Movie Review - The Adjustment Bureau

I believe that many movies function as modern day parables.  In most instances, writers and directors make movies for a reason that is beyond just making money—they have a story to tell and often a point or lesson to make.  Many of them touch on spiritual themes and issues.  Many have things to say about God.

Some examples (and I’m sure you could think of more):

·         Signs by M. Night Shamaylan – one of my favorite movies.  The story uses aliens and crop circles, but the main message is spiritual—how do you interpret events in life?  Is everything a chance coincidence or are things happening by some kind of design?

·         Truman Show with Jim Carrey conveys the life of a boy whose life is always on camera.  This story takes a low view of God as the show director, plotting and manipulating Truman’s life for everyone’s entertainment.  Truman is only free when he leaves the confines of the Director’s plan.

·         The Matrix – has many messianic themes and spiritual moments

·         The Superman mythology is full of messianic themes and the movies practically quote the Bible at times in reference to the Father Jor-El (El being Hebrew for God) sending his only son to earth.

·         Bruce Almighty—is an entertaining movie where Bruce (also Jim Carrey) thinks he can do a better job running things than God.  He learns quickly just how difficult that is, even on something as simple as prayer.

·         Pleasantville—is one of the most devious but effective movies.  This movie retells the story of Genesis 3, aka the Fall, using a 1950’s TV show and the transition from black/white to color.  It claims that the Fall was a good thing and that God (Don Knott’s TV Repairman) was intending that outcome all along.

I know there are more but I want to add another movie that my wife and I watched last night: 

The Adjustment Bureau.  Here is the movie’s description on the IMDB website:

Do we control our destiny, or do unseen forces manipulate us? A man glimpses the future Fate has planned for him and realizes he wants something else. To get it, he must pursue across, under and through the streets of modern-day New York the only woman he's ever loved. On the brink of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate, ambitious politician David Norris (Damon) meets beautiful contemporary ballet dancer Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) - a woman like none he's ever known. But just as he realizes he's falling for her, mysterious men conspire to keep the two apart. David learns he is up against the agents of Fate itself - the men of The Adjustment Bureau - who will do everything in their considerable power to prevent David and Elise from being together. In the face of overwhelming odds, he must either let her go and accept a predetermined path...or risk everything to defy Fate and be with her.

I had a feeling from the movie’s description that it would have something to do with the idea of Freewill and the Sovereignty of God.  I was not disappointed by this, but I was rather surprised at the hostility inherent in the story toward a “Chairman” who tries to control and manipulate the human population.  People are allowed to make small or insignificant decisions but they are not really allowed to deviate from “The Plan” which is carried around in a book-like form by agents.  These agents live a long time and have been referred to as angels in the past.

If someone needs a push or nudge in a certain direction, these agents will arrange for it.  Seemingly random meetings can inspire someone, a spilled cup of coffee can be used to delay someone from crossing paths with somebody else. 

If someone is going in the wrong direction the agents have the authority to change how the person thinks through direct mental intervention; they have the authority to interfere and sabotage any attempt to deviate from The Plan even to the point of injuring or hurting others.  

At one point, a higher ranking agent explained that their efforts took humanity from hunter gatherers to the heights of the Roman Empire.  At which point they considered humans evolved enough to step back and let us do things on their own.  This was, in their opinion, a disaster.  After the Dark Ages (a very Eurocentric perspective is presented) they stepped back in to enlighten our path, giving us reason as a guide.  They stepped out of the picture again in 1910 and we immediately destroyed things with WWI & WWII.

This caused the Chairman & agents to intervene again.

Basically, this storyline attempts to play out biblical concepts and verses regarding God’s Sovereignty and His involvement in human events.  Consider verses like:

Jeremiah 29:1--“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

And

Romans 8:28—“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

The truth is, God does have a plan—history is moving in a certain direction and end that He determines.  It is His story more than it is our story.

But the plot of this movie, originally a short story by Phillip K. Dick of Blade Runner fame, does not believe God’s motives and efforts are trustworthy, nor do they have our best interest at heart.

This Chairman is cold and calculating.  He is manipulative and is far removed from the actual lives that are impacted by his plan—which is why you never actually meet the Chairman—the human characters have no chance of ever getting close to him to have any kind of relationship with him.  He is far removed from daily life, much more like the version of God found in Deism.

This Chairman doesn’t really care about you, but rather the world improving in general as things fit into the plan.

This is the heart of the deception that the serpent uses in Genesis 3.  He causes Adam and Eve to doubt God’s word and His motives: 

God is holding out on you by denying you the fruit.  God is holding you back from being like Him.  He knows good and evil and He’s greater than you.  He probably ate the fruit which is how He got so powerful.  He just doesn’t want any rivals.  He doesn’t really care about you, doesn’t really have your best interest at heart, which is why He is denying you something good and desirable.

