I wrote an article a while back about the four types of people most likely to see a Christian movie. The thing about The Shack is that, while those four groups of people will see it, I believe it is broader reaching than that. As a book it certainly was a cultural phenomenon in that it reached far beyond the normal Christian circles. The movie, therefore, is already starting with a fan base far beyond the normal Christian market. Beyond that, its subject matter also invites a broader audience. The movie centers around an encounter a grieving father has with the triune Godhead after the abduction and murder of his youngest daughter. It tackles head on, tenderly, intimately, the problem of pain in the world—quite probably the number one question/objection to faith that I hear many non-Christians (and Christians alike) wrestle with. Why would a good, sovereign God allow pain in the world?

Years ago, Shepherd Project Ministries did extensive work creating resources for people regarding the book which are just as potent today for the movie as they were for the book.

• Book Summary (think Cliff notes version)
• Building Bridges with The Shack (how to use The Shack as a tool to reach others)
• A Review of The Shack (What’s good about it. Why it’s been criticized. Is it theologically sound?)
• The Shack and the problem of evil
• Some other recommended links

I highly recommend you read the Review as well as the Problem of Evil articles as they will equip you to clearly speak into the theological aspects (and they do so in an easy to read and understand fashion). As before with the book, I suspect the movie will resurrect many of the discussions about the theological soundness of the book. And certainly, you could hardly discuss the movie at all without a discussion of the problem of evil in the world. So, it doesn’t hurt to be equipped for those discussions!

As there is so much information already available on The Shack, I will focus this article on a few of the poignant lessons in the movie. Know, however, that the power of the story is that its truths are couched in parables, metaphors and visuals—no list of lessons will quite touch you the way seeing the story play out will.

1. Sometimes we have a hard time relating to God as a Father because we’ve been hurt by our fathers, and sometimes we need God as a Father.
2. Sometimes we feel that God is silent. We feel He leads us somewhere and then doesn’t show and/or abandons us. Our perception, however, is not necessarily reality. “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” Hebrews 11:6.
3. Sometimes the only way to heal is to go back to our place of woundedness, the place where we got stuck. It can seem cruel to us to have to face that pain, but it’s God’s love that takes us there, so that we can heal.
4. We may want a quick fix to our pain, but as Papa told Mack, “There’s no easy fix… It takes a bit of time and relationship.”
5. Just because bad things happen to us, it doesn’t mean God left us. As Papa explained, “No Mack, you misunderstand the mystery… Don’t ever think what cost my son didn’t cost me, too. [As Papa revealed the nail scars in his own arms.] Love always leaves a mark. I never left Him. I never left you. I never left Missy.”
6. Jesus point out to Mack, “When all you see is your pain, you lose sight of me.”
7. Mack thought he wouldn’t be free until his circumstances changed, but Papa reminded him that it’s not our circumstances that set us free but Truth…and Jesus is the Truth. Therefore, Jesus, not a change in our circumstances, will set us free.
8. “Birds are created to fly. You, on the other hand, were created to be loved. Living unloved is like clipping a bird’s wings.”
9. Even if you can’t see it, you are in the center of God’s love and purpose.
10. “Dreams are important. They can be a way of opening a window, letting the bad air out.”
11. God doesn’t punish the people who disappoint him. Sin is its own punishment.
12. The flaw in our thinking, often, as we try to make sense of our world and our pain is that we don’t think God is good.
13. If something is to be planted, the ground has to be prepared. This involves tearing up the soil and getting rid of any old roots. Sometimes when our lives are being torn up, it’s just proof that God is making room to plant something beautiful.
14. In the garden, the flowers were beautiful, but they had to be cut down to make room for something better. We see two things here – first off, there can be too much of a good thing. Even good things need to be trimmed and kept in balance and order at times. Second off, the good can be in the way of something better. When God cuts down something good in your life, it may not be that He’s trying to take away something good, but only that He is freeing you up to receive something better. It may not be His judgement but rather His love and generosity at work.
15. Mack judged a poisonous root evil because it could kill him. Sarayu pointed out, however, that that root, when combined with another plant, had great healing properties. (The same could be said of Paul—he was murderous, until combined with the loving power of God.) Sometimes we judge things evil because we don’t know what good they may become when combined with the love of God. God can work all things (including all people) to good…Romans 8:28.
16. God loves his children, even when they are in rebellion. He desires that none should perish.
17. We are often in judgement of both God and man, thinking we could do a better job. When giving the job, however, Mack realized it wasn’t one he wanted. Only God can judge.
18. Forgiveness is a process.
19. We can get lost in our own sadness so much that we aren’t able to help others through theirs.

Click here to read quotes from The Shack movie.

Click here to read Shepherd Project’s discussion of The Shack.

Willie: Who wouldn’t be skeptical when a man claims to have spent a weekend with God?

Neighbor: Daddy’s aren’t supposed to do that to their kids. It ain’t love. You understand?
Young Mack: What do I do?
Neighbor: Talk to God. He’s always listening.

Young Mack, reciting as he’s being beaten by his father: Obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord.

Willie, narrating: 13 is way too young to be all grown up. The secrets we keep have a way of clawing their way to the surface.

Missy: If God is always with us, why does he care if we’re late for church?

Missy: Will I ever have to jump off a cliff?
Mack: No.
Missy: Will God ask me to?
Mack: No, He won’t.

Nan: Mack, don’t forget we love each other.

Mack: You led me here and you don’t have the guts to show.

Sarayu: I collect tears.

Mack: Am I dead?
Papa: Do you feel dead?

Mack: Why did you bring me back here?
Papa: Because here is where you got stuck.

Papa (on why he appears as a woman): After what you’ve been through, I didn’t think you could handle a father right now.

Papa: I know what a great gulf there is between us.

Papa: Mack, you may not know this, but I am especially fond of you.

Papa: There’s no easy fix… It takes a bit of time and relationship.

Mack: You are almighty God… limitless power… You are everwhere… And somehow, you let my little girl [die]… You abandoned her.
Papa: I never left her.

Jesus: When all you see is your pain, you lose sight of me.

Mack: Because of you, she’s gone. Until you change that, I will never be free.
Papa: The truth sets everyone free, and He’s in the woodshed covered in saw dust.

Papa: No Mack, you misunderstand the mystery… Don’t ever think what costs my son didn’t cost me, too. Love always leaves a mark. I never left Him. I never left you. I never left Missy.

Papa: Birds are created to fly. You, on the other hand, were created to be loved. Living unloved is like clipping a bird’s wings. … This is why you’re here, Mackenzie. This is your flying lesson.

Jesus: Sarayu is creativity, action, the breath of life. She is my spirit and even if you can’t see it, you are in the center of our love and purpose.

Papa: Dreams are important. They can be a way of opening a window, letting the bad air out.

Mack: Everybody knows you punish the people who disappoint you.
Papa: No. Sin is its own punishment. … I’m in the middle of everything you see [as a mess], working for your good.

Papa: Mackenzie, you’re trying to make sense of your world… The real flaw in your life is that you don’t think that I am good..

Mack: Trust you?! Why would I do that? My daughter is dead. There’s nothing you can say that will make sense of that.

Sarayu: There’s something very special I want to plant here tomorrow, but to prepare the ground, we have to dig up all the roots.

Sarayu: Alone this will kill you, but combined with the nectar from this plant, it has great healing properties. …Tell me, how confident are you in your ability to discern right from wrong? Good from evil?

Sarayu: Yes, [the garden is a mess]. It’s wild and wonderful and perfectly in process. This mess is you.

Jesus: Religion is way too much work. I don’t want slaves. I want friends. Family.

Wisdom: Why are you surprised? You spent your whole life judging everyone… Choose one of your children to go to Heaven and one to go to Hell… because that’s what you think God does.

Wisdom: You judged your children worthy of God, even if it costs you everything. Now you know Papa’s heart.

Wisdom: God didn’t cause it.
Mack: He didn’t stop it.
Wisdom: He doesn’t stop a lot of things that cause Him pain… You want a promise of a pain-free life… [It’s not possible] as long as there’s free will.

Mack: Does she forgive me?
Wisdom: For what?
Mack: For not getting to her in time.
Wisdom: Missy doesn’t think that. Or Nan. Or Papa. It’s time to let that go.

Mack: Please don’t [take me there].
Papa: Son, we are on a healing trail to bring closure to this part of your journey.

Mack: I want to hurt him…
Papa: I know you do, but he is my son, too, and I want to redeem him.
Mack: So, you want to let him get away with it?
Papa: Nobody gets away with anything. Trust me to do what’s right. The pain inside you is crippling you, robbing you of [healing] and joy.
Mack: I’m still angry!
Papa: Of course you are! No one lets go all at once.

Papa: If anything matters, then everything matters.

Mack (to his oldest daughter): I was so lost in my own sadness that I wasn’t able to help you through yours. I’m really sorry.

Willie, about Mack now: He loves larger than most, is quick to forgive and even quicker to ask for forgiveness.

Other recommended resources for The Shack:

• Book Summary (think Cliff notes version)
• Building Bridges with The Shack (how to use The Shack as a tool to reach others)
• A Review of The Shack (What’s good about it. Why it’s been criticized. Is it theologically sound?)
• The Shack and the problem of evil
• Some other recommended links

Click here to read Shepherd Project’s discussion of Before I Fall.

Sammy: Maybe for you there’s a tomorrow. Maybe for you there’s 1,000 or 3,000 or 10. … So much time you can waste it. But for some of us, there’s only today and what you do today matters, in the moment and maybe to infinity. But I didn’t know any of that until I fell.

Lindsay: I’d never let my best friend die a virgin. It’s the big day. Opening night.

Elody: No glove, no love.

AC: I’m in heteronormative hell.

Sammy: Were you nervous your first time? Lindsay: I was too drunk to care.

Lindsay (?): We did it right, you know? Kissed the hottest boys. Went to the hottest parties… I can’t believe it’s almost over.

Lindsay: You don’t want to waste the first night you go full womanhood.

A sign: Become who you are.

Sammy: What do you think people will say about you when you die?
Lindsay: That we’re hot.

