Wednesday, May 23, 2012

A Non-religious film about Faith

I just finished watching the film, "The Next Three Days." Russell Crowe plays the husband whose wife (Elizabeth Banks) has been convicted of murder. The appeal process has been exhausted and it looks like she is doomed to spend the next twenty years in prison, while their very young son grows up. She despairs and tries unsuccessfully to take her life. It is at that point that Crowe's character decides to take drastic action: attempt to break his wife out of prison.

Of course, we the audience don't know if the wife is guilty or not. We see the circumstancial evidence, which weighs heavily against her. And the thought must cross our minds, why is he risking his own life and freedom, and the stability his son will lose if he fails? To us in the audience his decision seems rather irrational. How does he even know that she is innocent? What if she isn't? What if she really did murder that woman? Even her own lawyer suspected she might be guilty. We want to yell at him, "Give up this idiotic idea and accept reality!"

There is even a part in the movie where the wife tells him, "You don't even know if I killed her. Well, I did."

And then he says it: "I know you didn't kill her. Because I know who you are."

"Yes!" I thought, "Here's someone who knows what faith is!"

Faith in God isn't about believing that God exists. It's about knowing who God is.

Faith in Jesus isn't about believing that he existed. It's about knowing who he is.

We can try arguing people into faith. But until they know who God is, and who Jesus is, I sometimes wonder, what's the point? Perhaps all we should say to people is what the Psalmist said long ago,

"Taste and see that the Lord is good."

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