The Dark Knight

Finally, a worthy critique!  Click here.

On a more serious note, I did find this movie to be entertaining and thought provoking, though not in an intentional way.  Ray Ortlund, a great man and pastor whom I respect and admire caught onto something of this (click here for post), in a way that I almost missed.  While I did not leave with the same passionate conviction he did, I totally agree that the “story” of the movie was not as redemptive as some people might want to make it out to be.

Some of us go to the movies for a relaxing, entertaining evening; others to engage in our culture and discern either false truths or echoes of eden.  These are both good reasons.  What I am afraid of is something someone over at Ray Ortlunds blog commented on: that we may become too numb in our entertainment driven culture to discern the stories being communicated.

What I found interesting in The Dark Knight is the question it held in tension:  when does righteousness become unrighteousness when dealing with unrighteousness?  A question under this one would be:  Did the Joker ultimately prevail in his endeavor?

[Spoiler alert - If you haven't watched the movie, and intend to, don't read the rest.]

I found the the resolution to the story of The Dark Knight to be a great conversation starter, but an unsatisfying solution.  We leave the movie supposedly swallowing that Batman is the hero because he and Gordon cook up a “spin” on the truth:  Batman takes the blame; Dent takes the heroic credit.  Batman is a self-imposed martyr for the sake of a people who don’t appreciate him like they should.

While this has a faint odor of the gospel story, it betrays something fundamental.  In this story, evil is not dealt with, but covered up.  And in the process righteousness is defined only in terms of the end, and factored out of the means of reaching it.

It doesn’t matter how we get there, just so long as we do.

But this betrays righteousness at its very heart.  And this is not the gospel story of the Bible.  Jesus Christ was the one who “became sin for us” but also the one who “knew no sin.”  The life of Jesus and his death on the cross, as the means to the end of our being made righteous before God, was righteous itself.

In the end, the Joker prevailed after all.  This is not the story of the gospel, but rather a Nietzsche-esque Yin Yang symoblism that passes for our contemporary worldview of life.  Evil is present, rampant and pervasive, and instead of truly dealing with it, we need to co-exist with it in a way that does the least damage for the most people.

Thoughts, comments…

New vs. Old Covenant Pastoring

Hey guys (Anybody and Everybody – but Covenant Men in particular),

Tell me what you think about this (from one of my favorite pastors, Dr. Ray Ortlund at Christ is Deeper Still):

“For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death!” Deuteronomy 31:27

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13

Moses ministered the old covenant. Paul ministered the new covenant. The difference is obvious. Moses looked at his people and said, “You sorry bunch of rebels, I’ve had to watch you like a hawk. And the moment I die, I know what’s going to happen. You’re going to run from God so fast . . . .” Paul looked at his people and said, “Sure, you have problems. But I’m not worried about you. In fact, you don’t even need me around any more. God is at work in you, and you’re going to be just fine.”

As a pastor under the new covenant, it is not my job to manage other people’s sanctification for them. They don’t need me to do that, nor am I qualified to do that. They do not need negative scrutiny; they deserve confident encouragement. Should problems be addressed along the way? Sure. But the main thing to communicate is new covenant confidence. God is at work in them.

I, frankly, agree with Dr. Ortlund on this point. The question I have is:

Does this seem to run against the current of some of what we’ve been hearing?

I’m not trying to stir something up (other than a good discussion). I think that maybe more thought and attention is needed to just what is the difference between the Old and the New Covenants.

Agree? Disagree?