Esotropiart

I quite enjoyed The Kingdom of Heaven and its many intriguing social and spiritual implications. To me, the morals of the film spoke louder than the quality of the visuals themselves (as amazing as they were). The historic period of the Crusades is a conversation propellant vivid enough for many deep conversations. To see a presumably accurate depiction of such provocative events is certainly eye-opening.

For many critics, the Crusades are the primary impetus for criticizing Christianity and justification for calling Christians "hypocrites". I'm sure there isn't a single modern apologist who hasn't been asked, "What about the Crusades?". The Crusades are the bane and stain of Christianity. It is an unfortunate setback to spend so much time explaining something that happened almost a thousand years ago and such tomfoolery (tommyrot - poor Thomas: if only he didn't doubt, he'd still have a honorable name) to assume that all Christians are jumping at the chance to go kill thousands in the name of Christ!

How many centuries of good acts and love will it take to erase this transgression before the eyes of the world? Unfortunately each new generation adds to the list of atrocities done in the name of Christ. It seems bloodthirsty Muslim extremists sometimes get more tolerance than the average Christian. These terrorists no more represent the peaceful majority of Muslims than the crusaders represent me or most others as followers of Christ.

The antagonist of the film, when his word is questioned and he compared to his ancestors who killed without mercy, responds: "I am not those men. I am Saladin." History smiles a bit on Saladin (a real historical figure) because of his chivalry, respect and certain level of mercy in battle. To answer those who continue to remember the Crusades as an argument against Christianity, I must say it's a good thing God is more forgiving and "forgetful" than man! (Romans 4:8; Psalm 103:8-14)

To the credit of The Kingdom of Heaven, both the Muslims and Christians are given equal and fair stage presence. Both are portrayed in good and bad light. Unfortunately the character with the purest motives is one who has no religion and has rejected God, assuming that he has been rejected. One could argue that this insinuates religion is a futile and vain pursuit. I would essentially agree, for true Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. As it has been said before, "Religion is man's effort to reach God. Christianity is God's effort to reach man." And Billy Graham is quoted as saying, "Religion can do more harm than good. It's like a vaccine; you're given a little religion, but if all you get is the religion and not the relationship, it becomes a poison." Furthermore, I don't see Balian (the main character with admirable morals) as anti-religious. In fact, he certainly had some form of religion. It is exactly the relationship that he lacked (or perhaps he once had it, but life had clouded it).

Perhaps my favorite element of the movie was the realization that the Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom of conscience. Though you could pick that apart theologically, it has a good moral. To most people, the church is equated with buildings and stained glass. But in reality, the church is the body of Christ, formed up by the members of the church, the very people themselves, and the Spirit living in them (Romans 12:4,5; I Corinthians 12:12,13). There was an interesting allusion to this concept in the movie, when Balian's father and his adopted priest taught him that the kingdom is in "here and here", pointing to the brain and the heart. And as an interesting twist, it seems to me that the brain and the heart are the very things that must come together before Christianity becomes real. To believe something in your brain is a lot different than really knowing in the depths of your soul and experiencing it each day. As Pastor has said many times, the challenge is "moving God eighteen inches, from the head to the heart."

The conclusion of the movie set this kingdom of souls concept in stone. After all the fighting, Balian put his religion into practice. He realized that if he continued to fight against the invading Muslims, he would lose all the lives. He opted to surrender Jerusalem, the "holy" place in exchange for a kingdom of souls. Saladin offered the terms of safe retreat for all the Christians if they but give up the walls and go. What a testament to where the true Kingdom and true value are found! If all the churches in the world were torn down and all the crosses incinerated, the church of Jesus would continue on. The kingdom or dominion of God contains all that is under His direct control and influence. Though He is sovereign and ultimately in charge of all, He has temporarily allowed men to make the choice to build their own kingdoms, or the kingdom of Satan. All those who bow to him are effectively giving up their will to His and becoming part of His kingdom, as subjects to Him. Yet He shares His reign with us... amazing! (Revelation 22:3-5)