I’m a moderately passionate movie buff and have a handful of movies, that probably like you, I could watch endlessly.
Mostly I’m drawn to movies that have strong thematic characters. Among my favorites are Braveheart, Gladiator, Lonesome Dove and School of Rock. Any time I watch one of these movies, my own personality quirks will inevitably cause me to unconsciously emulate one of these characters for several days after watching. Too bad for my family that since I watched School of Rock last night I’ll be acting like Jack Black for a few days.
I love these four movies for their strong characters.
In Braveheart, William Wallace was passionate for the cause of freedom and all that was right. Passionate to the degree that he would lead and inspire an army of men, each willing to give their life for the cause of freedom, and to crush the tyranny of oppression that made men less than who God meant for them to be.
In Gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius was passionate for the cause of truth. He was visionary in his own right, yet loyal to the point of death to those he served. He was a protector of family, community and democracy. Russell Crowe was magnificent in his portrayal of Maximus.
Lonesome Dove is my all-time favorite book and movie. Watch it sometime when you have a spare six hours. Augustus McRae was passionate about relationships and adventure. Even in his death, Gus challenged and inspired his best friend to have one last adventure that would teach him lessons to take with him for the rest of his life.
Jack Black’s “School of Rock” may not seem to quite fit in to this mix, but for me, it’s the perfect fourth pillar. In School of Rock, Black portrays the character of Dewey Finn, a washed-up wanna be rocker who misrepresents himself to become a substitute teacher in an upscale private school for young kids. He abandons the traditional curriculum and inspires the kids to tap into their musical abilities to form an awesome group. Finn was passionate beyond measure about helping the kids find their musical abilities. I love the passion he portrays in this movie.
So these four characters exhibit passion for freedom, expression of truth, loyalty, relationships, adventure and even a passion for passion.
If I could form the perfect church, I’d make these four guys Elders. I could line up with the things for which they stand.
Here’s an interesting extreme that’s really not so extreme.
The New Testament tells us that one of the primary characteristics of Jesus was His meekness. You mean to tell me the Savior of the World was meek?
At first thought, you might think of a mouse in a corner hiding from the world. That’s how I always thought of “meek” until some recent study.
Meekness is defined as humility … and their is great strength in humility. It takes strength, my friends, to keep our mouth closed sometimes. I battle with it every day. There is great power and strength in “meekness.” There is great wisdom in “meekness.” And there is a great example for others in our “meekness.”
However it is that you do “church” today, my friends, praise Jesus.
He loves you with passion beyond measure.
Our cat was a feral feline found by another family in the church where we lived in NC. For some reason they gave her to their teenage boy who named her “Maximus.” She is our family protector.
I’ll bet she is. My dog is Snickers. Should have named her Maximus, too.