There is a huge wave of discussion rolling in about the new “Batman” movie, “The Dark Knight” and, in particular, the performance of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker, a psychopathic killer. The adjective that consistently appears in reviews and comments is “dark”. Ann and I saw the film yesterday. Technically, it’s a virtuoso performance and it may prove to be the most important film this decade. While extremely successful in portraying evil, it’s not so successful in picturing the Good. I’d like to reflect on one aspect of this, but I’ve got to take a round-about route, so please be patient.

Sharp observers through the centuries have wrestled with the fact that at a certain point the driving force behind evil defies rational reflection. The impetus behind everyday “garden variety” wickedness and malevolence is usually pretty obvious; the perversion of pride, power, money and sex covers most cases. But occasionally (one must at least hope it is only occasional), one encounters a different species of evil.

Dr. M. Scott Peck, a psychotherapist who investigated the My Lai massacre in which U.S. forces murdered between 350-500 Vietnamese civilians on March 16, 1968, describes in his book People of the Lie what he calls malignant narcissism: a self-focused evil that is almost completely “anti-life”. There seems to a boundary that a human being can cross, beyond which he or she not only does evil but seeks to destroy any light or life within their circle of power. The real monsters of history such as Hitler or Stalin fit this description; but also the less well-known malignant narcissists who destroy their family and, when possible, the world around them. The Judeo-Christian faith believes that human beings are image-bearers of God; yet, such “people of the lie” seem to have lost even the vestigial remains of that image. How can this be?

The Bible is clear that there is an unseen world behind and beneath our reality. This spiritual (but no less real) dimension is the setting of a great cosmic conflict between Light and Darkness. This battle will play itself out until history is wrapped up and the books closed.

Sometimes, through a huge effort of the will and an unimaginable personal price, it seems that a human being can reach through the wall into this unseen dimension and tap into metaphysical evil.

This is where The Joker comes in. I have never seen such a clear rendering in the performing arts of a person possessed by Evil as Heath Ledger’s portrayal of this character.

There are hints that to achieve this performance, the actor himself had to push through the membrane into the unseen world. Wally Pfister, the cinematographer for the film, described what it was like to watch Ledger act: “It was like a séance, where the medium takes on another person and then is so completely drained.”

Heath Ledger died of an overdose of prescription drugs in January of this year. He was apparently mentally, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. What a heart-breaking tragedy! An image-bearer of the Eternal cut down in the prime of life.

Is there a remedy for our poor, lost race?

The old apostle John, one of Jesus’ closest friends, wrote toward the end of his long life: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.” Now that’s Good News!

In the past weeks we’ve been thrashing through the thicket of selling our home in Boise (to cover a home equity credit we took out to pay back loans given to purchase “Haus Nazareth”). This means we’ve been packing our household for our major move to Berlin.

In the midst of all of the turmoil, it’s surprising how often a children’s book, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, has come to mind.

We used to read this little gem to Seanne and Charissa. The subtitle of the book is “How Toys become Real” and it has been a parable for us of what God actually wants to accomplish through each difficult circumstance and why He sometimes leads His children on rough and painful paths.

The key passage of the story relates how the little Velveteen Rabbit finally gathers enough courage to ask the old Skin Horse something that has been on its mind for quite a while:

“What is real?’ asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. ‘Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?’

‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept.

Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because when you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’

The Apostle Paul articulated it clearly:

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” (Romans 8:28-29)

God’s final purpose for us who know Christ is to “conform” (mold/form) us so that we become more like Him. Pain and pressure are not accidents in the life of the believer. God wants to bring us through them and use the pressure to mold and shape our character.

We’re quite often asked, “What exactly is going to happen in ‘Haus Nazareth’? What will be your initial goals?”

On June 23, six German friends deeply involved in the project met for prayer and counsel together. These are the “core team” of the ministry of Philosophia Europa, the folk whom Ann and I meet with, pray with and dream with in Berlin. I’d like to share the vision for “Haus Nazareth” as articulated by one of the men in the group.

Michael is a businessman and university professor. He and his wife have a very deep burden for reaching Berlin for Jesus. He became acquainted with the “Haus Nazareth” project through an almost-miraculous contact with Pastor Bob Caldwell of Calvary Chapel, Boise. As we met together and shared our thoughts and dreams this spring, it became very clear that God has brought him and his wife to the team “for such a time as this”. These are his thoughts as Matthias jotted them down:

The initial target audience will be the academic community, especially lecturers and professors. That is a group of people that is difficult to reach for Christ and almost no one is doing so. This is a very important part of Clark’s calling and an area that he can fulfill, both in view of his life-experience and academic qualifications. It will be important to have an ongoing contact point, a group meeting, for instance, on a daily or weekly basis.We also want to have a ‘fellowship-church’ in ‘Haus Nazareth’ and begin having worship times, so that thinking people whose hearts have been touched will sense that someone understands them and they can grow in faith until they’re able to start going to an ‘ordinary’ church.

A woman who works on the university underlined how important this is: many non-believers or “church Christians” who are won to faith need a long time to get to where they can return to a church. For these kind of folk, “Haus Nazareth” and Philosophia Europa can be a spiritual home.

I want to give you a quick update on the remodeling at “Haus Nazareth”: Heinz, the brother who leads the construction firm that has been doing the work, committed himself to continuing the remodeling as far as he could until the credit limit was reached that he could give us.

That limit is the problem right now. Until the 120,000 Euros that he has advanced can be covered, he cannot move ahead.

We are within 2 weeks of finishing the basement work, but things have been stopped for almost a month now. Please pray that God will provide the funds necessary to move ahead.