Missing the Point

OK, this has been eating at me for quite awhile now. We all know about and have heard, read, or seen The DaVinci Code. We've also been exposed to all of the controversy surrounding it, and how our "Christian sub-culture" has produced anti-DaVinci books, flyers, curriculum, video series, etc. (just like they jumped on the "Passion of the Christ" bandwagon a couple years ago). Even churches have devoted entire Sunday morning services centered on disproving Dan Brown, former high school English teacher, and his novel chock full of bad theology.

Doesn't this miss the point here? Is "The DaVinci Code" really the problem? Do we need to waste our time and energy exegeting a novelist and his work of fiction for fear of what it may do to people? I read the book 4 years ago after it came out, without knowledge of what the content was. All I heard was that it was a bestseller, a thrilling mystery, and had to do with secrets in DaVinci's paintings. I saw the movie this past Monday, and thought it was decent, Tom Hanks was no where near his best, and felt that it came across as pretty fantastical. The book was much more "persuasive"; but film is the modern pulpit for our society and now instead of plowing through a 400+ page book over a week or so, 2 1/2 hours in a theater near you wraps it up neatly.

Here's what I'm getting at; what's really bothering me. Instead of our churches taking an opportunity to really equip and instruct people on how to identify and deal with false teaching and bad theology, we've made it a witch hunt against a guy and his work of fiction. We've missed the point. The point is to identify false teaching and deal with it in a godly way. There are many more destructive false teachers out there than Dan Brown and The DaVinci Code…so let’s not waste our time trashing him or the book/movie. And by all means let’s not use The DaVinci Code as an opportunity to huddle ourselves as Christians closer together in our little corner and point at how bad the world has gotten (oh yeah, and make some money while we’re at it). Instead, let’s simply identify the false teaching, avoid the useless arguments and engage in profitable discussions, and ultimately leave the judging and vengeance up to God like he told us to.

Here are some scriptures to read in light of this:
Matthew 7:15-23
2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 13-15
1 Timothy 6:3-5
2 Peter 2:1-3
1 John 4:1-6

Grace & peace…Ryan