I had mixed feelings watching the film Avatar. Like most, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Pandora. Like some, I was put off by the film’s political preachiness. The portrayal of the Na’vi people’s perfect harmony with nature and each other seemed naïve. But make no mistake, the movie gripped me from beginning to end.
What really caught my attention in the flick was Eywa—the Great Mother goddess whom the Na’vi worship. Given Avatar’s ecological themes, it isn’t surprising that Eywa is made up of “all living things,” being the “spirit” and “energy” that animates Pandora, its plants and creatures, and the Na’vi themselves.
Eywa is not new. She’s like Gaia reborn. Gaia is the Greek earth goddess with parallels in Native American and other pantheistic cultures—popular today in New Age movements. In Avatar, Gaia shimmers with beauty. Her character and power, however, is a little ambivalent:
• In Avatar, the whole Pandoran forest pulsates as Eywa tries to save a scientist named Grace. But Grace dies. Is there One who has the power to heal and resurrect?
• In Avatar, Eywa is the spirit behind both beautiful flora and Pandora’s wild dogs. Is there One without this dangerous element of evil?
• In Avatar, Eywa is said to not take sides in battles. She can “protect only the balance of life.” Is there One who comes to the aid of the oppressed?
“I, yes I, am the Lord,” our Almighty God says (Isaiah 43:11), in whom “there is no darkness” (1 John 1:5). “Is anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27), asks this God who raises the dead (Acts 2:24). “There is no other God,” says this One who fights for the powerless (Isaiah 41:10-11,17).
Gaia has become popular again—by the name Eywa. But why revere a “god” who desperately needs the one true God?
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 1 Samuel 3:1-21
More:
Read Genesis 18:14, Luke 1:37, and Mark 10:27 to see what else is possible for God. Read Isaiah 45:20-25 to hear one of God’s invitations to return to Him.
Next:
Why might environmental enthusiasts be drawn to Eywa/Gaia? How could you respond to their spiritual interest?
R R Kelkar on March 20, 2011 at 8:29 am
Following the hype about global warming and climate change, there is a new trend towards considering the atmosphere and all nature as something sacred. Protecting and conserving the environment is certainly desirable, but it should not mean that we go back to the age in which the sun, earth, wind, rain or fire were themselves worshiped as gods. We have already made one mistake of filling the air with carbon dioxide. To atone for it, let us not make another mistake of giving nature a holy, godlike status.
sheridan voysey on March 20, 2011 at 9:13 pm
Thanks RR. Your connection between the concern over damaging the creation to the pendulum-swing response of worshipping it as an atonement is insightful.
daisymarygoldr on March 20, 2011 at 10:37 am
I’m sure this is a wake up call to carnal Christians who naively preach the green gospel in an attempt to compete with the godless who apply a spiritual garb to convert environmentalism into religion. There is no science behind environmentalism. It is pure human philosophy. This sci-fi movie is also no science but pure fantasy.
Personally, I haven’t seen it and don’t plan to. I wonder why Christians would want to invest their time, energy and money to go and enjoy a good movie and then point out its panentheistic message. If the aim is to find loopholes, then why go and watch that movie?
What else does one expect from atheistic Hollywood? It reminds me of Eve who ate the fruit being captivated by the visual effects of the fruit which convinced her it was good for food. When confronted, she conveniently blamed the serpent entirely for his cunning deception. What else does one expect from a sly serpent?
And just to share some of my random thoughts on sharing about our God with people who have different beliefs…
While presenting the gospel to pagans, we must avoid a negative approach. If we criticize and point out flaws in other gods, it will lead to defensiveness. It is good to bear in mind, that while sharing about the one and only God, we need to find something noteworthy about the other “god” and use it as a background to highlight the comparative excellence of Jesus Christ. This makes them more open to the true God.
When we witness to people groups in the non Christian world, it is important to define God as Christ. The Apostles simply preached Christ. Do not get side tracked by discussing unnecessary details of pantheistic cultures. In doing that we are actually revering their god. Our main goal must be to keep the focus on Jesus Christ.
So, whether it is environmental enthusiasts or followers of any other god, my response would be to just preach the “message of the cross”. Thanks for a good post! It did make me think.
sheridan voysey on March 20, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Hi daisymarygoldr.
I think the approach we as Christians can take in this is that of the apostle Paul on Mars Hill in Acts 17:16-34. Paul was knowledgable enough of pagan culture to know its altars, religious desires, and to even quote from its poets’ and prophets’ literature.
As Paul quoted from this literature (without disparaging it, notice) he risked being misunderstood as affirming it. No, he was respectfully engaging with the Roman worldview, through which he then had an opportunity to present the Christian God (first) and then the Christian Saviour (second).
Christians should engage the culture critically – not idly sitting and soaking up the ideas of Hollywood (or Syndey or London) passively. As we do we can then look for the opportunities, as Paul did, of presenting Jesus as the fulfilment of the spiritual longings reflected through that culture’s products like movies, music, literature and the like.
The rising interest in Gaia (presented as Eywa in Avatar) is one such opportunity. My prayer is that people will discover that One greater than Gaia/Eywa is here.
daisymarygoldr on March 21, 2011 at 3:15 am
sheridan voysey, I am with you on respectfully engaging culture. In fact, in my first comment, “we need to find something noteworthy about the other “god”” was said with Paul in mind. Yes, Paul was knowledgeable enough of pagan culture. However, it must be noted that Paul did not intentionally go into shrines and temples to learn about idols and the religious desires of pagan culture.
