourself, letting go of people’s expectations of you and becoming who you really are. But this idea is so commonplace. In a sense, the admonition is almost “Disney-esque:” “Believe in yourself; follow the desires of your heart, and all of your dreams will come true.” Scripture condemns this concept with a slap of reality: The human heart is desperately wicked and unknowable, and its depravity needs to be resisted. The syrupy advice from fairytales takes on a more insidious tone when you apply it to people whose heart’s desire is selfishness, who pay no heed to the harm they cause to others. The concept of surrendering to your desires is Edenic in origin: see and take. Don’t let anything hold you back from realizing your dreams, and you will find satisfaction. This has remained a prevalent and popular ethos in our culture from the very inception of humanity.

Not A New Character

Another observation about the climate surrounding the film: The Joker character isn’t new in the most literal sense. He’s been around for nearly 80 years. And for all of those years, he has embodied murderous chaos with a flair for theatrics and humor. His depravity has never been sugar-coated. From the beginning, he’s been portrayed as a remorseless, laughing, gloating serial killer/criminal mastermind nemesis for Batman. His methods and motives have been illustrated unflinchingly, from his first appearance in the Batman No. 1 comic, through Jack Nicholson’s portrayal in 1989, to Heath Ledger’s (posthumously) award-winning depiction of the character.⁶

Somehow though, our culture seems uneasy about embracing this newest depiction, in the form of Joaquin Phoenix’s troubled Arthur Fleck. But what makes me uneasy about the whole character is how joyfully our culture has embraced all of his previous incarnations. It seems much scarier to me, and much more telling about our culturally-endemic desensitization, that people laugh and clap approvingly at a Joker who can “humorously” murder people with pencils or spray people with acid from his prank lapel flower or dance and joke over the bodies of people he’s just poisoned. Shouldn’t the taking of life feel sorrowful? Shouldn’t it feel wrong? Why aren’t we relieved when, in a sea of movies that casually devalue human life, this film conveys that killing is wrong and that the taking of lives is a violation, or at the very least, negatively impactful?

We Don’t Like the Context

In part, the distaste comes from the portrayal of the people who die. In the case of those murdered by the Joker in 1989’s Batman, the people seem so ridiculous and fake that it’s hard to feel any emotional pull when they meet their demise. They’re almost like cardboard cutouts who simply get pushed over: We don’t know them or care for them. Sure, there are the bad gangsters who die and, in a sense, get what they deserve. But for the people in the art museum, or in the streets of Gotham, their deaths are handled so humorously, numerously and callously, that we can hardly connect or identify with them. However, the on-screen deaths committed by this new Joker feel intimate, visceral and heavy.

Another aspect could be that, in the new film, the “bad guys” who die aren’t people we necessarily believe to be bad. There are even some we think aren’t bad at all; their only perceived guilt comes from simply being part of an unjust system, or “guilt by association.” Unlike the scores of Nazis that are brutally, sadistically dealt with in one popular film, we don’t necessarily identify the victims in this film as evil. But those who are less affluent, with less hope or less opportunity in life might. Hence, the public support of the killings from the general population within the film. They view Joker as a symbol: one man standing up against the system of oppression. The people who are killed in Joker are all either liars, cruel antagonizes or people benefiting from perceived corruption. In some way, and from a particular perspective, they’re all part of a system of hurt and abuse.

The problem though is that we don’t like how subjective their guilt is. Nevertheless, isn’t that the point-counterpoint between secular humanism and Christianity? The secular humanist would argue that right and wrong are subjective to the individual, while Christianity would hold to the objectivity of God’s Word.

To that point, there is a pivotal scene in the film when Arthur Fleck asks the question: “What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash? Exactly what you deserve!” From his unhinged, subjective perspective, he’s doing what is right, giving out what he thinks is deserved. In a sense, the unease that comes from seeing his insanity and the perceived rightness of his crimes should find relief in the concept of a just God whom humanity is accountable to. Instead, the film depicts a subjectivity to the concepts of guilt and sin. Granted that it’s told from the perspective of an unhealthy mind, but it’s nonetheless the subjectivity of this framework that should make us very uneasy.

