“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2” was the concluding movie of a series based on a popular set of books about a post-apocalypse dystopian America. While coming across as an inspiring story of standing up against tyranny the movie didn’t hide how a lot of people die in order to end President Snow’s brutality. Yes, Snow’s reign was brutal and his casual cruelty warped the whole nation into a twisted perverted society. And, though the movie won’t show it, there would be long years of massive struggle to overcome the aftereffects, just as happened in post-communist Russia. Which begs the question, was the rebellion worth the deaths it caused?

Comparing fictional events to real ones is tricky because the fictional typically has a storybook ending while real life events have real life impact that often ends messy and leaves everyone unsatisfied. People get hurt and die for real instead of on paper in a book or script. As we watch the upheaval in countries across the world, even recently here in America, we see it unfolding before our very eyes and there’s nothing glamorous about it. In comparison when the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, symbolized by the tearing down of the Berlin wall, it was a velvet revolution. Yes, Soviet Russia left a massive trail of dead bodies, and remains a threat today, but in the 1980’s it fell without a battle because the information age opened the world to the oppressed.

Jehoshaphat became king of Judah a mere 100 years after the death of King David. He came to the throne after a period of oppression by his father Asa. Jehoshaphat was more like their ancestor David and took the lead in a velvet revolution of his own that was marked by three significant events. First he sought God and followed His commandments (2 Chronicles 17:4). Second he was proud of serving God and proved it by removing the idols that were polluting Judah (2 Chronicles 17:6). Third he sent out teachers with “the book of the law of God” to make sure the people were informed (2 Chronicles 17:7-9).

Notice the progression. His velvet revolution started with an internal transformation through an understanding of God and His word, that prompted a commitment to serving God that then reached outward to share God’s will with others. At the core is the consumption and distribution of information about God’s will.

Fast forward 2900 years to our world. If Christians want to save America, or save the world for that matter, we must quit thinking in political and social terms. Salvation is revolutionary, but does not come through guns or butter. It can only arrive through the truth of God’s word proclaimed by transformed people. You and I must consume God’s word and be consumed by it. It’s a velvet revolution that begins in your heart and mine. That revolution will transform us into His people who won’t be stopped from sharing His message with others. Wanna’ join the revolution and stand up against the cruelest tyrant of all, Satan? Let me know if I can help you in the transformation process.