7 Lessons from the Movie I Can Only Imagine

Yesterday my wife and I went with some friends from our church to watch the movie I Can Only Imagine. The movie tells the story of Bart Millard in his early years, who is the lead singer for Mercy Me.

I want to share some lessons we can learn from Bart’s life as seen in the movie. In sharing these lessons, I will reveal some “spoilers” from the move. I don’t think knowing these things ahead of time will distract from the experience for most people. Still, some of you may want to watch the movie first and then come back and read this.

1.  Words are powerful

Bart’s father is abusive. He is both physically and verbally abusive. It’s obvious that physical abusive does terrible damage. The movie does a good job of showing how verbal abuse can also be deeply damaging to a person’s soul. Cruel words can lodge in a person’s heart and mind and haunt them for years. For this reason, it is important for all of us to remember this exhortation:

NIV Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

For those who have suffered verbal abuse, the lies and attacks can be replaced by God’s truth spoken through God’s Word and God’s people. This is often a long process.

2.  Giving others a chance can bear much good fruit

Bart’s father discouraged him from using the gift for singing that God gave him. Thankfully, some other people in the movie see Bart’s gift and God uses them to encourage him along the way. These people include a high school music teacher, a pastor, his band, and his manager.

In a world full of discouraging forces, giving someone encouragement in the right direction can be vital. One way this is sometimes done is by giving a person a chance to use a gift and help them get started. The people God used to helped Bart early on paved the way for God to later work through Bart to bless many millions of people through his songs.

In the Bible, Barnabas helps the Apostle Paul get started in a similar way (Acts 9:27). You never know how God will later use someone whom you encourage and help along the way. I feel that some of the most fruitful ways God has worked through my life has been times when I helped and encouraged others to move forward in ministry.

3.  Seeds of God’s truth often bear amazing fruit years later

The movie shows how some seeds of God’s truth planted in Bart’s heart at a Christian camp when he was a young boy eventually bear beautiful fruit. While this can apply in adult ministry as well, it should be a special encouragement to all who work with children and youth.

NIV Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

4. Forgiveness Is Essential and Very Hard

Perhaps the biggest lesson of the movie is about forgiveness. Forgiving his father turns out to be an essential step for Bart to take in order for him to be ready for God to use him in big ways. But forgiveness is really hard. I’m glad the movie does not make it look like it easy, or should be easy, to forgive really deep damaging wounds like child abuse. Forgiveness is often a long process which doesn’t happen in a moment.

Bart’s story reminds me of the story of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis. It’s very hard for Joseph to forgive his brothers. In fact, he begins to take limited vengeance on them when they show up in Egypt. But Joseph eventually does fully forgive.

In both Bart’s story and Joseph’s, the people who hurt them do truly repent. This allows a deep level of reconciliation to occur. When others don’t repent, we should still forgive them in terms of not seeking personal revenge and by God’s grace being willing to bless them instead of harm them if God gives us the opportunity. But full reconciliation does require repentance from those who have done wrong.

5.  The movie shows how God can transform even the worst people

At the beginning of the movie, Bart’s father is a monster. Can God’s grace transform someone who is so cruel and hard? The wonderful answer is yes. God transformed a cruel persecutor of the church into a great Apostle in the first century and, as this movie shows, God is still working miraculous transformations today.    

6. The Power of Long Term Intercessory prayer

Bart had a good friend who prayed for him regularly over a period of years. Those prayers are answered. God can use us to change lives through prayer!

7. God uses Our Suffering for Good in this Life and in Eternity

God uses all the suffering and loss in Bart’s life to prepare him for powerful ministry to millions of people. When we are walking with God and trusting Him, none of our suffering is wasted.

Bart and others in the movie suffer severely. But by the end of the movie, the suffering seems a small thing compared to the glory to come.

NIV 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

The movie ends with the song it is named after.

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .

The Cost of Hidden Sin (Help, Grace, and Encouragement to Stop Sinning, Post #2)

Since the Garden of Eden, people have been trying to hide their sin. When the pull of temptation is strong, and we are considering doing something wrong, we often think about whether we will be caught. In many cases we make efforts and take precautions so that our sin will remain hidden from others.

Achan’s Sin

In the seventh chapter of Joshua we find a story about hidden sin. It is a story with a purpose. It is intended to warn us that hidden sin comes with terrible costs. Remembering this story can help us to resist the temptation by freeing us from the false hope that if we hide our sin it will not cause problems.

Israel was getting ready for their first big conquest in the promised land. They were going up against the city of Jericho. Later, God would allow the Israelites to keep some of the goods from the nations they defeated in war. But in this first battle, where God would give them a miraculous victory, God demanded that all the silver, gold, and other goods that were not burned were to go into the Lord’s treasury.

After the walls fell and Jericho was utterly destroyed, an Israelite named Achan saw some silver and gold. He coveted it and he took it. He hid it under his tent and apparently thought that since it was hidden everything would be alright. He was wrong.

