Faith in Film — The Da Vinci Code

John 14:6 — "Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

"Maybe human is divine." — Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), "The Da Vinci Code."

"The Da Vinci Code," to say the least, is a controversial film. I think last night's discussion reflected some of the tough ideas contained in the film and some of that was reflected in the comments made. I think it's a film that will always create debate and, ultimately, opens a dialogue about who Jesus is, and that's never a bad thing.

In terms of "The Church" or the larger Christian community, I feel that too often we withdraw from things in the world that we don't understand. That's a problem. We can't be the light of the world if we're not a part of the world. When we run from controversial films like "The Da Vinci Code" it creates two negatives — it makes it look like we've got something to hide, especially when what we're running from challenges the core beliefs of our faith, and it creates a vacuum to be filled by the lies of the world. We can't be afraid of ideas, even controversial ideas. Instead, we need to arm ourselves with knowledge and hit them head on with the truth, that's how we make a difference in this world.

I think there are some other things we can take away from the discussion of this film as well. First, it is important for us to be aware of history. It's not enough just to study the Bible — though that is of critical importance. We must also be aware of our own Christian history. One of the reasons why the argument in "The Da Vinci Code" is so compelling is because, like all historical fiction, it mines a few facts and mixes it with some conjecture to make a strong argument. But if we aren't familiar with history, especially history of our own faith, then we can be caught off guard. We need to arm ourselves with knowledge, because that's the only way we're going to be able to counter these kind of worldly arguments.

Second, I don't think this is an atheistic film. It's worse than that. I believe it represents the cultural movement toward humanistic deism. In fact, this is a film that wants to have its cake and eat it too. The film spends two hours destroying the foundation of Christianity then makes a pitch for the importance of faith in the last 15 minutes. It rings a little hollow, because it is. In addition, it doesn't really push for faith in Jesus Christ, because it's already reduced him to a wise teacher, but it believes men are capable of goodness and morality on their own with a God to watch over them and guide them. This is the lie of humanism that is captured in the quote from Langdon I opened this post with. And we who are true faith followers know that this is ultimately the place where we have to challenge those that hold to the "truths" in this argument.

In Romans 1:25, Paul says, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen." That strikes at the heart of Humanism. We know that Jesus is God. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." There is no room for argument on this point.

Ultimately, I believe movies like "The Da Vinci Code" can be a powerful tool for faith communities. If we arm ourselves with knowledge and the truth, we can use platforms like this as a chance to open a dialogue and share our beliefs in a compelling way. And when we step out to defend Him, we are never alone. He works through us and He gives us the words. We just have to have the courage to engage.