I literally sat between hope and defeat. 

It was the most amazing real life example to me of what I was watching on the big screen.

A friend and I had decided to go see Jesus Revolution and there weren’t many seats left. We opted for seats in between already selected ones, which put me next to a complete stranger.  The stranger was on my left, while my friend sat on my right.

It seemed as soon as the movie started, the stranger was unhappy.  He grumbled and huffed through the first half of the movie at every scene that didn’t agree with his viewpoint. I could hear him talking to the characters.  “Just go get more drugs,” he said snidely. “Well, you deserve that,” he said another time.  “Stupid” was heard repeatedly. He seemed so angry. The first half of the movie was spent listening to his ranting on my left side.

Meanwhile, my friend on my right was vocal with his “amen” and “that’s right”.  I started to get vocal as well, but mostly because the words and spirit coming at my left was bringing it out in me.  I needed to counteract all that negative oppression.

I couldn’t help but think how much of the point the stranger was missing. The movie was meant to drive home the point that we ALL are looking to fill a void.  And that void will only be filled with one thing. Like it or not, the journeys to discovering our need for Jesus are all varied, and no one person can tell anyone else what it’s supposed to look like on that journey. We have a better idea of what it should look like after we find Jesus than what it should look like before finding Him. But even that is unique to each person and can’t be cookie-cut into uniformity.

All I could hear out of the stranger on my left was condemnation and minimalization.  Had he no clue that sin is sin? That there is no such thing as degrees? Has he not heard “for we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)? Did he never once question whether he might be the reason someone didn’t find God?  We are not to be a stumbling block (2 Cor 6:3). I wonder if he didn’t see himself in the elders of the church that were portrayed in the movie.  So sure they are right and that “those people” aren’t welcome, their attendance was dwindling, and the church was on the brink of failure.  This stranger on my left only offered defeat to the defeated and I felt sorry for him, thinking he didn’t have any idea of who Jesus really is and what the character of God is really like.

And then on my right was my friend, a ray of hope. As he watched the scenes unfold, he was offering encouragement and agreement with those who were trying to reach the lost in the movie.  He obviously felt a hope for those portrayed as hopeless, and his vocalization of it was a soothing balm compared to the contrary spirit on my other side.  I have no doubt that those who struggle would find comfort in my friend’s hopeful demeanor.  I know he gets it when it comes to the lost.  They aren’t all pretty.  They aren’t all put together.  They aren’t all perfect.  But Jesus loves them the same way as He loves my friend.  And God’s grace is just as real to him as it is to those poor souls portrayed in the film.  He points the hopeless to our Great Hope.

To sit in the middle of these two warring spirits was odd. The stranger on my left, so insistent that only the good belong.  My friend on the right, just as insistent (or rather, understanding) that there is no one good enough. It was like some cartoon of the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. And it makes me wonder.  How many Christians do I know who side with the stranger? How many do I know who side with my friend? What will it take to convert the stranger, and others like him, to Jesus’s side? Why do they think Jesus primarily did His ministry outside of the synagogue? Are they content to play the role of Pharisee?

Around halfway through the movie, the stranger on my left got up and made his way out of the movie. To say the tension dropped would be an understatement. It was like going from a blizzard to a warm, sunny day in 30 seconds. And I was able to enjoy the rest of the movie.

Can I just encourage you?

If you feel like “those people” (whoever that might be to you) don’t belong in the house of God, or don’t deserve a chance to meet Him, find it in the Bible for me where Jesus himself set that standard. Knowing He traveled with women (ack!), fishermen (groan), tax collectors and former prostitutes (faint), in order to reach the ones that the Pharisees never could, should open your eyes to God’s grace. Knowing you don’t deserve that grace any more than they do because there are no degrees to sin should open your eyes to God’s mercy. In God’s eyes, there are none of “those” people. Or, better yet, there are only “those” people, and it includes you and me.

And if looking for your standard in Jesus’s actions doesn’t work out for you, then pray. Pray the Lord show you His grace. Pray He covers you with mercy. Pray He opens your eyes and your heart to receive understanding.

Because we are all ‘those” people.