I love movies. Growing up I would go through stages where
all I wanted to watch was a single movie, over and over and over.. First there
was E.T. Then the Land Before Time, Jurassic Park, Independence day, and of
course, The Sandlot. As I got older, movies got put on discs. The first
DVD I ever owned was The Truman Show. Talk about a mind bender. Jim Carey plays
“Truman” a happy-go-lucky-leave-it-to-beaver kind of character. He’s got a
lovely wife, and they live on an island, in one of those creepy planned communities
like on the X-files. The hook though, is that Truman does not realize everything
he does is being filmed. In fact his whole life has been planned for him. His
whole world has been planned for him. His every action is filmed with secret
cameras. The food he eats, the house he lives in, the car he drives, even his
wife. It’s all planned so that the outside world can look in and watch him. Throughout
the movie, Truman realizes what’s going on.
Teenagers going through massive hormonal shifts, like I was,
should not repeatedly watch movies that make them think the world exists for
their benefit. I lived that way for a long time. In fact I think most people
make their everyday decisions like the world revolves around their pleasure.
What should I eat today? How should I spend my money? What should I do with my
time? My future? My dreams? Just about every human answers that question along
the lines of, “Whatever makes me happy.” The older I get the more convinced I’m
becoming that the world does have a purpose, it does have a reason, a
direction, and a goal, and that goal is not my happiness.
(spoiler alert) The Truman Show ends with Truman fleeing the
island. He’s sailing the open ocean, wind blowing through his sails and hair, when
he runs into a massive wall painted like a horizon. I still get goose-bumps
every time I watch Truman crash into the edge of his world. Reality hits him
like a ton of bricks when he finds a door to walk outside this world that has
revolved around him. The director of the show speaks to him from a microphone
and gives him the option to walk out the door and become just another guy, or
to stay and continue to be the focus.
Truman appropriately and powerfully steps into a new
reality. He’s no longer the focus. The show finishes with a group of people
watching this series of events on T.V. ask, “So, what else is on?” “Where’s the
T.V. Guide?”
Are you the focus of your life? Are you living to please
yourself? What causes you to make the decisions you do?
Since I became a pastor, I have watched a lot of people live
through their last days. Some people die well, and others don’t. Even today I
held the hand of, and prayed with a girl who might not see next month. I have
noticed a trend. People who live their lives with other people as their focus
have more people at their funerals. Why does one guy die and 750 people show up
at a building that seats 300? He influenced those 750 people. He interacted
with them. He made them a priority. He made them feel important. He cut time
out of his schedule. He was a mighty tree in a forest, and when he fell, the
whole forest took notice. Why does another guy die and 25 family members show
up? They probably want the inheritance..
When I die, I want tons and tons of people there. Not
because I'm proud and want to be honored, but because if there are not a ton of
people, then I did not live as well as I could have.
If your life is going to make any difference at all, it
starts with you crashing into the wall of a self-focused reality and walking out
the door into maturity. It ends when 750 people cram into a small building to
say one last thank-you.
