Magic in Literature

• Recently a friend of mine asked me a question about the Harry Potter series of books. They were wondering if there was a problem with enjoying such fiction as a Christian, which I find to be an interesting a polarizing topic in today's culture.
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• Now, I haven't read the Harry Potter series, per se, but I have read many books of high science fiction/fantasy that also include magic, wizards, and fantastical situations. And from my childhood I loved these books more than any other style, as they have a great deal of imagination and potential in them. But it does raise an important point. Is the wizardry, magic, or the implications of these enough to condemn these books?
• Well, the easy answer is that some Christian leaders would say yes. But I don't agree with that myself. The lumping together of 'magic' into one category and condemning it is simplistic and ignorant. If the stories of Jesus life were told by people in narrative format, they would refer to His miracles as supernatural (which they were) or 'magic'. People call anything they do not understand 'magic' and that is not the same as witchcraft in the least. Demonic energy exists in our world, but things of a fantastical nature that we do not understand may be called magic out of ignorance, but are not really such.

  Many forms of science were once considered magic. Gravity, electricity, magnetism, and several other sciences were once considered 'magic', yet are not considered so any longer.

  What I'm getting at is that 'magic' in the sense of the fantastic or exotic that we do not understand is often mixed with witchcraft, which we do understand and detest as demonic. Magnetism and electricity did not cease becoming demonic when we understood them; instead, they never were. What makes witchcraft evil is not the fact that we don't understand it, or that it is powerful; but instead that it is indeed directly demonic.

  Now, in literature, we like to use our imagination both as readers and as writers. Since we do not know how we can explain the fantastic or yet undiscovered we call it 'magic'. This doesn't mean that it is evil, or even that the author intends for it to be evil. All it means is that the author is writing about something they cannot currently truly explain; therefore we dub it 'magical'. There is no more evil in a unicorn or pegasus than in a pony. None of the three is demonic, nor were they ever.

  Short answer is that I don't believe that 'magic' in literature is same thing as 'magic' in witchcraft. It is just the unfortunate double definition of one singular term. However, I am a firm believer that we are to do as Paul told the Corinthian church; if it bothers you, don't do it. If it doesn't bother, don't let someone talk you into nonsensical empty religion.

  My main issue that I have with the whole argument that 'all magic in science fiction is evil' is really misdirection from the evil that is in literature and popular entertainment these days. By that I mean the loose, debased morality that is implied by many books, movies, or TV shows. Much of fantastical high fiction has a story constructed to teach a moral, build character, and show the concept of good triumphing evil. On the other hand, many shows, movies, and books may not be visibly 'evil' but teach us that sin like lying to spouses, adultery, lust, murder, and revenge are not just to be tolerated, but are justifiable and normal.
  
  It is disturbing how many of those who condemn things like Harry Potter, LoTR, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Sword of Shannara, or any other high fiction accept other forms of media that encourage un-Godly behavior.
  
  In the end, the important thing to remember is that we all answer to God as individuals. If we feel the Holy Spirit telling us to stop, we need to stop. But if we only feel pressure from people who are condemning us, then we must make sure that we are not just being people pleasers. We are not to cause our brothers or sisters to stumble, however, that applies both to doing and not to doing.
  
  My advice is simply this, pray about it and follow the Lord's leading.
  
  
  

When Friends Leave

Recently in our church we have had friends leave the Church. This type of thing is always painful, and rarely ends without one side or the other being wounded for a long period of time. Its hard to let people leave, and harder still to stand quietly by as people try to pass the blame from members to ministerial to "just reasons" and is confusing at best. But this leads to a group of questions.

What does it mean when people leave the Church? Are we doing something wrong? Do we need to chase them? Should we plead for them to come back?

Lets take a look at the ministry of Jesus. People left Jesus ministry as well. In John 6:66 we read that many of His former disciples left. What did Jesus do? Did He chase them down? Did He try to compromise?

No, instead Jesus made sure that those who were there were willing to stay. We find a similar story in the life of Gideon. There the ranks of Gideon's army were thinned out and streamlined in order for God's will to be accomplished.

