A Review of Pilgrim's Progress - Part 4
Part 4 (Pages 13-16)
(quotes from the book in blue; Scripture passages in red)
Christian got past the Slough of Despond, cleaned up as best as possible, and went on his way. Thus far, he has yet to leave the path to the Wicket Gate.
But he's about to face another obstacle, one more sinister and deceptive than the Slough. Mr. Worldly Wiseman notices Christian afar off on the path, and it's as if he knows he was coming. He came across a field, eager to accost him. Has it been rumored? Has he traveled from his hometown (Carnal Policy) to meet with him? It's certainly the talk of the town in the City of Destruction, as we see in the book when Pliable returns. Maybe some people traveled to Carnal Policy to spread the news. Or perhaps it is more supernatural? (In the 1978 film, Mr. Worldly Wiseman is played by the same actor who plays the "satanic" characters, such as Obstinate).
Clearly Christian would be easy to recognize, with the heavy burden on his back; he would be moving in a measured and negotiated manner. And what an easy icebreaker topic! Especially given that Mr. WW (as I'll call him, among other names!) will give him a "better" remedy to relieve his burden. He needs to get rid of this burden as fast as possible, and the way of the Wicket Gate simply won't be fast enough (as he advised).
One of the earliest descriptions in the character's dialogue that this is an allegory comes in this conversation. Mr. WW asks about his family, which Christian replies that he has to go on this journey because he is "so weighted down by this cumbersome burden that [he] can no longer enjoy their company like [he] used to." A sad description indeed, but also proof that Christian didn't literally leave his wife and children on this journey. When I've read this book with others or discussed it with others, one of the first objections to the book is the idea that Christian left his wife and kids. Then if they read the second part about Christiana and his children's journey, they are quite irate that Christian wasn't there to travel with them and protect them. (Many people simply do not understand allegory in our heavily literal world. Social media is to be blamed in part.)
But Mr. WW ain't having any of this! They need to be together (that is, in one [worldly] frame of mind). When Christian tells him he's intended to get his burden removed by heading to the Wicket Gate, Mr. Dubya Squared rebels! Evangelist is an idiot who opposes the common sense of the world (perhaps true), and the way of the Wicket Gate will include experiences no better than "wearisomeness, painfulness, hunger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, (and tigers and bears, OH MY!), dragons, darkness, and in a word, death, and who knows what else" (all true, even perhaps the tigers and bears!). And like a great government-funded infomercial, he warned Christian not to talk to strangers like Evangelist (like the Worldly Wiseman himself isn't a stranger).
But Christian would rather risk those dangers for the joy of having his burden lifted. He knows what his burden is about, even if the wise of this world object. When Mr. WW asked him how he came about his burden, Christian raised the book in his hand and replied, "By reading this book" (he certainly wasn't carrying the Communist Manifesto). -- But notice the objection is not direct: "I thought so. The same thing has happened to you as to other weak men, who meddled with things too high for them. They are suddenly distracted and confused just like you, and it's humiliating." It's not a denial, but a redefinition.
An Illustration: Charlie Kirk was murdered by a gunshot last week. How many people are continuing to justify his murder with not only objections to the ideas he raised (which they are entitled to have), but redefinitions of his ideas. As in he was deserving of this kind of death. What crime did he commit to demand such retribution, such an execution? Mr. Worldly Wiseman is doing the same kind of thing to Christian, just less violent.
In truth, Christian should have kept walking. If Mr. WW wanted to walk with him, fine; but eventually Christian would reach the gate and receive the guidance of the Porter. We, as Christians, are commanded by God in 1 John 2:15-17 to "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." God's will for Christian is to stay on the path, and it's His will for us too!
If you are ever facing this kind of pressure from the world, keep walking! Keep trusting in God, keep praying fervently, keep being actively involved in a local church full of believers on this same path, and keep telling others of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The next part, we're going to see that Christian heeds the advice of Mr. Worldly Wiseman, and part of that advice takes him off the path and on another. Until then,
JOY!
