Troy: The Battle Makes the Story

            I love action movies. The cheesy ones, the ridiculous concepts, and the “that could never happen!” movies are just awesome. But the ones I love the most are the ones that are made on an epic scale. I loved the Lord of the Rings movies, not for all of their nerdy goodness, but for the massive scale of the battle scenes. Everything just seemed larger. That’s what I loved about the movie Troy.

            For me, the film Troy was perfect for a number of reasons. I’m a big fan of both The Iliad and The Odyssey. Epic poems are awesome. I’ve always loved Greek mythology. So when I found out Troy was coming I was super pumped. I saw it the weekend it debuted and it is a great film. I’ve got to tell you though; the opening sequence kind of let me down…

            Let’s set the scene here. Barren dessert battlefield. Two armies facing off. The leaders decide to have their champions fight instead of killing hundreds of men. I’m thinking, “Finally! Achilles gets to whoop some tail! This is what I’ve been waiting for!” The scene is drawn out perfectly. Slowly acceleration as Achilles runs, obvious bad guy, escalating music, huge evil guy vs. small good guy…and then it happens. Achilles jumps and appears to lightly poke the pad guy with his sword and he falls down dead. I remember audibly, in the theatre saying, “That’s it!” I wanted a battle! I wanted shields to crash and blows to be exchanged! The battle is what makes it good right? The battle is what tells the story. If the movie had ended right there I might have walked out. Troy stinks if it ends in the first ten minutes! Sometimes the conflict really makes the story.

            Think about all of your favorite Bible stories. Would you want to read, “Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and the Hot Tub at Nebuchadnezzar’s  Palace Because Everyone Resolved Their Differences?” or “Daniel and the Cuddly Puppies’ Den?” Would kids in Children’s Church want to sing: 

            Joshua, didn't fight Jericho, Jericho, Jericho.

            Joshua, didn’t fight Jericho, Jericho, Jericho.
            Because they decided to walk around, around, around.

          Sometimes the conflict really makes the story and without it there wouldn’t BE a story.

            If you’re in a conflict right now ask yourself, “What kind of story does God want to tell through me and this situation?” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I love conflict or that you should seek out hard times to give God a chance to prove himself. He doesn’t need our help to prove his greatness. What I am saying is that if you’re in the middle of a conflict you can take solace in the fact that God is the one who’s writing your story. In fact he’s the “author and perfecter” of our story (Heb. 12:2). Trust him to write a good ending.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4