Sammy: It wasn’t a dream. It really happened. Again.

Sammy’s mom: You’ll feel better when you see some of your roses… You’re lucky to be so popular.

Sammy: Maybe everything was connected. Maybe a flock of birds can cause a rainstorm and everything done could be undone… Maybe things could change and I could change them.

Sammy: I’m not going to have sex with him just because I want him to say “I love you.”

Sammy: Remind me again, why do we hate Juliette? Are you serious? It’s because of all those creepy drawings.

Lindsay: Look, you can’t just be mean to somebody forever and then feel bad when she dies.

Sammy: I did everything right and nothing changed. The day starts and ends the same no matter what I do or say. So if that’s how this works, I’m gonna do and say whatever I want.

Kent: Do you need to prove to the rest of us that you don’t give a s***? This isn’t you.

AC: Why do you guys hate me so much?
Sammy: I don’t know. Isn’t that how it always works out? There’s somebody laughing and there’s somebody being laughed at?

Elodie: It doesn’t matter if it’s true. She’s Lindsay. She’s ours.

Sammy: You’re the horrible [one]. You’re the one who was friends with her and then tortured her for all these years and now I’m the one paying for it.

Sammy: If I was going to live the same day over and over I wanted it to be a worthy day. But not just for me.

Sammy’s mom: Do one good thing. You just focus on that one good thing and you see where it leads you.

Sammy: How is it possible to be able to change so much and not change anything at all?

Sammy: Why are you always so nice to me?
Kent: Well, remember in second (?) grade, right after my dad died? … Phil Howell called me a baby… You came over; you scooped up the mashed potatoes right up off the ground and smashed them in his face and said “you’re worse than a hot lunch.” (Which was a pretty good insult at the time.) It was the first time I laughed since my dad died. You remember what I said to you?
Sammy: You’re my hero.
Kent: And that day I vowed to be your hero, too, no matter how long it took.

Juliette: Lindsay is the one who peed. She just pointed at me and screamed, “She did it!”

Sammy: For the first time when I wake up, I’m not scared of confused or angry. Because for the first time, I truly understand what needs to happen. I truly understand how to live this day.

Sammy: You know why I love you? Because you’re down for anything. I love you, Ali, because you are … passionate. I love you, Lindsay, because you are the person that papers Jason’s house for a week just because he said I was a bad kisser.

Sammy: Stop!!! But it’s Juliette?!
Sammy: Exactly.   It’s Juliette. She has a name, and she’s a person.

Sammy: Lindsay, why didn’t you ever tell me about your parent’s divorce?
Lindsay: Why would I tell you about something that happened 1,000 years ago?
Sammy: Because it happened to you and I love you.

Sammy: You don’t want to die. You want your pain to stop… you have a choice, Juliette.

Juliette: Not everybody gets that. Don’t you get it? I can’t be fixed.
Sammy: You’re not the one who needs fixing…. This is just a blip… Just hold on for one more minute.

Sammy: Maybe for you there’s a tomorrow… What you do today matters—in the moment and maybe for infinity.

Sammy:  I see only my greatest hits. I see the things I want to remember and be remembered for. That’s when I realize that certain moments go on forever, even after they’re over they go on. They are the meaning.

Juliette: You saved me! Sammy: No. You saved me.

*Spoiler Alert*

If you crossed Mean Girls with Groundhog Day with A Girl Like Her… you would have something very similar to Before I Fall.

Honestly, it was hard for me to watch at the beginning. The girls were shallow and mean. I didn’t like how they treated each other, much less how they treated people they didn’t like (uncool people, siblings, their parents, teachers, etc.). On the other hand, I was watching it thinking—this is what high school is really like for most kids these days. I work with teenagers, and much of what I saw on the screen was either what I have directly seen or what I have heard about—and frankly, it’s both shocking and disheartening. Sadly, I would say that anyone wanting to get a more realistic look into the life of the American teenager’s world today might do well to see this movie.

This is the same reason, however, that I might advise caution for some viewers. In particular, besides the rudeness and the language, the casual attitude towards sex was enough to make me ill. It’s Valentine’s Day and Sammy is hoping to lose her virginity to her boyfriend that night. (Side note: shouldn’t it tell us something that they talk about “losing” their virginity, rather than “giving” it? When is “losing” anything ever really a good thing?) Anyway, Sammy’s friend, Lindsay, tells her, “I’d never let my best friend die a virgin. It’s the big day—opening night.” And then another friend hands her a condom and says, “No glove, no love.” Besides being crude, the mentality is that it’s embarrassing for anyone to still be a virgin by their senior year. When I was growing up, it was embarrassing to have “lost” it so soon. Really, anyone can give it up any time, but doesn’t it take far more strength not to? Shouldn’t it be a badge of honor to still be a virgin, rather than a mark of shame? What’s happened?  (But hey, there’s a token recommendation for safe-sex…so that’s good, right?!)

Lindsay later tells Sammy, “You don’t want to waste the first night you go full womanhood.” Again – note the connotation that Sammy is less of a woman until she has sex with someone…anyone. Perhaps we should compare this idea of what a true or full woman is with the Proverbs 31 idea of the righteous woman? Granted, that woman has obviously had sex, too—as she is a mother—but it isn’t having sex that makes her a full woman, but rather the way she conducts herself with honor and dignity. Part of what makes her a woman is that she isn’t having sex outside of marriage (the heart of her husband trusts her).

If the movie stopped here, if it never offered another perspective, I’d hate it and say don’t waste your time (except maybe as an eye-opening glimpse into teenage reality). Actually, however, the movie doesn’t end here—and that is where it becomes really redemptive and worth the time.

The story is that Sammy, who you feel could be a sweet girl, has three best friends and those girls are popular, beautiful and mean…and she is acting just like them. They go to a party (where she is supposed to have sex with her lousy boyfriend) and there, not only does she realize what a louse her boyfriend is, but they all end up in a fight with Juliette, who has been the primary object of their hate. They drive home, upset by the fight with Juliette and end up in an accident. The next day, Sammy wakes up again—stuck on a repeat of that Valentine’s Day.

We watch Sammy go through numerous responses. She tries to do good things, but it doesn’t seem to matter. She then decides if nothing matters, why not let it all out? Everything she’s pent up, every urge, every mean thought, every suppressed feeling, it all comes spewing out of her—hate, seduction, rage, you name it. It’s ugly. She dresses like a tramp, defies her parents, is hateful to her baby sister, destroys her best friends, tries to seduce her teacher (more out of a desire to control him than to win him), and purposely sleeps with her boyfriend, knowing full-well by now what kind of guy he is. Perhaps the most honest thing it had to show about sex was when she lay there afterward, bitterly weeping. As much as I hated to see her go there, on the other hand, I really appreciate that the movie didn’t glorify it. At all. (The other non-glorifying comment comes from Lindsay who confesses that her first time she was “too drunk to care”—so we get a little glimpse beyond her cavalier attitude, that maybe she’s trying to cover for how she really feels about it all.)

After she realizes that “doing and saying whatever she wants” doesn’t actually feel good, at all, she changes her tactics. “If I was going to live the same day over and over I wanted it to be a worthy day. But not just for me.” And she begins to practice actually being a good person.  She begins to question why they hate certain people, like Juliette, and realizes she has no idea—she hates them because Lindsay said they should. She begins to have compassion for others, to spend time with her family and respect them, to value her little sister. She starts serving the people around her, rather than taking from them.

This all feels better, but it still doesn’t seem to change anything. “How is it possible to be able to change so much and not change anything at all?” It’s a lot like the book of Ecclesiastes. What is the meaning of life? What will she be known for when she dies? Does anything actually make a difference? She tries everything but nothing seems to matter. Except, she is miserable when she behaves badly and finds happiness in kindness and love and gratitude.

It seemed like everything and nothing changed, but that’s not entirely true. She was changing. Her ways of thinking were maturing. She was beginning to care about people beyond herself. All of this had to happen before she could get to the point that she was willing to both take responsibility for her actions and be willing to love someone else enough to die for them.

It’s an interesting paradox, that when we live for our own pleasure we get stuck in a monotonous, miserable existence, but when we live for others, our life finds joy and meaning. Jesus says that if a person wishes to find their life, they must lose it. This is the same realization Sammy came to. “For the first time when I wake up, I’m not scared of confused or angry. Because for the first time, I truly understand what needs to happen. I truly understand how to live this day.” You see, Juliette had committed suicide that night after the party, and Sammy realized that the only way to make things right was to save Juliette (which also cost her her life). In that way, they saved each other.

It wasn’t just about saving Juliette, however, or how Juliette saved Sammy, or even the way Sammy helped saved her friends, too. Sammy’s last day was lived perfectly, and how often do you get to see someone live a truly perfect day? It was inspiring. She spent her day speaking life and love into everyone—friends, family and enemies alike. She was full of gratitude and opened herself to love. She stopped to see the world and experience its beauty. She gave great grace to Lindsay and helped her heal. (I love that while we see how awful she is, she is also humanized and we see what pain she is in. Sammy speaks life and love into Lindsay’s wounds, rather than condemnation.) She asked for forgiveness from people she had wronged. She was kind to people she knew were hurting. She invested into the well-being of everyone around her. All day long. And then she defended Juliette at the party and even gave her life to save her.

Sammy doesn’t regret it for one moment. Instead, she encourages the audience: “Maybe for you there’s a tomorrow… [But] what you do today matters—in the moment and maybe for infinity. …I see only my greatest hits. I see the things I want to remember and be remembered for. That’s when I realize that certain moments go on forever, even after they’re over they go on. They are the meaning.” It may sound a bit idealistic, this, “only the highlights live on” talk, but isn’t that kind of what Paul is saying when he writes about how only some of our works (our pure ones) will survive judgment?

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— ¹³ each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. ¹⁴ If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

The movie starts out a bit rough, but it ends beautifully. Sammy becomes the right kind of a person, a good role model for us all. She doesn’t have any sign of faith in her life but her actions are very much those of Christ.