Sadness and Compassion

This aspect is new to the Joker story, at least to the film versions. This is a sad, sad film. The story begins within a financially depressed economy, where the circles of work and homelife are permeated with the stench of crime, shame and inescapable poverty. Building on this is the weighty responsibility of caring for an ailing, elderly mother. Add to that the aforementioned mental illness countered only by prescription drugs and weekly, state-afforded counseling sessions. Finally, add a neurological condition that makes you burst into uncontrollable laughter when stressful situations arise. But this particular facet is handled humorlessly. The emphasis is on the social awkwardness that such a condition would create. Imagine how quickly any argument would escalate if, after listening to a person’s issue, you burst out laughing. This is Arthur Fleck’s reality. The result is misunderstanding and isolation, compounded by the weight of all the other difficulties that surround him. This establishing tale of the Joker character doesn’t involve an accident with toxic waste creating a criminal mastermind, arch-villain and crime boss. This film is told from the perspective of desperation, depression and hopelessness. This is someone with no means, no friends, no hope, trudging through life under the weight of very identifiable sorrow.

Making the film more complex, the handling of sin is theologically interesting. As my Professor, Gerry Breshears, recently remarked in class, psychology usually only deals with the sins committed TO a person, and pastors usually only deal with sins committed BY a person. But this story deals with both. The protagonist is laden with difficulty from outside: systemic poverty and the burdens of trying to “put on a happy face” for a loved one, all within a world that views him as worthless. He’s also burdened with difficulty from within: the portrayal of mental un-health is intimate, personal, sorrowful and disturbing. Between these paradigms, we sadly observe the abuse, deception, lying and disappointment that he endures at the hands of others.

But we also see the evils that he commits as just that: evil. In a fashion reminiscent of Sophocles, Shakespeare and Vince Gilligan, each evil action he takes is just as destructive to himself as to those around him. His environment doesn’t vindicate his monstrous actions; nothing does. And his actions are never justified by the outcomes; they simply add momentum to his downward spiral. While you feel compassion for him, you’re never led to thinking that he’s “right,” or that his actions are acceptable, let alone funny.

Controversially Thought Provoking

And this raises another interesting aspect about the film: It doesn’t cram a message down your throat. Maybe we wish it would have. Maybe the press would be less nervous in their reporting if this were a morality tale, teaching that evil actions come from an evil environment. Or that embracing evil leads to an evil end. Instead, the film leaves the viewer with the abstract, existential question of evil itself. What is it? Where does it come from? How do you deal with it without becoming it? How do you prevent it? These questions form great conversational springboards for the Christian. Everyone recognizes evil in the world. Engaging in conversations about ultimate evil and its ultimate answer in the form of The Ultimate Love of God is like a slow pitch for anyone looking to share the truth and comfort of the Gospel.

What’s really interesting is that the film doesn’t “say” much at all as far as conclusion or application. It’s more revelatory than didactic. It’s left to the viewer to understand and interpret the tale. And perhaps therein lies the problem. Maybe it’s the ambiguity of evil that has caused so much tension, anxiety and fear. The secular humanist has no explanation of evil, let alone advice on what to do with it. The Bible does, but that’s the one place that “rational secularists” aren’t allowed to go for answers. However, when a film or event reveals gaps in the collective reasoning of our secular world, we as Christians need to be ready to address the unease, to use God’s Word to explain it and to cast light on the darkness.

