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LIFE MEETS THEOLOGY: I'm No Legend, But ...
by Greg Williamson (c) 2008
UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS
LIFE: Recently I rented I Am Legend, the movie starring Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville, a U. S. Army virologist living in decimated New York City, where he is trying against all odds to find a cure for the disease that has "pushed the human race to the edge of extinction." His wife and young daughter having been killed in an accident while being evacuated from the city, Neville's only companion and living link to his family is a German shepherd dog named Sam(antha). They "share" the city with a large band of mutant humans known as "dark seekers" who would like nothing better than to have them for dinner. It's a sobering but well-made movie, with good acting and very believable special effects -- and a somewhat happy ending. THEOLOGY: The word legend can have multiple meanings, depending on the exact context. Several would seem appropriate to the movie:
While I certainly cannot lay claim to either being or inspiring a legend, oddly enough I can see some parallels between the movie and the Christian faith I am called to live out, centered as it is on a very real person of legendary proportions -- the one and only God-man, Jesus Christ. Never give up. Even when, following three years in post-apocalypse New York, Dr. Neville believed he was quite possibly the only human being left on the planet, he continued in his efforts to find a cure. In fact, it may not be too much to suggest that it was that thought which gave him the impetus to forge ahead. On the flipside, the dark seekers -- or, as I prefer to call them, the monster people -- did not give up, either. The uneasy truce that existed between them and Dr. Neville was broken when the latter inadvertently kidnapped the leader's woman, after which the leader made it his personal mission to destroy the good doctor. (With some interpretation required, since the monster people could only grunt and yell.) Perseverance is, of course, a recurring theme within the NT. For example, Jesus said, "'But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance'" (LUKE 8:15). And the apostle Paul speaks of perseverance no less than seven times in his letter to the Romans, including: "[God] WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation" (2:6-8), and " ... we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character ... " (5:3-4). Everyone needs companionship. Dr. Neville depended on his dog to keep him company, and it was obvious he had grown very attached to her. It was only after her death that the doc went ballistic and attacked the monster people in a fit of suicidal rage. On the flipside, the leader of the monster people himself went ballistic only after his companion was stolen from him. The Bible is replete with examples of companionship. The very first human being, Adam, was complete only after God provided him with a companion. Here Matthew Henry's comments are especially poignant: "Observe that the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved." [REF] The Scriptures also speak of the bonds of close friendship, outstanding examples here being David and Jonathan, and Paul and Timothy. And since providing comfort is a large part of companionship, it can honestly be said that every true believer is called to be a companion to every other believer as we imitate God's own example toward us: "All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us" (2 CORINTHIANS 2:3-4, NLT). Life demands sacrificial service. The restoration of Dr. Neville's lost faith in God came only with the realization that he had to relinquish his life in order for others to live. On the flipside, the monster people routinely sacrificed themselves -- albeit out of a misplaced sense of loyalty to their leader. The greatest and most powerful example of sacrificial service is, of course, that of Jesus Christ. Hear afresh Paul's words to the Christian church in Philippi: "Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death -- and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion" (PHILIPPIANS 2:5-8, THE MESSAGE). At times there is a tendency to think that because Jesus went through such pain and suffering, we Christians living today can take it easy. But that is the exact opposite of Paul's point, as brought out by more literal renderings of v. 5: "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus" (NASB); "Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus" (HCSB); "You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had" (NET). And, of course, it was Jesus himself who said: "'And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me'" (MATTHEW 10:38). Lest we overlook the significance of the imagery here: "When persons were condemned to be crucified, a part of the sentence was that they should carry the cross on which they were to die to the place of execution. ... To carry it was burdensome, was disgraceful, was trying to the feelings, was an addition to the punishment. So 'to carry the cross' is a figurative expression, denoting that we must endure whatever is burdensome, or is trying, or is considered disgraceful, in following Christ. It consists simply in doing our duty, let the people of the world think of it or speak of it as they may. It does not consist in making trouble for ourselves, or doing things merely 'to be opposed'; it is doing just what is required of us in the Scriptures, let it produce whatever shame, disgrace, or pain it may. This every follower of Jesus is required to do." [REF] |
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