15 other great lessons to take away:

1. Our actions create ripple effects. Sammy: “Maybe everything was connected. Maybe a flock of birds can cause a rainstorm and everything done could be undone… Maybe things could change and I could change them.”
2. We can right our wrongs.
3. After Sammy unleashed on her friends and said all sorts of ugly things about Lindsay, she defended herself by saying that it was all true. Elodie replied, “It doesn’t matter if it’s true. She’s Lindsay. She’s ours.” Truth isn’t all that matters. Love matters too. In fact, it matters more. And love covers over a multitude of wrongs (1 Peter 4:8).
4. Sammy was mad at Lindsay because, “You’re the horrible [one]. You’re the one who was friends with her and then tortured her for all these years and now I’m the one paying for it.” From which we see two key principles: You may have to pay for someone else’s mistakes/behavior (case in point—we are all still paying for Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden) and just because you don’t instigate something, doesn’t mean you aren’t still guilty for it. Sammy was guilty both by association and by consent.
5. You never know how your actions might inspire someone else. In second grade, Sammy defended Kent and became his hero in such a way that he vowed to someday become her hero, too.
6. Kent spent the following years (until their Sr. year) honoring his vow and being good and kind and faithful to Sammy, even when she was ugly in return. It was his kindness that helped her find her way again. The good we do is like planting seeds that reap a harvest in our future.  
7. Turns out, Lindsay was accusing Juliette of the things she was guilty of. “Lindsay is the one who peed. She just pointed at me and screamed, “She did it!” So often, people accuse others of what they are guilty of—either trying to deflect guilt and shame, or because they recognize in you what they have in themselves.
8. Bullies and mean girls are the way they are for a reason. They have their own history of pain and hurting others is a way of deflecting attention from their own hurt. And/or sometimes, it’s just all they have to offer. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45)—so when the heart is full of pain, anger, suffering, bitterness…it’s what overflows.
9. Sammy spent her last day speaking love into her friends. Everyone has something good or admirable in them, something we can praise and speak life into.
10. “It’s Juliette. She has a name, and she’s a person.” The people we bully or ignore or hate …they are people too, with names and feelings.
11. Sammy realized Lindsay had been in a lot of pain over her parent’s divorce in 2^nd grade, but had never told them because she didn’t feel it mattered. First off, just because you spend a lot of time with someone, doesn’t mean you really know them. Secondly, we may think something is irrelevant or in the past, but our past (especially our pain) matters.
12. Juliette said she wanted to die, but Sammy spoke the truth, “You don’t want to die. You want your pain to stop… you have a choice, Juliette.” People who say they want to die really mean that they want their pain to stop. When Juliette found that she was saved, she was relieved.
13. Juliette knew that the things Lindsay said were a lie, but even still, she started to believe them. She believed she “couldn’t be fixed”. Even when we know something isn’t true, if we hear it often enough, we can start to believe it—which is why it really matters what we hear/listen to/allow into our brain.
14. When Juliette felt she needed to be fixed, Sammy spoke the truth – “You’re not the one who needs fixing.” Just because you think you are the problem, doesn’t mean it’s true. Sometimes YOU are not the problem and YOU are not the broken one…sometimes it’s someone else.
15. Sammy encouraged get it Juliette to hang on just a little longer. “This is just a blip… Just hold on for one more minute.” Our pain can feel eternal, but it’s not. If we can just realize that this is just a blip… and hang a minute more.

Questions for Discussion:

• What about this movie is similar to your experience?
• Have you ever been bullied?
• Have you ever been part of the bullying (whether as the bully or the silent sidekick)?
• Do you have friends or know people who are mean to others? Why do you think they are the way they are?
• How can you speak life into others?
• What were the things that made Sammy’s last day perfect?
• Do you feel like your actions make a difference?

Click here for quotes from Before I Fall.

The message was there in the first rendition of the movie, but it wasn’t explicit. The creators of this newer version of Beauty and the Beast did parents of young girls at least one solid when they spelled it out for their audiences: Dignity is attractive.

Gaston is chasing Belle with no luck, and LeFou wants to help. He suggests Gaston give up his pursuit of Belle and instead look to any number of other beautiful girls who are throwing themselves at him daily. You don’t really expect Gaston to have any great lesson to teach anyone—he’s the villain—but even villains can get something right.

Gaston: That’s what makes Belle so appealing—she hasn’t made a fool of herself to gain my favor. What do you call that? LeFou: Dignity? Gaston: Isn’t it attractive?!

Yes!!!! Yes! Thank you! Dignity is so very attractive. And in this day and age, dignity is more rare than ever. Rare is also attractive. Rare is valuable—think basic economics, supply and demand. (It can also be lonely—I SO get that…but it’s worth it.) In a world where young girls (I’m talking early teens at least) are being asked (and even expected) to send nude selfies to boys (before they are even dating!!!!—just to show you how ridiculously and horrifically common place this is these days), the temptation is for girls to think they have to compete with that to get a guy’s attention. Therefore, they are going even beyond that to snag the guy of their interest.

The thing is, what they don’t realize is that that doesn’t make them stand out. That only makes them like every other girl. It even makes them look foolish. What will make them stand out is dignity. It’s uncommon and it’s beautiful and it sets them apart. Not to mention, it’s Godly.

I never thought I’d say this, but, “Thank you, Gaston, for that bit of wisdom!”

On a related note, Belle very much models the Proverbs 31 woman, not only in her dignity, but also as she takes care of her household, teaches children to read, handles business and supports her father, etc.

Related articles:

• Should Christians Boycott
• Quotes from Beauty and the Beast
• Why is beauty and the beast so timeless?
• Beauty and the Beast and what to do about it
• Beauty and the Beast’s “Gay Moment”

I mentioned here that Beauty and the Beast is “one of the most beloved Disney stories of all time. Cinderella may be more “classic” but is very much a girls’ movie. Beauty and the Beast appeals far more broadly to both male and female.” Why is that? What makes Beauty and the Beast so beloved and so timeless? When something is timeless and classic, it’s enduring for a reason—there is something in it that rings true in our souls. I believe Beauty and the Beast rings true because it so closely resembles the Christian story. Let me explain.

Because of a curse, Eric wasn’t the man he should have been—he was a beast. He was going to stay a beast unless love set him free. Eric’s story is ours. We, too, have been cursed and because of it, we are less than we were created to be.

Belle’s father ends up captive in the Beast’s castle, but Belle comes along (interestingly, she’s an only child) and willingly gives her life for her father’s. While she’s there with the Beast, she begins to see not only who he is, but also who he was meant to be and could still be. Jesus, too, was an only child. He, too, gave His life and willingly left His Father and came and lived on earth with us. He too knew that He was giving up His life; that He came to die. And, like Belle, Jesus saw in us who we were created to be and who we could be… and He loved us.

The Beast learned to love Belle, too, so much so that he was willing to give up his life for hers. When we learn to love Jesus, we give him our life.

Their love started an epic war. There was someone else who loved Belle (Well, he wanted Belle; he only loved himself) and in his jealousy he incited a war between the villagers and the beast. If he couldn’t have Belle, no one could. Our love with Jesus is at the heart of an epic war, too. Jesus has an enemy and since the enemy can’t destroy Jesus, he comes after us, Christ’s love, instead. He doesn’t love us, but he does want us. He loves himself and wants us to worship him just as Gaston wanted Belle to adore him.

Gaston was defeated, but the beast died, too. He died, but then, because of true love, he was resurrected into new life—the human life he was meant to have. The movie ends with a wedding. Our story also ends with a wedding, but just as with Beauty and the Beast, that wedding happens after the defeat of our enemy as well as our death and resurrection. When we give ourselves to Christ, our old man (our beast, if you will, our sin nature) has to die so that we can live in the resurrected life of full humanity that we were always intended to have. All of which is only possible because of the love of Christ and HIS sacrifice for us.

Do you see the parallels? I could go deeper, but surely you get the idea. No wonder we love this story so. It’s our story. It’s our hope. Don’t we all long for that beautiful ideal that someone might see past our anger, our ugliness, our appearance, even our behavior, and see in us something good and loveable? Don’t we also long to see those we love who are living like beasts transform into the humans they are meant to be? We all know those people, those people who are running from the true love of God, convinced no one could ever love them, convinced they are too hideous to love or to save. Maybe you are one of those people. (If I’m honest, I’d have to say there are still parts of me that are.)

It’s not just a cliché; it’s true. Love changes us. We must let the love of Christ in if we are to be free from the curse of sin and death.

Questions for Discussion:

• How does Belle act like Jesus?
• Do you ever feel like the Beast, that no one could really love you? Why or why not?
• Have you ever known someone who may have acted like a beast, but you knew there was a better person inside?
• How does Gaston parallel Satan?
• Have you ever seen anyone change because of love?

Related articles:

• Should Christians Boycott
• Quotes from Beauty and the Beast
• Great message for girls in Beauty and the Beast
• Beauty and the Beast and what to do about it
• Beauty and the Beast’s “Gay Moment”

Narrator: Not to be deceived by appearances for beauty is from within.

Narrator: She had seen that there was no love in his heart.

Narrator: He fell into despair and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?

Belle: Your library makes our small corner of the world feel big.

Gaston: That’s what makes Belle so appealing—she hasn’t made a fool of herself to gain my favor. What do you call that?
LeFou: Dignity?
Gaston: Isn’t it attractive?!

Papa: I knew another she who was “odd,” ahead of her time. People mocked her… until the day they all found themselves imitating her.

Gaston to himself in the mirror: You are the wildest, most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Not one deserves you, but at least our children will be beautiful.

Papa: He means forever—apparently that’s what happens around here if you pick a flower!
Belle: Forever can spare a minute!

Belle: Forget you?! Everything I am is because of you!

Beast: You took his place?
Belle: He’s my father!

Lumiere: Oh, you are very strong. This is a great quality!

Lumiere: You must forgive first impressions.

LeFou: You know there are other girls.
Gaston: No great hunter wastes his time on rabbits.

LeFou’s song: G-A-S-T…and I believe there’s another T…and I just realized I’m illiterate and I never had to spell it out loud before …GASTON!

Gaston: LeFou – You’re the best! How come no girl has snatched you up already?
LeFou: I’ve been told I’m clingy, but I really don’t get it.

