Not Many Noble

"Tirian had never dreamed that one of the results of an Ape's setting up as a false Aslan would be to stop people from believing in the real one."
- C.S. Lewis, 'The Last Battle'

For those in the dark - Narnia is the land described in C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, and is a beautiful land overseen by the Supreme Lord, Aslan the lion. Aslan is not always to be seen of course, and there are kings who govern Narnia on his behalf. Yet his influence on the Narnian inhabitants is pervasive. With the release of the new Narnia movie pending, I sat myself down with the final book in the series, The Last Battle, and discovered that a false Aslan had taken over the land. Or rather - some-one manipulating the illusion of a false Aslan by setting up a donkey in a lion skin. Some-one wanting to use power and influence to accumulate financial and material wealth for personal indulgence. The book is a great illustration of how the illusion of power can create power, and of how people will change their priorities and give allegiance to those who appear to be the most influential.

One of the television channels here recently screened Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of 2004. I admit I was fascinated by the title and I watched it. Here are her 10 most fascinating people of 2004:
Ken Jennings, The Google Guys, Michael Moore, Mel Gibson, Curt Schilling, Karl Rove, Paris Hilton, Oprah Winfrey, Usher, Donald Trump.

I am going to be completely straight here. By the time she was onto the fifth "fascinating" interview I was bored. Apparently the most fascinating thing about these people was how much money they had made. The only person Walters didn't fawn over regarding money was Curt Schilling, who was highlighted because he pitched for the Red Sox with an injured and very painful ankle. Commendable - but fascinating? Walters went through all 10 interviews telling each one they were "fascinating" and "lucky" and generally holding them up as some sort of example. I wasn't enthralled in the least.

Back when I was doing my post-graduate studies I took a part-time job working for a market research company doing telephone surveys. Sometimes I laughed so hard I cried. Have you ever had to ask people to name a passionate brand of car engine oil? Or to tell you which tv ads they find personally meaningful? I did really well at the job as the respondents enjoyed getting hysterical with me. What I also observed was that advertising is not based on quality of product, or cost-effectiveness, or safety issues, but on emotions and the desire of people to be "in", to keep up, to appear successful. Market researchers and advertisers know too well that people want to be considered fascinating, wealthy, and influential. So they attempt to manipulate us. We all know about this false Aslan of course but we still buy into it.

In The Last Battle C.S. Lewis writes:

"I was with him in his last hour and he gave me this message to your Majesty: to remember that all worlds draw to an end and that noble death is a treasure which no-one is too poor to buy."

What is this treasure of nobility that he speaks of? What influential person must I imitate to obtain it?
The apostle Paul, whose influence has been global for centuries, wrote:

"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the mighty, and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are."

Not many wise and noble are called, but a few come to understand the real priorities. One of whom has appeared as a guest at Sidesspot with a post entitled Going Through the Eye of the Needle. How can a wealthy man give his money away, expecting nothing in return, and consider it an investment? He writes:

"Money is a means to an end. Not a prize to acquire. You can't spend it in the life to come, and having money in your hands in death does not buy a seat any closer to God than an orphan that died in a sweat shop.

If you have the brains and heart to acquire and grow wealth, I challenge you to have the heart to dispose of it (in spending, giving, and in estate planning) in the same tenacious (and hopefully judicious) manner that was used to acquire it. Hopefully to help more orphans (following my analogy) to hear the Gospel and have a seat with God in His Kingdom. Forget position and rank.

In the first of the Chronicles of Narnia the entrance to Narnia is discovered through the back of a wardrobe (closet). Wardrobes are often full of clothes that we never wear and don't need. It's time to give away the trappings so we can see our way clear to a different and truly fascinating place, where quality of heart is more important than bank account size. It's time for a new allegiance.
The real Aslan is on the move.