The Book of Eli - Time to Start Living It

I recently saw two movies, The Book of Eli and Avatar. Both gave me many thoughts to ponder on but for this post I will just be talking about “The Book of Eli”. I know there are many out there who have not seen this film so don’t worry, I am not going to give away the ending. My thoughts won’t give much away; it just might give you some pre knowledge to what is going on.

Well as most can tell from the previews, this movie portrays a time in earths future were there is no government, the climate has shifted and everything is a dessert waste land with a fend for yourself society. The hero of the story, Eli (played be Denzel Washington) is seen traveling across the wasteland. You find out early on that he is caring a large book; this book turns out to be a bible, the only Bible in existence. After the war that caused the great climate change all the bibles were destroyed because many blamed the Bible or those that followed it for the war. So the character Eli is struggling to take the Bible west, where exactly, he does not know, but he knows that his purpose is to protect this Bible. He also states, and his shows, that he reads the Bible every night.

In the first part of the movie as the plot is being set Eli stumbles on to a robbery murder of some helpless travelers by a gang of thugs. He watches from above as the man is murdered and the women is raped and then murdered, all the time repeating to himself as he clutches the Bible close to his chest something like, “Keep Focused, this is not your fight, keep moving” (not an exact quote but the idea). Using these words be convinces himself to stand by and watch as these murders occur, believing it is his calling to protect this Bible above all else. Well the movie moves on, and it was a good movie, but near the end Eli makes a statement as he is remembering his journey. He says that he been so focused on protecting the Bible that he had forgotten to live by what it said. WOW! That statement jumped out to me like being hit with a ton of bricks. My first thought was “Wow, God that is me. I have been so consumed with doing my “Calling” in church and “protecting” what I think the Bible teaches church should be that I had forgotten to really live by what it says as I seek to fulfill my calling. (Please note my first thought was a personnel conviction before I expanded on it) But then I took it further…

I thought that this is my church, or many times “The church”. We spend our time fighting to protect our prefect theology (That we believe is perfectly accurate) and teaching each other and ourselves all about what the Bible says so we are “Strong”, “grounded” Christians defending our faith. Doing all this sitting in our chairs, services, meetings, and Sunday school classroom while the world around us is being murdered and raped by each other and the devil himself, the one we are supposedly fighting against.

I found my self just sitting and thinking about this. I was and am sad as I reflect and must embrace this reality. Yet I am frozen in my chair, more frozen then before because I am not sure what action to take. I am torn between two worlds but in my heart I know these worlds should not be torn. I am torn because I believe the church is “the hope of the world” and the church has the power to change the world in the name and message of Jesus Christ. Yet I feel trapped in that same organization, in a good and bad way. I can’t leave it because I know it is ordained and called by God and I know my calling is to be in it and to work through it. That is my calling (not to calling of everyone as it is for me). But as I walk through the doors now I can’t help but feel like there is something dead and I am trapped in continuing on as is with no hope in sight of it being any different in my or my world around me. Also trapped because I feel if I speak up about what I see I am perceived as the critical jerk who is not a “team player”.

Do we, Christians, see the world that is being murdered and raped, and are we watching it while sitting in our classes to teach theology and create “growth”. Growth? Growth to do what? Growth to go from class 101 to 201 to class 301? Don’t get me wrong I love learning, I love teaching and I love being a part of that but what is it leading to? What is the point of all the teaching and listening if we grow only to teach each others already in our churches and to start a new class to teach other Christians what we know? When will we be called to take action by the teachings and those teaching it? When will we be called to more by our own leaders who tell us to grow? When will they lead us into action, even by example? (This is also a question I am putting to myself as I struggle through this)

Yes, I am left with more questions and more discouragement then I had at the beginning. But it is in times of disparity that God meets us as we are humbled by our failures and mistakes. But I am crying out saying “God wake more people up! I am tired of feeling helpless to be a part of change that really matters. God I am, right now, tried of it all as I see it happening week in and week out. I am tired the most of what I am see in me!”

I hear the author of “From Good to Great” Say recently. The great success stories are the ones who did not wait for their leaders and coworkers to be strong and successful but worked to be strong and successful despite the failings of those under them and below them. That is the real challenge I guess. There are no excuses left to not see action in me. Now what is my action to be?