Mrs. Potts: You can’t judge people by who their father is, can you?

Beast: If she doesn’t eat with me, she doesn’t eat at all!

Mrs. Potts: People say a lot of things in anger. It is our choice whether or not to listen.

LeFou: You really want to marry into this family?

Belle: He’s cursed you somehow?! Why?! You did nothing!
Mrs. Potts: [Exactly.] When the lad lost his mother and his cruel father twisted him up like that… we did nothing.

Beast’s song: How in the midst of so much sorrow can love and hope endure?

Beast: Your village sounds terrible!

Belle: Easy to remember, harder to move on, knowing the Paris of my childhood is gone.

Beast: I let her go. I had to.
Why?
Mrs. Potts: Because he loves her.
Beast: Can anybody be happy if they aren’t free?

LeFou: There’s a beast running loose, there’s no question, but I fear the wrong beast is unleashed.

Belle: Will you help me now?
Papa: It’s dangerous.
Belle: Yes, yes it is.

Gaston (?): You must be the talking tea cup and you must be his grandmother.
Mrs. Potts: Grandmother?!

LeFou: Gaston, help!
Gaston: Sorry, old friend. It’s hero time!

LeFou about changing sides in the battle: Well, I used to be on his side, but we’re on [bad terms] lately.
Mrs. Potts: You’re too good for him anyway.

Gaston: Don’t hurt me, beast!
Beast: I am not a beast.

Belle: I’ll never leave you again.
Beast: I am afraid it’s my turn to leave.

Mrs. Cogsworth: I’ve been so lonely!
Cogsworth: Turn back into a clock! Turn back into a clock!

Related articles:

• Should Christians Boycott
• Why is beauty and the beast so timeless?
• Great message for girls in Beauty and the Beast
• Beauty and the Beast and what to do about it
• Beauty and the Beast’s “Gay Moment”

There was a bit of to do before the movie came out at the announcement of Disney’s first “exclusively gay moment” (read more here). Of course, no one knew what that would mean or just how explicit that moment would be, but the mere fact of the thing and its intentionality put the Christian community in an uproar, with many calls to “boycott Disney” as if we could in some way punish Disney for this indiscretion as we saw it (and maybe we can). But was it really worth the hype? Now that it’s out, let’s take a second to look at what’s really there.

From the perspective of introducing a gay agenda into Disney movies, they chose wisely, frankly. It’s one of the most beloved Disney stories of all time. Cinderella may be more “classic” but is very much a girls’ movie. Beauty and the Beast appeals far more broadly to both male and female. (I was shocked to learn it’s my brother’s favorite—the uber-macho, great-white-hunter, “Cowboy Clay” …who knew?!) It’s a love story for everyone…and now that statement is even more literally true. Think about it, if they’d chosen some new movie that no one knew, it would be easier for families to just not see it (or boycott, as the call has been—see below for a few thoughts on boycotting). But this one… it’s a story we all know and love and it’s hard to say whether the children or the parents are more anxious to see it.

On top of that, they waited to release the news until the excitement and anticipation had built to a fever pitch. People had plans to see it, never the wiser, when suddenly it’s released that there’s something “gay” in it. Had we known at first, things might have been a little different…but this feels like a bait and switch.

Disney also chose wisely (again, from a business perspective) to let this first “gay moment” be a mild one. So the news comes out, people get in an uproar and make big bold statements about boycotting before they know the extent of it all … and then people see the movie and the Christians look ridiculous for “overreacting” to such a subtle “no big deal” kind of thing. I get how it looks to the world looking in, the way we responded, because it’s not a big deal in their eyes. We were prepared for something really crossing the line… some sort of public display of affection, holding hands, a kiss, something. But that’s not what happened.

What did happen, exactly? Well…you definitely feel that LeFou is more overtly gay in this portrayal, whereas in the animated version, he was arguably just a hero-worshipper with no hint of romantic affection for his hero. (Although, “to the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; both their minds and their consciences are defiled” (Titus 1:5).) I also felt like Gaston (and LeFou, but particularly Gaston) was much more handsy and affectionate which would have increased LeFou’s romantic confusion towards his hero—although I confess that may have been because my sensitivity to the issue was heightened. These things are subtle, but they are felt.

Less subtly, when the villagers raid the castle, the dresser drawers “attacks” three men by dressing them in feminine clothes. Two of the men run off screaming, the third, however, turns and, dressed now in full drag (make-up and all), flashes that effeminate smile that is subtly but noticeably characteristic of the flamboyantly gay man. He liked his new look that is “out of the closet,” literally. Not long after that, LeFou changes sides and begins to fight with the castle against the villagers as he has realized that Gaston is the real monster. I’m sure there is another kind of changing sides that is also implied in this moment, and in case we missed that, it’s in the dialogue, as well. Mrs. Potts questions him on which side he’s on and he replies, “Well, I used to be on Gaston’s side, but we’re on [bad terms] lately.” To which she encourages him, “You’re too good for him anyway.” Which could be benign, sure. And it was true—LeFou was a better, kinder person and could easily have better types of people and friendships in his life. But, I doubt many people will mistake or miss the added connotation of a romantic relationship. It’s what you tell someone when they’ve broken off a romance. Not long after that, in the dance at the wedding, LeFou and the drag queen end up finding themselves dance partners and they have a “moment”—it’s a brief pause while the two of them get center focus and we see them smile with a sense of recognition and attraction—they’ve found each other. LeFou won’t have to be lonely anymore.

It’s subtle, maybe; left to inference, certainly. But altogether, these things add up for a pretty clear picture. These moments aren’t explicit or clearly stated, but it doesn’t make them any less powerful for it. They are seeds, and seeds, when planted in the right soil, take root and grow. Because we expected something big, however, something hugely offensive, we let this ride right on by and hardly notice it. Not because it’s not there, but because it’s so much less than we were expecting. Not to mention, we’ve been letting these subtle things slide for quite a while. Just think of all the innuendo and sexual jokes in Shrek! If you want to consider sheer volume of inappropriateness, I’m not sure Beauty and the Beast is high on the list, although the fact that its inappropriateness is homosexual in nature will trump the volume card for many.

So is it a big deal or not? Yes…and no, probably. Depends on how we handle it, certainly. Did we really overreact? Yes…and no, probably. Should you let your kids see it? Honestly, it’s moments like these when I’m glad I don’t have children and I am not the one having to make that decision for my family.

Here’s the truth, as I said before, seeds may seem small and insignificant, but don’t mistake their power. There’s a reason why Jesus himself spoke in parables. Stories are a powerful, maybe the most powerful, means of planting seeds into the soil of our minds. Let’s also acknowledge that Beauty and the Beast was a gateway. It was a subtle start, an opening to the idea of homosexuality being openly presented (and encouraged) in children’s movies. If pot is a gateway drug, I daresay this is a gateway movie. Maybe not for you or your family, but for the industry.

They say that if you put a frog in hot water, it will jump out. If, however, you put it in cold water, and subtly, slowly turn up the temperature, it won’t notice when it gets too hot. Ultimately, that frog will boil himself. This is the situation we are in, that we have been in¸ longer than we realize

It paved the way, and because they did so carefully, know that there will be another movie…and it will be subtle, too…but it will push the envelope just a tad bit farther.

We are that frog and our entertainment is the water. It’s been getting warmer and warmer and warmer, but it’s subtle and we don’t even realize how warm it is already. When someone says they are about to turn the heat up, we object…but then we realize it’s not a big deal, not a big change, not uncomfortable…so settle back into the pot and breathe a sigh of relief.

So, in many ways what they showed wasn’t a big deal, and in many ways, it is. It’s just that the ways in which it is a big deal, won’t really be all that evident. (I am reminded of Gone with the Wind – the first movie to allow cussing. Saying “damn” one time wasn’t that big of a deal…it wasn’t anything anyone hasn’t heard before, certainly. BUT…again, it opened the door. A small seed can grow a mighty tree.)

Research is proving that the first time a child hears about something determines how they view it from then on. That first time is the lens through which they will forever view that thing. So, if the first time your child hears about sex is in the locker room, anything you may try to inform them about it later will be viewed through the lens that their peers gave them when they “taught” them about it. Conversely, if you are first, then whatever they may hear later, from school, entertainment, etc., it will be viewed through the lens that you gave them about it. THIS is why it is SO important for YOU to be the first one to teach your kids about these things of life. About sex and homosexuality and family, and God, and so forth. Beauty and the Beast may not “teach” your kids about homosexuality, but it will inform them. It will put LeFou in such a sympathetic light that your child’s natural response to it will be that “whatever makes him happy” and “whatever feels good/right” to him is what is truly good and right. The temptation is to be happy for him to have found another who will return his affection.

Despite how the movie might make us feel, the issue isn’t LeFou’s happiness but his righteousness. People want to make the gay issue about whether or not they have a right to pursue their sexual and emotional happiness. That’s not really the issue, if they are a Christian. For a Christian, the issue is whether or not you love God. If so, you choose righteousness. You choose to say no to fleshly desires when they don’t please God—this includes but it certainly not limited to sexual desires. And just because someone has an interest in the same sex does not mean they get a “get-out-of-jail-free card”—they are called to righteousness in the area of sexuality just as much as a straight person is.

In this respect, the Beast sets us such a beautiful example. He died to himself. He set all his desires for Belle aside because he loved her and she wanted to leave. That is love. It’s not pursuing your own happiness, but the happiness of the other person. How can we say we love God if we don’t love Him with that kind of love? If we aren’t willing to die to our own selves, our flesh and our desires? Especially when we know that He only wants what is good and best for us? (For more on this, read here.)

So, should we be mad at Disney? Should we expect more, especially noting that they are focused on entertainment for children? I think that’s partially why we have been so particularly upset—Disney is a company we have largely trusted because it is geared towards children and families. Let’s not forget, however, that if you are a family/kids organization without Christ, then your idea of growing and nurturing children almost has to involve recognizing and encouraging all sexual orientations and lifestyle choices.  (For more on this subject, Crosswalk’s article, Everything you need to know about the new Beauty and the Beast is worth the read.)