So am I saying now that anyone who leaves the Church is being removed by God? Not at all. It can be that God has someone leave the Church because the Church is teaching heresy; like Martin Luther and the Catholic Church, or Jeremiah in the nation of Judah.  There are cases like this where God leads people out of the Church for a reason.

 So how do we know which is which? How can we tell if those who leave are like Martin Luther, who was following Godly convictions; or if they are like Jesus' disciples, who left when things got hard?

There may not be a solid, one size fits all answer, but there are some things we can check to get a clearer picture.



1. Are they spiritual leaders in the Church?
2. Do they have a clear, moral reason for leaving?
3. Is their walk with God visibly more intimate now that they have left?



If the answers to the above questions are all "no", then we have a reason to believe that those who leave are more like the shallow Jews of Jesus day than like Martin Luther or Jeremiah in Judah.

But if all the answers to the above questions are no, where do we go from there? How do we minister to these friends?

Sadly, we have no more details about Jesus' wandering disciples. Instead, let us turn to the story of the Prodigal Son. The son that left the Father and returned was received with open arms. This is how we should receive a prodigal who returns.

But note, both Jesus and the Father in the parable of the Prodigal Son did not follow those who left. They did not pander to those who left, or even ask for a reason for their leaving. We cannot force people to come to God. We can force them to come back to Church, but we cannot ever force them to follow God's will.

Conclusion

In times of difficulty like this, it is important to remember the most important and useful thing we can possibly do: Pray. Bring it to the Father. We need to remember that they are God's children as well as we are. Our love for our brothers is to be strong, and we are to be as loving as Christ Himself. I pray that God will give us the wisdom to work through challenging times like these.

Christlike Kindness

As Christians, we are called to be like Christ. We are told to love those around us, and to treat them the way we would like to be treated. This is often used as a way to tell Christians they are always supposed to "lie down and take it." What we mean by this is that a Christian isn't supposed to be disagreeable, hardheaded, or have any spine whatsoever. But is this the Christian example we get from Scripture?

We see that Jesus Himself is our example in the Bible. He was kind, loving, and gentle. That is what we are called to be. However, He was not spineless. In fact, He was firm in both teaching and in action. We read that He taught with authority. It emanated from Him. He also was very firm with the Pharisees and the people who were profiting off of the Temple. He even became physical in His defense of the Church of God.

So what does this show us? Well, for one, it tells us that being a Christian does not entail being a coward. Note Jesus did not defend His personal pride with harsh words or violence; He only defended God's Holiness and the people whom the Pharisees had been mistreating.

How does this apply to us? Well, we often want to get confrontational or physical about things we find offensive as well. But we need to make sure that these are not items that have to do with personal pride but rather the defense of the weak and the glory of God. In our human nature, we would gladly defend ourselves if we feel we have been offended. This is not the type of thing I am supporting here. No, that form of defensiveness is a form of pride; our self being hurt.

We often see Christians throwing proverbial stones at groups they disagree with. They will hate on groups that do not live according to Christian principles. A modern day example is the gay community. Now, I am not saying the gay lifestyle is not wrong; I am saying that it is not the only sin in the world. If the entire gay community stopped being gay; that would not stop them from being sinners, nor would it make them automatic Christians. We need to first show them Christ, then His law. If we expect them to live in accord with God's law without being God's people, it is as foolish as expecting an Australian to follow Germany's speed laws. It doesn't make sense. Now when that Australian becomes a German citizen, he will indeed need to follow Germany's laws.

We are trying to make sinners follow God's law without turning to God. This is foolishness and heretical. We need to bring them to God and let Him do the convicting. If they are not followers of God, they will not follow His Law; its that simple.

In short, 'curing' gayness would not stop people from being sinners. The problem is deeper than merely one thing. Throughout history we see that people want to make Christianity as simple as changing actions. But God isn't just about the outside, He is concerned with the inside.

In conclusion, we are to be like Christ. We are to show love, be an example, and defend Godliness. Defending Godliness is not the same as attacking unGodliness, and the difference is something that the Holy Spirit must convict each of us on.