_Notes:

_{¹ Cameron, Dell. “U.S. Military Issues Warning to Troops About Incel Violence at Joker Screenings.” September 24, 2019. (accessed October 06, 2019).}

_{² Daniel, Anslee. Bristol, “TN Drive-In Bans Costumes for Showing of ‘Joker.'” October 5, 2019. (accessed October 6, 2019).}

_{³ Desta, Yohana. “The ‘Joker’ Didn’t Inspire the Aurora Shooter, but the Rumor Won’t Go Away.” October 02, 2019. (accessed October 08, 2019).}

_{⁴ Fry, Hannah. “Credible Threat Targeting ‘Joker’ Screening Forces Huntington Beach Theater to Close.” October 4, 2019. (accessed October 4, 2019).}

_{⁵ Reeves, Jay. “Security, NY Incident Leave Some Unsettled After ‘Joker’.” October 5, 2019. (accessed October 6, 2019).}

_{⁶ Ledger’s portrayal garnered him 32 award nominations, leading to a staggering 28 wins, including an Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actor,” a Golden Globe for “Best Actor in a Supporting Role,” and a SAG award for “Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.”}

_{CalvaryChapel.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with every message or perspective in the diverse film reviews posted. By providing these film reviews, we hope to help you stay informed of important events and conversations taking place in the world that are relevant to the Christian faith.}

_{Joker is rated R for strong bloody violence, disturbing behavior, language and brief sexual images.}

Ad Astra is a great film. It is not a teenager-targeted blockbuster space film that relies more on explosions, locker room humor, and sex appeal to hold the audience’s attention. As relieving as mental “junk food” can be after a stressful day at school or work, this movie is not that. Ad Astra is at the opposite end of the spectrum, and that’s a good thing. This is a story about hurt people dealing with hurt. The film trailers do well by setting a serious, thoughtful tone for the film. The space that the film traverses is much closer to home than most would anticipate from a sci-fi movie.

A Quick Concession Before I Continue

Before I go further, I want to make something clear: I like space movies. I have for a long time (I was a little boy at one time). I loved the fighting, the aliens, the laser guns, the heroes. As a role model, I looked up to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s special forces commando-type characters. I even identified with them. They were awesome in battle; I was awesome in (imaginary) battle. They never made bad choices, unlike the litany of tragically expendable cast-mates who were only memorable because of their increasingly creative demises. But I didn’t identify with those guys because, just like the hero, I could sense an enemy trap from miles off. I always knew just what to do. I never lost to the droves of aliens stalking my backyard pool or neighborhood park. Sure, Arnie’s enemies seemed more palpable, but they were no less imaginary than the hordes of aliens and monsters my brother and I would defeat.

However, as I’ve grown up, I’ve found myself being less and less able to relate to the heroes in my favorite sci-fi movies. As it turns out, I haven’t spent decades as a Special Forces operator. I won’t be facing swarms of aliens armed with naught but a pair of machine guns, muddied combat boots and fatigues, a strained muscle shirt, and a smoldering cigar. My monsters are so much more terrifying.

As a husband and father, I’m much less concerned with the threat of monsters that might crash land in my backyard. I fear my ability to fail my family. I fear disappointing my kids. I fear hurting the people I love most. I fear the weaknesses hiding comfortably just behind my eyes. I fear that I might be exposed as a fraud to those people who count on me most. I’d like to think that I don’t live under the constant weight of fear, and I don’t think I’m as affected by it as many people are. But there’s a reality to the idea that my fears, at some level, do encourage me to be less than transparent with my colleagues, my friends and my family.

Gravity In The Performance

And this is one of the major themes in this film. This is not simple, mental chewing gum; this is a thick cut of provocative, existential thought, and it’s handled with an approachable realism that surprised me. Part of that is due to the subtle strengths that this film brings to the table. Brad Pitt’s performance as astronaut “Maj. Roy McBride” showcases some of the reasons he’s one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading men. Externally, with an enviable smile, physique and cool factor, he’s the type of man most men would love to be compared to. His likeableness in the Ocean’s 11 series, among many others, seems to exude a genuinely effortless charm. Pitt has a gift for portraying personable, friendly, relatable characters. But he’s also able to bring a vulnerability and introspectiveness to his roles that are so nuanced, you might forget he’s only acting the part. The gravity he brings to both his character, and Ad Astra as a whole, roots this Sci-Fi into very relatable, human-level territory.

