Some blog posts are a while in the making. I used to say that about books as well. Some books are decades in the making. Why? Because God brings details into place…words into place…that we didn’t have before. Or maybe we couldn’t convey them. As an author, it is always a struggle to put things into words. I suppose it’s an irony—to be a man of words, and yet not always have them. It’s the struggle of an artist. What colors do you use on the canvas? The world will call this struggle, “Writer’s inspiration,” but I’ve often found that, for the Christian, it is about having an occasion for everything. There’s a time when things happen that makes them perfectly beautiful. “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
Years ago, I spent my regular 4th of July holiday with my brother and my sister-in-law. We didn’t do a whole lot, really. But honestly, it was great to just watch movies all day on a couch (It’s not always bad to do that). As a soldier, I frequently have to tell myself that it’s okay to rest and refresh. It is needed in the spiritual war that we fight. Rest takes different forms, but I’ve been amazed at the encouragement that God gives in that time.
We watched a movie called Hunter-Killer, a film about a U.S. submarine, it’s captain and crew, and whole lot of other important characters. I won’t waste time describing every detail of the plot (Because you can watch it for yourself). But there’s a scene in the movie that brings something very important to the table. A message that I think speaks well to the condition of Christians today.
Commander Joe Glass is the main character of the film. He is the newly appointed captain of the USS Tampa Bay. The same captain whom everyone assumes won’t be that great of a leader. But the crew quickly discovers that Glass runs a very tight ship, nothing less than every man’s best efforts. He has more experience and maturity than any of the crew comprehend.
The USS Tampa Bay uncovers a threat that could potentially open the world to another world war. In the process, they discover a damaged Russian submarine on the ocean floor. We find out that the Russian sub had been sabotaged by members of a Russian coup, and now the survivors are desperate for rescue. Despite protests from his CO, Glass orders his men to put out to rescue the Russian survivors. It is a dangerous task, but they manage it and return to the Tampa Bay with the prisoners of war. Of these prisoners is Sergei Andropov, captain of the Russian submarine. Glass orders that Andropov be kept in separation from his men.
But time is vital. After giving Andropov opportunity to thaw out, Glass enters the holding room. Defiant at first, Andropov wants nothing to do with the American. As far as he is concerned, the American sub sunk his ship. Glass humors the captain’s hostility and ignores the cursing. Andropov isn’t aware of what truly happened. The fact that his own people tried to murder him and his crew.
Glass slides some photos across the table to Andropov. Hesitantly, the captain examines the prints, and the truth is revealed: his ship was blown up from the inside. It was an inside job by Russians determined to start a new war. Andropov and his loyal men would only get in the way of accomplishing their goal.
Commander Glass’s orders from Washington are to rescue the Russian president from this same coup. But he cannot do this without Andropov’s help. He’s the only one who knows how to navigate a fjord that leads directly to the president’s location. Andropov remains hesitant to help, but on a deep level Glass enters his world:
“You know. We’re no different, you and I. We’ve been down here our whole careers. Toe-to toe. We’re not enemies, we’re brothers. Who else understands what it is we go through? The isolation, the fear. Fighting for months inside a bomb scraping at the bottom of the ocean. But it’s what we are. It’s what we do. So, you know what it took for me to get you out of that sub. I risked my men, I risked my ship…I risked a court martial. Because it was the right thing to do. It’s not about your side or my side. It’s about our future.”
Glass leaves the holding room and Andropov looks at the photos again. The American is telling the truth. Minutes later, he joins Glass at the front of the submarine and becomes the most important man to preventing another war.
The first time I watched this scene of Glass with Andropov, my eyes and ears were glued. I might have even had tears in my eyes. It paralleled my life, my thoughts, and the lives of others whom I knew.
Here’s why.
A lot of Christians have been burned. And I’m not referring to burned at the stake. They have been burned by Christians who believe they know the details of other believers’ lives. They impart a wisdom they believe is very sound and inspiring, when, really, it is the opposite. They go to Bible colleges, get a pastoral or counseling degree, and then here come their victims—the sheep of the Church.
