"TOUCHE'ED BY AN ANGEL"

[My nick name for the popular TV show about fictional angels]

There are a few, basically, innocent, even acceptable points in American TVs preoccupation with angels and the “Touched By An Angel” (which I refer to as “Touche’ed By An Angel”) mentality, or supernatural visitor syndrome over the past decade. From Michael Landon’s portrayal of an angel on the television series “Highway To Heaven”, which I dubbed,“Highway to Hades” because of its lack of relation to real and biblical angels, to “Touched By An Angel” with Della Reese and Roma Downy (a small improvement in content, but not much). I’m sure we all (or, most of us, anyway) remember Clarence (the lovable but bumbling angel who hasn’t been able to earn his wings since his death on earth and subsequent arrival in heaven) from “Miracle On Thirty Fourth Street”, who has to help the main character (Jimmy Stewart) to recoup his loss of purpose and cash in on his faith in his own importance when his saving and loan fails, so Clarence can get his wings. Of course, we would all probably all agree that no one really believes the Clarence is supposed to resemble a real angel. But a lot of the mythical fallacy of Clarence’s pseudo-biblical identity seems to how most people envision angels and their missions among men. When a fencing opponent says, “touche’”, you’ve fallen victim to a false move, causing you to misstep and you’ve been stuck. If you think the television angels are anything like the real thing, “touche’”, you’ve been stuck.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not picking on Clarence or “Miracle on Thirty Fourth Street”. I like the movie. It is very entertaining and amusing. What I am pointing out is that people base their ideas of angels and their roles in our lives on whatever information they have available, usually from the entertainment industry instead of God’s only exhaustive and authoritative guide on angels, the Bible. Some things may call for imaginative interpretation to be able to visualize but never for misinterpretation. Again, I am not condemning the above movies or TV shows, but I am advising caution in how we read the messages they leave with you. Studies have been cited which show the average school-aged child spends more time watching television than just about anything else (and I really don’t think it is only children who are guilty of this). It just may also be true that Christian people, those who openly profess a faith-relationship with Jesus Christ, spend considerable more time in front of the tube than we ought. And it may well be that our ideas about things, like angels is somewhat colored (or formed) by that media. It may not be the intent but it certainly may be the outcome.

Lest you think that I am being hyper-critical (perish the thought), I have enjoyed some of the programs mentioned above and I’d love to meet an angel that looked like Monica. But reality being what it is, it ain’t gonna happen! As I said above, there is a slight positive side to shows like “Touched By An Angel”, “Promised Land (a spin-off from the preceding) “Twice In A Lifetime”, even “Highway to Heaven”, namely:

** They keep the name and idea of God in the forefront of people’s thinking;

** They allow people to think of God and angels in positive terms rather than vague or abstract concepts;

** People are shown a need to change and to seek to please God;

** They show a conscious need, or, at least, respect for righteousness and godliness;

** They show that God is to be revered and respected because He loves mankind and is greatly concerned with our plight.

All of this is laudable and it is, for the most part true. But I see in modern,twentieth-century man, especially here in America a trend to view life, mankind, morality, God, worship, the supernatural (to name only a few) through the mind set that is depicted in the phoney view scripted by the movie and television industry in the name of entertainment. So, that brings us, logically, to the negative side of the picture.

Rather than give a simple grocery-list of the negatives, I’ll list them one at a time and explain each point briefly. They are as follows:

1. There is no conviction of sin (the nature of all human beings from the fall of Adam), the Adamic curse, with no vigorous treatment of its need to be punished. Any mention of evil or Satan is casual, at best.

The problem with modern man is that he does not see himself as a sinner and out of the will and blessing of God eternally. He does not believe that he is totally helpless to better his cause without the intervention of God in his life and circumstances, without confessing that he is a sinner in need of the blood sacrifice of Christ to save him from human nature (sin) and place within him a new nature (sonship). The Bible repeatedly teaches man is a sinner and separated from God, universally, and that man must confess this and trust the finished work of Christ to save and change him. They present God as a loving Father Who wants good things for His creation, which is fine, but, completely miss the point of how that is accomplished and who accomplishes it. The main character acknowledges God and the angels and goes on to answer his own dilemma in a purely humanistic manner. If this is to be purely entertainment, but entertainment that conveys a message, why not convey the correct message? Half-truth is NOT truth!

