I enjoy watching movies, and while I am watching the movie, I can’t help but try to find connections in the story with my Christian walk or a correlation with stories in the bible. One of my favorite movies is Forrest Gump. I hope that you have seen this movie. It is about a Special needs person named Forrest Gump, who lives his life as if it were a feather blowing in the wind. Forrest doesn’t set goals but things get done; he takes one day at a time. Where ever life’s circumstances take Forrest, he follows.
Our lives are like Forrest in some ways. We can plan our futures, set goals, but we can’t control everything. I believe in planning our futures but I am a realist; circumstances can change our plans. We can get sick or lose our jobs and our family members. All of these tragedies can wreck our world. Many of Forrest’s tragedies, the Vietnam War, the loss of his friend and mother, all seem to work out for the good in his story.
During his life story, Forrest befriends three important characters, Lieutenant Dan, Bubba, and Jenny. Forrest personifies what true love is through his relationship with his new friends. Forrest constantly pursues a relationship with his friends. He meets up with Lieutenant Dan while serving in the Vietnam War.
During a battle, Lieutenant Dan loses his legs in a mortar attack and Forrest carries him out of the jungle to safety. Lieutenant Dan resents Forrest for saving him. He is angry with Forrest for not allowing him the dignity to die on the battlefield with honor as his family members have done in past wars. How many times have we blamed others or resented them for our problems? How many times have we blamed God? Lieutenant Dan feels unworthy, but Forrest continues to pursue him. Lieutenant Dan’s pain is great, but he is nudged ever so slightly by Forrest’s invitation for renewal. Lieutenant Dan begins to believe in Forrest’s shrimping operation and accepts his invitation to participate, and like God, Forrest believes in Lieutenant Dan’s potential and values it. He is reconciled to Forrest redeemed and renewed (Romans 5:10)(John 3:16). At some point in the story, Lieutenant Dan repents and has reason to believe in himself again. The Holy Spirit is working in the hearts of the lost(Lieutenant Dan) to hear and believe the Good News.
Bubba is a poor southern black man that Forrest meets at boot camp. He has a great dream to one day start his own shrimp business. Bubba’s dream is to bring his family out of poverty but is cut short by his tragic death in Vietnam. Forrest honors Bubba’s dream and creates his shrimp company helping Bubba’s family out of poverty. In the end, Forrest brings good out of the tragic death of his friend Bubba. God creates good out of our tragedies. Like Forrest, God runs into our battles to save us; some reject his salvation like Lieutenant Dan, while others embrace it.
Now Jenny’s father molested her as a young girl, and it has messed her up ever since. She feels unworthy of love and lives her life trying to forget her past with sex and drugs. I know individuals who have lived through this pain of abuse. When life starts with an abusive beginning, it can make life difficult. How often does God rescue us from our mess? God is with us in our struggles working in our lives to redeem us. God does this because his love is unconditional, sacrificial, and enduring. We think of God’s love as foolish and reckless compared to our understanding of love. We give up on love to quickly, and we guard ourselves in relationships when trouble arises. Without God, humanity is helpless to love the way God meant us too.
Like most of us, Jenny doesn’t believe she is good enough to be loved unconditionally. Jenny runs from love because of her past. Love is what she needs to get over the pain of the past. She feels lost because of her past, and because of her past, she can’t trust relationships. Jenny can’t find her way back to love. The lost in this world are like Jenny. They can’t find their way back to God. They alienated their minds from God (Colossians 1:21), and this separates them from God (Genesis 3:8). God doesn’t separate himself from us. Just like God, Forrest never stops loving Jenny or pursuing her (Luke 15:4-7 Lost sheep). It doesn’t matter how many times Jenny runs away after returning home to Forrest; he still welcomes her home each time. He never gives up on her, no matter what she has done. We see grace at this juncture in the story. Forrest saves Jenny when she comes home for good. I am reminded of our eternal destination when we finally have rest from all that pains us. Our lives also can be renewed by the Holy Spirit.
Continuing in the story, Forrest buys a beat-up shrimp boat, and what does he call that boat? He calls it Jenny. The boat goes through a hurricane and survives. Whatever storm it goes through Forrest stays on board. This broken boat represents Jenny and her brokenness. This is how God relates to us in our brokenness. We may not know he is there, but he is there in every storm that we go through.
In the movie, we see a man who does not let life determine his attitude and behavior toward others. His compass in life is love; it is his driving force, his gust of wind. We see a similar man led by love, Luke 19:1-9. Jesus enters the wealthy town of Jericho, where a large crowd had gathered around him. There was a particular man who lived in the city named Zacchaeus, who wanted to see Jesus. Zacchaeus was a short-statured wealthy man who was hated in the community because he was a dishonest tax collector. He wanted to get in front of the crowd, but they prevented him from seeing Jesus. So he climbs a tree. He sees the forest amongst the trees. Jesus asked him to come down and tells him he would stay with him.
Jesus did not ask him to change first. He didn’t preach to him, didn’t judge him, and he didn’t moralize or ridicule him; he just reached out to him and loved him. Zacchaeus responded to that love. By the power of Christ’s love, Zacchaeus realized that he was wrong and repented of any wrongdoing. Zacchaeus responded to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by giving half of his possessions to the poor. Zacchaeus, Jenny, and Lieutenant Dan were blind by trees (temptations, their wants, pain, and tragedy) and not focused on the forest (Jesus). It isn’t always the lost who can’t see the forest from the trees.
Our churches must have an attitude of unconditional love for the hurting and lost as Jesus had for Zacchaeus and Forrest had for his friends. Christians have to continue to tell and show people that God loves them unconditionally and is with them in every storm that they go through. We have to tell them and show them that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has changed everything. That he is Lord of creation, and he is in the process of making it new. Our churches have to stop focusing on the trees (the inner circle) and look to the forest (the world).
At this time, I want to point out that we can teach our children we bear the image of the almighty God, and we can see that image in creative activities like the arts, Architecture, and our love of reading. Movies are entertaining, but they also can have value as well.
At the end of the movie, Forrest realizes that life is like a box of chocolate. I fully agree; you never know what you are going to get in life. As Christians, we know this is true, but we also know God is with us through it all. Our hope comes from knowing where our final destination will be. God’s plan has always been grace. He is restoring all things and making them new through his son Jesus. So, we need to stay focused on the forest (Jesus) and not get lost in the trees (our problems). We must not let our messy life overshadow the joy found in him. I enjoy watching movies with my family and looking for signs of our journey in the story. Let me know what movie effects you the way Forrest Gump effects me.
OJ! Overwhelming Joy 