Brian Castelli – With His Heart

We recently watched the movie Fireproof. I enjoyed the movie in one sense and didn’t in another.

I enjoyed the movie because of the strong salvation message. I enjoyed the movie because the principle behind the “Love Dare” agrees with my own opinion and experience about how to improve and maintain relationships. It doesn’t matter how hard you work on the other person, it’s only the energy you put into fixing yourself that makes a difference.

I didn’t like the parts of the movie that reminded me of times when I’ve been angry, impatient, or frustrated and ended up being harsh to my wife. Ephesians 4:2 in the NIV starts out with, “Be completely humble and gentle”. (Emphasis mine) The scriptures talk about gentleness and patience and putting the needs of others before our own. Sigh.

I didn’t like those parts that reminded me of my sin, but I appreciated the reminder that my marriage is an area where I haven’t “arrived.” I must continue to work on myself to be the best husband I can be.

We ended up watching our 6-year-old neighbor while her parents went to the hospital. It was all very unexpected. Unprepared, we “entertained’ with DVDs. One of them was, “Finding Nemo.” There’s an amazing scene in the movie that got me thinking.

Marlin and Dory are searching desperately for Marlin’s son, Nemo. Along the way they both end up inside of a whale. Marlin freaks out, but Dory is calm, insisting that she can understand the low-pitched droning of the whale’s voice. Here’s one of their exchanges, courtesy of Wikiquote:

Dory: [the whale speaks to her] Okay, that one was a little tougher. He either said “We should go to the back of the throat”, or “he wants a root-beer float”.

Marlin: Of course he wants us to go there! That’s eating us! [rubs his tail on the whale's tongue] How do I taste, Moby? Do I taste good?! [to Dory] You tell him I’m not interested in being lunch!

Dory: Okay. He-e-e-e–

Marlin: Stop talking to him!

Dory: He (the whale) says “It’s time to let go!” Everything’s going to be all right!

Marlin: How do you know? How do you know something bad is gonna happen?!

Dory: I-I don’t!

The last part of the scene takes place as Marlin is holding on to the whale’s tongue as it raises up threatening to send he and Dory sliding down into the back of the throat. Marlin is fighting with everything he has, refusing to surrender control. Dory was willing to trust. She just let go.

It turns out that the whale had transported them to their destination and was putting them in the back of his throat so that he could deliver them via his blow hole. Although everything around them made it look like it was the end, the bigger picture was that they were safe. All they had to do is trust in something bigger then themselves, trust what the whale was telling them.

I think it’s like that with us and God. I heard Dr. Irwin Lutzer on the radio this morning. He told the story of guests at a castle walking up to a huge tapestry on the floor of a great hall. From the up-close perspective of walking on the tapestry, there was no discernible pattern. The tapestry looked like a mainly random collection of colors and patterns. When the guests climbed the stairs, however, and looked down from a great height, they could see that the tapestry was actually a large, beautiful picture. Up close, the big picture was obscured. This is like Marlin and Dory inside the whale. They couldn’t see what was going on outside.

This is also like us. When we look at the world and our circumstances in it we can only see what’s up close. We sometimes get glimpses of God’s larger themes, but mostly the big picture is hidden from us. We’re too close, too deep in the tapestry to always be able to make sense out of what we see. Like Dory, we sometimes need to trust and let go, trust that God has it under control even though what we see suggests otherwise.

I think this is one of the most difficult parts of being a Jesus Follower: Trust beyond what we can see. That why strong faith is grounded in knowledge rather than feelings.

I’m always looking for ways to link popular media to faith. I like to write about redemptive themes. This post is a bit different. I was talking to a friend the other day about the stickiness of sin. That is, sin has a way of clinging to us. I’ve written previously of a friend who took one step off the narrow path and then proceeded to sprint into deeper and more flagrant sins. I also know first hand of what it feels like to carry the guilt of unconfessed sin. It’s like an invisible backpack of bricks. Other people can’t see it, but it slows us down, hunches us over, and affects everything we do.

Spiderman 3, the movie, comes to mind here because of that black, icky thing that covered Spiderman for part of the movie. Background: An asteroid crashes to earth and Spidey goes to investigate. The asteroid contains more than just rock and ice, however. It carries some kind of icky black symbiote that clings to Spiderman, becoming part of his Spidey suit. Except for the fact that Spidey’s suit changed from red to black, you couldn’t even tell it was there. I’m not sure if the thing was evil or if it somehow amplified Peter Parker’s evil nature, but Spidey and the icky black thing together were a bad mix.

After Spidey had done some really bad things, he came to his senses and tried to get rid of the icky black thing. He struggled mightily to get the thing to let go of him, but it was like gum-on-steroids stuck to the bottom of a shoe. Spiderman pulled and pushed, stretched and groaned, tried and failed, but eventually succeeded at ridding himself of the thing.

