Taken by Twilight

I haven’t read the book(s), but my wife and I sat down and watched Twilight for the first time on DVD last night. I had been wondering what all the fuss was about and why so many have been so attracted to this series. We both enjoyed the movie in general, and it led to some good discussion afterwards, especially regarding why young women are so especially attracted to it.

My wife made the comment that she didn’t think she would get into the movie as much as she did, these are vampires for crying out loud, right? I mean, who would want a nice, normal high school girl to get in a relationship with a dangerous, blood-sucking vampire? Surprisingly, we did! That’s what was amazing about the movie (and about the book too is my guess). By the middle of the movie, you are wanting a relationship to happen that you wouldn’t have wanted before. Why? Because the vampire character, Edward, draws in both the main girl in the story, Bella, and the audience like a tractor beam. A character that starts off somewhat dark and mysterious, soon is discovered to be indomitably, irresistibly attractive. What is it about this vampire that is so attractive, even obsessively so, for Bella and so many viewers? As Edward admits to Bella in the movie, everything about himself is designed to attract her (his prey) to himself. Although his complexion is eerily ghost-like pale, he wins us over by being very caring and concerned, strong, intelligent, protective, chivalrous, romantic – the list goes on and on. Later in the story, we also find out that Edward has waited for someone like Bella for a long time and has now chosen at great potential cost to himself and his family to set all of his affection on her. We also see that he is a self-sacrificing lover – although there is a part of him that wants nothing more than to go into a feeding frenzy on her blood, instead, he has learned to control himself and care for her with a seemingly unstoppable, eternal love (vampires are immortal). As a pastor, I would say it is very important (as always) to use discernment in watching this movie because it can become something that further feeds a lie which our culture has swallowed hook-line-and-sinker: you will be totally fulfilled when you find Mr. or Mrs. Right. The movie could be dangerously misleading for naïve women and men who think they might possibly be able to find a completely heart-satisfying “soul-mate” in this life. It could create destructively unrealistic expectations for any earthly relationship. But with discernment, I believe Twilight very dramatically exposes what it is that we want most in this life. At the core of us, we want to be loved like Edward loves Bella more than anything else in the universe. We want to know that someone who is incredibly good and trustworthy and desirable and strong loves us with an irresistible, unfailing, always and forever love. Although this universal, deep-seated need will never be met by a mere mortal, Twilight is absolutely correct in pointing us to look for this kind of love in something or someone immortal. One of the great things about Twilight is that it not only gives us ways to think about what we want most but also gives us vivid ways to think about how Jesus is truly the only one who could ever satisfy our desire. Just think with me for a minute … what if it were true, that the kind of love that we see in Twilight were only a shadowy, dark picture of something even greater offered to us only in Christ? It would no doubt be the best news in all the world. What if someone incredibly strong and good and infinitely desirable had decided to set his unending love on you from before you were born, just because he loves you and for no other reason? What if it were true that this person was completely irresistible and drew you to himself in such a way that your love and desire and enjoyment of him would never fade? What if it were true that this person not only cared so intimately about you that He would literally watch over you while you sleep and catch every one of your tears in a bottle but was also so strong that he defended you from all evil and harm? What if it were true that although this person was so infinitely powerful and glorious that you could not even stand to look at him or be in his presence, He also loved you so much that He deliberately chose to control himself and his power in such a way that you could be near him and touch him and know him without being destroyed? Do you see that these are the infinitely great, mind-blowing promises of the gospel? No one disbelieves the gospel because it doesn’t promise enough but because it promises too much … way too much to really take in or fathom. But then again, if the gospel is something the infinite God thought up and did for us, wouldn’t it make sense that it would blow up even our highest finite expectations? And isn’t it heart-stopping good news that He overcomes not only our disbelief but also our futile attempts to find our satisfaction elsewhere by irresistibly drawing us to Himself? If you’ve never thought this way before about God’s offer to you in Christ, think about it. Why would you want to settle for anything less? If you’ve heard it before, but are somewhat stirred up by God’s love for you, take a moment, put your own name in this next verse, and hear from God’s own mouth how He loves you with this incomparable love. “I have loved you, (your name), with an everlasting love; I have drawn you, (your name), with loving kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3). So if you found yourself taken by Twilight like we were, let your God-given desire for infinite love lead you to Christ.