His “Maj. Roy McBride” is the type of constant, clear-headed and heroic man a father would want to be. He has answers, a plan, focus and the decisiveness to make the best choices when things seem out of control. However, the film’s audience is omnisciently privy to his inner dialogue, and it’s this beating heart of insecurity that makes you realize how similar you are to him. On the outside, his colleagues and superiors are struck by his calm; even though he’s participated in active combat. He also recently survived a parachute escape from an exploding space tower, while his heart rate never exceeded 85bpm! He has a near-supernatural steadiness that makes him precisely the type of person NASA would want on a space mission. However, even though he can keep his heart rate down, and though he can give the correct answers needed to pass his constant barrage of psychological evaluations, he knows the truth. He has accomplished everything to which he aspired: become an astronaut, win the admiration of his peers and the approval of Military brass, and ultimately live up to his father’s legendary status. However, even with all of that, he’s separated from the woman he loves, his wife. He’s haunted by his failures, and the failures and hurts caused by those he loves. He struggles to hide his insecurity, ducking behind his duties and his stainless-steel exterior.

The Truth About Us

Unfortunately, this is very familiar territory for many of us, Christians and Pastors especially included. Many of us seek to emulate the men and women that we admire, perceiving similar calm, happy, decisive and compelling personalities. But we can only observe a tiny portion of their personhood. Similar to God’s admonition in 1 Samuel 16:4, there’s a lot more going on internally than humans can observe externally. Beneath the surface of any hero, be they pastors, leaders or social media influencers, there are layers of fear and doubt, logbooks of sins and failures and rosters of people that have been hurt, some with whom we’ve been reconciled, others not so much. And no matter how much we try to emulate the strengths of those we observe, we’re only able to see and therefore emulate a fraction of their personhood. And no matter how courageous, happy or successful we try to appear, we know the truth about ourselves. We’re haunted by the faces of our past failures or our fears of future ones. Major McBride is intimately aware of his two-faced nature, and it weighs on him. To keep it from interfering with what he needs to do, he puts an emotional tourniquet around his heart. He chokes it off from feeling anything. He disassociates from those that he holds dearest. While this makes him into the man he always wanted to be, able to do the things he’s always wanted to do, it also cuts him off from everyone that makes it all worth doing.

A Relatable Sci-Fi

And this is the greatest strength of the film. Even though you’re immersed in a science fiction world where the expanse of our galaxy seems open for exploration, it’s told through the eyes of very relatable, very vulnerable and very human characters. Where many “space films” lose me with their overly avant-garde existential musings, this film focuses on the emotional level of what things truly matter in the human experience: freedom, identity, purpose, community and love.

Ad Astra is a triumph for writer/director James Gray. In his 2016 film, The Lost City of Z, he paints a very relatable bleakness in the form of obsessive ambition.

This film feels a bit like a spiritual companion piece: the reality of living within the shadow of someone else’s obsessive ambition and the wake of destruction it has left.

Will we repeat the sins of our fathers when we chase after the mirage of success? What will be the cost of our achievements to those we love? What are our achievements costing them right now?

It’s Still Fun Though

Even though it’s heavy, the plot of the film never drags along under its own emotional weight. Scenes steadily move forward with solid action scenes, rising tension, impressive visual effects and some incredible cinematography from Hoyte van Hoyteme (Dunkirk, Spectre, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), opting for shooting on 35mm film rather than digital stock. Aesthetically, the film has a beautifully filmic look and feel. Max Richter’s score moves dynamically between subtle and powerful, conjuring equal parts vintage and futuristic. Ad Astra has all the joys and grandeur of a modern cinematic classic. This is one you’ll want to see at the cinema to truly enjoy the “largeness” of the score and the vastness of the setting.

In an age of digital film, digital effects, digital characters and digital delivery at home, this film is a relief. It’s well written, well-acted and well produced. More than that, it leaves you with much to think through, and that’s always something I admire in a good film. I don’t always want a film that only entertains; I want to be taken on an immersive journey; I want to be provoked. And the plot here is definitely provocative. This film reads our culture so well. In an age when people present such fictionally successful personas on social media, it’s refreshing to see someone like James Gray deal with what’s vulnerable and flawed. The script is written with such a subtle touch, it seems to reflect genuine emotion from sorrows of his own past.

