Slumdog Millionaire

I have to admit that I was skeptical at first when I saw the trailer for the movie Slumdog Millionaire. For whatever reason, I thought it was going to be shallow,"westernized" if you will, but after hearing from several friends that it was great, I decided it would be worth watching.

I was right, in fact, it may be too real for some. It's raw, it's heart-wrenching, and it's real. The "slumdogs" are real. I have seen them ... playing on burning heaps of trash, maimed and wandering in the streets, out working the streets to make a few rupees so they can eat that day.

There's a scene where Jamal, the main character, is caught for playing "tour guide" to an American couple. After they stop the cop from beating him, he shouts, "You wanted to see the real India, here it is!" and then they show him a bit of the "real America" and give him $100 bill. It's an interesting scene. When we, Westerners, encounter such a vast scene of poverty and suffering, we somehow think that we can help solve the problems, or at least stop the bleeding, by handing over some money. And it's not that giving money is a bad thing necessarily, but ultimately it is only a band-aid for a gun shot wound.

I was really surprised and happy to read a recent BBC report that the director of the movie, Danny Boyle, has created a trust fund to benefit the child actors that starred in the movie. But, even more significant are the projects that organizations like SIM, OM International, and Samaritan's Purse (just to name a few) are involved in that help these kids in a holistic manner—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—providing a complete view of hope, and usable tools that will develop them for the future.

Impact

One of the most significant lies that runs around my head is 'you really have little or no impact at all.' Self-talk can be a really immobilizing and devastating conversation ... especially if you don't know how to stop it.

My pastors just finished preaching through the book of Colossians—the key verse being "So then just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him ..."(2:6) "Walk it out" ... that was the title of the series of messages.

I think we all feel insignificant at one time or another, but I have been thinking about what a lie it is to actually believe that, when God tells us the exact opposite—"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us in advance to do."(Eph 2:10)

Pastor Derrick has placed a mantra in my head over the last several weeks ... "head, heart, hands" he likes to say, and it's true. I am realizing, yet again, the significance of knowing what God's word says. It is the only way that I can fend off the negative self-talk that invades my mind. I can't tell myself what a good person I am, because I know the truth. That doesn't work. But I find that when I take the time to read and contemplate all that my Maker says about me, those voices in my head grow faint and I can see more clearly. It's a freeing concept. Merely changing my behavior without changing the way I think has little or no impact for Christ, but by knowing God's truth and relinquishing control (or appropriating that truth), God will do more through me than I could ever ask or imagine—that is GOOD NEWS!

Yesterday, at the end of the service, this vision popped into my head of being "surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses"(Hebrews 12:1) and I thought about who those people really are for me on a personal level ... who have been witnesses for Christ in my life—my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, people I've worked with, church elders, etc—a lot of people have spoken truth into my life.

And I realize that everywhere I go, I have an opportunity to do the same. Sometimes I think about heaven, that God will have a video of my life (I am sure I heard that in a sermon) and what would it look like? Whose "cloud of witnesses" will I be a part of? I think it's probably bigger than I allow myself to believe on a daily basis.

I am sure that none of the "heroes of the faith" spoken about in Hebrews knew the impact that they would have for the kingdom as one man or one woman—but each one chose to "walk it out." The walked, they fell down, and they got back up and walked some more ... and by God's strength I can walk too.

If you haven't seen this video already, I encourage you to watch it now. It's called "God's Chisel" and it is done by "The Skit Guys."