I've got an illustration from the movie Spanglish that I think is decent. You'll probably have to watch the movie to fill in the gaps and get the character names right because I'm going TRY to give the very basics. I apologize for the long post.....
The story is about a Mexican woman who, with her daughter, comes to California after her husband leaves her. In Cali she tries to make ends meet by working hard and finding connection with some family there. She works several jobs and is trying to do the best to love and care for her daughter when she is offered this job as a nanny/housekeeper that would provide her with a substantial income. She works for this family for a little while keeping the fact that she has a daughter secret from them. When summer roles around the family rents a cottage by the beach and wants the housekeeper to come with them. The housekeep does not want to come because that would take her from her daughter for the whole summer. The wife presses the housekeeper, but the housekeeper does not want to let them know that she has a daughter. When they fing out the housekeeper has a daughter they invite her to come and stay for the summer too. Moving forward...
The daughter is drawn in to this family, their money, their friendship, their oportunitities. The wife gives the housekeeper's daughter all these things including an oportunity at the best private school around. The housekeeper struggles in all this because she knows this is not good and not a wise thing to do (let her daughter take on these people's lives). At the end of the movie the family falls apart, the wife is having an affair, the husband is ticked off and is struggling to process the problems and follows through with an emotional connection he had with the housekeeper. The housekeeper sees that this is only headed for a train wreck for her and her daughter, and thus decides to quit her job despite the money and the new life for her daughter in this school, etc.
The movie ends with the housekeeper going to her employer's house to finally resign her position and pick up her daughter who is playing in the pool. As the daughter and housekeeper are walking to the bus stop the daughter realizes what is happening and sees her world crumbling; all the stuff, her new life, etc. The housekeeper also decides to take her daughter out of the private school and this pushes things over the top and the daughter is angry. The daughter berates her mother all the way to the bus stop, weeping and screaming. As they are standing at the bus stop the mother turns to the daughter, says a few things, and then says to her daughter, "is it so bad that you would turn out like me?" As the movie ends this doesn't hit the daughter fully until many years later (you'll have to watch it for the last good line the daughter gives which is another good illustration about the identity we have in Christ).
Application: I pictured myself as the daughter, living in our culture with the comfort, the money, oportunity, life on a constant upward trajectory (better house, car, tv, computer, etc.), and how I fight to keep these things, and am fooled by them like the Sirens calling out to me. Then I picture hearing the words of the mother come out of Christ's mouth, and him asking me, "is it so bad that you would turn out like me?" My heart sinks everytime I think about this, because I know that the way I live suggests that there is a part of me that believes that it would be a bad thing to turn out like Jesus, but the Spirit comes and pleads down deep, and I know that it would not be a bad thing at all...but freedom in the truest sense.
In Matthew 8 and Luke 9 it is recorded that a man told Jesus that he would follow him wherever Jesus would go. Jesus told him that the animals have homes, but he has no where to lay his head. If you follow Jesus you may end up like him in this world; with nothing.
The story is about a Mexican woman who, with her daughter, comes to California after her husband leaves her. In Cali she tries to make ends meet by working hard and finding connection with some family there. She works several jobs and is trying to do the best to love and care for her daughter when she is offered this job as a nanny/housekeeper that would provide her with a substantial income. She works for this family for a little while keeping the fact that she has a daughter secret from them. When summer roles around the family rents a cottage by the beach and wants the housekeeper to come with them. The housekeep does not want to come because that would take her from her daughter for the whole summer. The wife presses the housekeeper, but the housekeeper does not want to let them know that she has a daughter. When they fing out the housekeeper has a daughter they invite her to come and stay for the summer too. Moving forward...
The daughter is drawn in to this family, their money, their friendship, their oportunitities. The wife gives the housekeeper's daughter all these things including an oportunity at the best private school around. The housekeeper struggles in all this because she knows this is not good and not a wise thing to do (let her daughter take on these people's lives). At the end of the movie the family falls apart, the wife is having an affair, the husband is ticked off and is struggling to process the problems and follows through with an emotional connection he had with the housekeeper. The housekeeper sees that this is only headed for a train wreck for her and her daughter, and thus decides to quit her job despite the money and the new life for her daughter in this school, etc.
The movie ends with the housekeeper going to her employer's house to finally resign her position and pick up her daughter who is playing in the pool. As the daughter and housekeeper are walking to the bus stop the daughter realizes what is happening and sees her world crumbling; all the stuff, her new life, etc. The housekeeper also decides to take her daughter out of the private school and this pushes things over the top and the daughter is angry. The daughter berates her mother all the way to the bus stop, weeping and screaming. As they are standing at the bus stop the mother turns to the daughter, says a few things, and then says to her daughter, "is it so bad that you would turn out like me?" As the movie ends this doesn't hit the daughter fully until many years later (you'll have to watch it for the last good line the daughter gives which is another good illustration about the identity we have in Christ).
Application: I pictured myself as the daughter, living in our culture with the comfort, the money, oportunity, life on a constant upward trajectory (better house, car, tv, computer, etc.), and how I fight to keep these things, and am fooled by them like the Sirens calling out to me. Then I picture hearing the words of the mother come out of Christ's mouth, and him asking me, "is it so bad that you would turn out like me?" My heart sinks everytime I think about this, because I know that the way I live suggests that there is a part of me that believes that it would be a bad thing to turn out like Jesus, but the Spirit comes and pleads down deep, and I know that it would not be a bad thing at all...but freedom in the truest sense.
In Matthew 8 and Luke 9 it is recorded that a man told Jesus that he would follow him wherever Jesus would go. Jesus told him that the animals have homes, but he has no where to lay his head. If you follow Jesus you may end up like him in this world; with nothing.
