Defensive Faith by Brady

One of my favorite things about the Holiday Season is that there are some of the best movies are on TV. Many of them are movies I give little thought to during the other 11 months of the year, but I love watching around Christmas time. One of these movies is Elf starring Will Ferrell. I know this is not an old movie, but it is one that is hilarious to me and I don’t think about it until it comes on TV in lieu of the Christmas Season.

If you have not seen the movie, this is probably not going to make much sense to you. The whole movie surrounds the character named “Buddy the elf” played by Will Ferrell. He is a human being that was adopted by an elf in the North Pole, and is encouraged to go find his real father in New York City. He is one of the only humans to have ever seen Santa’s workshop and to have been involved in the toy-making process at the North Pole.

The comedy is mainly found in him being in a city like New York, dressed ridiculously, and interacting with cold New Yorkers. One part of the movie Buddy is told that Santa is coming to a department store the next day. He freaks out yelling “Santa is coming!” Buddy spends the entire night decorating the department store getting it up to shape for the coming of Santa. The next day, “Santa” comes out and is the normal mall Santa Claus. He smells like beef and is wearing a fake beard. Buddy keeps insisting in front of the kids that he is not the real Santa. This is because he has actually seen the real Santa. Buddy eventually freaks out and pulls his beard off screaming that he is a faker. All of the children are horrified seeing the elf and Santa fighting and knocking over store displays. On top of this, their faith in Santa could be ruined because Buddy has exposed this imposter.

At this point I think it can relate to many Christian’s faith. I have heard many times concerning my negative attitude for people preaching a watered-down gospel, “What harm are they doing?” You could ask the same of the Santa situation from Elf. What harm is it doing to the kids to see a “fake Santa” as opposed to the “real Santa”? What Buddy has done seems to destroy faith as opposed to building it up. The only thing is that Buddy has seen the real Santa, and this guy is not him. He doesn’t have to be convinced that Santa exists because he actually knows Santa.

I see folk-Christians (see Questions to All of Your Answers by Roger E. Olson) all of the time defending aspects of our faith in order to not destroy other people’s faith. Health and wealth is fine as long as it’s bringing people into the church. This style of worship is appropriate as long as it “works” and attracts outsiders. All of this is out of what I believe is a defensive faith that is not firm in the fact that we have the truth as Christians. After all, if you actually know there is a God and His Son is Jesus because you have met him, would this not change the way you worried about who believes and who does not?

At the end of Elf, Santa is forced to use an engine on his sleigh because it was formerly flown by belief. Belief in Santa had dwindled over the years, and so he was forced to use other means so he can do his good deeds on December 24th. His engine breaks down in Central Park and he is unable to fly unless the people begin to restore their belief in him. While this part of the movie is corny, it does provide some insight as well. One of the kids asks Santa why he doesn’t go out and show himself, and Santa responds that it is about belief, not visual proof. He says, “In fact, the paparazzi have been chasing me for years.” Maybe this is where God is today with us.
In the gospel of Mark, it is said that Jesus was unable to perform any miracles in his hometown because of the people’s unbelief. “And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.” (Mark 6:5-6 NRSV) There are additional accounts of this story in the other gospels, but this particular recounting of the story says the people had the power because of their unbelief.

These people knew Jesus better than anyone and did not believe in His authority. Perhaps they couldn’t see the forest for the trees, but nonetheless they missed the messiah completely and he grew up among them. In football there is a saying that goes: “The best offense is a good defense.” This is probably the case in Mark chapter 6, because verse 3 says “And they took offense at him.” The people of Nazareth were suffering from a defensive faith at the fully human (yes he was also fully God, but also fully human) nature of the present Messiah. While stopping short of psychoanalyzing these people, it is safe to say that Jesus was rarely what the crowds expected from a messiah. In defense of God they chose unbelief rather than the opposite.
Today it is still an option to try to bend over backwards to make our faith appealing and more acceptable to the masses. Let’s not talk about sin or becoming a disciple. Let’s not require church discipline or steps of accountability in order to be a member. Let’s not talk about certain issues because they divide Christians from popular society. All in all, a defensive faith is much easier than a reflective faith. I challenge you to examine the meaning of this and to begin to ask which group you fall into. I challenge you to live as you know the messiah, if you have truly met Him.