Repeated viewings of "The Big Lebowski" as a model for Christian maturity

I'd like to start this post off with a big ol' DISCLAIMER:

The Big Lebowski is rated R. It's got a ton of language, some sexual content, a few instances of brief nudity, and a scene of mild violence. I am fully aware of the content of the movie, and I want you to be aware of it (if you're not) so that you can decide on your own if you would enjoy the movie. If watching an R rated movie disturbs your conscience, please do not take this post as encouragement for you to see the movie, as that is not at all my intent.

Just so we're all clear here - if you don't approve of this kind of movie, don't watch it. And then go read I Corinthians 10 and 12, plus Romans 14.

Everybody else...

The first time I saw The Big Lebowski, I was a senior in high school. I enjoyed it for the most part. It was funny, but incredibly confusing. The plot is... convoluted, to say the least. I enjoyed the movie, but I wasn't blown away.

Flash forward to my sophomore year at Harding. My roommate Matt and our friend Duane watched Lebowski every weekend without fail. Each time we watched it, we found more and more to laugh at. It wasn't long before we had the whole movie memorized, dropping quotes when appropriate (or inappropriate) in everyday conversation.

But I've never known anybody who saw Lebowski for the first time and immediately loved it. The single universal constant seems to be that it takes at least a second viewing to really get what makes The Big Lebowski such an amazing comedy. It's not at all about the plot - it's about the characters. It's about the endlessly quotable script. It's about the absurdities of the chain of events that fall on the completely inept Dude, the outrageously overzealous Walter, and poor innocent Donnie, always out of his element.

The movie didn't change - I did.

And just in case you haven't put the metaphor together on your own yet, here's where the Christianity part comes in: sometimes there are things that we're just not ready for. Sometimes there are things that we've got to experience a few times before it really clicks. Sometimes we've got to learn a lesson the hard way - by having it pounded into our thick skulls over and over and over again.

By the time you read this, I'll be in Texas*. I've been... anticipating this, anxious for it, eager for it... for a very long time now. Not Texas, but a chance to do what I know to the core of my heart, soul, mind, and every fiber of my being to be the purpose God put me on this earth to fulfill - the furtherance of His Kingdom among the lost of the world.

There's been a lot of pain over the past couple of years. I've experienced serious personal turmoil, some major disappointment, and heartbreak that completely redefined who I am as a person.

And maybe the whole point was to get me to learn something.

As I embark on another major transition in my life - not just geographically, but also personally - I can only hope that I've learned the lessons I needed to learn. I hope I've finally figured out another part of continually letting God take total control of my life, since that's the only thing that ever brings me peace. I hope I've figured out a bit more of how to be humble in sharing the truth with those who need to hear it, because that's the only way they'll ever listen to me. I hope above all that I've learned that the right thing to do - even when it's hard, especially when it's hard - is to Love Others the way God Loves me, because that's the one thing in life that makes any difference at all.

I've learned some lessons through tears and anguish, some through the complete dissolution of friendships once held dear, some through the inevitable barrage of the far-too-real world and the Law of Unintended Consequences.

But what makes it all worth it is the hope and faith that one day I'll actually understand it all. One day I'll have learned the lesson and taken it to heart. One day - hopefully in the not-too-distant future, I will look back on everything that has beaten me down, held me to the hottest core of the flames, beaten me into a shape wholly foreign to where I began, and held me under the water until the bubbles stopped, and see that the beatings, the fire, the reshaping, the plunges into the cold, wet, hopeless darkness... One day I will see that it all served to shape me into a more perfect version of the man that God wants me to be.

And that brings me hope.

* - Or not. Car broke down in Arkadelphia. Waiting on Corwin to get here from Arlington to tow me the rest of the way down.

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