What I’m Watching – The Great Awakening

When I go to watch a show, be it in on stage, television, or on film, I expect to be changed by it.

Changed like I was the first time I saw 2001 and how it shaped forever the way I’d look at the universe.

Changed like when I first saw Giant and I saw interactions between peoples.

And little did I realize how much this movie would change me.

I walked in, knowing little about it. Of course, I knew who Ben Franklin was. And I’d heard of George Whitefield. And I knew a little about the Great Awakening.

I wasn’t prepared to have a mirror held up to me in the course of the film.

You see, in the course of the last few years, I’ve kind of forgotten who I was.

An odd thing to say, but it’s true. Life beats you up. I’ve watched my world change. My wife and I are older. We’ve had much heartbreak. And it’s easy to forget we have a God who’s for us, not against us.

And it’s easy to parrot the words that “I’m saved” or an “Heir to Christ” and other such homilies. It something else to be reminded what the words really mean.

This film helped me to remember who I was, and why I’m here. It convicted me that on many levels. My faith had taken a beating.

And it reminded me of my mission. I’m to make the world a little bit better of a place than I found it. To point people to the true path of freedom.

I’m here (and so are all of us) to be the hands and feet of God himself. To show Christ in our everyday lives. To do away with the hate and anger that separates us and to stand for what is right, not what is popular. We’re here to change the world for the better.

That’s what a powerful story does.

It reminds us of who we are or aren’t.

And it should remind us we need courage to face the world, and what the source of that courage is.