The Heart of the Matter

Ad Astra (“to the stars” in Latin) is a voyage through space, but it’s also a thoughtful meditation on the human heart. It takes you across lunar landscapes just as gracefully and believably as it crosses topics like melancholy and love. But it’s not just a story exploring or explaining depression, isolation and listlessness. Ad Astra has a strong redemption message. And redemption is precisely what people need. As humans, we’re all broken and burdened; we’ve all been hurt to some degree. But we have a choice: We can remove ourselves from the possibility of being hurt again, or we can make our hearts accessible to love. As much as we want to believe that it’s possible to do both well, in truth, we can’t. We’re either vulnerable or unreachable. As a “space movie,” I was surprised to see such a close similarity to, and an almost parabolic expansion of a thought from C.S. Lewis:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Clocking in at just over two hours, it’s well worth the time to watch it. It will leave you thinking about your life, your choices and your identity in Christ.

_{Ad Astra is rated PG-13 for some violence, bloody images and brief strong language.}

_{CalvaryChapel.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with every message or perspective in the diverse film reviews posted. By providing these film reviews, we hope to help you stay informed of important events and conversations taking place in the world that are relevant to the Christian faith.}

Below is a review on the newly released film, A Wrinkle in Time. There are spoilers included in the analysis of this film.

A Wrinkle in Time has been controversial since before it was ever published. Author Madeleine L’Engle’s manuscript was rejected by 26 publishing houses before Farrar, Straus, and Giroux decided to give it the green light. Since its initial publication in 1962, A Wrinkle in Time has enjoyed prolonged popularity as well as literary praise, earning such prestigious awards as the Newbery Medal, Sequoyah Book Award, Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner up for the Hans Christian Anderson Award. Yet because of Madeleine L’Engle’s use of spiritual themes, and at times borrowing quotes from the Bible, the book has remained a source of contention on both sides of the aisle. Secularists have taken issue with her use of Biblical inspiration and want it pulled from school libraries. And evangelicals contend that the book is too liberal towards salvation, embracing too much universalism, or too much secular humanism, to give it a home in their bookstores.

Before we dive into the film, it’s worth noting a few things about the source text, and drawing a clear distinction between the book and the movie. While the film never ventures deeper than a cursory humanistic theme, the book’s author had a very different worldview. As a liberal Episcopalian, Madeleine L’Engle espoused something between universalism (in the end, everyone gets saved) and annihilationism (Hell isn’t eternal, in the end, the lost will cease to exist), believing that no one would be sent to eternal judgement. She reportedly said “I cannot believe that God wants punishment to go on interminably any more than does a loving parent. The entire purpose of loving punishment is to teach, and it lasts only as long as is needed for the lesson. And the lesson is always love.”¹ She believed Christianity could comfortably coexist with all other world religions, because all would eventually be saved, whether they believed in Christ at time of death or not.

Paradoxically, she also wrote “To be truly Christian means to see Christ everywhere, to know him as all in all,” in her book Walking on Water. “I don’t mean to water down my Christianity into a vague kind of universalism, with Buddha and Mohammed all being more or less equal to Jesus-not at all! But neither do I want to tell God (or my friends) where he can and cannot be seen!”

However, her perspective of the priority of Christ among other religious leaders is clear from the novel of A Wrinkle In Time. At one point, when explaining forces that have fought the great universal evil in the universe, The Dark Thing, Mrs. Whatist says, “Some of our best fighters have come right from your own planet…You can be proud that it’s done so well.” She lists Jesus, Gandhi, Einstein, and the Buddha as some of Earth’s “best fighters.”

What is obvious is that Madeleine L’Engle had no problem fashioning a Christianity to her own liking. She wasn’t comfortable allowing scripture to remain the final authority on such matters as eternal judgement and salvation, thus leaving a very cloudy understanding of morality and ultimate truth.

