Christians should be like the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

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By David Wong, 21, Singapore

Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” —Matthew 9:15 nlt

The Red Queen reigns; his queen deposed; her kingdom exiled; his life a fugitive. This is the setting and background of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Despite being a fictional story, this movie shows us more of ultimate reality than most of what we see in our daily living.

As one observes the Mad Hatter, one cannot but see that underlying most of his actions is a great desire to see his White Queen reign again in Underworld. We see that his whole life was fixed on this one all-encompassing longing. He longed for the day when Alice would come and slay the Jabberwocky, ending the rule of the Red Queen, and ushering in the reign of the White Queen.

How about us, Christians? Are we longing for the reign of our King Jesus to be upon all the earth? Are we longing for the physical manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth? To be honest, most of us will answer no, for we simply do not have this desire within our hearts.

My friends, this desire for Christ to reign is not a side issue within Christianity. It is an issue concerning where your treasure is. Many of us do not desire the physical reign of Christ simply because we are too satisfied with this world! We seem to have everything we want! Food, clothes, money, friends, relationships, comfort, ease, etc. Why is there a need for Christ to return?

Oh may our eyes be open, and our affections awakened! My friends, many of us, and I am of all people guilty of this, are living as if this world is our home! Oh how foolish we are to live as if this momentary 70 years of life is all there is. Oh how many countless individuals waste their time, money, and youth in pursuit of things and positions and goals that will be worthless! You were made for something greater!

2 Timothy 4:8 says, “And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of His return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to His appearing” (emphasis added).

Piper explain this verse as follow:
“The crown of righteousness is not a reward for only some that divides the elect into righteous and unrighteous. It is the crown that all God’s people receive. It is the ‘crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him’ (James 1:12) and are faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10). Therefore, loving the appearing of the Lord is not an optional Christian act that may earn more rewards. It is what true Christian faith does: it loves Christ and longs for the Bridegroom to come. Saving faith says, ‘Thy kingdom come! Come back, O precious Bridegroom. Come, reign as King. Come, vindicate your people. Come, marry your bride.’ ”¹

For many of us, we are living in the part of the show where the Hatter gets distracted from his longings for his White Queen to reign. He is given a job by the Red Queen to make hats for her, and for a season, he is so happy and satisfied with it that he no longer plans and looks forward for his queen to reign. It was only when Alice reminded him about the White Queen did he realize his “sin” and repented. He counted his position and vocation as loss, and refocused on his original mission.

Similarly, we are on a mission for God. We were commissioned for something more. Our home is not here! Our lives do not consist merely of working hard at our job, and providing a nice comfortable home for our family. Yes all that is important, but we must realize that God has commissioned us to take His gospel to all the earth, to disciple all the nations where the gospel is not yet reached!

My friends, Christ is not going to return until His gospel reaches all nations! “And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14, emphasis added). Additionally, we read in 2 Peter 3:11-12: “What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (emphasis added). Your desire and passion (or lack of it) for world missions to the unreached peoples has a direct correlation to your desire and passion for Jesus Christ. How much do you desire Him this day?

One thing we ought to do is to live not as if this world is our home. The Hatter surely did not. He refused to do his Futterwacken dance till his queen once again reigned. He fasted from it, and this shows a great unsatisfied longing within his heart. His fasting basically said to the world, “This world ruled by the Red Queen is not my home, and I will not act as if it is. I will stop my joyful merrymaking and dancing, but wait in eager expectation for the day that I will—when my queen reigns! Meanwhile, I will do all I can to advance her kingdom!”

“But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15b). My beloved, let your desire for the King to reign express itself in much fasting from the things of the world. And if that desire is not strong in you this day, all the more, fast! That your soul will stop snacking on the tit-bits of the world, that we may have the capacity for the feast of God Himself. And with this fasting and desire, may it push us on to live radical lives for the King, to hasten the coming of our King Jesus.

“My prayer for the Christian church is that God might awaken in us a new hunger for himself—a new fasting. Not because we haven’t tasted the new wine of Christ’s presence, but because we have tasted it and long, with a deep and joyful aching of soul, to know more of his presence and power in our midst”² Amen, come Lord Jesus!

Notes:
1. John Piper, A Hunger For God (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1997) p. 87
2. Ibid., p. 48-49