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Thoughts on movie ” Do you believe?”
Image from doyoubelieve.com
Do you believe? It is a question twelve intersecting lives will be confronted with in the movie Do you believe? I won’t tell you anything about it because you need to experience the powerful message in this movie whether you believe in Christ or not. I guarantee that it will make you think about that question. It’s a question I as a believer found myself asking again. I could respond and say, “Yes, Lord. You know I believe. I answered that question over 33 years ago. Why are You asking it of me again?” As I have prayed about it the answer became crystal clear. It really is a question I and all of us need to ask ourselves each day because it logically follows with this question. What do you believe in?
What do I believe in? That’s a tougher question. I could respond and say, “I believe Christ died for my sins, for all the wrong things I do in thought, word or action. He is the Son of God. He is my saviour. He is my Lord. He is the commander-in-chief of my life. The life I gave back to Him was no longer mine.” Yes, I believe in all of that. But those are easy things to say. They are the standard statements many who profess belief in Christ are taught.
Do you believe? asks a far more challenging question that requires a response not with your mind but with your heart. Whatever you believe in does it then change who you are inside? Does it make you a more caring and giving person? Does that belief have you so excited when you wake up and your feet touch the floor, you can’t wait to share it with others?
I’m not talking about any mask of respectability you may present to others in your public world. What I’m asking all of us to think seriously about is what we believe in when we are alone. It’s the question I ask myself this morning when there is no one but me in our front room as I prepare this piece. Father, what do I truly believe in when no other Christian is around me? I pause. I pray. I think about those two soul-penetrating questions the movie asks of me. Do I believe? Does that belief change who I am? I could give you the easy answers I have been taught so well, but that would fail miserably to answer those two questions. It’s too easy for me to say, “I believe I’m a sinner saved by grace.” That too is the rote response many Christians have been taught so well. I’m not saying that response doesn’t come from the heart or it isn’t real. In the final analysis faith in whatever you believe in should leave you without words, but moreover a feeling of peace so wonderful, so indescribable you cannot define it. You are left only with this child-like wonder leaving you speechless.
Do you remember the best gift you received as a child? For me it is my G.I. Joe Talking Commander action hero. When I open that present from my parents my eyes light up. I smile. I thank them for loving me so much to give me the best gift I ever could have. I take it with me wherever I go. I pull on the string that makes G.I. Joe talk. He has eight recorded phrases such as, “I have a tough assignment for you” and “Good work men!” My G.I. Joe is my hero. In my play world I believe in him. He makes me feel so valued every time I hear him say, “Good work men!” When I think of the life of Christ He inspires His followers to teach the believer and the unbeliever what it means to believe in something so awesome words fail them. When they died they hoped it would be said of them, “Good work men!”
Do you believe? I hope you will watch the movie to answer that question for yourself. I pray I will respond to that question with a joyful yes every day of my life.
Karen Osborne B.A. Christian Clinical Counseling St. James the Elder Theological Seminary, graduate divinity student at Trinity College University of Toronto. Kevin Osborne, B. Th. Canada Christian College & Graduate School. B.A., M.A. Christian Clinical Counseling, postgraduate applied theology and counseling student St. James the Elder Theological Seminary, D.D., D. sc., Diplomate in Traumatology American Board of Traumatology Examiners of St. James the Elder Theological Seminary, Diplomate in Creative Ministry St. James the Elder Theological Seminary. Kevin Osborne is a member of The Word Guild, which is a Christian writer’s group that invites membership all around the world. Please go to https://thewordguild.com for further information.
Mind's Seat 