Faith and Fairy Tales
Watched the DVD of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe the other night. Early on, I almost left the room in tears. It wasn’t because the film version of C.S. Lewis’ story was so moving (to this devotee of the Narnian books, it leaves a lot to be desired). No, it was because the movie brought back memories of a conflict in the last church I served, a conflict, believe it or not, that centered around The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
It all started in November, 2006. I was preaching a message on the blood of Christ. Somewhere along the way, to illustrate Jesus’ sacrifice, I began recounting the LWW tale from the pulpit. If you’re familiar with the story, you know how the great lion Aslan gives his life to save the traitorous Edmund. As I was getting to that part, a woman got up and left the room. From his peculiar vantage point, it’s hard for the preacher to miss anybody’s departure, just as it is for anyone sitting behind where the departing sat. Still, I didn’t think much of it at the time. I’d long made peace with the knowledge I can”t hold people so spellbound they forget their need to go to the bathroom. Sigh. Little did I know this shooting up and out the door was the first shot fired in a battle that would ultimately put me out of a job and split my congregation.
It’s a long story with many a twist and turn, nothing I really want to go into here. It actually seemed to get better before it took that last nasty turn for the worse. One thing I learned from the long, horrible experience, though, is some Christians have no use for fantasy. It was during my exile that I wrote this piece, “Faith and the Fairy Tale.”
http://www.breakpoint.org/component/content/article/71-features/1552-faith-and-the-fairy-tale