While all mentions of Jesus and the Bible have been thoroughly expunged from the screenplay, the film still can’t shake the murkiness of the source material.

And, externally, A Wrinkle in Time has all the hallmarks of a film classic. The teenage protagonists Meg Murray (Storm Reid) and Calvin (Levi Miller) and her adopted child-genius younger brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), step into a fantastic world where science and magic meet, as they embark on a journey across the cosmos to find their missing father, astrophysicist Dr. Murray (Chris Pine). Along the way, they are guided by three powerful cosmic beings: the aloof Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), pop culture quoting Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), and the all-wise Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey). With the outlandish and other-worldly visuals, a trio of energetic teenage heroes, and the powerful (and magical) help of three eccentric fairy godmother types, the film has all the promise and excitement of a new original adventure franchise in the making. And it might have achieved just that, were it not for the flimsy, hastily strung-together narrative that is constantly barraged by an unrelentingly tone-deaf mantra of secular humanism.

At this point I want to completely overlook the film production itself. With so many poor critical reviews out there already, as well as it’s “Certified Rotten” 41% score on Rotten Tomatoes (with an abysmal 33% audience score), I really didn’t want to publish another scathing review. What I would like to do is take a closer look at the film’s message. While most films embrace a worldly perspective by default, this film is drenched in self-importance, making a concerted effort to present a particular worldview. And while that worldview is presented as the answer to life’s problems, it offers no tangible solutions.

The movie serves a very convincing dose of painful reality: a mother, daughter and adopted son have lost their husband and father.

And if that pain weren’t bad enough, they have zero closure. He vanishes one day, out of nowhere, while conducting astrophysics experiments. No explanation, no suggestions that he survived, nothing. Compounding this pain is the reality that Meg has the relentless bullying and torment of school pretty-girl/bully Veronica Kiley to look forward to every day. Calvin on the other hand has to deal with a father who expects too much of him and verbally abuses him. Even the school pretty girl Veronica battles insecurity, body-image issues, and low self-esteem. These are characters and situations that so many kids will find themselves identifying with in real life. The scenarios are sadly all-too real. These issues are hurts that kids everywhere are forced to deal with all the time.

But what sort of hope or advice does this movie offer for those whose hurts aren’t just part of a movie plot? To place your faith in yourself. You hold the keys to your own salvation, if you’ll just believe in yourself, and tune yourself to the right frequency (love). And how, one might ask, does one apply this advice to their horrible situations at home? In essence, rely on no one but yourself, because everyone else will let you down, and only you can save you. Far from useful, this is a very thin, very hollow placebo that sends you back to your problems with sunshine and warm fuzzies, but those quickly cool with the understanding that, in reality, you’ve received nothing that can actually help you.

Secular humanism is the belief that humans are capable of their own morality and code of ethics without the need for any god or religion.

The belief is that people are neither inherently evil (contrary to Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 15:19) nor inherently good. And further, mankind has the ability to be their own moral standard, with no need for external governance or salvation. So, in the absence of an external, theistic moral compass, those who embrace the ultimate ideal of love are worthy of governing themselves. And through self-reliance, tapping into the universal frequency of love, we can solve all of life’s problems.

The trouble is, being kind to bullies that torment you doesn’t always bring catharsis. Digging in and believing in yourself doesn’t hold much weight when you’ve lost your loved one, or when your emotionally abusive parent is screaming at you.

In many ways, this movie contrasts the nihilistic approach from the last film I reviewed, Annihilation. The message here is that you do have purpose in this world. But that purpose is to simply believe in yourself and fulfill your potential, fixing your own problems and healing your own hurts through the power of love. In truth, both of these movies leave you with the cold reality of the world that all humans experience. We all have pain and failure in our lives, but we don’t have the strength, patience, or willpower to undo all the hurts that we continue to experience.

And it’s this disparity, between what people have and what people need, that really stands out.