And then there’s the sheep of the Church. The sheep of the Church today are very dumb sheep. And they follow other dumb sheep who follow very dumb teaching. A dumb sheep eats everything placed in front of them, not having discernment between what sounds good and what is actually biblical. It has led to much harm in the Church. People don’t want to talk to pastors anymore. They grow tired of being counseled as problems and not people. The are burnt in being misheard and misunderstood by people who know how to handle other peoples’ lives. In truth, they play a great part in wrecking other people’s lives. Teaching can be very great, or it can be very dangerous and harmful. It answers the question on why people don’t want to give church a try or open up to someone. They will receive the same Christianese they have always heard. Maybe in the past they tried to open up to a Christian about personal things. But they just weren’t listened to. The Christian had an agenda. The Christian was there to solve problems. The Christian was there to be the ‘the one who helped that person.’
And there are other things that must be said.
People are bored of church. They are exhausted. Christians—of all people—don’t feel they can open up to other Christians. Why? Because other Christians know a lot. They don’t listen to understand. They listen to respond and solve you.
You grow tired of opening up to people because you never know what to expect. It’s like a horse that just can’t take the human anymore.
Veterans are some of the most misheard or misunderstood people in the world. They share stories, but there’s a whole lot more they can never share with anyone else, except a veteran. Who would understand? Who could relate to the things that went through their minds in combat? Who could understand what they had to do—what they had to become—to do their job? They suffer silently all the time.
Much is same the true with sheep in the Church. They suffer silently every time they attend a service. They come, hoping to eat nourishing grass, but are given straw. It’s dry, it’s tasteless, and it is endless. The music lacks the very heart of God. It has lyrics, but it does not have the heart of God. People go to church every week, hoping and praying that it changes for the better. But, if it doesn’t, who do they talk to? Who will hear them humbly and accurately?
I get it. I really do. And the amazing thing? I’m not bitter or angry at a single person in the church. I love my church and the people in it very much. I love all believers. My hope isn’t in man. It’s in the faithfulness of my God and the work He is doing.
But there was a reason why Glass could talk to Andropov like no one else on the USS Tampa Bay. Andropov knew what Glass was talking about. They were in the same details of life. The same struggles that no one else could possibly understand.
Throughout the movie, Glass makes a number of decisions that upsets his crew. His own CO questions him and thinks he’s crazy in the choices he’s making. But, after every close call, the crew realizes something very important about Commander Glass.
He’s right.
Glass had the courage and maturity to do things that no one else would have been able to do. He wasn’t there to be loved. He wasn’t there to be popular. He was there to do the mission. And the USS Tampa Bay accomplished that mission.
The scene with Glass and Andropov reminds us that some things are just impossible to open up about. Unless you meet the right person. A friend of mine once said that there’s always risk when you open up about your life details, and it’s true. How many times did I think I could open up to a person, and it was the wrong person? Makes it harder each time to open up again. And that’s where our relationship with God is so vital. He is the only one. Literally the only one who can understand and relate to everything we go through. He enters our lives on a deep level.
People ache to share things about their lives. And it aches them not being able to. Things weigh on us, but we tire of the stupidity. We tire of the things that are not helpful.
Is there hope?
You know there is. And I don’t have to write a dissertation to tell you what you already know. If you’re a believer, be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You know him. You do your duty. You fight through the muck. You fight through the lies about you that aren’t true. You pray with your heart beating and fighting for your love for God, trusting in what He is doing.
There’s things that don’t matter, and there’s things that do. The mission matters. What you’re doing matters. And who you are matters.
One of the best teachings from the book of Job is knowing what kind of person you are. Job was a righteous man, full of wisdom. His friends were rotten comfort and terrible counselors. “They were great friends until they opened their mouths,” a man once preached.
In ancient times, men such as Plato, Aristotle, and other philosophers were often ostracized by people of their time. Why? Because they said things as they really were. They often spoke things about man and human nature that were true. But man did not want to listen to what was really true. Man wanted to keep pretending that everything was fine. My concern is that the Church sees things the same way.
What’s gonna matter? That’s what we have to decide.
I’m exiting the holding room.
-CH
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