I am not going to try to tell you how you and your family should respond. It’s moments like these I’m glad I don’t have children … because I don’t know what I would do. I can honestly say that my response would probably depend a lot on their age, their maturity, where I felt their hearts were, and more than anything, what I felt God was leading me to do for my family. I can say I would want to discuss (as much as possible for their age) whatever we did, and why we did it. I would look for the opportunity in this to stir my children’s hearts, not towards rules and legalism, but in affection towards God and do my best to minimize whatever Satan might be trying to do against the Lord in this, by making God “against gays” in their minds, or “against Disney,” etc. I would do my best to show what God is for, rather than focusing on what He may be against. (More about that in this article.)

On that note, I want to say that yes, there is this SO unfortunate thing where homosexuality is brought into the movie, but on the other hand, it is also SO beloved because it represents the message of Christ so incredibly beautifully. You may not choose to watch this newest version, but don’t let the gay issue be the only point of conversation you have about the story. Take some time to talk with people about why they love it so and help them see how it resonates with their soul because it’s the story of the Gospel. As I’ve said already, seeds are powerful, and there are good seeds in this movie, too. LOTS of them. Do all you can to help those seeds take root! (Read about the connection between the Gospel and Beauty and the Beast here.)

Related articles:

• Should Christians Boycott
• Quotes from Beauty and the Beast
• Why is beauty and the beast so timeless?
• Great message for girls in Beauty and the Beast
• Beauty and the Beast and what to do about it

From time to time the call to boycott arises in our Christian culture. Most recently, the call to “Boycott Disney” was resounding throughout the Facebook landscape after the announcement was made that there would be a “homosexual moment” in Beauty and the Beast—before we even knew just what that meant. Was the call premature? Did it matter just what that “homosexual moment” included, or was the fact that there was any hint of homosexuality enough to justify the ringing of the boycott bell?

I don’t really have an answer for these questions, but I think perhaps we might want to consider that, while I am sure there is a place for boycotting, it may not be our best response in general. It might possibly be better to say “I am not (or we are not) going to see X movie, because I don’t think it’s good for my soul and/or that it would be pleasing to God.” That sounds a lot more humble than, “I’m going to boycott.” Boycotting can sound so arrogant. It carries with it the idea of punishment—that “I want to hurt this company because I think they need to be put back in their place or taught a lesson…and I am the one to do so, and am calling everyone else to join me in this crusade.” It may only be a matter of semantics. Maybe your actions are the same either way, but the way your actions will be heard by those around you can be greatly affected by the semantics. One invites others into an open discussion of why, the other makes people feel scolded and defensive.

The Bible says, “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.” (Proverbs 15:1). I would just suggest that “boycott” is a harsh word, a fighting word, and maybe there are more effective ways to unleash your inner-activist than to go around crying out “Everyone boycott!”

Food for thought, anyway.

On that note, I saw this video and it made me laugh. It’s a bit irreverent, perhaps, but it pokes some good fun at our boycotting, if we can laugh at ourselves a little. (I readily confess, that’s not always easy for me.) And, while this is very tongue-in-cheek, it might also give us a little insight into how our boycotting is perceived by the outside world. That’s not to say that we use their perception as a compass to point us true North—we live to please God and God alone—but that maybe we think about how our semantics and our ways of following our convictions might actually be hindering how others receive Christ in us.

Again, maybe it’s not our convictions or even our behavior that is the problem here, but maybe it’s the way we choose to communicate our convictions and behavior. Even Paul himself was willing to “become all things to all men so that” he might “win some” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). Our first call is to be holy, to be obedient to God out of our love for Him. Our second is really to do all we can (within the arena of obedience) to win people to Christ. This means, we need to be careful not get in the way of the gospel of Christ, even with our “obedience.” What do I mean by that? I would say the Pharisees were those who were obedient such that their “holiness” and “obedience” got in the way of Christ and the gospel. Don’t be like them.

Reason to Ban Every Movie:

Right before I saw Kong, a friend told me his testimony. He talked about some hard things that had happened in his life and how he thought, because of those things that had happened, that God hated him…and therefore, he hated God. He so hated God that he did things just to try to hurt God. He thought God wanted him to kill himself, so he refused to commit suicide, even though he wanted to, just because he didn’t want to give God the satisfaction (so that one actually worked out in his favor). Other rebellions didn’t, like, he literally “manufactured a porn addiction” (when so many fall into porn, he deliberately created his own addiction) just to make God mad. You get the idea. Craziness.

The thing is, he found out later that God was not his enemy; Satan was. God wasn’t against him. God was for him. God didn’t want him to die; Satan did. God wasn’t the cause of the suffering and pain of his childhood; Satan and sin were. He had gone out to pick a fight with God, and in the end, he’d only hurt himself.  

THIS is the story of Kong.

When a bunch of military guys and scientists show up to “study” the island via bombing the island, they run into a battle with Kong. Kong was the “god” of the island. It was his place, a place he protected and guarded. He had to guard it because there was an enemy and the island was in a war between Kong and an evil monster. The humans didn’t know all of this, though. They weren’t aware of the real dangers, or that there was another monster who was the real enemy. They weren’t aware that their actions were causing danger for themselves, as well as for Kong and even the world (if those other monsters were let loose and not kept in check by Kong).

What they saw was that Kong “attacked” them. They totally missed the obvious that in reality, they attacked him and the island first with their bombs and explosions. Kong was simply trying to stop them from bombing the island, but they saw him as their enemy…and they fired on him and tried to kill him. They made an enemy of him. Even when he walked away and the fight ended, they continued to try to pick a fight with him. The worst offender of this, the man who drove the conflict, was the military leader of the group, Packard (Samuel L. Jackson). He really perfectly represented the hubris of man when he refuses to acknowledge God as King. “[I’m going to] show Kong that man is king.” He hated Kong’s power. He was afraid of and resented what he didn’t understand and couldn’t control. He blamed Kong for all his suffering and all the loss, refusing to see the truth. The truth that he picked the fight. That there was a real enemy and Kong wasn’t it.

Packard started firing at Kong before he even knew if Kong was against them. He assumed he had to be. He said something about how he knew an enemy when he saw one, and Kong was an enemy. He saw Kong as an enemy, not because Kong was against him, as we typically think of an enemy, but because Kong was a threat to his power and control.

While Packard was looking to fight god, there were a few other responses among the explorers. Another soldier, Cole, wisely recognized that, “Sometimes an enemy doesn’t exist till you go looking for one.” His response was just to leave well enough alone. Don’t mess with Kong and hope he doesn’t mess with you. A lot of people respond to God like Cole. They may not be angry with him or blame him for their suffering. They may not see him as a threat, may even recognize that He does some good in the world, but they have no desire to know Him, either. Maybe they don’t see God as good and loving, or they don’t see themselves as worthy… but for some reason they just want to fly under the radar. They have no interest in connecting with God.

Then you have Hank. He’d been on the island a long time and he knew a lot about Kong. He was able to tell the newbies all about him and all about the other monsters on the island. He had a lot of knowledge and even a lot of respect and admiration for Kong, but no relationship with him. The Bible and our churches…they are filled with this kind of person—people who know about God but aren’t really personal with him, people who are fans, supporters, admirers…but not actually friends.

There were two people, however, who went beyond this. Mason the photographer, and Conrad the mercenary/jungle guide—these two were different. They not only had a sense of humility before Kong, and a willingness to understand, but they also had a desire to know Kong. They were willing to be vulnerable with him and because of that, they had an intimate encounter with him. If anyone of us is to become friends with God, we, too, must be willing to be vulnerable with Him. It can be scary and even risky, but it’s also worth it.

It’s not that Kong was the greatest movie I’ve ever seen, but seeing it in the light of my friend’s testimony, recognizing in it the various ways in which we all respond to God—that made it so much better and more memorable for me. That was my favorite takeaway, but there are two other quick points I’d like to draw attention to.

As much as it can be about our relationship to God, Kong speaks to might is right mentality in general. It was even painful for me to watch and see how arrogant our American mentality can be (not that America is the only one with this mentality, I’m simply speaking of what I know and where I come from). These guys came in with all the answers. They came in to study, to fix, to impose themselves and their ideals in a place that they didn’t belong. They didn’t come humbly. They weren’t respectful or quiet or cautious. They blasted their way in, literally and figuratively. And then, when there was resistance, they saw it as a battle to fight. Sometimes conflict is a sign that there is a need for love and a need for connection and communication. Conflict doesn’t always mean that a battle is needed. Oh if we could learn to see conflict as a signal that love and communication were lacking rather than a call to arms!! But, when you’re a hammer, you see everything else as a nail…something to be pounded and put into place.

There was one more image that stuck with me in a powerful way. Kong and the other monster were fighting and Kong ended up tangled in an old ship’s chains and anchor. It held him captive and nearly was the death of him. However, what chained Kong and held him down, when loosed, became his weapon and his very salvation. Once he got free of those chains, he was able to swing them and the attached anchor at his enemy. That was when the battle turned and Kong got the upper hand. The same thing is often true for us. We resent these things that hold us down, but what we don’t see is that those very things, once we are free of them, become our greatest weapons, the tools of our victory against our enemy. This is the power of God, that He can take the things the enemy uses to harm us and use them for our good and the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28).

Questions for Discussion:

• There were four main responses to Kong who was kind of a metaphor for god, (hater, avoider, fan, friend)—which of those would you use to describe your response to God?
• Have you ever blamed God for something bad happening to you? Why or why not?
• Have you ever falsely accused God of doing something when it was either you that was to blame, or sin and Satan (and/or his forces)?
• When there is conflict in your life, do you see it as a battle cry or a need for love and communication and connection?
• Have you ever been held down by something which, later on, became a weapon for you?

Click here to read quotes from Kong: Skull Island.

Click here to read Shepherd Project’s discussion of Kong: Skull Island.

Bill Randa: Mark my words: there will never be a more screwed up time in Washington.

Bill: Skull Island, the land where God did not finish creation.

Bill: This island, a place where myth and science meet.