The need for people to receive the power to change. The need to receive the power to overcome. The need to receive the power to forgive. This movie acts as though it has imparted all the wisdom (over the course of its two-hour run time) that we need to truly soar above our personal demons, whether internal or external. But really, all that’s been given is a load of empty promises. When you truly place your faith solely in yourself, you end up alone, isolated from the people that can share life’s burdens with you. On the one hand, Meg needs to reject the counsel of her cosmic helpers if she hopes to save her dad, she must reject her dad’s counsel to save her loved ones, and she must step out in faith in herself alone when no one else can help her. Yet moments later, she needs the help of another to obtain victory. Even the idea of self-salvation presented here seems to be nebulous and self-contradicting.

But all of this is quickly glossed over in typical Hollywood fashion, with flashy characters, a whirlwind of cinematic locales, immersive visual effects, but ultimately hollow platitudes. For a movie that flaunts itself as an enlightened perspective on the cultural problems faced by today’s youth, the substance of the life advice offered here is unsurprisingly bankrupt. And it’s here where the book and the film coalesce into similar works marred with the same shortcomings. While trading in the uniqueness and exclusivity of Christ, Madeleine L’Engle also gave up the Way He provides to ultimate fulfilment, the Truth that gives clarity and meaning to life’s difficulties, and the Life of joy and peace that all people are searching for. But all you’re really left with here is a mixed-up morality tale with the disappointing aftertaste of hollow, unhelpful worldly wisdom.

¹ Morgan, Christopher W; Peterson, Robert A. Hell Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents Eternal Punishment. p. 171.

A Wrinkle in Time is rated PG for thematic elements and some peril

Image credited to Disney

CalvaryChapel.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with every message or perspective in the diverse films reviews posted. By providing these film reviews, we hope to help you stay informed of important events and conversations taking place in the world that are relevant to the Christian faith.

The idea of existential nihilism couldn’t be more opposed to my Biblical, Christian worldview. To think that everything we see and experience ultimately lacks purpose or significance is incredibly depressing and defeating. Why would we do anything? Why should we care? What’s the point? It creates a vacuum of hope within a world that seems to be brimming with purpose. And it’s also not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that I have meaning and that Creation as a whole has thoughtful purpose. And when I view the world through this lens, I can clearly see the unmistakable evidence of a personal, omniscient and benevolent Creator. I don’t see a planet filled with souls born for no reason and governed by no hope other than arbitrary, dispassionate chance, where the only balance and order present exists simply because it was produced randomly. I see Creation, design and life, all with intrinsic value, significance and purpose.

But if I were pressed to imagine a world without a Creator, defaulting nihilism to reality, I would imagine a world similar to what is found in the ambitious new film by Alex Garland, Annihilation.

The film is loosely adapted from the popular fictional series of the self-same name penned by Jeff VanderMeer. The story follows soldier/Johns Hopkins biologist Lena (Natalie Portman) as she and a team of female scientists seek to unlock the secrets of “The Shimmer,” a beautiful and mysterious phenomenon (think giant rainbow wall of dangerous energy) that is slowly engulfing an uninhabited section of coastal Florida. Though numerous teams have been sent into it to determine it’s nature, communication is always quickly lost, and none have returned to tell what awaits inside. It’s up to this small team of scientists to discover the phenomenon’s origin, and to stop it’s imminent spread across the state, the country and the world.

As the team plunges into the unknown, they are met with a world that becomes increasingly strange and disorienting the deeper they venture. Time passes differently; their compasses don’t work, and their thoughts and memories feel scattered. And the normal swamp types of plants and animals have been changed, twisted into new things that are at times beautiful and at others, the stuff of nightmares. Director Alex Garland crafts a lush, eerily familiar world that is both gorgeous and terrifying. Using a broad palette of lushly saturated colors, he has painted a unique vision of a dystopian future, where overgrown ruins and vibrant jungle are all that remain of abandoned neighborhoods and towns.