2. Though the concept for God seems to built upon a Judeo-Christian model, it is far from Christian and, therefore, far from biblical. That alone kills the message value and greatly weakens their entertainment value. I wonder why the truly Christian writers and actors (and some do proport to be) don’t put together a biblical show that really deals with issues in truth. These shows all (without exception) teach a works salvation without a need to confess one’s sin and without discussing the reality of divine punishment in an eternal hell. There is no mention, not even in passing, of the personal devastation of sin in one’s life.

(John 8:21) “Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.”

(John 8:24) “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”

There is no mention of the penalty incurred for rejecting God’s only path to salvation,Jesus Christ and His Word.

(John 12:48) “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

There is no mention of hell, the place of eternal punishment for those who refuse to believe the Word of God and receive His Son as the way to God, a real, literal place as the Bible reveals. For those who think that hell is a doctrine invented by us unloving Baptist preachers and that our loving Savior would not proclaim it, let me offer this fact. Of the twenty-three times the word hell appears is the New Testament, twenty-two were preached by Jesus and one by Simon Peter, speaking of the abode of the fallen angels (tartaros).

3. They teach or assert the doctrine of “The Universal Fatherhood of God”, making everyone a child of God by fact of birth. Not everyone is a child of God! Who said so, you may ask? Jesus said so, is my answer. You may tell me that that is a very Phariseical comment, but it was the Pharisees to whom Jesus made it in John 8:43-47:

(John 8:43) “Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
45  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believeme?
47  He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”

Enough said. Jesus is authority enough.

4. They tend to present the idea that everyone who dies goes to heaven (a very Mormon concept, but not Christian and, no, Mormonism is not Christian) and is escorted by an angelic personage. Though the Bible does speak of an angel of death, not everyone is escorted to heaven. There is no place in heaven for those who have never trusted Christ Jesus as Savior. This “touchy-feely” concept appeals to the emotions and evades the real soul issue of everyone in the world who cannot bring himself / herself to the point of accepting himself / herself as evil in the sight of God and in need of salvation.

5. They present a distorted picture of angels as those who do not know what their mission is and fumble around until they receive it. The Bible doesn’t portray this nor does it have angels bumble along to try to understand the wisdom in God’s plan, nor stray from the path and seek God’s mercy to find the way back, nor seeking some meaning in this earthly human existence. Angels know, only too well, that man’s dilemma was brought about by sin, wilfully and that the only remedy is righteousness brought about by the cross and the blood of Christ. Grace and salvation is God’s manner in dealing with mankind who live on the earth and is not an open concept in His dealing with angels. Angels don’t sin and remain angels. Angels who once sinned are called demons and are awaiting the final disposition of God’s sure judgment in hell which was prepared for them (2 Peter 2:2; Jude, verse 6). The grace and mercy of God, however, are open to people who may appeal to God through them and find life in Christ, purpose and meaning in life and eternity (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; John 3:16).

The greatest possible good that these so-called angel-shows can produce is false, temporary, euphoric, good feelings for a short time about God. They impart no lasting truth, no substance, no productive spiritual result. They supply no answers for life, faith or biblical practice. They are a work of fiction only. The most prevalent gospel content portrayed is “another gospel”, a false gospel which is not the gospel through which God works, but through which Satan works. On Satan’s part, this is a clever and subtle way of undermining and changing your concept of angels, the works of God and God Himself, disqualifying the cross for salvation and the sacrifice of Christ on your behalf. Hollywood may not have had the conscious motive of misleading people and reducing biblical faith to the realm of mythology, but Satan does. I am not even saying that you cannot enjoy the story line of the episodes, but, I am saying not to buy it as having anything to do with the biblical message or with God. Be as the Bereans, whom Paul called “more noble” because they sifted every message, regardless of their source, through the Scripture to keep it honest.

The mind of man can only produce questions apart from God. The mind of God has supplied the answer. His name is Jesus. He is the only way to God (John 14:6) and (1 Timothy 2:5) “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”;

Hebrews 9:15) “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

And His angels are ministers of righteousness to carry out His purposes in the midst of humankind, to accomplish God’s divine plan.

(2 Thessalonians 1:7) “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
10  When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
11  Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
12  That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you been touched by an angel or a clever counterfeit? Was it an angel of light or an angel of darkness? How can you tell? Apart from the Word of God you can’t. Once you get acquainted with God’s angels, His heavenly messengers of light in His Word, you’ll agree that the TV version pales in contrast.