Kingdom of Heaven

Many of you have heard about or have seen the new movie Kingdom of Heaven, starring Orlando Bloom.  I haven’t seen it, and have no plans to at this point, but I did want to briefly mention it here.  In the 2000 Years of Missions Seminar that we offer to churches, I do talk a little about the Crusades.  It is a challenge to understand what really went on, and why many devout Christians were swept into the kind of thinking that led to this non-missionary venture.

Having not seen the film, I’ll leave the commentary to others.  Christian History magazine put out an article entitled In Search of the Real Balian, which can give you some information on who the movie’s main character really was, and what he might have really thought.

David Wayne, a fellow blogger (actually, a fellow jolly blogger) has some helpful thoughts on the movie here.  One of the things he discusses is the portrayal of Christians in Hollywood movies.  He argues that Hollywood actually has this in common with the Bible, which often shows the “people of God” at their very worst.

The problem comes I think when what we would consider good qualities are still portrayed as outmoded or silly.  The feeling comes across that Christians are always this way, or that by their very nature they’re stupid and generally against what any thinking person would be for.

Not that we should expect the world to portray Christians in a good light, of course!  Remember John 15:19 – we’re not of the world, so it’s natural for the world to hate us.  When honest criticism comes from the world, we still should listen, and take what they have to say seriously.  When they hate us just because we belong to Christ, because we obey Him or because we try to show love – that’s when we should praise the Lord, that we can suffer as He did.

But I’m getting away from the movie itself.  I’m sure there’s lots more to say – the Crusades are such a hot topic.  Feel free to leave your comments about the movie or about anything else that I’ve said.