God is an exclusive, impersonal,
silent, angry jerk who vaguely outlined his judgemental plans of
destruction to a psychopath who was incapable of finishing the
homicide God couldn't do properly Himself. At least, that's what I
learned from watching the movie Noah, which opened in theatres last
Monday.
When Hollywood first announced they
would make a film based on the three chapters in Genesis, no one's
expectations were high. A well-budgeted action movie directed by an
atheist could hardly be expected to keep itself within the material
provided by three measly chapters. Creative liberties were going to
be taken, and fundamentalist Christians weren't going to like it.
But isn't it good that the Bible is
popular once again? Isn't it great that millions of people across
America have been inspired to crack open Genesis and give the story a
little once-over? In the midst of all the profane, sexual
entertainment, isn't it wonderful that God got to steal a little bit
of the spotlight this week? Well, quite frankly, no. Because God
isn't in the movie. Some sort of deity is, but its not God. And that
means that all the social media explosion, all the controversy and
all the hype of this movie isn't making the Bible popular – its
just making it misunderstood.
Most of the creative liberties taken
were (not surprisingly) ridiculously unbiblical. For example, some
fallen angels got encased in stone and then helped Noah build the ark
(say wha...?). But these creative liberties aren't actually what
bother me. In fact, the only inaccuracy in the movie that was really
bothersome was the portrayal of God. He's a jerk. If Noah's going to
be a psychopathic baby killer, that's rather disturbing – but when
God's indifferent about it, that's an issue.
If the Bible were able to be boiled
down to two basic themes (which it shouldn't be) it would that man is
wicked, sinful and deserving of judgement, and that God is gracious
and loving and offers a way of escape from that judgement. The
stories in the Bible aren't their for historical value or for
storytelling entertainment, they are there to advance this simple
message. The movie Noah certainly captured the wickedness of man and
God's judgement against their depravity. I was actually very
impressed with how they portrayed humanity – fallen, depraved, and
desiring to make humanity in their own image. There were also a few
profound shots, like as the waters rose and the last people clung to
a mountain peak – no doubt this is what God's judgement really
looked like (and will look like again).
But what was lacking in the movie was a
gracious God who had any desire to save people. The God in Noah
wanted to save innocent animals and kill wicked people, and in his
impersonal, silent-but-deadly kind of way almost succeeded. He didn't
want anyone but Noah and family on the ark, whether they desired to
be saved or not. He didn't have any care for righteous Noah and his
family. God just wanted everyone dead (including Noah) and the only
reason humanity survived to this day is because some good in Noah
prevented him from carrying out God's task. So our merciless, angry,
impersonal God was unable to carry out his judgement on humanity,
because he unfortunately got thwarted by a good man, and was left to
sit up in heaven, no doubt ruing humanity, and angrily watching as we
became meat-eaters once again.
There's this thought among the
Christian community sometimes that if we get people into a theatre to
watch something 'Christian' this is good. It's got a Bible story-base
and a Christiany theme or two, and despite a bunch of added junk, the
story of the Bible is still getting out. The Bible is not a story
book. It's a book telling about the redemption of humanity from the
wrath of God. If you're going to have the wrath of a silent God with
no offer of redemption or sovereign control, you don't have a Bible
story. You have a deistic fairy tale. You haven't accomplished
anything by getting unbelievers into a move theatre. You've
successfully educated them on a god that doesn't exist, and pointed them to no gospel at all.
Can God use all kinds of things for
good? Sure. But in the Bible, the only time He's speaking through
donkeys is when the prophets are lousy. If the 'rocks are crying
out,' its because all the Christian's are sucking at their job. And
if this Hollywood movie is doing something beneficial for the spread
of the Biblical message, its because the church is doing a pathetic
job of representing the God who beautifully balances wrath and grace.
