The Editor, Sunday 03 May 2020

Constrained by the lockdown rules my wife and I have – for better or worse – had more time to spend sprawled out in front of the telly.

I’m sure it will evoke the sympathies of some readers and the commendation of others to tell you that in the last three weeks, I’ve managed to convince my beloved to sit through both Star Trek and the entire Lord of The Rings trilogy – something I could only have dreamed of in normal times. Patience seems to be a virtue more often afforded to the fairer sex and I’ve taken full advantage of this. No doubt Mrs S will exact her revenge at some point. She’s a Harry Potter fan and there are 7 films…

Last Sunday we watched the new animated adaptation of John Bunyan’s 17th Century book Pilgrim’s Progress, one of the most extraordinary Christian books ever written. For those who haven’t read it, the story follows the character Christian as he makes his journey from the ‘City of Destruction’ to the ‘Celestial City’. It’s a powerful allegory of the Christian life illustrating the joy, struggle, temptation and danger that Christians face as they navigate life in this fallen world. Pilgrim’s Progress provides much wisdom and inspiration to believers and is a striking rendering of the human condition.

Needless to say I had high hopes for the film. I don’t intend to pen a full review here – I’m sure others have. But I will say that it isn’t exactly a blockbuster. The animation was produced on a low budget and the plot line is definitely more jocular than I’d expected, considering the serious themes in the book. Plenty of artistic license was applied. Perhaps the aim was to pitch it at a suitable level for children and if that’s the case, I’m sure many Christian families will enjoy it on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

What I will comment on here is a well-kent section of the story describing ‘Vanity Fair’. In chapter 13 of the book, Christian and his companion Faithful enter a town called Vanity. The abridged rendering states:

“At this town there is a fair, called Vanity Fair, which keeps going all year long. It bears the name of Vanity Fair because the town is ‘lighter than vanity’, and also because all that is sold, everything that comes there, is empty vanity, as the saying of the wise goes, ‘everything is meaningless’ (Ecclesiastes 1:2)”.

“…at this fair many goods are on offer, such as houses, lands, jobs, places, honours, positions, titles, countries, kingdoms, evil desires, pleasures; and delights of all sorts, such as prostitutes, pimps, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls, silver, gold, pearls, precious stones, and so on”.

As Christian and Faithful make their way through the fair, the sellers cry out to them, ‘buy our wares’. But when called to look at them the duo turn away. Putting their fingers in their ears they cry out to God, ‘turn away my eyes from beholding vanity’ (Ps 119:37). Asked mockingly what they will buy, they reply ‘we buy the truth’ (Proverbs 23:23).

The people of Vanity Fair think Christian and Faithful are madmen. They’re immune from the city’s charms, the townsfolk don’t understand what they’re saying and eventually, out of hatred, they kill Faithful.

The chapter vividly pictures the world and its temptations that Christians must pass through on the journey to eternal life. There is a ‘fair’ going on around us at all times, encouraging us to invest in the treasures of this world, worship its idols and fail to build up ‘treasure in heaven’. As believers we must count God and his word as our highest treasures and recognise that earthly things, whilst good in many ways, cannot be allowed to have primacy in our hearts. In doing this we will appear as aliens in a foreign land.

Vanity Fair is also a sad depiction of men, women and children in the society around us who do not have their identity rooted in Christ and are headed for a lost eternity. They find their ultimate joy, fulfilment and pleasure in temporal things – ‘vanities’ as Solomon put it. The world glitters like a fair ground, beguiling human beings into a lifelong pursuit of things that they can’t take with them. It’s a dangerous place for the human soul.

It struck me, as I was watched that scene about Vanity Fair, that these days of lockdown have dimmed its lights. Today, the temples of our society – shopping centres, cinemas, pubs, clubs, golf courses, football stadiums and the like – are shut. Take a stroll outside this Sunday and you’ll see dozens of families out for a walk, a cycle, or a blether in the garden, barred from their usual pilgrimages.

For the church this is an opportunity. In these days, the people are around us loosened from the grip of Vanity Fair. They’re less busy, less distracted, less bound by the liturgy of the secular age. What a time to share the Gospel! Like Christian and Faithful, we will appear distinctive to others just now. We have hope, we have peace, in a world that is wracked with anxiety and fear. This leads to questions about where out hope comes from. Are we ready to give an answer?

Let’s take every opportunity we get to point others to Christ whilst the stalls of Vanity Fair are closed. He is the greatest treasure, and the only thing that can truly satisfy the yearnings of the human soul. Best of all this treasure is free to all who repent and place their trust in him.

And let’s pray that the spirit will work in the hearts of men and women to make the treasures of this world seem dim when the gates of Vanity Fair are unlocked again.