Rebutting atheist critics, curing AIDS is Kingdom work

If you were to believe many of the devout atheists, Christians have made and continue to make no contributions to the advancement of medicine. In the atheist's version of the Christian faith, followers of Jesus must reject both sin and science.

Thankfully, the caricature of the science-hating Christian put forth by Richard Dawkins and others evangelistic atheists is as real as the Flying Spaghetti Monster some have used in an attempt to lampoon God.

If you needed further proof, Hannah Gay gives you all that you need.

Dr. Gay is a missionary turned doctor, an unassuming Bible drill teacher who just became a medical rockstar, as her treatment plan appears to have functionally cured a child of AIDS.

While her work is grounded in hard science and empirical data, it also flows from her faith in Christ and compassion on those hurting.

Many atheists may have been shocked to find out a Christian was the one to discover the medical breakthrough, but fighting against diseases is entirely Christlike. After all, Jesus spent much of the limited time He had here on Earth curing people of sicknesses.

Jesus' healing work was not random or happenstance. It was intentional, introducing the arrival of the Kingdom, letting everyone know that the restoration process had begun.

Christians are to pray for and work toward the realization of God's Kingdom on this planet. Jesus taught us to pray that God's will would be done here on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Sickness is not part of God's creation and will not be included in Heaven. It only came about after the fall. Sin brought sickness into this world. The Savior sought to remove it, to reverse the curse that we invited here.

Gay's work is God's work. Fighting against AIDS and other life-threatening diseases reflect the will of our Father. 

Those Christians, how many there may have been, in previous generations who believed that working to cure certain diseases like AIDS was attempting to undermine God's judgment didn't understand God, His Kingdom and the work He has placed us here to accomplish.

One cannot welcome both God's Kingdom and sin's curse. Those two can never permanently coexist. Where God's Kingdom is present, the curse of sin is being vanquished, including ailments in our bodies.

Obviously, there is more to the work than simply seeking a cure for physical illnesses. We are, most importantly, called to proclaim Christ as the only remedy to our spiritual death, but that does not preclude us from contributing to the end of other aspects of the curse, like specific diseases.

As a missionary in Africa with her husband during the height of the AIDS epidemic there, Gay saw the need for both – physical and spiritual healing.

Followers of Christ should recognize death as an enemy and anything that brings it about as an accomplice worthy of our raging against it.

True and proper Christian theology encourages any and all medical and scientific advancements that encourage a healthy life, provided those advancements are obtained through ethical means. Destroying one life to help another life is not the manner in which God would have us look to the realization of His Kingdom.

Fighting and curing AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer's and every other disease is not contrary to the Christian faith. On the contrary, it should be a goal of it.

In working to end AIDS in children, Dr. Hannah Gay is striving toward the advancement of God's Kingdom, just as she was on the missionary field. May every Christian similarly work in the power of the Holy Spirit to reverse sin's curse and redeem God's creation in the test tube and beyond, wherever He may lead.

An unexpected lesson from History Channel's The Bible

Millions of people, Christians and not, tuned in to see the premiere of the History Channel's new miniseries The Bible. It will continue each Sunday until the final episodes air the night of Easter.

From all accounts, Mark Burnett, along with his wife Roma Downey, from Touched By An Angel, have produced a high quality and faithful abbreviated adaptation of Scripture.

For Burnett, the man behind Survivor, The Voice and other popular reality TV fare, and his wife, this was a labor of love and an outgrowth of their Christian faith.

It garnered headlines around the globe and become the number one trending topic on Twitter, which means that not only were people watching it, they were talking about it and engaging with it. That is without a doubt a great thing.

Regular Americans, even Christians, have a hard time with basic Bible knowledge, much less seeing the entire book as a cohesive story that weaves smaller units into a much larger whole. Hopefully, this miniseries can help correct some of that.

My hope, however, is that it not only inspires Christians to read and know the stories of the Bible, but that it drives us to create new stories. It's time we became storytellers again.



Christianity continues to explode across Africa, South America and Asia, in so-called "hard places." Often, this comes with creative means of sharing the Gospel. One of the most effective ways is essentially what The Bible is doing – telling the grand story of Scripture in the form of smaller, interconnected stories.

Storying enables missionaries to exponentially spread their faith as stories stick with listeners, who can then share the same story with someone else. These stories display truths from the individual accounts, but they also point to the Truth personified in Jesus.

Unfortunately, many in the Western church have moved away from using stories at all, content with merely teaching practical truths. While there is always a place for that, we hinder our reach when we only teach and speak of truth propositionally.

Think of the Bible. Christians regard it as God's Word. He has revealed Himself to us through this book, which is over 70 percent narrative. The majority of the way God has chosen to show Himself is through stories.

We remember the story of Abraham almost sacrificing his son Isaac. That
story connects with us on an emotional level, making it easy to remember.

When Jesus came as God in flesh, how did He choose to speak to people? Often times, He spoke in stories – parables and illustrations.

God recognizes that stories connect with us on a deep, emotional level that goes beyond merely agreeing with an argument that may be presented. Psychologically, we are much more likely to accept truth when it is presented in story form.

