I watched A Beautiful Mind for the first time this past weekend. The screen went black, the credits rolled, and my jaw stayed dropped to the floor for a solid moment as I absorbed the complexity of the film. Most striking of all, though, was the spiritual metaphor that transpired out of the protagonist's struggle with schizophrenia.
It parallels our struggle with sin.
(Spoiler alert!) The story follows John Nash, an incredible genius of a man who, during grad school, develops severe schizophrenia. We, the viewers, figure this out halfway through the film. And we mourn for John. We mourn for his wife. We mourn for their darling child--as John attempts to battle the mental disease. He spends time in the mental ward getting shock therapy, and he takes medication that saps away his life.
John and his wife eventually rethink the therapy and medication. She encourages him that he must look within the heart – the will – to get past his deep struggle.If he sets his mind – his strongest asset – to realizing who is real and who is imagined, then maybe – just maybe – John can begin living again in reality.
At the end of the film, we see John as a seventy-some year old man, teaching college courses and accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.
We also see his imagined friends lingering ominously in the background. So does he,
even still.
When asked if he continually saw imaginary people, John replies: "I still see things that are not here. I just choose not to acknowledge them. Like a diet of the mind, I just choose not to indulge certain appetites; like my appetite for patterns; perhaps my appetite to imagine and to dream."
Just as John set his mind to ignoring his "friends", so we set our minds against the power of sin over our lives.
"Our sin nature takes a backseat to our new nature in Christ."
Like John, we all struggle with our respective sins--the very habits, thought patterns, and words that we cannot seem to kick to the curb.
So frustrating, isn't it? What is with this ever-present tension? We are a new creation in Christ Jesus, and yet our sins linger and tempt us and threaten us.
The fact of the matter is that our sin is like John's imaginary friends: hanging out, waiting to be acknowledged and acted upon in a moment of weakness. This is the tension: That although we are a new creation, freed from the power of sin, we still live imperfect lives in a fallen world.
Paul writes of this ever-present struggle with our sin nature (Romans 7):
"21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?"
"There is another power within us that is at war with our minds, making us slaves to sin."
This is why such tension exists between what we want to do, and what we know God wants us to do! Our sin lingers on the sidelines, hoping we will grant it attention and give it some semblance of reign in our lives.
If you feel this tension in your day to day, you are not alone!
Even Paul was with you in this battle against the flesh ("What a miserable person I am!"). And every one of your brothers and sisters experiences the battle, too.
Why does this tension exist?
If we are a new creation in Christ Jesus, then why do our sins still creep on us and tempt us to act? Think of our heavenly nature this way: It is now, but not yet. When we accept Jesus as the only One who can reconcile us with God through His selfless death, we are gifted all the joys of heavenly inheritance! But, the fact of the matter is that we still live in a fallen world, with imperfect bodies and minds. Our victory--our true identity--is now, but not yet.
Paul has more to say, however, in answer to his question "Who will free me?"
25 Thank God!
The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin."
In Jesus Christ and His power to overcome death, you have been gifted complete victory over your sin nature!
Although still present in this life, sin is not the end. It holds no triumph over you!
So then, what should we say to our sin, according to the Bible? How do we stand against the threat of sin, looming in the background of our days? Jump on over to The Identity Project to read about what Paul says is the truth about our sin...
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