While the action in this film is used fairly effectively to keep the storyline tense, it’s mainly the standard sci-fi fare (jump scenes, monsters and ominous music). The main attraction here isn’t the plethora of horrible creatures that seem to lurk behind every corner, nor other-worldy landscape. What takes center stage in this tale is the vast unexplored psychological landscape of our protagonist.

While each woman on the expedition is haunted, flawed and broken, none are more so than Lena. Still reeling from the sudden and mysterious reappearance of her long-missing husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac) and his subsequently dire medical conditions, she is still dealing with the traumatic effects of her own extramarital affair with a colleague (while no explicit nudity is present, the relationship is shown on a few occasions) during her husband’s long absences due to military deployment. And now she must battle her own demons, the elements and the clock to try and find the answers that will save her husband and the world.

And it’s against the visceral backdrop of her own personal failures that we start to understand the lens through which she, her team and the filmmakers view life: the actions of an impersonal, dispassionate universe are random. Cosmic events happen without purpose or malice. And the inevitable destruction they bring into our lives is something humanity must deal with on an individual and societal level. As the world is being destroyed (or remade) by the mysterious “Shimmer,” do we confront it; do we rage against it, or do we make peace with the change and embrace it as inevitable and not evil? At a cosmic level, entropic destruction is as inevitable as gravity. How should humanity react to it? But even more existentially, as the team’s psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) observes, self-destruction seems to be pre-programmed into us on a cellular level. It’s human nature to veer towards destruction. We constantly seek to bring imbalance to healthy situations. We sabotage our own healthy marriages. We undermine our perfect, comfortable jobs. We seem inexplicably drawn to breaking and being broken. And even if we do decide to confront it and rage against it, destruction will come eventually.

And this is actually a much more nuanced difference to the gospel message than it might seem. The Bible tells us that entropy will run its course on society. As sinfulness continues to rise, the wrath of God will eventually reach it’s boiling point and be poured out onto the world. And on an individual level, if left to our own natural, sinful tendencies, hurt and destruction are the inevitable outcomes. As this film postulates, destruction is simply change in varying degrees. And if that is how you define change, then change is inevitable; all we can do is decide how we will react to it. And this would be absolutely true BUT FOR CHRIST.

Jesus came to save humanity from it’s inevitable self-destruction. And He comes to the individual to present Himself as the answer to our seemingly inevitable tendency to break the good things around us. He is both willing and able to redeem the brokenness that we cause and experience, to bring about a hope-filled end. And His solution is much more existential than symptomatic: I lovingly and sovereignly made you, and I crafted you for a purpose. To fulfill a cosmic plan that was pre-ordained since before the beginning.

For the Christian, Annihilation paints a fairly bleak view of life. But I think it’s necessary for believers to be confronted with such despairing perspectives. We should deeply consider the views of the non-Christians around us. And not for the purpose of crafting our best apologetic responses so as to win arguments and gain respect. We should understand the truly hope-less views of the people in the world around us. And we shouldn’t do it as a once-and-for-all type exercise. New arguments and worldviews combatting God’s true nature are constantly popping up. As the salt and light, we should constantly be thinking through the implications of differing worldviews so as to better present their adherents with a thoughtful, truthful and compassionate response to their beliefs.

While the language, violence and implied sexual content in this film may be unpalatable to many believers, confrontation with a nihilistic worldview should open up a healthy dialog among believers, as well as informing our understanding of a worldview that logically goes hand in hand with atheism, a belief that is more and more becoming our culture’s default worldview.

And while the story is engaging, intense and well crafted, and the visuals seamlessly blur the lines between tangible and surreal, the philosophical implications of the film are this: The result of the natural world running its course is unavoidable and indifferent destruction. What a perfect place to begin a conversation about the purpose, the plan and the salvation that God has in mind for every individual person that has ever been and ever will be.

Annihilation is Rated R for violence, bloody images, language and some sexuality.

Image credited to Paramount Pictures

CalvaryChapel.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with every message or perspective in the diverse film reviews posted. By providing these film reviews, we hope to help you stay informed of important events and conversations taking place in the world that are relevant to the Christian faith.