The Servant's Quarters

So, the other night, we put this movie called, Facing the Giants into the DVD player. This movie comes highly recommended by every Christian friend I have whose seen it. We were expecting big things, and in some cases, the movie delivered big time. In other ways...... um....... not so much.

The story in a nutshell: A football coach at a Christian high school can't seem to catch a break. His team hasn't had a good season in a loooooong time. His job is in jeopardy. He feels like a personal failure. His house has a disgusting smell that he can't get rid of. His car keeps breaking down. He's fed up and disgusted. In fact, he's so dispondent that he gives up. He decides that he has no recourse but to turn the entire situation over to God. He prays and reads his Bible, seeking wisdom. And as God is wont to do, He answers. Big time.

First the good: The movie was very well made, compared to other notable Christian flicks that sometimes come across as downright cheesey. The characters were very likeable. It had it's very inspiring moments. And I'll be honest here - the best thing that this movie had going for it was that my kids really enjoyed it and were very spiritually moved by it. Anything that teaches my kids that God is cool is ok in my book. So, I was happy that we watched it and I would do it again in a second.

However, this movie was very challenged in several areas. The ones that I picked up on were:

- The acting was mediocre at best. Not bad, but not very good either. It was bad enough that it kept me from getting fully absorbed in the plot of the movie. So, that was a problem.

- The story was UNBELIEVEABLY predictable. I'm not kidding here. Every plot point was absolutely telegraphed ahead of time. Shortly into the climatic football game at the end of the movie, I knew who was going to win, how they were going to win, and even what the final score was going to be. I had to shoosh Rita a couple of times because she knew what was going to happen and wanted to share her prediction with me. (She was always right.) And that is sort of related to my final criticism.....

- The message of this movie is not entirely true and not entirely wholesome. WHAT????? Butler, what are you talking about? Facing the Giants is an incredible Christian movie. Everyone loves it. It shows a beautiful depiction of a man facing his own personal giants by trusting in the the Lord Jesus. How can you criticise that? Well, it's pretty easily, actually. You see, this movie portrays God as a genie in a bottle. Need to pull your football team out of a slump? Rub the lamp, and God will bless you with a winning season and a state championship. You and your spouse struggling with infertility? No problem! Surrender to Jesus and your wife will be squeezing out kids every two years. Sick of your car breaking down all the time? Forget about it! God will drop a new car into your lap as soon as you pray about it. That is not what God is about. God has never, ever promised to smooth out all the bumps in life and reverse all your setbacks as soon as you trust in Him and decide to follow him. He never said that the life of the Christian would be easy. But He does promise that when you are going through the rough times, He would be at your side, walking with you and strengthening you. I know that God can and does deliver His followers from bad situations, but not all the time. Here's a real life example: Some friends of ours just buried their 35 year old daughter who died of cancer. They are devout Christians, as was their beloved daughter. For the three years of her illness, they were consumed with praying for her deliverance from the disease. In the end, for reasons that they and I do not understand, the Lord chose not to heal her of cancer. She died, and they are now going through the most unbelieveable pain that any person can go through.

I hate to think of what they would say about "Facing the Giants."

Rita and I both agreed that the movie would have been vastly improved if the lead couple had not had every burden lifted from them. If, for example, they were still infertile at the end of the movie. If, in the face of this hardship, they had said, "It is well with my soul. We trust You, O God, even though You have not blessed us with children. We will still seek You and put You in the highest place in our lives"

And that, I think would have been the best message my kids could have taken out of this movie.