Bill: Men go to war in search of something, Mr. Conrad. If you’d found it, you’d be home by now.

Mason: You’re not actually going to blame those of us without a gun for losing the war? Preston Packard: Camera is way more dangerous than a gun. And besides, we didn’t lose the war, we abandoned it.

Soldier: Dear Billy, you ever look at a hurricane at through, I should fly straight through it? Because that’s what’s about to happen.

Chapman: That a monkey?

Mills: You really have an appetite right now?
Cole: Eatin’s for the livin’.
Mills: We just got taken out by a monkey the size of a building!
Cole: I admit, that was an unconventional encounter.

Bill: Monsters exist. Packard: No s***.
Bill: Nobody believed me. Yesterday I was a crackpot.

Hank: You don’t go into someone’s home and drop bombs unless you’re picking a fight.

Hank: I call them Skull Crawlers.
Conrad: Why?
Hank: It sounded cool. I never said that name out loud before, it sounds stupid now that I think about it. You just call them whatever you want.

Packard: Would you look at that? It bleeds!

Cole: Sometimes an enemy doesn’t exist till you go looking for one.

Chapman: Dear Billy, sometimes life just punches you in the balls.

Conrad: Isn’t it odd, the most dangerous places are always the most beautiful.

Conrad: I suppose no man comes home from war, not really.

Packard: I will not cut and run. I know an enemy when I see one.

Hank: You take away the uniforms and the war, and this man became my brother.

Hank to the natives: If you’re ever in Chicago, look me up I guess.

Hank: We have an old saying here: East is best; West is worst. Which is why we say it!

Hank: Good group of boys. We are all going to die together! Good group of boys to die with.

Hank: I’ve only been here 28 years, what do I know?

Hank: You can’t kill Kong, colonel. Kong is god on this island.

Packard: Your lies got my men killed.
Bill: And you’re going to get us all killed.

Hank: Ants. Big ones. There’s one! Sounds like a bird, but its’ a… ant.

Packard: [I’m going to] show Kong that man is king.

Packard: We are soldiers. We do the dirty work so [others] don’t have to be afraid.

Click here to read Shepherd Project’s discussion of Power Rangers.

Dad: What’s he going to do with his life. He could’ve been so much more.

Billy: I’m on the spectrum.
Jason: Oh, like are you on a workout program?

Kimberly: Jason Scott…crashes and burns. Destroys his life and destroys our season. Go tigers.

Alpha: I’m a talking robot. You can trust me.

Zordon: You mean to tell me that the fate of the universe is placed in the hands of these children? Alpha: Teenagers… between a child and … it’s hard to explain.

Billy: Are we really superheroes? More like Ironman or Spiderman? Because I feel like I’ve been bit by a spider.

Trini’s mom: Tell us one thing you did today.
Trini: Well, me and some of my friends discovered an underground spaceship and I’m pretty sure we’re superheroes.

Zordon: You already have it [the power] inside of you. You [access it] by connecting to each other and to the grid.

Zordon: Think only of each other [for the grid to open].

Jason: Be the person you want to be.

Billy: It’s in a dining establishment… Krispy Kreme.
Rita Repulsa: What is that? It must be extremely special, the seed of life is buried there.

Rita Repulsa:  How cute. The Rangers found their costumes and their dinosaurs.

Billy: Sorry Bumblebee!

Billy: No one dies alone.

Zordon: You will humbly walk amongst your peers, but heroes you will be.

Watching the Power Rangers, you might wonder if the writers were followers of Brené Brown and her teaching on the power of vulnerability. You night also wonder if it ever crossed their minds that the Power Rangers made for a great visual illustration of the body of Christ. Maybe so. Maybe not. Either way, the messages are there for those who would see them.

Five teens who had no real connection to each other (previously) found themselves thrown together as they were selected to become the next Power Rangers. They were suddenly united by a calling and purpose, just as they were also united by unique experiences and powers. Those things go a long way towards unifying people, but unity is more than just common ground.

Unity is about vulnerability (as Brené Brown teaches). You can never truly connect with others unless you are willing to be vulnerable and exposed. You can’t truly connect when you are in self-protection mode. So, the young Power Rangers were limited. Ironically, they couldn’t access or use their armor when they were protecting themselves. They had to give up their personal armor and self-defensiveness in order to gain a better kind of armor.

Unity is also about love. It’s about putting someone else’s needs above your own. It’s about being willing to die to yourself so that someone else may live. Greater love has no one than that, as the Bible says (John 15:13). And isn’t being willing to die for someone the ultimate form of vulnerability? It was when the Rangers were finally truly open and vulnerable that they began to truly love each other. And, when they were so full of love for each other than each realized he/she would die for the others…that is when things changed for them. Literally, they morphed. They changed into more powerful Rangers with full access to both their armor and their weapons.

That was the first step. It was like when the Bible says that we already have all things we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). They had those things already, but hadn’t learned to access them. We have all we need for life and godliness, according to the Bible, but I dare say we also need to learn how to access them. And our way will likely be the same—it will involve vulnerability and putting God (and others) before our own interests. Seek first the Kingdom of God and then all these things will be added (Matthew 6:33).

The second step for the Power Rangers wasn’t just accessing their armor and weapons, it was learning to be one body. This, again, came through a willingness to die together. When they each decided to lay down their lives, together, in a last stand against the enemy…that is when they found a new level of power given to them—the power of perfect unity. Their vehicles each merged, transformers style, into one massive body. The five of them became one body—two legs, two arms, one head. That body would not have worked with any part missing. It would not have worked with any part acting independently. The legs had to work together if it was to walk. The hands had to work together if they were to slay the enemy. The head had to hold them all together and work on strategy.

THIS is the body of Christ! We are all needed. We each have a unique function, but one that only truly works when in unity with and submission to the rest of the body. Those Rangers gave a great effort fighting together, but independently. It was a great effort, but a failed one. True victory only came once they became one body. This is God’s heart for the body of Christ.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. ⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good…

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves^[d] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts,^[e] yet one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Corinthians 12:4-26)

Power Rangers may not be the best movie you’ve ever seen, but it may be one of the better illustrations of the body of Christ you’re likely to see. And, as we’ve seen, it has a lot to say about vulnerability and connecting with others as the way to unity. There is actually quite a lot more that you can connect to the Christian faith if you want to look for it—like two baptism scenes…one of water and one of fire. Have some fun with this one! I have found that finding these Christian parallels can take a mediocre movie and make it a great one. What might have been a forgettable movie for me is now one I would see again just because there were so many rich parallels to the Christian life, I think I missed some!

Questions for Discussion:

• Before the Power Rangers could morph, they had to first think of each other before themselves. What things helped them begin to do that? What helps you think of others before yourself?
• How does a lack of vulnerability impede unity?
• Why do you think it is so hard to be vulnerable?
• The Rangers already had their powers, but they couldn’t access them. How does that compare to 2 Peter 1:3 that says we already have all things we need for life and godliness?
• Could the Power Rangers have been one body if they were acting independently?
• When did they get their greatest power? What does that tell you about when you might be at your most powerful?
• How does watching the Power Rangers make you think differently (or freshly) about the passage in 1 Corinthians 12 about the body of Christ?

Click here to read quotes from Power Rangers.

Click here to read Shepherd Project’s discussion of The Zookeeper’s Wife.

Antonina: People’s first instinct is to run when they are scared and they don’t know what’s coming.

Jan: I was raised with these people. Jews, Gentiles—never mattered to me.

Antonina: No one knows how hard it is to be on the run… You can never tell who your enemies are, who to trust. I guess that’s why I like animals so much. You look in their eyes and you know exactly what’s in their hearts.

Read quotes from the book here.

Read a discussion of the book here.

The Zookeeper’s Wife is based on the true story of a Polish zookeeper, Jan, and his wife Antonina. It’s the story of their zoo and the animals and the people that they cared for during World War II. It’s a war story, don’t be mistaken. It’s hard and sobering and brutal and horrific as any story of that time must be if it tells the truth. It’s also hopeful and inspiring, as light shines brightest when it’s dark.

I discussed the book here, so I don’t want to repeat that discussion. (Also see quotes from the book here.) What I want to discuss here is something that I’ve been wrestling with as I read and watched this story. I think the issue is related to the value of life. We know about the horrors that were done to mankind during this time, but I hadn’t thought about what happened to animal life during that time. But when man goes to war, animals suffer, too. Warsaw was bombed and the zoo was a victim. Many of the animals died then, and others were suddenly freed from their cages and terrified, running rampant in the city. Think about it—lions, elephants, hippos, buffalos, etc.—terrified and running wild in a city full of people and carnage. It’s understandable that people would really have to shoot the animals to protect themselves. Soldiers then went into the zoo and shot any remaining animals that, if loosed would also become a threat. That was awful to watch, but understandable in the circumstances.

What was far less understandable was when the Nazi’s later came by, drunk and wanting some “fun”, and killed the remaining animals for a laugh. Animals that were caged and harmless. Animals that were Jan and Antonina’s beloved pets. There was no sport in it and no plan to use the meat for food. It was just plain bloodlust.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise. If you don’t value human life, why would you value any life? I think the thing I’ve been pondering, however, is why we all reacted so violently to the killing of the animals, and less so to what was happening to the people. It was all horrific, granted, but I found myself more emotional when the animals were killed, both in the book and in the movie. And I found the same reaction in my fellow movie goers.

I get that maybe a small part of that is that we have been aware of the crimes against humanity, but the crimes against nature were a newer concept for me, at least. But I think it goes beyond that. I think it’s similar to the fact that we react more emotionally when it’s a child that dies, or perhaps an old woman. It’s something to do with innocence and threat. When a baby is killed, we are incensed because that child has done nothing to deserve it, he’s innocent. We are also incensed because we know that child is not a threat. An infant will not take a gun and kill a Nazi. He’s innocent and poses no threat. We feel similarly about the little old grandma. The baby issue is also heightened by our awareness of the wastefulness of it. A whole future lies ahead of it, but is thrown away. The little old lady is slightly less disturbing because we have the small comfort that she’s lived her life.

