I watched “Facing the Giants” the other night. If you don’t know, it’s a Christian movie (in the sense that it’s made by Christians, about Christians, and ostensibly for Christians) about football. It was a pretty entertaining movie, and, if you consider the budget they had to work with, it’s surprisingly well made.
So am I writing this to tell you to go out immediately and rent/buy the movie? Nope. I want to talk about the ending. With that in mind, if you haven’t seen the movie and want to be surprised by the ending, you probably should stop reading now.
First, the plot: A football coach for a small Christian high school in Georgia is having trouble putting together a winning season, is having trouble having a kid with his wife, and his car is a piece of junk. Around about the middle of the movie, the coach decides that coaching football is more about building the character of his players than winning. Then he starts winning. By the end of the movie, the following has happened: someone gave him a new truck, his wife is pregnant, his school had a spiritual revival, and his team won state. All because of his dedication to Christ.
And now I get to sound like a curmudgeon: I wanted him to lose, or for his wife not to get pregnant, or for his car to continue to be a piece of junk. I didn’t want any of those things to happen because I enjoy seeing people suffer. I’m actually opposed to most forms of suffering on the grounds that I don’t much like to suffer myself. The reason I wanted him left with some pain is that then I’d be able to connect with him on some level. You’ll be hard pressed to find that many miracles concentrated on one person in one place at one time. You won’t even find that in the Bible. People are raised from the dead only to face a life of hardship, saints are blessed with the presence of God but are stoned to death, Paul was bitten by a viper that didn’t harm him but only after he went through a shipwreck on a journey to be tried for a crime he didn’t commit, Elisha and Elijah saw God perform amazing miracles but they spent most of their time running for their lives, Job lived a good life and suffered in what can only be called Biblical proportions, and the very Son of God had to die on a cross before he could be resurrected in glory.
If the Bible shows me anything, it’s that the Christian walk is not easy. All roads do not become straight and wide when you accept Christ as your savior. Mountains are not leveled in front of you to allow you easy passage. In short, Christ will not make the rest of your days on earth effortless and enjoyable. What He will do is make them possible. He won’t level the mountain, but He’ll walk with you up it. And yes He can heal you, and yes He can make barren wombs give life, and yes He can even help football teams win state championships (though why He would is beyond me), but no, He won’t make your life easy. He won’t do that because if your life was easy, you wouldn’t be challenged, wouldn’t grow, wouldn’t become the person that He wants you to be. You’d be that over-protected brat of a kid you didn’t like when you were in grade school. Christ loves you enough to let you hurt sometimes.
“Facing the Giants” could have been a relatable movie about a miracle in modern society. Instead, it became a fairy tale with the standard “and they lived happily ever after” all but thrown in your face in the last few scenes.
So am I writing this to tell you to go out immediately and rent/buy the movie? Nope. I want to talk about the ending. With that in mind, if you haven’t seen the movie and want to be surprised by the ending, you probably should stop reading now.
First, the plot: A football coach for a small Christian high school in Georgia is having trouble putting together a winning season, is having trouble having a kid with his wife, and his car is a piece of junk. Around about the middle of the movie, the coach decides that coaching football is more about building the character of his players than winning. Then he starts winning. By the end of the movie, the following has happened: someone gave him a new truck, his wife is pregnant, his school had a spiritual revival, and his team won state. All because of his dedication to Christ.
And now I get to sound like a curmudgeon: I wanted him to lose, or for his wife not to get pregnant, or for his car to continue to be a piece of junk. I didn’t want any of those things to happen because I enjoy seeing people suffer. I’m actually opposed to most forms of suffering on the grounds that I don’t much like to suffer myself. The reason I wanted him left with some pain is that then I’d be able to connect with him on some level. You’ll be hard pressed to find that many miracles concentrated on one person in one place at one time. You won’t even find that in the Bible. People are raised from the dead only to face a life of hardship, saints are blessed with the presence of God but are stoned to death, Paul was bitten by a viper that didn’t harm him but only after he went through a shipwreck on a journey to be tried for a crime he didn’t commit, Elisha and Elijah saw God perform amazing miracles but they spent most of their time running for their lives, Job lived a good life and suffered in what can only be called Biblical proportions, and the very Son of God had to die on a cross before he could be resurrected in glory.
