A Storytelling God
I’ve said in the past that God is an author. He tells stories. His imagination, unlike ours, puts things into motion. Whatever He thinks, is. We are made in the image of a storytelling God. So we tell stories. We tell stories to comfort us, we tell stories to remind us, and we tell stories to give us hope. If you look closely, no matter what kind of story it is, you can see God. Nothing that we think up is without a shade of Him in it, because we are His. That is how I can watch a movie, a television show, or read a book and see Jesus. I look for Him and He is found. My mind never switches off from Him. He is not only in the bible, in Christian music, or in the church building. He is everywhere. He is in me. Unless I am a person that is still blind and unredeemed, I can’t escape that. Either I run from Him and am racked with guilt because I cannot escape His presence; or I run with Him and am filled with awe because He changes the way I see things.
Today I watched a television show called ‘Lost.’ Not just today, but I’ve been watching it almost every night, for the past two months, with my family. I started seeing glimpses of something deeper in the plot. There was an episode called ‘The Incident.’ I could not watch it without sobbing. So here is what I saw—I can’t guarantee that my telling of this will help you to see, but why wouldn’t I tell someone if it impacted me so much?
There are these people who crashed on an island and they think it was an accident. They know that something bigger than themselves exists on the island, but in ignorance they continue to survive under the assumption that all they need to do is get themselves off the island. They are not only blind to the good on the island; they are also blind to the fact that there is an enemy. They think their enemy is a people they call “the others” but the others are just like them.
“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12; NLT)
Some of “the others” know in part, some know more.
“All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)
The truth of the story is revealed in the episode ‘The Incident.’ There is a character Jacob. He is immortal. There is also a man who is simply referred to as ‘The Man in Black’, although the people on the island refer to him as ‘the smoke monster.’ The man in black is an accuser of the people on the island.
“For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth--the one who accuses them before our God day and night.” (Revelation 12:10; NLT)
He scorns at Jacob’s attempt to create good in them. He makes it his mission to kill them.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10; NIV)
But his greatest priority is to find a loophole: a way to kill Jacob. He cannot kill him because it is a rule. The Man in Black disguises himself and speaks to the people on the island so that he can convince them to go against Jacob. Finally, disguised as one of the characters John Locke, he finds a man who is willing to betray Jacob: Ben. The character Ben betrays Jacob and kills him.
“Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”(Luke 22:48; ESV)
Jacob is unconcerned about dying. It would not happen if he didn’t intend for it to happen. The Man in Black is triumphant at finally fulfilling his purpose, but Jacob warns him about what is coming. Despite his death he appears to his people to give them last instructions.
“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24:5)
Through the men that Jacob called to the island, he uses them to destroy The Man in Black and it is revealed that it was no accident that those particular people came to the island, they in fact were chosen by Jacob.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16; ESV)
The finale shows them all together after death, happy and finally understanding.
“Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
Amazing, huh? These are my thoughts:
I watched as Ben betrayed Jacob and I thought about how Jesus died for me. I thought about how I have betrayed Him by choosing myself over Him and the sacrifices He has made for me, and the faith He has in what I can be. I wish I could see Him and know Him fully. One day I will, but I hope in this life that I never fall into the same trap of blindness. I am indebted to God and yet He still expects nothing from me. I am free—free to serve Him—and that is the best way to live this life. I hope the same for all of you.
