I definitely do not want to be sitting in church listening to some preacher preach on the Chronicles of Narnia! If I really wanted to, I could very well discuss the movie with friends. They who have the Spirit let them discern:
Dear pastor, did you know that if you don’t know how to sugar coat your messages, here’s how you can do exactly that. Mind you, although you may please your congregation with the amazing themes of the movie with which your sheep can relate to practically, you are in danger of standing before THE Lord of lords and THE King of kings (forget Aslan) and telling Him why you chose to use Narnia tales over His living Word. You may want to be ready with the answers to satisfy Him with, telling Him why Narnia tales is a better option for a Sunday morning message than the Sword of the Spirit. Could your reasoning include the lie that the Bible is irrelevant in the 21st century? Or that everything in the Bible has been preached from your pulpit and you’ve got sheep in your church who know thoroughly the mind of God revealed in the Bible? You may also want to tell the risen Lord that the command to carry our cross daily to follow Him is too exaggerated and judgmental, and you may get stoned or lose your audience for preaching rough; at least you are helping God by your strategy to support His Word by a relevant movie, right?
If you are that pastor, evangelist, youth pastor, Sunday school teacher, missionary, preacher, reverend then I fear on your behalf.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto Me, “Lord, Lord”, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?” And then will I profess unto them, “I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” – Matt 7:21-23
These words have often helped me keep myself in check. On that day, not every Christian will be accepted by the Lord. That is a frightening truth! It should frighten any Christian, esp. those of authority as Jesus was addressing the leaders since generally pastors, preachers, evangelists etc claim to prophesy, cast out demons, heal and do other good works. It is the shepherd of the flock that is held responsible of what and how he feeds those under his care. If you rather entertain your audience and attract more people to church or keep others from leaving and thus put your own soul and the souls of your sheep in eternal danger, you better prepare answers alongside to justify yourself before the just Judge!
His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
– Isaiah 56: 10-11
And not just the shepherds but the sheep too – the Lord will require an account of you as well. You seem to be happily nodding your heads when that pastor up there is exalting Aslan. Not even searching the Scripture to hear the voice of the Lord to see whether what you’re being fed is of His. But I suppose listening to Narnia tales is better than listening to a message on how worldly your lifestyle is, right? At least Aslan doesn’t care whether your attire is too tight and revealing, and you listen to songs and watch movies that allure you away from the holy life you are called to live.
Please inspect your own selves, pastors and congregation alike. The Gospel is never meant to entertain, it deals with the issues of eternal life and death, hence it’s meant to be serious! I’m not implying that Church messages are supposed to be boring, but rather convicting people of sin and leading them to repentance; aligning lives with God’s holiness. If pastors spent more time praying and studying the Scripture they will surely come up with life-giving messages because they will be speaking living words of the living God. If the congregation thins out, it is because the goats wanted entertainment, not convicting truth!
To be continued….
As The Days Of Noah Were... 