FLATLINERS: A Good Movie for Christian Reflection

            Every year, I host my senior Bible class from East Texas Christian Academy for supper. For the past three years, we have enjoyed the movie FLATLINERS. The seniors find it suspenseful, even scary; I find it richly filled with teaching on atonement.

            The movie came out in 1990 and featured some of the hottest young actors of the day, including Kiefer Sutherland, William Baldwin, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, and Julia Roberts. They play pre-med students, experimenting by medically putting each other to death—flatlining—for a few minutes, before using medical technology to bring each back to life.

            During the clinical moments of death, each-in his or her own way- experiences events reminiscent of dreams. In time, the students collectively note that each has come into contact with negative events from their past. Specifically, all reconnect with what they believe were past sins they had committed.

            The suspense begins as each character discovers a hole has been opened into the cosmos, and each faces vengeance and retribution from those they had wronged. One had been guilty of secretly taping his sexual encounters with college coeds. Suddenly, women begin seeking to manipulate and use him as he had done to others. Moreover, discarded females begin appearing, questioning why he had hurt them.

            Another character encountered a young girl he had continually made fun of on the playground in elementary school. She began to appear to him, supernaturally endowed with power over him. He was frightened.

            The most interesting character to me is Nelson, played by Kiefer Sutherland. Nelson bullied a boy—Billy—during childhood. After Nelson’s death experience, Billy returns to inflict pain upon him.

            At the climax of the movie, we learn of the guilt Nelson had carried with him since childhood. Billy had climbed a tree to escape his tormentors (which included Nelson)—and had slipped and fallen to his death. The accident caused Nelson to be taken by authorities from his family and placed in a foster home.

            Every year, I find this movie fascinating. In an age when a number of Christian leaders (some prominent) seek to downplay or eliminate any need of Jesus paying a debt for our sins on the cross, FLATLINERS demonstrates the basic human understanding that humans cannot atone for their sins. It is not enough to have God come down to earth to show us how much He loved us by dying for us.

            Deep within our hearts, deep in our subconscious minds, we intuitively sense that an act of God showing his love for us… is not enough for us to cope with this life. As Nelson’s case illustrates, there are some sins we can never atone for. We yearn to know, really know, our sin has been dealt with. The cross alerts us to the fact that God, through Christ, has truly cancelled our sin.

            Another thing I like about this movie is that it reminds us that we all need the cross—even those who are not guilty of committing the “big” sins. Yes, in this movie there were those haunted by their “big” sins. Yet, there were others haunted by “little” sins, such as Kevin Bacon’s character, who had made fun of a child on the playground.

            All of us have emotions and regrets from past sins locked away—unless we have turned them over to Jesus; they will continue to impact us negatively—perhaps even haunt us—unless we lay them down at the foot of the cross.

            I am thankful for a God who showed his love for us by dying such a terrible death; but I am also grateful the Bible consistently points forward to, or (in the New Testament) looks back at, a God who paid a debt He did not owe, because I owed a debt I could not pay. 

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (I Pet. 2:24.) ESV

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. My daughter, Haleigh, graduated Saturday from high school. I am very proud of her for a number of reasons, one of them is that she was one of three recipients of the Jana Preston Memorial Scholarship--$5000 a semester for 8 semesters… or $40,000 total. This scholarship is good for any college or university.

2. I do not know the name (names?) of the individual (individuals?) who funded this scholarship—unique to East Texas Christian Academy. Still, I am struck by the number of individuals God has blessed financially, who have chosen to fund scholarships to students. Furthermore, I am amazed by how many do this anonymously—and do so to call attention to someone else they wish to honor.

            Jana Preston was a faithful Christian, wife, and mother whose life ended much too quickly—a victim of cancer. Someone (or a few) funded this scholarship in her honor. Beautiful.

            My own life has been irrevocably blessed in this way. Godly, gracious, and generous people supplied resources to pay for 75% of my Master of Divinity expenses, and 100% of my doctoral degree.

            To all of you benefactors of the world—thank you. May God continue to richly bless you; you have proved faithful.

3. I finished this week an old book written in 1973 called The Wizard of Westwood: Coach John Wooden and His UCLA Bruins. Written by two contemporary Los Angeles sportswriters, Dwight Chapin and Jeff Prugh, I found this book to be the most objective account I have read of John Wooden’s life.

