The Power of Virtue

Today I watched an excellent movie about three teenage boys, Andrew, Matt, and Steve, who stumbled upon a strange object in a crater. After being exposed to some magnetic field, they were endowed with telekinetic powers. Overly fascinated by their newfound abilities, one day their super hero show and tell went too far and almost cost a man his life. Alarmed at the idea that their powers could be abused, one of the boys, Matt, decided to create rules by which their abilities would be governed. He felt by following rules their powers would not be abused.

As the movie evolved, viewers saw how absolute power corrupts absolutely. Andrew, who had been previously rejected by his peers, abused by his father, and was grieving over his mother’s terminal illness, was not only the one who honed his skills the best, but also the one most prone to abuse them due to his lack of emotional health and temperance.  Feeling less-than all of his life, he saw an opportunity to exert power–albeit in the wrong way–in order to avenge the offenses he experienced daily.

There were two key things cited in the movie as killers of virtue; first, Matt admonished that their powers could not be used while angry, and second was to be careful of hubris. Andrew fell prey to both as his prowess, combined with his victim mentality, led him on a dangerous and destructive path to the point where he turned on the people who tried to help him. I thought to myself how those two emotions were dangerous because anger creates an

environment for unforgiveness, bitterness, and rage, while pride creates an environment for deception, the inability to receive correction, and rebellion. It led me to think about how Jesus was not being a killjoy after all when he laid certain principles—rules—for us to live by. I saw the teachings of Jesus Christ in a whole new light after watching some kid in a movie go buck wild.

In order to properly govern the power God has given us, we must be of sound mind and character. If not, we open the door to corruption and pervert the purity of our gifts. This is why we see a lot of people in leadership, and those with exceptional gifts and talents, veer off the path. People tend to get to a certain place where they feel they have arrived and somehow decide they are above being vigilant about maintaining their integrity. After all, one might think, the fact that they arrived means there’s no more inner work to be done, right? Wrong! As a matter of fact, that is probably the most crucial time to do self work, because there is more at stake and more people to be hurt if the power is not properly harnessed.

After leaving the movie, I could not wait to go home and read the Bible. I could not wait to read once more the ideals that Jesus taught that would help us cleanse our souls. Living for God is not so that we can go around telling people we are perfect and that we don’t go here, or say this, or act like that. It is much bigger than that. What’s the point of bragging about going to church every Sunday and fasting at the drop of a hat, yet we hold grudges in Jesus’ name and get puffed up in pride whenever someone we deem important pats us on the back? The more immersed I become in this Christian life, the less impressed I become with what we call Christianity, because at the end of the day some of what we have made it to be is neither real nor effective. I’m not impressed with titles, the who’s who, and all the other things that have been inserted into the faith to make people important. I’m impressed with the character Jesus had. I’m impressed with humble and transparent people whose very presence in this world is a blessing. And who, you might ask, am I to say who I am or am not impressed with? Nobody.  And without Christ that’s exactly who I am.

Brothers and sisters, let’s focus on the simple things Jesus taught so that we don’t find ourselves given over to corruption. It doesn’t matter who hurt us, who doesn’t like us, or who wishes us harm, because if God be for us, who can be against us? God says vengeance is his, so we can take a load off of ourselves and let Him take care of the things that we have been trying for years to fix in our own power. We can better use that energy to make sure our hearts are in the right place so that we can be vessels ready for use. We don’t need a minister’s collar, a nun’s habit, or a big dusty Bible for God to use us. We need to be sincere about living this life one day at a time. It’s hard work, but if it couldn’t be done, it wouldn’t be in The Manual. And after this, we’ll be able to move mountains; not telekinetically, of course, but by faith.

Okay, see you later. I have a cloud to catch.

Shhhhhhhhhooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

*photo credit-www.christwallpaper.net