Me and Jesus and the Noah Movie

I have a confession to make. In 2003, I hid a copy of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code in a brown paper bag and smuggled it from the Calvert City Branch of the Marshall County Public Library.

And I read it.

I read it alone in my house with the shades pulled down. Some of my friends would have disapproved if they had known I read something so obviously anti-christian.

But it was a good story and I am addicted to good stories.

The Christian world feared the book would cause people to doubt the deity of Jesus. They had good cause. I remember thinking that, even as a fairly mature Christian, the book could cause me to question much of what I knew about Jesus if I believed everything in its pages. I’ll admit that while reading the book, my doubts occasionally caused me to question God.

I realized that it was possible for outside forces to affect what my mind thinks about theology and historical facts.

However, the stuff that my soul knows . . . the realities about God that came to me from the Spirit . . . remained steady and strong as I read the book.

As a result, hearing the Holy Spirit became more important to me.

Some of the Christian world is now telling the rest of the Christian world not to see the movie, Noah. It isn’t biblical. It isn’t accurate. And, it doesn’t follow the story line we are taught in Sunday School.

They mean well, I believe. They think it is important that the principles and stories of God be established and unquestioned.

My problem is that I am pretty sure Jesus would disagree.

Here is what I think I think.

In Sunday School, we learn good character from the Old Testament Bible stories. We should obey like Noah, be brave like Esther, forgive like Joseph and have faith like Abraham.

We study spiritual lessons in the stories Jesus told the Jews of his time. The story of the prodigal son teaches us that God loves us unconditionally. We learn that love must overcome prejudice and self-righteousness from the parable of the Good Samaritan.

We learn the moral of every story. We talk about how to apply it to our lives. We leave church with one more tidy tidbit about God wrapped up in a sturdy box that keeps it safe from questioning thoughts.

And, we don’t experience God.

When Jesus originally told those same stories, there was nothing nice or tidy about the reaction of the crowd. The details of his parables were abhorrent within their culture.

Samaritans as neighbors? Unthinkable!! It would be better to die.

A Jewish son who disobeys his father? Ludicrous!!

A Jewish father who humbles himself to run to a son? Outrageous!!

Those people would have left shocked, angry and confused. Questions would have busted the seams of their boxes. If they had wanted answers, they would’ve had to seek God for them.

And, in seeking answers, they would have experienced him.

I think, perhaps, God would like us to worry less about having all the right answers and spend more time being confused by a few of the questions.

So, I think I’ll go see Noah. I’ll make a list of the things that offend me, a list of the things I think are profound and a list of every little jot and tittle I don’t understand.

Then, I’ll take my lists to the throne room. And, I’ll sit at the feet of Jesus while we talk about the movie, Noah.