Bill Maher’s Religulous

Watching Bill Maher’s Religulous was upsetting. This is because, when I see such a mockumentary, I tend to imagine myself in the position of the person who is searching for spiritual truth. From this perspective, I naturally think, “Who would want any part of the Christian faith after seeing it in the light of such scorn!” Consequently, I become very disturbed.

However, I heard a testimony today that helped me see Religulous from a divine perspective. A young lady, who wasn’t even a seeker, saw this scorn-filled movie and began to wonder what attracted people to religion. In her curiosity, she began to read the Bible to find answers to this perplexing question, and she found them in Psalm 50:7-15:

**"Hear, O my people, and I will speak,O Israel, and I will testify against you:I am God, your God.I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.If I were hungry I would not tell you,for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God,fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

These verses opened a passageway into another world, and she knew that she would never again be the same. Our God can co-opt any satanic device for his own purposes. He can take any weapon and turn it against the aggressor or transform any Religulous into a divine arrow to penetrate a hardened heart.

My angry, unbelieving heart was also penetrated. I was reminded, once again, that our God reigns, and He is not stymied by the contempt of secularism, the denial postmodernism or the sensual demands of the me-generation:

• "See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD." (Isaiah 54:16-17)

This doesn’t mean that I’m going to recommend Religulous. That would be ridiculous. It would also be presumptuous of the Lord’s grace. While He can rescue us from a fall off a five-story building, it would be foolish to recommend that someone try jumping. However, we need not fear mockumentaries any more than we need fear rooftops.