If the Bible shows me anything, it’s that the Christian walk is not easy. All roads do not become straight and wide when you accept Christ as your savior. Mountains are not leveled in front of you to allow you easy passage. In short, Christ will not make the rest of your days on earth effortless and enjoyable. What He will do is make them possible. He won’t level the mountain, but He’ll walk with you up it. And yes He can heal you, and yes He can make barren wombs give life, and yes He can even help football teams win state championships (though why He would is beyond me), but no, He won’t make your life easy. He won’t do that because if your life was easy, you wouldn’t be challenged, wouldn’t grow, wouldn’t become the person that He wants you to be. You’d be that over-protected brat of a kid you didn’t like when you were in grade school. Christ loves you enough to let you hurt sometimes.
“Facing the Giants” could have been a relatable movie about a miracle in modern society. Instead, it became a fairy tale with the standard “and they lived happily ever after” all but thrown in your face in the last few scenes.
Comments
I've been having a sticky time of late and would really prefer a easy solution. In lieu of an easy solution, just having the knowledge that God is going to reward you big time after you have gone through your troubles would be good too. But as you pointed out, we are becoming what God wants us to be, and shiny new cars are probably not integral to that.
Cheers
Sounds like dreadful Christian pap to me. Unfortunately most of the movies made for/by Christians are complete rubbish.
Considering that the one we follow said lots of uncomfortable stuff about 'taking up your cross' and 'counting the cost' of discipleship, we seem determined to present the Gospel as a universal panacea for all the ills of life, a sort of spiritual self-help course with personal wish fulfilment at th end of it.
File this under 'yes-i-am-bitter- and-it-certainly-seems-like-it'!
Great post!
I don't think that anyone with half a brain is going to see the movie and think their life is going to be all perfect because they're a Christian.
The examples you give from the Bible are enough to remind most that Jesus is with us and in us, not a force field to deflect all of Satan's fiery darts.
Great post, as usual.
One of the more depressing bits in the Bible is where God will help me through my troubles. It's depressing because He won't get rid of them for me. I'll take what I can get, I suppose.
Alastair,
The part that annoys me is that the movie had so much potential. There were so many issues that could have been dealt with in a mature fashion, but they were glossed over and "fixed."
Jam,
It's not the happy ending that bothered me. It's the overwhelmingly happy, nothing is wrong at all, life is now perfect ending that I don't much care for.
You'd be surprised what people will believe about God. People, in general, go around hurting and will latch onto any new thing that promises a way to get rid of that pain. And when they find that life with Christ has pain too, a lot of people become jaded. Sad, but true.
Flawed & Disorderly
1. I found the acting to be SO bad that I couldn't ever get used to it. I had trouble enjoying the movie because I couldn't get past how cheesy and sappy every single line sounded.
2. Despite that, I did tear up a few times.
3. My husband sobbed through the entire thing and wants to buy it.
4. We could relate to a lot of the struggles, and I think it helped our psyches to think if we persevere, we'll make it through and be blessed eventually...though not have all our dreams come true in less than 2 hours. The infertility stuff really hit home, and we were blessed eventually.
Ironman's job and financial security finally came around. He just totaled his truck that he hadn't completely finished selling to his employer, but they gave him a newer one.
It seems like we've been blessed in abundance lately...though we went through about a decade of blood, sweat, and tears.
5. At least they had a dead rat stinking up their home. Oh wait! They found it! Crap! Those jerks! They get everything!
I have to admit I felt a little ticked at the end when the wife was pregnant again. They were diagnosed with infertility yet never had to undergo any treatments. I believe God can easily do that, and has...but MY GOSH!!! Two trophies on the mantel AND another bun in the oven??? That's taking it a BIT far. :D I'm joking. Kind of.
So now my question for you is about Conversations With God. I didn't read the book or get in on any of the hype, but I watched the movie last night. Have you seen it? Do you know more of the story? If so, what do you think?
Thanks for the response. It's hard for me to complain about that movie without making it sound like I don't want God to help people. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I'm people too, and don't mind help at all.
I just wanted it to be real, not "within the bounds of science" real, because then you don't get miracles, and being a Christian I'm quite fond of miracles. What I wanted was "relatable to the Bible" real. Miracles, but not when you thought you needed them but when God said you need them.
Good point about Job. The main difference there is Job still had to deal with the emotional scars of his illness, the death of his entire family, and the fact that his wife left him.