C.S. Lewis, as someone who knew a good bit about both stories and rational arguments, spoke of the use of stories to convey truth in terms of "stealing past the watchful dragons." People have their guards up when they feel as if you are trying to convince them, but they are much more relaxed and open when they hear a good story.

Recognizing all of this, why are Christians still so reluctant to take their talents to Hollywood or a broader cultural context? In discussing the effective apologetic work, Lewis encourages Christians to not write "more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christians on other subjects — with their Christianity latent."

Can I expand that to say we don't really need more Christian fiction, but more fiction by Christians with their Christianity serving as the foundation for the story. Can we not write stories that convey spiritual truth without casting it as a blatant Christian story?

The characters in Jesus' parables were most often ordinary people in situations the audience would recognize. For too long, Christians have only sought to make stories with fake characters in unrecognizable circumstances. Our stories, unlike those of Jesus and the Bible itself, often fail to resonate with audiences.

The Bible miniseries is a great way to show millions of people stories from Scripture in an engaging way. That is not the only way, however. Here is where we follow our Creator in being creative and communicating our faith in a compelling manner through riveting stories.

Even if you can't create grand imaginary stories like Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia or J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, you do have a story that you can tell better than anyone else. If nothing else, tell that story well.

While the History Channel's series will hopefully encourage many to know their Bible better, I hope it will inspire Christians to tell stories that will cause people to know our Savior better.

__________________

What stories can you tell that speak of Truth? In what ways can The Bible inspire us to be original and creative in the way we present God's Word to those around us?

Les Miserables: depictions of a Christian critic

Les Miserables, the film adaptation of the book and musical of the same name, has garnered rave reviews from both the secular and religious media.

Christians have noted the themes of grace and redemption lining up with a biblical worldview. Others are wary of the depictions of violence and sex in the film, suggesting that those counteract any good that may be found in the story.

It may be that the Christian critics of the film inadvertently reveal the gospel-centered point of Les Miserables with their criticism.

Jean Valjean from Les Miserables

Art, not being a person who can place their trust in Christ, cannot be called "Christian." It can, however, flow from and point to the gospel. That is the question to ask of Les Mis – is it a film that is consistent with the gospel and can Christians affirm the message of the film?

I would say without a doubt the film is drawn from gospel themes: grace, salvation, redemption, the emptiness of legalism, the inability to find life in the law, sacrifice. All of these are pictures of the work of Christ.

Some have said these are drowned out by the film show prostitutes, rape, abuse, having characters use sexual innuendo and other depictions of actions that are far from biblical.

One of these critics is Travis Ragon, a graduate of a Baptist seminary and a licensed professional counselor.

"As a mental health professional, I have worked with the victims of rape, incest and abuses that many do not want to know exist and most deny happens in their worlds," Ragon wrote to Baptist Press. "I see no entertainment value in their graphic depiction on a movie screen."

The irony of much of the film's criticism is that it seems to mirror the legalism of Les Mis antagonist, Inspector Javert, who is unable to recognize grace because of his obsession with the law.

I don't know Ragon, so I do not want to make comments about him personally. Criticism of a film, however, that focuses solely on particular scenes while ignoring the overarching theme of the movie is legalistic.

Ragon, like many of the critics, has not seen the movie. It is much easier to pull out isolated examples of unacceptable behavior when you do not have a grasp of the whole. As Javert, who was never able to see Jean Valjean for anything more than a bread thief, critics are unable to see beyond one scene of rape.

I would hope that Ragon and other critics of the film would not want the Bible to be judged by individual scenes pulled out of the larger context of the grand story of Scripture.

Should the entire Bible be dismissed because it mentions Lot having sex with his daughters?

Or because it describes Tamar dressing as a prostitute in order to sleep with and get the attention of her father-in-law Judah?

The Bible depicts slavery, unmarried sex, rape, racism, prostitution, murder, demon possession and virtually any other sin of which you can think. Should it be judged based only on those things? Would that be fair and right?

As a graduate of seminary, Ragon would have taken a Hermeneutics class, which helps students understand how best to interpret and understand God's word. One of the first rules in biblical interpretation is "Context is king."

You do not pull verses or even passages out in isolation in an attempt to understand them. They must be interpreted within the context of the passage, the particular book and the Bible as a whole.

It is equally wrong to attempt to evaluate and understand the message of Les Mis by pulling out certain scenes that depict sinful behavior.

Anyone who has seen the film would know that the scene in which Fantine is raped is anything but appealing or sexual. It shows the brokenness of humanity and the depths at which people without hope will go.

The scene does not glorify the behavior or the lifestyle. It laments their reality and aches for someone to bring hope into the situation, as Jean Valjean later does.

Les Miserables is about a man without hope is shown grace physically and spiritually and is redeemed from a life of slavery to the law he could never obey. That is the gospel and something that Christians can rejoice is presented so clearly in a modern movie theater.

We are Jean Valjean. God has radically saved us from a life of sin and slavery. Our tendency, however, is to become Javert. Les Mis is a beautiful reminder of both of those realities.