The "Summer Blockbuster Sermon Series" begins this Sunday, relating recent films to faith. First up, the mega-hit sequel "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," which has earned almost $400 million at the domestic box office since its release in June.
The action movie pits earth in the cross-hairs of a cosmic war between good and bad robots, the Autobots and the Decepticons. This is another form of the age-old "Good vs. Evil" story, many of which appear in the Bible.
In fact, religiously speaking, we have a particular kind of "Good vs. Evil" story related to the end of the world: an apocalypse. At the end of time (or at least at the end of a period of time), there will be a cosmic struggle between good and evil; in this war, evil will be permanently defeated. After this, in the words of Revelation (or The Apocalypse according to John), there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
But the peaceable kingdom, where there will be no more war or death, does not come without a fight. And this worldview permeates a significant part of how we view life. We believe that no lasting good change (ie. transformation) can come without significant struggle. This is often how we view national history (stories of noble sacrifice), personal improvement (no pain, no gain), relationships (I asked her four times to marry me), and sports (win one for the Gipper).
Is this a good way to view faith? Do we have a choice?
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