Aroma of Death

A week ago, in community group, we were discussing how the gospel is simultaneously the aroma of life to those who believe and the aroma of death to those who don’t. It’s a heavy thing to consider that some will rejoice unceasingly upon hearing about Jesus, while many more reject him and his messengers.

Al Mohler has an interesting article about how exclusive claims about Jesus are provoking negative visceral reactions in the sports world. Let it be said that sports figures are among the last people I consult for gospel encouragement, not because athletes are lesser in my eyes, but because much of what is preached in the sports world is not the gospel at all. I’d say guys like Tim Tebow are the rare exception.

Nonetheless, Mohler’s article highlights how some people are reacting to the true gospel preached by guys like Tebow. Their reaction can basically be summed up like this: We’re ok with you talking about Jesus, just not a Jesus that claims any authority or commands us to believe in him alone.

Interlude: Martin Gets the Gospel Wrong

In between my posts on Why We Love the Church, I’ll briefly comment on something I read today.

Roland Martin often writes articles on faith (specifically the Christian faith) featured on CNN.com, a site I check fairly often. And while I bet he’s a super nice guy with some wonderful qualities, I’m not so sure he gets the gospel (I say this based not on this one article, but after following his articles over a two-year period…there are patterns).

In this particular article, he’s tackling the subject of faith and Hollywood. More particularly, he’s using Tyler Perry and his movies as a focal point. I won’t go into his analysis of the films, nor his view on Christianity and Hollywood. I want to focus on something else.

At one point in the article, he’s making the point that hope and redemption should be prevalent ideas in the filmmaking industry (a gigantic AMEN to that!). And he explains how Perry’s movies mention God, Jesus, and the Bible all the time. This is all fine and well. But this is the quote that gets me:

When we look at the destruction going on all around us – people committing suicide because of financial strains, mounting job losses, folks screaming and yelling at health care town hall meetings – it’s gratifying to watch a movie that speaks to the goodness in people, no matter how messed up they are.

I think his point here actually works against the argument of his article. A message of the “goodness in people” is not God’s message at all. In fact, I would say that’s the message God is speaking against in the cross of Christ. Additionally, it’s arrogant to say that movies about people of faith are movies about the goodness within said people, for they should be the very ones saying the opposite.

The cross of Christ tells us that we are not good at all (Rom. 3:9-18). It indeed says we are “messed up”, but the goodness we need must come from outside of us — we need the righteousness of another. That’s the message of the gospel. It’s not a relief to watch a movie that promotes the deep-down goodness of human beings, it’s a lie; the last thing we need are movies promoting self-goodness. Rather, we need to hear about the goodness of God as he ransomed our sins through the work of his Son Jesus on the cross.

If Christians are going to be involved in Hollywood, we need to get our message right.