Achan’s Mistake

The mistake Achan made is the same mistake that billions of sinners have made. He was worried about hiding his sin from people. He forgot that he could not hide his sin from God. No one can. In all the history of mankind not a single sin has ever been hidden from the One who matter most, the One who hates sin, and the One who loves us too much to let us get away with sinning. Consider, meditate on, and remember these truths from God’s Word:

NIV Psalm 90:8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

NIV Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

NIV Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Our Hidden Sins Hurt Other People, Even if They Don’t Know About Our Sin

After Achan hid the gold and silver he took, part of the Israelite army goes to attack a much smaller city near Jericho. Unexpectedly, the small city of Ai defeats the Israelites, killing about 36 of them and forcing the rest to flee in retreat. When Joshua hears about this defeat he falls facedown before God desperately seeking to understand why they were defeated.

God tells Joshua that they were defeated because there is hidden sin among the people.

One of the most terrible things about sin is that it hurts other people. This is obvious when a sin like robbery, slander, or murder is committed. But it turns out that even hidden sins which from a human point of view seem like they should hurt no one else do in fact impact other people. In the case of Achan, his hidden sin resulted in around 36 deaths. How many women became widows and how many children lost their fathers?

I wonder if many churches, ministries, and families are not suffering in many ways because of hidden sin.

And then, of course, Achan’s sin did not remain hidden. Sin never does. Some sins may be hidden in this life, but judgment day is coming when nothing will be hidden. Achan did pay for his sin. Every sin in the history of the world will be paid for. Either by the sinner, or, by God’s amazing grace, by the sacrifice Christ made on the cross.

May God remind us of this when we are tempted to think we can hide our sin.

We have to remember that God designed us so that we all affect each other. This design is beautiful when it is used the way God intended. Instead of hidden sin hurting our families and churches, our closet prayers can bring them blessing. Good deeds done in Christ which are seen by no person nevertheless are used by God to bless others. We are made in God’s image, which means we are made to love, which means we are made to be in relationships with others where we can either cause them harm or bring them blessing and joy.

Grace

God is full of grace and mercy. He is willing to forgive us for all our sins.

NIV 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn. 1:9 NIV)

Not only that. God is willing to do what we cannot do. He is willing to repair and restore what has been damaged by sin. In Joel, God sends an army of locusts because of the sins of the people. In the judgment there is a call to repentance:

Joel 2:12 "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."

 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

Then God does something amazing. Even though the locusts came as a just punishment for the sins of the  people, God graciously restores what the locusts ate and blesses the people again:

Joel 2:25 "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten-- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm-- my great army that I sent among you.

 26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.

 27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.

Yes, our sins are more terrible than we realize. But God’s grace is more amazing and His mercies are new every day and His love is mighty to save. He washes away our shame. Confess and turn from your hidden sins. Expect God’s grace and mercy to flow.

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .

Stop Sinning (Help, Grace, and Encouragement to Stop Sinning, post #1)

Through His Word, God commands us to stop sinning.

Every child of God has been given a new heart. We desire to obey God. We want to stop sinning.

But our old sin nature, our flesh, still has sinful desires. And so we find ourselves in a lifelong struggle with sin.

NIV Galatians 5:16-17 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

NIV 1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

God has put it on my heart to write a series of blog posts with help, guidance, and encouragement to stop sinning. I’m not writing as one who has won the war, but as one who is right in the middle of it.

In writing this series, I pray that God will help me help you.

We will never be perfectly sinless in this life. But this must never be an excuse to not work to get rid of sin. We can become more Christ-like in our thoughts, words, and actions. The Bible urges us to do this. From Genesis to Revelation we are urged to resist sin and obey God.

Focusing on our fight against sin without remembering God’s grace would lead to despair and failure. On the one hand, God’s grace should never be used as a rationale to sin.

NIV Romans 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!

In fact, it is only because of grace that we can be free from slavery to sin:

NIV Romans 6:14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

God’s grace makes the fight against sin worth fighting. Grace functions like a safety rope when we slip and fall. Grace empowers us to get up again when we are knocked down for the 10^th or 100^th time. Grace gives our hearts hope and peace. For these reasons I intend to include reminders of God’s grace and forgiveness in every post in this series. This truth about grace is captured powerfully in this 7 minute video with music and preaching:

Sin is a terrible enemy. The devil and his demons tempt and assault us. The world all around us pushes us towards sin and pulls us into temptation. And the very desires of our own flesh war against us. We can’t win this fight in our own strength. But God doesn’t ask us to.

The very Holy Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us and it is by His power that we fight against sin:

NIV Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

The Holy Spirit works in many ways. We need every ounce of Holy Spirit power we can get for our fight against sin. The Holy Spirit works through God’s Word, through prayer, and through other Christians. These resources are mighty for overcoming temptation and resisting sin.

In writing this series, there are several specific resources I plan to draw on.

1.  Most important is the Bible. The Bible is filled with many stories, teachings, and warnings that are designed by God Himself to encourage us and strengthen us in our warfare.

2.  I am also reading the book Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen (it is actually a collection three short books written by him). John Owen wrote in the 1600’s and his style is not the easiest to read. But his passion to overcome sin and help others to do the same is contagious and encouraging.

3.  Finally, I draw on my own experiences and struggles, and the grace God gives me each day.

As we each struggle, let’s pray together as our Lord taught us to do:

NIV Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

NIV Luke 22:40 On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

Be encouraged. Don’t give up and don’t give in. Remember God’s grace.

Related posts and other posts in this series:

A Stronger Attraction than Sin

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .