After watching Tron at the theater one or two weeks ago, I began thinking about the way movies influence us teens.
A lot of movies teens like watching are ones where other young people are the heroes. In these movies, these young people have to conquer huge challenges that come up against them. And even though teens enjoy them and love watching the main character hurdle difficult circumstances, they realize that the circumstances are unrealistic, and after the movie teens go back to their normal lives and wait for the the next bit of entertainment to come out.
In The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Dave says "I just want to be a normal kid with a normal life" (more or less) when he is first confronted with his destiny to destroy the evil sorceress Morgana. And this happens in plenty of movies. The characters start out unwilling to face the fact that they have a difficult situation to deal with, but by the end they overcome it and everyone leaves the theater - or living room - happy.
Of course, while we're sitting there watching the main character, we say one of two things. Either "Wow, I NEVER could have gotten the courage to face that person" or "Ah, I would've jumped right into the circumstance and win with way more style than that guy's got." But when the movie is over and we go back to our lives, faced with problems much smaller than the ones we just saw conquered on the big screen, we cower and just do what everyone else does - take the easy way out. We figure, "Hey, that was just the movies. Actors follow the script and in the script there's always a happy ending." But as Christians, aren't we promised the same thing?
If you're an MK, PK, or just a "church kid," you've been told since you were little that as soon as we accept Christ's gift of salvation, our ticket to heaven to be with God forever is secure. And of course, we're also told that as followers of Christ, we will be faced with opposition and unpopularity. But think about it. Doesn't the Holy Spirit in us empower us to keep doing the right thing anyway? I think we've forgotten the Man our salvation rests on. Jesus was looked down on throughout His entire ministry, but what did He do? He put His perfect life on the line to do the will of His Father. Wow. And this is the Man we claim to follow. But do we ever make sacrifices like that? The way I see it, sacrificing popularity is a miniscule thing compared to sacrificing your LIFE for something you believe in, something you know is bigger than you.
A part of all of us longs to do something that will make a difference, that will get us noticed, that will make our lives so much fuller than they feel right now. And that thing we want to do is something God commands us to do - represent Christ every day with everything we say and do by learning to trust Him completely with our lives.
"But how do we do that?" you might ask. "I can't even resist eating an extra cookie after supper every night!" And that's the beauty of it. The Bible tells us that we can't stand for Christ through our own strength, and then points to our loving Creator as the answer! Some of my favorite verses in the Bible are found in Jeremiah 1:6-8:
'Then said I, "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth." But the Lord said to me: "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you," says the Lord.'
What an awesome promise! God commands us to stand up for the truth of Scripture, but tells us that we don't have to do it alone! Jesus also encourages us in Mark 8:35 by saying, "For whoever desires to save his life [a.k.a. by just going with the flow] will lose it, but whoever loses his life [which doesn't necessarily mean dying] for My sake and the gospel's will save it."
At this point you might say, "Hey, my life has been fine doing things everyone else does while still being guaranteed heaven after I die." But what does the Bible say about this lifestyle? Can fresh water and salt water come out of the same spring? Can an orange tree bear apples? You just plain cannot have two masters. You will always love one and hate the other.
Obviously, I said that all from memory, but we've all heard these verse before and can't pretend we don't know what they mean. Jesus tells us that we have to choose between the world and Him. When are we finally going to be sick of giving Jesus only part of our lives - the church part, the 15 minute skim-read devotions part, and the 5 minutes of prayer before you fall asleep when you can never think of anything to say? Jesus gave up friends, recognition, and His life for you. What are you doing for Him?
