An Observation...

Not that movies, for the most part, have a lot to teach, but I thought about something after watching Master and Commander today. The men on those ships fought (and some died) for the cause of defending England. I remember as well a quote from Braveheart, where Mel Gibson's character, William Wallace, remarked: "every man dies, but not every man really lives."

So often we watch people who commit themselves in this way to a cause or a belief (and no, I'm not talking about people who go to the wrong extremes, such as terrorists) and either we: 1) label them as crazy people or 2) admire them for their dedication (though we certainly would not ever imagine us doing so).

I guess the question is: if called to "defend" the Lord's cause, either through actual missionary work or physical persecution, or thrown into a situation where the Gospel needs to be proclaimed, will we rise to the occasion? So often, in our American culture, defending the faith is the last thing on our minds--we are preoccupied with the presence of prayer in schools or the makeup of the Supreme Court, but on the whole, our families (yes, "Christian" families) are falling apart from the inside--all the while we are championing Christian issues. Reforming mankind can only be done by the Holy Spirit, who moves at the will of the Father concurrent with the proclamation of the Gospel.

The soldiers on the English ship in the movie were not concerned (in the heat of battle) about their own lives or own concerns--only the task at hand, defending England. We too could take a lesson from this--the apostle Paul threw himself fully in the ministry and did not ever take concern of what would become of him. Does this mean we are to be reckless? No.

But a little less self-absorption in our daily "issues" might do us some good, and help us to focus on the bigger picture.