But what about the animals? It is probably true that the most disturbing deaths were those who were shot for sport, the innocent and harmless animals who posed no threat, and whose deaths served no purpose. Although, to be fair, it was painful to see the elephant and lion killed, too. Yes, it was understandable as they did pose a danger, but the wastefulness of such majesty and glory was all the greater anguish.

I think perhaps there is another reason why this strikes such a nerve in our souls. It’s not that we have lost our sense of the value of man and elevated creation above him—although that is true for some (I think of people who spend their lives fighting for a species of rodent, but who care not for the unborn child, for example) I don’t think that is what was we were all feeling in that theater. Instead, it was a realization that some deaths (more than others) are a violation of what God has entrusted to our care. Our first order of business, back in Genesis, was to care for creation. We were entrusted with the animals (and earth in general)—to care for them, provide for them, protect them. They are lesser beings so our responsibility is all the greater to do right by them. The same is true for children and little old women (and widows and orphans, and the poor and the lost and the lonely and the refugee, etc.). They are not lesser beings in terms of value, obviously, but they are less in terms of their ability to care for themselves. They are vulnerable and God commands us to treat with special care the things that are vulnerable. We are not created to be bullies but guardians.

So, when we see bullies murdering some creature that is vulnerable, that we have a particular responsibility to look out for, it affects us deeper. It hurts more keenly. To be clear, it’s not that some lives matter more than others, but that our responsibility is different to some than others because of their level of vulnerability/ability to do for themselves.

That is also what makes Jan and Antonina such heroes, and such great examples of the Christian life. They risked their own lives and even their son’s life to care for those who were vulnerable. To give a Jew a cup of water, in Warsaw, was to be shot on the spot. If Jan and Antonina were to be found out for harboring Jews, they wouldn’t have only been killed themselves, their son would have been too. They truly had the kind of hearts that God intended for man to have—that of guardian for all created things, animal and human, and especially all things vulnerable…even at the risk of their own son.

Questions for Discussion:

• Have you ever wondered why we are sometimes more horrified by cruelty to animals than cruelty to humanity? Or why cruelty to children is more horrifying than cruelty to a grown man?
• Have you ever thought about how the level of responsibility God has given us towards other living things varies based on their level of vulnerability? What do you think about that?
• What are the vulnerable beings (animal or human) in your life that you have been entrusted to guard and look out for? How do you do that? Are there opportunities for you to step up and protect or provide for something vulnerable around you that you may be able to (or need to) embrace?
• Jan and Antonina risked their son’s life, but saved hundreds of Jews. Would you be willing to risk your child’s life for others? How does it make you feel that the Lord did that for you?

Read a discussion of the book here.

Read quotes from the movie here.

Read quotes from the book here.

Click here to read Shepherd Project’s discussion of The Boss Baby.

Tim: Survival of the fittest. It’s the law of the jungle. Someone is always trying to take what belongs to you.

Dad: Hey, how would you like to have a brother?
Tim: No thanks. I’m enough.

Tim: One thing was clear. HE was the boss.

Tim: He carries a briefcase—isn’t hat a little weird?
Dad: You carried Lamb Lamb around for years…
Tim: This is not about Lamb Lamb.

Boss Baby: Can’t ride a bike without training wheels? Even a bear can ride a bike without training wheels.

Tim: Mom and dad don’t even know you. They love me!
Boss Baby: Oh yeah?! There’s only so much time to go around… Babies take all the love. All the time. All the attention… Do the math – there’s not enough love to go around… Before long there’s no room for Tim… Tim doesn’t count anymore.

Boss Baby: Babies aren’t getting as much love as they used to… [Now there’s a crisis: Puppies.]

Boss Baby: If this new puppy is as cute as we fear, it could put the baby business out of business.

Boss Baby: This is my team? A muscle head, a bunch of yes-men and a doodler?!

Boss Baby: Spit out the cookie. Cookies are for closers.

Tim: My parents wrote that song for me!!!!
Boss Baby: Really?! Your parents are Lennon and McCartney?
Tim: No. They’re Ted and Janice! You don’t even know them!

Boss Baby: I’m on a mission from above.
Other baby: Huh? Are you the baby Jesus?!

Boss Baby: See this pie chart? It represents all the love in the world… If this keeps up, there may not be enough pie left for baby.

Tim: Aren’t you going to do any work?
Boss Baby: I’m very busy delegating.

Boss Baby (regarding Hansel and Gretel): Let me get this straight, the story is about cannibalism and burning people alive? No wonder kids are all screwed up.

Francis Francis: They replaced me with someone new, someone younger. You know how that feels… She got all of the attention.

Boss Baby: How did we get past Scary Poppins over there?

Boss Baby: Code red, I’m being chased by a killer baby sitter!

Boss Baby: Aim for failure and you’ll always succeed.
Tim:  What?!
Boss Baby: Aim away from failure!

Tim: You don’t know what it’s like to be part of a family.
Boss Baby: And you don’t know what it’s like to have a job!

Tim: I wish you’d never been born.

Tim: Go ahead, say something mean to him.
Boss Baby:  So, uh, you went to a community college, did you?!

Francis Francis: A puppy that never grows up never gets old.

Francis Francis: Baby corp stole all the love from me and now I’m going to take it from you!

Tim: I will be there year after year and we will always be brothers. Always.

Tim: Even though I never went to business school, I did go to Kindergarten, and [I learned to share] and if there isn’t enough love for both of us, I’d like to give you all of mine.

See this pie chart? It represents all the love in the world. – Boss Baby

I once heard someone explain the poverty mentality with a pie chart. They said that a poverty mindset says that if there is a pie chart that represents love in the world (or resources of any sort), then if someone takes part of that love (or resource), that means there is less for you. Therefore, you need to guard what you have and take as much as you can. A Christian, however, doesn’t need to have a poverty mindset because they know the pie maker. They don’t have to hoard the pieces of pie for themselves, they can instead ask the maker of pie to simply make another. Therefore, if someone takes some of “their” pie, they can give it willingly, knowing they can get more. Boss Baby actually, basically said the same thing! Well, it doesn’t actually talk about a pie-maker-God, but it does so clearly illustrate the poverty mentality, with a pie-chart, no less, and show how it harms everyone it touches. It’s a great opportunity to talk with people (your children, perhaps?!) about how God can change our hearts and our thinking so that we don’t have to be hoarders but can, instead, be givers. It’s kind of brilliant!

Tim had an ideal family life. He had his parents’ full attention and basked in it. He didn’t want things to change, but a baby showed up and changed everything. They were enamored with the new baby, and tired, of course, and Tim resented the baby because he felt there was less love for him in the house. He was already feeling that way, when he discovered the baby could talk, and the baby perpetuated that fear. This is just how the enemy works. He takes an area we are already a bit insecure about and struggling with, and confirms our worst fears.

Tim: Mom and dad don’t even know you. They love me! Boss Baby: Oh yeah?! There’s only so much time to go around… Babies take all the love. All the time. All the attention… Do the math – there’s not enough love to go around… Before long there’s no room for Tim… Tim doesn’t count anymore.

Can’t you hear it? Tim is wrestling with the lies. He’s trying to believe he’s loved. But the Boss Baby goes for the jugular and speaks out Tim’s worst fears. There’s one love pie, and the baby is going to take all the slices and Tim will have none for himself.

Where did that kind of thinking come from? Well, Boss Baby is perpetuating his own beliefs because he, too, has a poverty mentality. He had a business mindset and looked at love like he did economics, in terms of supply and demand and limited resources… And there was a crisis in the baby business—puppies were taking away the love from babies. “See this pie chart? It represents all the love in the world… If this keeps up, there may not be enough pie left for baby.” “If this new puppy is as cute as we fear, it could put the baby business out of business.”

There is a cycle of poverty that goes beyond our welfare systems. It’s not just an economic fact, but a mentality that cycles and gets passed down and around to others. You can see this in the movie. Francis Francis, a former Boss Baby, explains why he wants to create a puppy that would take love away from babies and put the baby business out of business: “Baby corp stole all the love from me and now I’m going to take it from you!” You can see how contagious the mentality is. Francis Francis was out to steal love from the babies, which instilled fear in baby corp, so they sent out their agents to protect their allotment of love (their pie, if you will). Those agents came into homes and projected their fearful mindset onto the children there, who began to wonder if it was true that their parents didn’t have enough love to go around. The poverty mindset is a contagious virus that brings no good.

The beauty of it though, is the way it ends. You heard Tim, earlier, wrestling with his own poverty mindset and trying to resist the lies of the enemy, saying that he would be loved less because of the new baby. This is where victory starts—it’s in claiming truth. He kept choosing, or at least trying to choose to believe that he really was loved. It helped that he had such a firm foundation in his home, before Boss Baby came, to draw from. It also helped that he and Boss Baby were able to form a partnership of necessity wherein Baby would leave the home if Tim could help him with his mission. There is nothing like joining together in a common fight/mission to bond you to someone and change your heart toward them. At the end of their adventure, they’d grown fond of each other, despite their belief that could never happen. Tim began to think not only of himself and what he might gain or lose, but he began to care for someone else—Boss Baby. That is a transformative thing, learning to “love your neighbor [or brother] as yourself”.

In the end, Tim goes beyond the poverty mindset and even beyond a prosperity mindset, in the most beautiful way. He doesn’t just say there’s enough pie for us both, or my parents can make more love pie. That would be a prosperity mindset—where the focus is still on whether or not there’s enough for you, and knowing there will be because God will bless you with what you need. Actually, Tim goes completely beyond that into a Kingdom mindset. He stops thinking about his own need for love at all. Instead, with this beautiful self-forgetfulness he focuses on giving and sacrificing so that Boss Baby will feel fully loved. “Even though I never went to business school, I did go to Kindergarten, and [I learned to share] and if there isn’t enough love for both of us, I’d like to give you all of mine.”

Questions for Discussion:

• Where do you struggle with the poverty mindset/pie-chart mentality most? Is it with love/emotional resources or physical resources like finances?
• How did Tim overcome his poverty mindset?
• How does it change things if you know that God is a pie-maker and can always make more of what you need?

Click here to read quotes from The Boss Baby.