I think sin in our lives is like the icky black thing. It clings to us, blending in such that other people aren’t always aware of it. We often struggle mightily to rid ourselves of it, but, unlike Spidey, we usually don’t have the strength to get rid of it on our own. (We haven’t been bitten by radioactive spiders after all!) We need help. We need a savior.

Yeah. I agree. Weird title.

Two notions collided in my head this morning. I was listening to a sermon titled, “The Whole Christmas Story.” One of the strong points that was made was that if we don’t understand the bigger picture – the back story – it’s hard to understand the significance of Jesus’ birth.

Jason, one of our Elders, asked us to consider a contrast. We were invited to compare the joy we feel when we hear the news that a couple we barely know has delivered a child with the incredible joy we feel when we hear the news that a couple we know well, a couple that has struggled with miscarriages, pain, and suffering, has delivered a child. Because we know the back story of the couple we know well, there is greater significance and greater joy when we hear the news.

When we read the accounts of Jesus’ birth in the New Testament, we might feel joy akin to the joy we feel when we hear the news of that couple we barely know. We know it’s a good thing – birth, that is. We might also recall that Jesus is headed for the cross, therefore we know that it’s important. But without knowing the back story we might miss the incredible joy that comes from understanding the significance of that birth.

The reality is that Jesus’ birth was a huge deal. It was a birth long awaited and hoped for by the Jews. As we read through the Old Testament, we find an amazing story of a people that kept going their own way and God who wouldn’t abandon them. The Jews were waiting and hoping for a Messiah who would accomplish that which they were incapable of doing for themselves. In the dark days prior to Jesus’ birth even the prophets had been silent for some 400 years. It was as if God had turned his back on the nation. I’m told that the rabbis writing in those days wondered what God was doing. They worried that Israel had, at last, exceeded God’s patience.

But in the darkness there was hope. Jesus quietly burst onto the scene to begin a journey that would fulfill God’s promises of blessing to the Jews (Israel) and the Gentiles (the rest of us).

How does this fit with the Matrix?

In the movie, the people living in the Matrix don’t know the back story. What they see is a facade, a mere shadow of the reality behind it. I believe that many of us – Christians and non-Christians alike – look at the Christmas story through Matrix-colored glasses. It’s a nice story. It makes us feel good because it means that God loves us. But we don’t understand the back story. We don’t understand the significance.

In The Matrix, when people finally know the back story, their lives are radically changed. It’s not possible to go back to business as usual. This kind of radical change can be yours, too, when you know Jesus’ back story. Read the Old Testament and the gospels. I believe they will open your eyes to the bigger picture.

(Originally published May 2007)

I recently watched the new Drew Barrymore movie, Fever Pitch. I enjoyed the movie, but most impressive to me was the main message delivered by the movie:

Sometimes you sacrifice what you love for the one you love!

Fever Pitch is a sappy romance that brings together two people who were previously unwilling to compromise their goals and desires for anyone. In their own ways, each was immersed in something very important to them with no room for anyone else. By the end of the movie, however, in a scene reminiscent of O. Henry’s classic The Gift of the Magi, both are willing to give up something dear to them for the other’s sake. (Okay. It falls well short of O. Henry’s work, but there might be a hint of it!)

In this day of selfish pursuits, it’s nice to see a movie with a positive message.

( I just wish they could have restrained themselves from adding the strong undercurrent of sexuality!)

If you’d like to read a public-domain copy of The Gift of the Magi, try Project Gutenberg at this location:

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/magi10h.htm

Enjoy!

I re-watched the movie Galaxy Quest last night. At its core, the movie is the story of redemption.

Galaxy Quest is a parody of Star Trek. Tim Allen plays the actor Jason Nesmith who, 18 years prior, had the lead role of Commander Peter Quincy Taggert. Since the show’s demise, Nesmith and the rest of the cast have been eking out an embarrassing existence by appearing at Treky-like trade shows and making campy product endorsements. Nesmith is self-absorbed. He continues to grab the lion’s share of the diminishing spotlight, much to the consternation of his fellow cast members.

At a particular low point, Nesmith is visited by some folks that he thinks are crazy fans dressed up as aliens. The problem is, they are aliens! They’ve intercepted the television transmissions of the Galaxy Quest show, and they think Nesmith is a real hero! They take him into outer space to do battle with an evil enemy that they cannot handle on their own. Thrust into a real-life situation that requires heroics, Nesmith eventually rises to the occasion, transforming into a real servant leader who puts the welfare of his friends first.

I see a parallel between Nesmith’s fictional life and the life of a Jesus follower. Nesmith thought he had it all together. When his eyes were opened to his true nature, he admitted his condition and then repented – turned from – his former self. Those who follow Jesus have also come to a place where we realize that we aren’t all that great after all. As things fall apart around us, we often admit our weakness for the first time and hit bottom. It’s at the bottom where many of us finally acknowledge that we need Jesus.

Paul, writing in the 7th chapter of 2 Corinthians, says that those who operate in unrighteousness “suppress the truth”. This suppression is our defense mechanism against what God would have us see, acknowledge, and dispose of!