By virtue of being born a Roman citizen, Paul had acquired knowledge of their literature as part of his schooling. In addition to the Hebrew training, Paul was also well versed in Greco-Roman education. In school, as part of my History, language and literature subjects, I did study about the mythology of pagan culture—their poets and gods. It is possible to be exposed to products of culture as part of our education. But do we have to intentionally go out and watch movies in order to present the Gospel?
Moreover, Paul did not seek entertainment in culture. He was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. Are we troubled by the idolatry of culture or do we enjoy and seek to be entertained by them? Paul did not absorb culture or looked for ways to make the gospel to suit it. He did use it as an opportunity to present the Christian Savior first (Acts 17:18).
Instead of using the opportunity to exegete culture, we must use it to preach Christ. We can use their concepts as a touchstone to present Christ. In pagan countries we use their beliefs like obedience to parents, showing reverential fear for God etc. as the point of contact to share Christ. Many accept Christ for fulfillment of their spiritual longings for forgiveness of sins and to find true peace.
Christians here in the West idolize secular music, movies, fiction, science, arts, philosophy, TV, sports, youth, politics, patriotism, environmentalism…the list is endless. We should be greatly distressed to see culture within the church saturated with idols. And so, I agree we should engage critically with culture and look for opportunities to fulfill their spiritual longings for the true God “who commands all people everywhere to repent”. Your prayer is my heart’s prayer too.
sheridan voysey on March 21, 2011 at 4:24 pm
‘Do we have to intentionally go out and watch movies in order to present the Gospel?’ I don’t think so. But some do so with integrity. I think there is, again, an issue of discernment to be exercised here. If the movie (for instance) will be detrimental to our own spiritual growth and witness, then it should be left alone. If we are strong enough in the faith to engage it critically, so that we can engage meaningfully with the world in which our neighbors live, then I think we can.
Again, let me emphasize that I agree with you on not passively accepting every entertainment product, and certainly not idolizing it.
A couple of worthwhile books in this area are H Richard Niebhur’s classic book ‘Christ and Culture’ and (more recently) Andy Crouch’s ‘Culture Making’.
Staying on topic though, the point of this devotional was to present the Christian God as a fulfillment of the hopes that movies like Avatar raise.
Thanks daisymarygoldr.
jeremiah7 on March 20, 2011 at 11:34 am
I agree with daisymarygoldr……..There’s nothing gained with believers in Jesus seeing such movies…they (such movies) are so ungodly and do not further our relationship with the Lord in any way.
Weak believers then tend to think that seeing such movies are also o.k. but it only has a negative effect on their spiritual lives.
Not all movies are bad for our spiritual lives though. There are some which truly inspires believers…movies such as Jesus………
ral on March 20, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Sheridan was making a point after watching a decent movie. God wants us to know what’s going on in the world and to be able to easily see false teachings in our secular world; I don’t think it’s a sin to see a movie not made by Christians. These 2 posts by daisymary and jeremiah bring me back to the infamous GARBC legalism days.
sheridan voysey on March 20, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Thanks Ral. As mentioned above, the issue is discernment and picking up on the spiritual longings films like Avatar reflect.
jeremiah7 on March 21, 2011 at 10:42 am
I don’t think any Christian would miss any special information by not seeing such movies. Sorry, if you felt I was being legalistic.
winn collier on March 20, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Sheridan, thank you for taking the occasion of this cinematic moment to point us to the one true God.
Lucy J on March 21, 2011 at 12:46 am
Becoming increasingly better acquainted with “the authentic” better equips one to discern, and perhaps learn from, “the counterfeit”. Movies like Avatar highlight important issues and generate worthwhile discussions about the meaning of life, the importance of relationships, and appreciation of the wonders of creation with which we are somehow connected.
I have observed that a lot of Christians don’t have much of an environmental conscience, especially if they are used to the privileges of living in Western society which has largely developed lifestyles and systems that “take” more than “give”. In some cases this attitude is linked to theologies that encourage such ideas as: “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we will die”; “the world is going to be destroyed anyway, so what does it matter if the end is hastened”; “I am God’s child who deserves to prosper materially as well as spiritually” etc.
However, if we really “see” what is going on with both “natural” and “spiritually discerning eyes”, and feel with God’s “heart” about this wonderful world, we may be more likely to respond more Christ-authentically to “the spiritual longings” which movies like Avatar illuminate.
One thing that interested me about that film was their use of the word “Navi” as the alien people of Pandora. That word is from a Hebrew root meaning prophet, as Navi/Nabi has the connotation of “bubbling up” as in to declare or speak as moved by the Spirit and closely linked with the terms of “roeh” and “hozeh” which mean “seer”. The form of greeting used by the native inhabitants of Pandora in the film is “I see you”! Jesus made a salient point when he commented “23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[a] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:23, The Message.
Hence, my point about being acquainted with authenticity (i.e. Christ who is the Truth) so that we can be more accurate in our discernments in both natural and spiritual matters, and hopefully more informed act on them with integrity and effectiveness.
sheridan voysey on March 21, 2011 at 1:59 am
Very interesting Lucy J, on a number of fronts. I so agree: when you’re strong on Jesus and the Gospel (the authentic), the counterfeit is shown for what it is by contrast.
daisymarygoldr on March 21, 2011 at 6:14 pm
sheridan voysey, I appreciate the feedback. Thank you for your Christ-like patience!
jeremiah7, your input provided a strong scriptural balance to this sensitive topic. Thank you for your godly counsel!
Thanks all for having added meaning to this conversation. It was a good discussion 🙂