Click here to read Shepherd Project’s discussion of The Fate of the Furious.

Santos (?): You’ve earned my car and my respect.
Dom: Keep your car. Your respect is good enough for me.

Hobbs: What’s Training Wheels talking about?

Cipher: You’re a genuine outlaw. You’re a man who lives by his own laws.

Cipher: This whole saving-the-world Robin Hood nonsense – it’s bull s***.

Letty: That wasn’t him. I don’t know what she’s got on him, but that wasn’t him.

Cipher: Choice theory – 1. The only person’s behavior we can control is our own, and 2. The only thing we can truly give another person is information.

Hobbs: I’m gonna knock your teeth so far down your throat you’ll stick a toothbrush up you’re a** to brush ‘em!

Letty: I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I know one thing—you love me and you are not gonna shoot me.

Hobbs: I will beat you like a Cherokee drum.

Roman: [Looks at a Lamborghini Murcielago] I’m in love.
Little Nobody: Again, no, no! That’s a million dollar show car. The point is to not draw attention.
Roman: That’s reverse psychology. Dom will never see it coming.
Little Nobody: It’s neon orange. The International Space Station will see it coming.

Roman: Why are they shooting at me?
Tej: I don’t know. Maybe because you’re in an orange Lamborghini.

Magdalene Shaw: He’s got this thing he can see everything…I don’t know… it’s called the devil’s butthole or something…
Deckard: It’s the god’s eye.

I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I know one thing—
you love me and you are not gonna shoot me. – Letty

In this latest installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, Dom, their leader, the man who religiously espouses the idea that “You never turn your back on family,” turns his back on his family. Suddenly, he is working for the bad guys arming them with nukes and launch codes, and the rest of the team has to join together to stop him.

Now, I know this franchise has its faults from a Christian mindset, but don’t think that it has no morality. There is a strong code of morality that they adhere to, it just falls short of the Lord’s standards…it picks and chooses. They are very much representative of the world in this. They have decided what matters and what doesn’t. Sexual purity is not important, but loyalty to your people is everything, for example. We tend to look at the world and call it immoral, or even amoral (without morals), but that’s often a very unfair judgement. And it makes people very defensive and angry to hear us say they have no morals, when they care very deeply about their code. Sometimes it’s better to simply start with recognizing their code. I can see that you have a code that you live by and that it’s very important to you. I see your sense of honor and that family matters to you. Family actually matters a lot to Jesus, too… Do you see how much more inviting this is? It leads into a conversation. From there you can possibly challenge some of the areas where their code of honor falls short of the Lord’s standard of righteousness. Instead of saying they have no morals, maybe appeal to their sense of honor and morality and raise the bar. Call out what is good in them and raise it up even higher, rather than criticizing and pointing out all that you see is lacking.

I had a friend who was like this. It was tempting to say he had no sexual morality, but as I talked with him, I realized that wasn’t true. He didn’t think it was important to follow God’s standards of sex only within marriage, but he did have his own standards of right and wrong which he fiercely stood by. So, while he didn’t have any compunction about having sex with someone he’d just met, he was ferocious about not cheating, for example. He was actually more righteous in his commitment to the person he was with than many married men I’ve known. That strong sense of right and wrong is important. It might be misdirected, for now, but the roots are good and when Christ comes in, they can be sharpened and redirected to true holiness.

I didn’t condemn his looseness, (although I did challenge him to raise the bar). He was raised in the church, so he knows the Bible’s perspective, but isn’t not what he believes right now. So, it’s a matter of integrity with him and a sign of his strength of character (not his lack of it) that he, much as he wants to please his parents and the church, won’t put on a sign of holiness without truly believing what he’s doing. Being genuine is part of that code—not doing something just to please others when it’s not what you believe. I fully believe though, and he agreed as well, that when Christ becomes real and/or when he sees a reason for the Bible’s mandates on sexuality, then he will live just as fiercely committed to the Bible’s code of righteousness as he has so far to his own.

In this way, I think Dom and his crew are so very indicative of the times. The younger generations are attracted to their brand of righteousness just as much as (or probably more so) the worldly appeal of fast cars and loose women. In fact, as much as that is part of the movies, it’s not the point of them. It’s only the framing; it’s not the centerpiece or the focal point…at least, not for most fans. And I dare say, we as Christians would do well to take a minute to look past the frame as well to consider the heart of the movies and why people are so drawn to them.

In this particular movie, F8, there is actually something really brilliant for our use as Christians in dealing with non-believers and the question of why God allows evil in the world. When Dom turns on the crew, it looks as if he has turned in every way: turned bad, turned traitor, turned his back on his team. Letty, however, doesn’t believe it. She knows Dom. She knows his character. She knows his heart, and she trusts in that, in what she knows to be true about him, more than she does in what she sees—the “facts” and circumstances. She tells the gang, “That wasn’t him. I don’t know what she’s got on him, but that wasn’t him.” And later, right after he killed one of the gang and threatened to kill her, she says, “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I know one thing—you love me and you are not gonna shoot me.”

It was a gutsy move. There was every reason for her to doubt him, fear him, be angry with him… But she trusted his heart and let that decide how she interpreted the circumstances. She never let the circumstances determine how she interpreted Dom’s heart. I don’t want to spoil the movie, so I’ll just point out the obvious, that she (and Dom) were vindicated. He wasn’t evil and hadn’t turned after all. He did love her and love his make-shift family, and all his actions were consistent with his personal code of righteousness.

Letty is a beautiful example for us. This is the place God wants to bring us to—that we are so sure of His heart and His love for us, that we interpret our circumstances through that lens. That no matter what the facts or circumstances seem to say, we know that He loves us and He would never do anything to harm us. God is consistent. He never changes. His values and His character never change. We cannot let our circumstances define what we think about God. They can be misleading. They are incomplete information, and our enemy is constantly trying to twist them to “prove” to us that God can’t be trusted. If we can just wait, time will show us that He is who He said He was… God, His heart and His actions will be vindicated in the end.

Questions for Discussion:

• Why didn’t Letty think Dom had turned on the team?
• How does Letty’s example model the response we ought to have towards God when circumstances make us doubt His love for us and/or His character?
• How does Dom’s brand of righteousness model the world’s standards? What is good about it? Where does it fall short of God’s standards of righteousness?

Click here to read quotes from The Fate of the Furious.

Gifted is a rich gem of a movie with so many interesting angles I hardly know where to start. Mary is a math prodigy who lives with her uncle, Frank. She never knew her father and her mother died when she was a baby. Her grandmother, Evelyn, was never in her life, until she hears that Mary has her mother’s gift for mathematics. When Evelyn shows up, wanting to take custody of Mary, things get complicated. What is really best for Mary? Is it to be in an environment where she can be mathematically challenged, or is it better for her to have a “normal” childhood as a “normal” kid? And where does love play into it? It’s a thought provoking movie about parenting. It’s also a movie about what it is to be human and loved and accepted that has something to say to all of us, “gifted” or not.

Ultimately, the discussion about Mary’s best interests really come down to an issue of performance vs. love. Evelyn doesn’t understand love, she only understands performance. She only understands being admired by the world for accomplishments. Frank, however, has an entirely different perspective. He knows what it’s like to grow up with that kind of pressure. He felt it himself, and he saw the toll it took on his sister, Mary’s mom (also a math prodigy). He wants Mary to know that she is loved because of who she is, not because of what she does.

It may seem obvious but it’s a good question, though. If we have some talent or gift, is it negligence (as Evelyn called it) not to develop that gift to its full potential? Do we owe our gifts and talents to the world? I’m not sure that we don’t. However, that isn’t what gives us our worth. We offer those gifts to the Lord (and to the world) as an offering of love, not as a payment for love. It comes from a place of love, not as an act to earn love. Frank wanted Mary to be loved, first, so that all she did came from a place of love, not a need to perform.

Again, it seems obvious, but if we are honest with ourselves, we might all have to confess we struggle with this, too. We know in our heads that admiration isn’t the same as love, and yet how hard we all work to be admired, and how easily we distrust that we are just simply loved.

Mary had even more reason than her special talents to question if she was loved as she was. No father. A mother who committed suicide. A grandma she’d never known. And then Frank was court-ordered to surrender her over to “better” guardians…so it was natural that she would struggle with a sense of abandonment and feelings of being unloved. Frank, in a moment of inspiration, took her to a hospital waiting room and they waited there until, finally, a father came out to announce to waiting family that his son had been born. Everyone was rejoicing and overwhelmed with happiness. Frank looked to Mary and said, “That’s exactly how it was when you were born.”  It was genius. Mary asked, “This happy?!” He confirmed, “This happy.” She then wondered, “Who came out and told everyone?” Frank said, “I did.” She had known him as a father, but hadn’t known that he was there in the beginning, standing in as her father, rejoicing over her. It was healing for Mary, knowing she was wanted…and that she was wanted long before she was smart. Knowing she didn’t have to do anything, but that people celebrated her from the moment she was born just because she was. Knowing she was rejoiced over. “Can we stay for another?” she asked. And she celebrated birth after birth with strangers in the waiting room, celebrating not only the birth of these babies, but the fact that she herself had been born and celebrated and loved.

If only it was that easy for the rest of us. If only we could have that faith of a child that when Jesus says he loves us, we believed it. If only we could believe He knit us together in the womb, rejoices over us with singing, loves us so much he died for us. We may know it’s true, but does it really free us from our orphan spirit, from our doubts that we are loved, from our need to perform and prove our worth? Maybe we, too, need to take a trip to the waiting room and just let the joy of birth sink into our souls and remember that it was “that happy” for us, too—if not on earth, then at least in Heaven.

Questions for Discussion:

• Do you struggle with a performance mentality—with feeling you have to perform to be valuable and/or loved?
• Evelyn and Frank had different perspectives on what should be done with Mary’s gifts, what things did you agree with and what things did you disagree with?
• Do you think that the things Evelyn said about what was best for Mary might have been more accurate if her motives had been more pure?
• What did you think of the scene in the waiting room? Why did that set Mary free? Do you think you might benefit from something similar?

Read quotes from Gifted.