The Whip of Jesus

And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. -John 2:15-17

To many, this is the most mysterious reaction of Jesus. So forceful, so violent. What caused God in flesh to get righteously armed. You begin to understand when you read about the new game of Tim LaHaye. (Hat tip: Talk to Action.)

The game, based on Jenkins and LaHaye best-selling meal ticket, “The Left Behind Books-Movies-Anything that will make the author’s money” series is nothing but shoot em-up trash. As with everything related to the Left Behind series, the idea behind it is that its evangelistic.

To that I say, nonsense. It’s absurd to think people are going to be saved because after blowing away an opponent in a video game, they said, “Praise the Lord.” Of course, the way the game’s set up, it has a special appeal for non-Christians:

Not surprisingly, Left Behind Games’ attempt to make Christianity accessible to youngsters through the use of lethal firepower has its critics. [Jack]Thompson, for instance, said he severed ties with Tyndale House in a dispute over “Eternal Forces.”

“It’s absurd,” the video game critic said. “You can be the Christians blowing away the infidels, and if that doesn’t hit your hot button, you can be the Antichrist blowing away all the Christians.”

Yeah, then LaHaye and Jenkins can start getting some money from Satanists. Well, if you think training kids on how to be ultra violent killers (just like all the secular games are doing) isn’t Christian, they’ve got an excuse. According to MSNBC, they see a comparison with another recent success:

Left Behind Games CEO Troy Lyndon, whose company went public in February, says the game’s Christian themes will grab the audience that didn’t mind gore in “The Passion of the Christ.”

These folks cannot comprehend the difference of violence which shows the sacrifice our Lord and Savior took in our place and violence to please a bunch of bloodthirsty gamers?

But it gets worse still. The LA Times piece has this tidbit in it:

To generate buzz for “Eternal Forces,” Lyndon and Frichner plan to distribute 1 million sample discs to churches nationwide.

The immediate thought that comes to my mind is, “Do they have no fear of God?” They’re wanting to turn God’s House into a house of merchandise. Its not selling a special Bible or a book to draw people closer to God, but an ultraviolent video game. This is a line too far. I don’t know how God would judge selling other things or other activities, that’s been a source of debate for some years, but on this one, I have a very strong feeling Jesus would be going for the whip.

Rapture, Left Behind