God’s Super 8

When you combine the uber talents of Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams, it’s pretty much an impossibility that the movie they roll out is going to be a train wreck, right?

Of course it could start out with one, though.  And as you’ve probably already seen in the trailers, the sure-to-be-a-summer-blockbuster film Super 8 begins with the most mind-blowing, ear-splitting train wreck ever set to the big screen. 

But this catastrophe set in small town Ohio is more than just a collected mass of explosions and twisted metal, because the train is definitely not carrying coal. Something breaks out of a boxcar, and it isn’t a fan of being a guest passenger of the Air Force. 

Personally I think it’s ET’s big brother on monster steroids…and he’s out to do more than ‘PHONE HOME.’

And from there you have the typical creepy, chilling alien scenes with the standard “I’d tell you but I’d have to kill you” type military dudes. But in the midst of the predictable plot there is something quite magical.

The heroes of Super 8 are a half dozen or so teenagers who are on a quest to make a movie.  In this overly digitalized day and age of easy video production, we forget that back in the day we used real film that had to be painstakingly hand spliced and edited.  Their filmmaking aspirations are really a metaphor for dealing with issues and spring from a desire to be a part of a much grander story than their pedestrian life in a Midwest steel town provides.

Do you have that same yearning?  The craving to be a part of something big…I mean like BIG.  Can you imagine what it would be like to go to a mega-budget flick and see yourself on the screen?  You would totally be passionately pointing to your character and loudly whispering “That’s me!!! I’m in the movie!”*

Sometimes I imagine our early moments in heaven as being in the audience for the premiere of God’s movie called History is His Story.  This one is better than the Dolby rumbling 3-D stuff we have here on earth, and you’re sitting in the heavenly theater with every Christian who ever lived.

The opening scene is creation, and you can overhear Adam and Eve (who are appropriately clothed) saying, “That’s us!  We’re in the movie!”

Then your heart is moved as you see the heroes of old rise and fall, like Moses, David and Esther.  You rejoice as you see the dominoes of God’s grace fall in a straight line to the ultimate turning point in His Story…the Cross of Jesus Christ.  You cheer with the billions as you see Him walk out of His own grave—

But that’s not the end of the movie.

Because before you know it, the moment comes that you never expected.  There’s YOU on the heavenly IMAX! 

You’re serving the homeless in the name of Christ—you’re in the movie!

You’re on your knees praying for the lost—you’re in the movie!

You’re leading a Bible study at school —you’re in the movie!

You’re sharing the gospel with a friend who desperately needs to trust in Jesus —you’re in the movie!

And it is then that you realize that your whole life here was a chance to play your part in the grandest story every produced.  At once you are both thrilled and saddened—because as your heart pounds with the comprehension that you starred in His Story, you also regret all the opportunities that were lost in selfish ambition and empty pursuits.  Like the actor who missed his stage call, you could have played a much larger part in the fantastic drama of God’s redemptive strategy for the planet.

Praise God…you never have to miss a stage call again.  Hear the words of the Apostle Paul as you contemplate the landscape of your life: Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. Christ’s love controls us.

 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.  For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.  So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us (2 Corinthians 5:11; 14-20).

My friends, the only way your life won’t count for something is if you make that choice.  We all have a key role to play as God’s starring representatives each and every day, so let’s remember that God is making the ultimate Super 8…and we are in the movie!

*Concept adapted from Louie Giglio

Flashpoint: Ignite Into Action

When you come to the realization that you play a critical role in God’s big story of redemption, it has a profound impact on the way you see your day to day life.  This week, think about how you would live your life differently with the assumption that one day it will be shown on the silver screen of heaven.

Accelerant: Fuel for THE Cause

Pray: Father in heaven, thank you that I am in the movie!  Please empower me to play the role you scripted for me before the world began.  Help me to live each day as though it might be my greatest opportunity to show your power to the world and fulfill my role in THE Cause.

Read:Ephesians 2:10. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Get:  To help you get motivated to share your faith with your friends, pick up a copy of the book Firestarter. This fictional story recounts what can happen when just one teen is passionate about the mission of Jesus to reach the lost. Firestarter is the sequel to the popular Venti Jesus Please!