Evan Almighty: The Torture of God's Love

I'm not really sure who miffed the critics on this movie to make them hate it so much. I found the film to be pretty boring, but no more so than 90% of the rest of the "stuff" Hollywood shovels. At least this one tackles a few moral themes.

If you ran out to be amused, there are enough scenes to keep you from walking out of theater altogether. Personally, I think I laughed more during the trailers. If you went to see it just to find out how badly Hollywood butchered and riddiculed the Noah story, then you probably got your money worth.

I had no expectations for this film. So, given such low standards, I was impressed in a few places that were somewhat unrelated to the overall plot. And in spite of being a minister who probably should have loved the moral message of the film:

"You can change the world with one small, random act of kindness at a time"

I was instead put off by the cheese of such a statement that reflects an utterly naive world view. I doubt offering to help the Taliban cross the street would keep them from blowing themselves up once they reached the other side. The movie doesn't take into account that there is umambigious evil in the world, that human beings are basically selfish, and that "no good deed goes unpunished." A random act of kindness makes for a great bumper sticker, and certainly a noble goal for each of us, but it is hardly a solution.

Nevertheless, I was impressed to see a movie that hinted at the idea that God still works. Beyond that, I was very impressed to see a movie that supported the notion that God doesn't work the way we want him to.

Evan was stubborn, self-centered, and self-absorbed. You don't just change a person like that from the inside-out. Like peeling back layers of an onion, Morgan Freeman's portrayal of God attacks Evan's appearance, his job, and seemingly his family. This movie demonstrated to me how far God sometimes has to go to get our attention. Granted, none of us are growing eternal beards, nor are we being followed by pairs of animals, but the metaphor remains true.

Ironically, these theological truths are bathed in a twist on the Genesis Flood narrative. It is the torture of God's love that drives so many people away from faith. As Evan discovers, the more attention God gave him in the movie, the worse things seemed to get in his life. At one point, after trying to run away from God, Evan just begs God to go away.

It seems pretty true in our human relationships as well. The closer someone gets to us, the more of us they see, even the messy things. That can make us really uncomfortable. When it comes time to change some of these things, we resist. Unlike God, our families and friends don't have the ability to peel away our layers the way God does.

I was recently talking with a friend of mine who is having a very difficult time. I can't imagine the stress and sadness surrounding her. After a few "listening" sessions, she asked me what I thought. I said, "I have no idea, but I'm sorry. What do you think God might be saying?"

The question had never crossed her mind. God's love can feel like torture. He knows where He wants us to go and He knows that nine times out of ten, we won't go there on our own. So he begins to peel back the comfort zone one layer at a time. We either get it or we don't, but most of it boils down to whether or not we are looking.

Admittedly, Evan had the advantage. God performed supernatural activities around Evan's life to get his attention. He started slowly, with alarm clocks stuck on 6:14, but then He just appeared in person. I doubt seriously any of us will ever have that luxury. But even natural events tend to speak to us. Science can tell all day long what something "is" but when it comes to what a thing "means," we need a different set of glasses. Evan found his... and by the end of the movie, the seeming torture made sense. I believe deep down the same is true for each of us.