            Obviously, it was written before Wooden retired, yet, for that reason, I find it fascinating. Wooden was well on his way to becoming a legend, but he had not yet achieved sainthood status. Furthermore, the sportswriters were much more willing to contribute the warts of Wooden’s story.

            For example: the basketball players on one of John Wooden’s early high school basketball teams felt compelled to join their opponents in stopping a fist-fight. The fight was between John Wooden and the opposing coach. Now that’s something about Wooden you don’t read every day!

            Wooden himself readily admits in his autobiography that his temper as a young player and coach, at times, got the best of him. Still, this is the first time of have read this account in detail.

            Make no mistake about it; the authors include plenty of good things about their subject. It’s just that they draw a balanced picture.

            Keep in mind; they were simply writing about a great basketball coach at UCLA. They were not writing about the man we know today as… John Wooden.

4. I still believe the Mavericks will win their series in six games. I thought they would lose game one and win game two. The Thunder are tough. It would not shock me to see them take it to seven.

5. Welcome back Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz.

The Fire

Well, it is Labor Day. This is one of my favorite days of the year. I want to share a story that occurred almost 100 years ago. I want to use it as an impetus for addressing the election of 2010 and other elections. I want to frame it within, I hope, the teachings of Jesus and the rest of the Word of God.

Here is the story. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City. It was a horrific catastrophe. 155 people were killed. Many of these were immigrants, including a number of children. The fire took place on the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors of this garment factory.

When the workers discovered the fire, there were no means of escape. Witnesses, including some hard-boiled reporters, were haunted until the day they died by the scene of young women and children, some of whom were on fire, hurling themselves from high floors and landing on the pavement. They threw themselves out the windows in one last, desperate grasp at life.

Looking back, we cringe reading about the conditions present in many of these factories. Clearly the owners violated God's repeated warnings against “man's inhumanity against man.” Unfortunately, due to negligence, greed, and the simple self-centeredness of human sin, not much had been done. However, this fire helped motivate to motivate the local, state, and federal governments pass legislation to address the horrific conditions that existed in the sweatshops.

This is a good example of government acting in bringing about good results for its citizens.

There is another extreme on the opposite end of the spectrum from the political environment that allows for sweatshops. I have lived in a country that aspired to eradicate all forms of poverty, oppression, and injustice. Because of this, the government became extraordinarily active in passing laws to help people and bring about economic equality. I have seen other countries that have attempted to do the same thing.

One of two problems typically results from this strategy, and sometimes both. First, a nation can run out of money. Second, more and more people can become less and less inspired to offer their society a good and honest day’s work.

Scripture addresses two extremes in human nature when it comes to work. Proverbs, for example, deals with work in many of its verses. Some verses address the sins of greed and its twin, exploitation. Other verses address the sin of laziness and idleness. Still more address the sin of “get-rich-quick”, which can fit under the umbrella of all of the above.

I believe, that in the United States, we are fortunate to have politicians and elected public servants, who are concerned about both extremes. Some are primarily dedicated to the cause of social justice. They want to protect people from the consequences of greed and institutions that treat human beings like widgets in a factory assembly line.

Others are dedicated to the cause of public stewardship of funds and personal liberty. They want to make sure that our country handles its money well, and that it always provides an environment, whereby an individual can have a free and equal opportunity to provide for himself and his family and achieve the excellence he seeks in his field.

Because all of these concerns are passionately felt, we will always experience tension. This might be good.  

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. I finished THREE NIGHTS IN AUGUST last week. Written by Buzz Bissenger (and Tony LaRussa), the book follows LaRussa during a crucial three game series with the Chicago Cubs in August, 2003. Filled with narrative background as well as detailed baseball strategy, the book serves as a primer for what goes on in the mind of a Major League Baseball manager. I recommend it.

2. Josh Hamilton—the quality I love you about you is the very quality that breaks my heart: your all-encompassing effort. Please get well soon; and ease off crashing into walls and sliding into first base.

3. Here is my pick for the Super Bowl: Green Bay Packers vs. New York Jets.

4. I watched THE BRONX IS BURNING while working out on my treadmill last week. Consequently, I can’t get the old song from the Ramones –“BLITZKRIEG BOP”—out of my mind. I am probably going to have to download it from iTunes.

5. I saw THE LADY KILLERS last night on TV, late. Tom Hanks headlines the cast playing a southern con man posing as a professor of the Classics. It was so funny I laughed out loud several times.