Happy Monday, friends, and welcome to another Gospel According to post! Luna Lovegood is one of my favorite characters from the Harry Potter universe, and I think about her iconic line, “You’re as sane as I am,” quite often. In fact, I think it can be a great way of explaining how it feels to be a believer in an unseen God in a world that claims He no longer exists. Hope you enjoy!
Fandom: “Don’t worry, you’re just as sane as I am.” – Luna Lovegood
Verses: Hebrews 11:1-3, 1 Corinthians 1:17-19, 2 Corinthians 4:5-6, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 20:29,31
Truth: Even when the world doubts us or calls our faith ignorant or crazy, we can rest assured that what we believe is absolutely true.
the fandom: Luna Lovegood’s iconic line
Luna Lovegood is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters. She’s the definition of an INFP (my Myers-Briggs personality type): dreamy, imaginative, and loyal. She keeps to herself and often seems lost in her own world, but when somebody who cares is will ing to listen to her, she has some surprisingly wise things to say. But of course, the first thing that we hear from Luna is her iconic “You’re just as sane as I am” quote from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
The irony of this line isn’t lost on us as the reader/viewer of the story, as it is said from behind a magazine that Luna is reading upside down. It’s accompanied by the assertion that a creature that nobody but Harry can see is in fact real. And it comes at a time when Harry is facing incredulity and outright persecution from just about everyone in the wizarding world.
Harry desperately needs someone to believe him at this point, both in big things (like his claims that You-Know-Who has returned) and little ones (like seeing the Thestrals). Luna is one of the first to believe him, long before she actually knows him as a person, and I believe that it shows a depth of character for her and is a powerful moment for Harry.
While the other things Luna Lovegood believes in may or may not be real, she has an undeniable wisdom to her that will become invaluable to Harry. She also is absolutely convinced of the things she believes in, and no doubt has found what she believes to be evidence that they exist.
You’d be surprised how much of a parallel this is to our lives as believers! Anyone who’s ever spoken with an atheist/evolutionist knows that it can be easy to feel like our faith is actually foolishness.
the verses
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Hebrews 11:1-3 ESV
This passage is the first that I think of when I think about Luna Lovegood. It comes from the chapter in the Bible known as the Faith Hall of Fame, and it really speaks to who Luna is as a character. It also shows that faith is more than just blind belief; we have evidence to support what we believe about God, Jesus His Son, and our salvation. Faith is simply choosing to believe that what has been presented to us is correct and credible. In another translation, the word translated as “conviction” is “proof,” as in “the proof of things not seen. In other words, our conviction or firm, solid belief that the Gospel is true, is the proof of what can’t be physically seen, our new life in Christ.
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed…” But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:29,31 ESV
These verses are an admonishment of the disciple known as Doubting Thomas. Jesus praises those who believed before they saw, which I believe is directed both at the other disciples and at us, centuries later, still believing. But then, the apostle John gives us a direct confirmation of what his book, and the entire Bible are about: evidence and compelling arguments for us to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. There is evidence, testimony, and witnesses to support it. All we have to do is believe it.
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
1 Corinthians 1:17-19 ESV
I love how these verses parallel the attitude of most other Harry Potter characters towards Luna. To many people, the Gospel seems like foolishness, or something so preposterous that anyone who believes it 76yu8i8i8i8i8i (Tigris my kitty says hi 😹) would have to be either intellectually challenged or intentionally ignorant. But this passage shows that God knew how the majority of humanity would react to His message, and He doesn’t seem bothered by it. Neither does Paul, who is one of the most logical of the New Testament writers and a former skeptic himself.
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:5-6 ESV
I love the humility of these verses, and of Paul in general. He readily admits that what he preaches and writes to the Corinthians isn’t his own words, but a message from God Himself that he speaks to them. He references the creation story, that first moment of darkness becoming light, in describing the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is only through the work of Holy Spirit in our hearts, giving life and light, that we are able to believe and have faith in Jesus to save us.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
Ultimately, this passage sums up the study for today. Our salvation is a gift, received by grace (God’s generous and undeserved favor) through the faith the Holy Spirit allows us to have. We are meant to be dependent on God for everything, up to and including our salvation.
Want some more faith inspiration? Check out these posts!
- Andra Day – Rise Up
- Taylor Swift – invisible string
- The Hunger Games – Only hope is stronger than fear.
the Gospel according to Luna Lovegood: “Don’t worry, you’re just as sane as I am.”
Let’s talk about how to connect this “You’re just as sane as I am” quote from Luna to the Gospel message. If you’re a believer, take this as another tool to share with your peoples, either in real life or online. If you’re not a believer, I hope you give this some thought.
I believe that the Gospel message, or the steps of becoming a believer and receiving the gift of salvation, can be broken up into three parts:
- I am. Who is God? What is He like? Who are we, and why are we here? Is there more to life than just the time between our birth and our death?
- God is the Creator and Lord of everything that we know. He is light, He is absolutely perfect, and He is all-powerful and all-knowing. He is also love, and He created each and every one of us to live in relationship with Him. We, on the other hand, are hard-wired to resist that relationship. Because of the rebellion of the first humans, our nature is to resist God’s rule, and we are therefore separated from Him. This separation is called sin. Our sin causes us to feel a void or emptiness that we try to fill with other relationships or pursuits (like pleasure or success), but that can only truly be filled with the relationship with God that we were meant to have. For more thoughts on this, check out this post.
- With you. How can I “fix” my sin problem and find joy, peace, and a relationship with God?
- There is only one way to restore the relationship that we were always meant to have with the God who created us, and that is Jesus. As we already discussed above, Jesus, the Son of God, came as a human to rescue and restore us while we were weak, helpless to fix ourselves. He showed the love of God for us by subjecting Himself to all of the indignities and suffering of the Cross, and died a criminal’s death, even though He had done no wrong. Because of His perfect sacrifice, Jesus was able to end the eternal separation between us and God, and now gives us the choice to receive His gift of salvation and eternal life. For more thoughts, see this post.
- Always. God shows His faithfulness and steadfast love for His people (originally Israel, now including all who believe in Him) throughout Scripture. He will always be with us, and gives us reminders of His presence and His truth through Holy Spirit, who inhabits every believer. Through Him, we have eternal forgiveness of sin, access to His throne room through prayer, and the ability to grow into the people we were always meant to be, free from the power of sin. After we die, we have the promise of Heaven, where we will see our Lord face to face and never have to suffer or be separated from Him again. For more thoughts, see this post.
Luna’s character, and this iconic quote, to me point to the “always” part of the Gospel story. Although we can’t see Jesus now, we know that we will someday. There is so much evidence to support the fact that Jesus did in fact live, die, and rise again to bring us salvation. One of the most compelling reasons is the existence of many more copies of the original texts than just about any other document from that time period. Beyond that, we have hundreds of thousands of witnesses, both past and present, who will declare the truth of what we believe, both in words and actions. Finally, we have Holy Spirit, who is alive in each believer and will assure us that He is here and we’re not, to put it frankly, crazy.
My journal pages
I recently took the time to punch one of my Fangirl: Fulfilled devotional journals so that it works with Happy Planner discs, and it was definitely worth the effort! This week’s journal pages are the first with this style of binding, and I really appreciate the ability to isolate just these particular pages and take them with me on the go.
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post about Luna Lovegood’s iconic “Don’t worry, you’re just as sane as I am” line and how it relates to our faith in God, who can’t be seen, but is very much real and present. I love the idea that we can now take this quote from a Harry Potter character and use it to encourage fellow believers who may be struggling.
Do you have thoughts about this quote? I’d love to know!
Happy fangirling!
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