Where have You Gone, Joe Friday?

July, 2006

by: Walt Bertelsen

There was a time when truth seemed simple to find—if one was determined, and asked the right questions.

1950s America was one such time. Truth was important in our culture. Even television served up weekly images of truth in black and white. One enduring image: Lucy was always in trouble for not telling Ricky the truth. Another was Dragnet, true stories from the files of the LAPD. Every week, detective Sgt. Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith put the bad guy behind bars. In those days before CSI and DNA, much of the story revolved around these everyday heroes driving the then-uncrowded streets of Los Angeles to interview witnesses and gather evidence. Frequently, people launched into some irrelevant opinion-sharing. Joe Friday, determined to get the truth, would invariably interrupt (albeit politely): “Just the facts, ma’am.”

What happened to our history?

That time was not really simple. Yet there was something different about the way we looked at life. For some 20 years after World War II, we saw ourselves as the good guys, and we believed our leaders when they talked to us about important things. But Vietnam changed that. Those enduring images in black and white gave way to living—and dying—color in the mid-60s. Half-known names took on horrible new meaning: Dallas, Tet, My Lai, Kent State. Civil rights and civil unrest—people dying on the 6 O’clock News. A generation turned off to patriotism, Boy Scouts, and church on Sunday, and turned on to free speech, free love, Sgt. Pepper, and public angst. The loss of direction speeded up in the 70s: our President resigned, our embassy held hostage. The 80s gave some reprieve (Reagan made us proud to be Americans again, the Wall came down and the Soviet Union came apart), but the 90s witnessed our troops dragged through Mogadishu, and that White House Intern. After Y2K failed to materialize, there was 9/11, binLaden, Baghdad. Parish priests did unspeakable things—and the church didn’t tell. No wonder that Americans are skeptical about traditional answers. Puzzle not at the runaway success of a novel that proclaims, “almost everything that the fathers taught us about Christ is false.” (character “Leigh Teabing,” pg. 235)

Why The Da Vinci Code matters: Robert Langdon has replaced Joe Friday

Why make a big deal about Da Vinci? Americans have already made the book and movie a big deal. Thinking readers—Christian and non-Christian—recognize “it just gets crazier and crazier.” Scholars, even non-Christian ones, have thoroughly debunked Dan Brown’s “research.” However, the book/movie cannot be dismissed by resorting to “just the facts”. There is a place for presenting the facts if someone is honestly interested.

Here are points to help us be wise in the battle. Number one: Da Vinci is an opportunity allowed and presented by our sovereign God. So do not fear; rather, we are to be ready, as Peter reminds us (1 Peter 3:15-16), to give a reason for our hope. Number two: We Christians must be patient and wise, recognizing that Da Vinci has struck a cord that resonates with millions who believe no one is telling the truth. This is why I gave so much valuable space above to listing some major events of the last half-century. These events have fallen like hammer-blows, crushing our ideals and leaving us open to a “no truth” mentality. Number three: Two destructive philosophies are taking advantage of that openness: post-modernism (i.e., “there are no absolutes”) and a “new” Gnosticism (i.e., “find the truth within yourself”). “Robert Langdon” typifies that thinking: you need to understand it. We’ll look at that next.

In the meantime, remember that Jesus’ promise is for all who will place their trust in Christ and the facts of His Gospel and keep His Word: “…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).