| | Last night Greg & I watched The Kite Runner. I know, I should have read the book, but there are too many books on my to-read list and not enough movies on my to-watch list, and... we watched the movie.
I have to say, first of all, that as much as I would like to take issue with a lot of things about our government, the more I learn about others', the more appreciative I am of this democratic republic.
But that wasn't all that crossed my mind as I watched this difficult-to-watch film. I saw the horrors that religion can cause. As I watched the Taliban member call for the stoning of the adulterous couple, knowing that he himself was a pedophile, I thought, This is what religion leads to.
It reminded me of the religious leaders bringing an adulterous woman to Jesus and saying that the law said to stone her; what did He say? I've always loved Jesus' response: "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her" (Jn. 8:7).
No one found themselves at odds with Jesus more than the religious people. Jesus never verbally attacked prostitutes, tax collectors, murderers, or any other kind of "sinner," but He called the religious leaders a "brood of vipers" (Mt. 23:33). As I watch the Taliban, I think of the Pharisees, and I think, An apt description. No wonder Jesus would not put up with them. Religion is about rules and rituals and trying to somehow earn a right standing with God, and it always morphs into hierarchies and battles and hypocrisy, because, of course, none of us can be all that good religiously.
Jesus, on the other hand, was all about relationships. His laws summed up to love God and love people (Mt. 22:38-39). Unlike any religion up to that time or since, Jesus wasn't trying to tell people how they could earn favor with God. He was God come to find us because we couldn't find Him on our own. He had come to rescue us, be the remedy, take our punishment upon Him... so that we didn't have to try the rule-keeping, ritual-following road to hypocrisy.
And so Jesus is the remedy--the ONLY remedy--for religion gone wrong.
With all due respect to the intro to the movie by "The Kite Runner"s author, all of the humanitarian aid, money, and education in the world will not fix the problems in Afghanistan or anywhere else. The evil runs deeper. The problem is larger. The pain is bigger. Unless the very worldview of a faulty religion and corrupt leadership is changed at the core, the injustice will persist despite humanitarian aid, and we waste our money.
Like the atheist who somehow understood that God was fixing what humanitarian aid could not in Africa (see my last post), only Jesus brings the remedy to what is most needed in countries run by corrupt Muslim governments.
And He calls us to bring that remedy.
"Where there is pain, let there be grace.
Where there is suffering, bring serenity.
For those afraid, help them be brave.
Where there is misery, bring expectancy.
And surely we can change,
surely we can change,
something.
Oh the world's about to change,
the whole world's about to change..."
--David Crowder Band, "Surely We Can Change"
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| | Posted 3/23/2009 9:23 AM - 7 Views - 2 eProps - 0 comments
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