Redemption is a theme that I can’t get enough of. Redemption specifically colors my world as a believer in Jesus Christ but it is also a powerful theme that captures the hearts and minds of every human being. We all have junk or problems that we need deliverence from. From habits to coworkers to disfunctional relationships we human beings desire the light to rescue us. Modern movies, with all their focus on the anti-hero and the loss of genuine good and the rise of absolute evil after WWII, still wrestle with redemption. Just in the past few years we have seen moives like “The Matrix,” “Hellboy,” “Constantine,” “Garden State,” “Vanilla Sky,” and even recent movies like “Batman Begins” have all presented a forum where the act of redemption is presented in a way that makes us come to grips with what it means to be given a new life. Even “Finding Nemo” gave us a glimpse at a loving father frantically crossing land and sea to bring his son home. Redemption is everywhere.
You may or may not be aware that the second season of Lost began last night. I was immediatley sucked into the story of Oceanic Flight 815, which crash landed hundreds of miles off course on a mysterious desert island, early in its first season. The first episodes gripped me to my very core precisely because they dealt directly with the reality of what it means to be redeemed. What is means to seek redemption.
Today, Tyler Clark, dirctor of the Relevant Network, sent out a wonderful email detailing his love for Lost and his fascination with redemption. I wanted to post this section of the email.
“Three days ago we all died,” Jack said in an early episode. “We should all be able to start over.”
Each castaway has junk. They crashed on the island in need of redemption. Their sins–murder, drug abuse, lying to family, betrayal–have followed them through life, and the island is where they find salvation.
“It feels like these people have sort of sinned in their lives before, and now, they’re in an environment where they can’t talk to the people that they need to talk to,” Damon Lindelof, the show’s co-creator, said last spring. “They can’t close the doors that they need to close.”
Many Christians may be able to identify with Charlie Pace (The Lord of the Rings’ Dominic Monaghan), a rock ‘n’ roll has-been and recovering drug addict. Despite his hang-ups with drug addictions, he is a man of faith. He was once a devout Catholic who sought a life of purity. He remains a believer even though he struggles with his own self-control. Quite symbolically, Charlie recently found a hollow statue of the Virgin Mary with heroin inside. Carrying the symbolism a step further, Charlie found the heroin in the wreckage of a different plane crash transporting drug smugglers disguised as priests.
One promo for the new season features a voiceover of Charlie saying, “How long will it take for redemption? Like the chance to put the past behind me. To start over. Maybe that’s what this is. A second chance. An opportunity to earn forgiveness. They say that everything happens for a reason. I wish I could believe that.”
Many of the show’s actors like the redemption aspect of the show. “I’m a huge fan of redemption stories,” Fox said. “I’m very much into the idea that all of these characters are trying to escape a past version of themselves that you know; they’ve all made mistakes and harbored secrets and told lies.”
While odds are slim that the show will proclaim that redemption comes through Jesus Christ or that anyone will present the Truth of Christ in the faith-versus-science debate, Lost tells a story that allows you to present that truth.
If you would like to read the rest of the article, comment below and I will email it to you. The purpose of this post isn’t to make you a fan of Lost. All though it is a great show, the alphabet channel isn’t paying me to advertise their little show. At the very least I hope this post begins forcing you to rethink what redemption means. Not in the abstract but in the real world. I hope you can begin to see how hungry the world is for a second chance. Our second chance for a new life isn’t found on a mysterious island but in the creator of all things.
