I learn a lot from movies. I usually watch movies at home on Netflix but in the last couple of weeks I have made two trips to our only movie complex in Cheyenne to see first run movies.
My first trip was a predictable choice for a date night with Debbie. We saw American Underdog: The Kurt
Warner Story. We both thought it was a great story about overcoming impossible odds with courage, faith and determination. I was totally into the movie and Debbie and I talked about the themes in the movies for hours.
Our second trip was more surprising. I am not normally drawn to superhero movies, but at breakfast with the Airmen, they all talked enthusiastically about the film and suggested we see it. So yesterday, on the spur of the moment, we made a second trip to the movie complex. If you have not seen Spider-Man: No Way Home, let this be your Spoiler Alert.
The plot of Spider-Man was predictable: bad guys versus good guys with long fight scenes and great special effects. I had trouble getting into the movie and it seemed long. From an entertainment point of view, I enjoyed American Underdog much more.
GIFTS AND TROUBLE
However, I appreciated some of the themes of Spider-Man. For example, Spider, Man has a gift that he can use to make the world a better place. I believe that God has given every person a unique gift which can be used to make the world a better place if we’re willing to use it.
Even though Spider-Man desires to do good with his gift, he is misunderstood and is arrested. I don’t think this is unusual. Often people who desire to use their gifts to improve the world are misunderstood and punished. I think that Jesus, Martin Luther, Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela are some famous people who wanted to do good who were misunderstood and labeled as criminals. There are also millions of people who are not famous who have been arrested, falsely accused of crimes, fired from jobs, or killed for just trying to make the world a better place. Spider-Man reminds us that if we use our gifts as they were intended, we might find ourselves in a lot of trouble.
CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES
Another theme I appreciated was the idea that making the right choice can come with terrible consequences. In the latest Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man’s problems arise because everyone knows that Spider-Man is really Peter Parker. Peter has the opportunity, through magic, to erase this information from everyone’s minds. At first this seems like a good idea, but as the wizard is casting the spell Peter realizes that if his memory is erased from the people he loves (MJ, Aunt May, Ned, and others), he will also lose everything that he loves. Like Peter Parker, we have a problem. The Bible tells us our problem is sin, and the shame that comes from that sin. God (like the wizard) offers us a solution. If we confess our sins, believe in Jesus, and die to ourselves, we can experience the life He has for us. This is great news and often people “accept Jesus” as their savior and tell God they want to die to themselves and live for the Lord. But like Peter, as we think about the implications of dying to ourselves, we too want some exceptions. For example, some people don’t want to give God control of their finances. So, they will follow God, but they want an exception, they don’t want to die to the love of money. For others it is fame. These folks really want to follow Jesus, but they want to be loved by the crowd. For others it could be a relationship which is not honoring to the Lord. They know they are in a relationship which isn’t pleasing to the Lord, but they don’t want to give it up. I think the list of things we don’t want to give to the Lord is long, and everyone who follows Jesus and wants to die to themselves would like some exceptions. I know in my own life I struggle with dying to myself. However, as we make exceptions to what the Lord is asking us to die to, we fail to experience the life that God has for us.
At the end of the movie Peter Parker realizes that if he is going to continue using his gift he must accept the spell with no exceptions. So, the wizard cast the spell with no exceptions and instantly no one knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. The last scene of the movie shows Peter visiting a coffee shop where his love (MJ) is working. She is there with his best friend, Ned, and neither of them knows Peter Parker.
It is a painful movement for Peter.
If we really want to die to ourselves, we are going to have painful moments. There will be moments when we refuse to die to ourselves, ask for exceptions, and experience the consequences of not giving everything to the Lord. There will also be times when we give everything to the Lord, and then, like Peter Parker at the end of the movie, realize that dying to ourselves carries suffering as well.
Suffering in this life is unavoidable. The question is how we choose to suffer. Do you choose to suffer in service to God knowing that in this suffering we’ll be a service to others? Or do we choose a path which appears to minimize our own suffering? I may not be a superhero, but I think my life has proven that, as counterintuitive as it sounds, suffering in the cause of Christ is part of the good life.