Don’t listen to Him.  Take control of your life.  Don’t be a mindless slave.  Find out what you’re missing.  Step out of those restrictive rules and chart your own path.  Live your own life.  Make your own plan.

This is the heart of the movie and how the movie ends.  The main characters rewrite the Plan based on their determination to make their own choices.  The Plan is, in essence, subject to change and revision.  Even the agents can undermine the plan when they don’t agree with it.

The creative source behind The Adjustment Bureau as a movie, clearly resents a Sovereign God; resents an overarching plan that is bigger than you or me.   

The plan is something to be rejected.  The influence of the Chairman is to be resisted, thwarted and cast off.

But even the movie points out that when the Agents back off and the humans make their own choices, all hell breaks loose.  Apparently, that’s what the author of the original short story is interested in.  Phillip K. Dick – describes part of his philosophy like this: 

"However, I will reveal a secret to you: I like to build universes that *do* fall apart. I like to see them come unglued, and I like to see how the characters in the novels cope with this problem. I have a secret love of chaos. There should be more of it. Do not believe--and I am dead serious when I say this-- do not assume that order and stability are always good, in a society or in a universe. The old, the ossified, must always give way to new life and the birth of new things."

Last time I checked, chaos is rarely good for the lives, happiness and fulfillment of individual people.  Chaos usually results in pain, suffering and moves backward rather than forward.

That is the heart of what Satan hopes to do.  Satan wants to undo everything God created that was good.  He targets everything God loves and desires destroy it.  He desires everything to spiral into chaos so he can replace it with his own order.

God in the Adjustment Bureau is the bad guy trying to squash our freedom.  His plans for us takes away the idea self-determination.  In order for us to be fulfilled in this life we must free ourselves from God’s restraints.

While the movie was engaging, what it attempts to teach about God is destructive.  It reveals the thoughts and attitudes many people have toward faith in God and why they resist it.  God is stifling.  God doesn’t really care about me.  I don’t want to be His puppet. 

It also reveals what they must think about those who believe and trust God and His plan.  I readily acknowledge that God has a plan and is moving this universe to His desired goal.  I readily acknowledge that I am not the most important part of the story and it doesn’t revolve around me or even my happiness.  I regularly teach that God is less interested in my happiness than He is my faith. 

1 Peter 1:6b-7—“though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Faith is His goal in us. And not just a blind faith, but a vibrant, growing and passionate faith that is able to overcome great obstacles through His strength.  The faith He desires is a trusting experience of Him.  We know Him because we have walked with Him, heard His voice and fought with Him through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

The amazing thing about it is that He wants to involve me at all.  He gives me the Privilege of participating in what He is doing.  In fact my participation is important and has eternal impact.  God is telling a great story and He invites us to be a part of it.  He is not distant or far away, but in an on-going relationship with His creation.

A great introduction to this concept is a short book called Epic by John Eldredge.

Adjustment Bureau reveals the skeptic’s fear and concern of a Sovereign God and the desire to get out from under that control.  It attacks the idea that Christians can believe in Freedom working in harmony with Sovereignty.  It’s actually an ongoing discussion within the Christian community regarding issues around Calvinism; Predestination v. Freewill.

So it’s OK to be having these discussions but let’s do so from a position of faith rather than doubt.  In a position of wanting to know Him more, not push Him away.  Also keep in mind that this movie is teaching a mindset and philosophy that will harden people to the truth of what God is doing.

So it is important that we watch these movies with a discerning eye.  It is also helpful to be able to engage their ideas and philosophies, otherwise, the lessons the authors or directors intend will be the only perspective people ever hear, learn and incorporate into their worldview.

We as believers in Jesus can be a part of adjusting the eternal destiny of those who are trapped in darkness when we participate in sharing the truth of the Good News.  We in the church must engage what our culture is trying to say about God because these movies are powerful and influential.  Paul warned us to not be taken captive.

Colossians 2:8—“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

May we be given the wisdom and discernment to see through what the world hopes will blind us.

Is God Your Co-Pilot?

We like the phrase: “God is my Co-Pilot” because it means that we’re the ones still driving, still the ones in control.


Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Co-Pilot is usually not as good or less experienced than the Pilot. And for God to take that role of Co-Pilot really means that:

• We own the car—it’s our car to drive—i.o.w.—it’s my life…

• We are the better Pilot for our car—i.o.w.—we know better than God


We want God in our car only so long as we’re the ones still driving—we don’t want to consider ourselves as the passenger to our own life. If there’s an emergency, then we’ll let God take the wheel for a while. But in many ways, He’s more like our Chauffeur until we can get back in the driver’s seat.


I hate to break this to you, but God shouldn’t be your Co-Pilot, He needs to be your Pilot. And He is not your Chauffeur taking you where you want to go, He is the one who determines the destination and the speed. And He doesn’t always fly around the turbulence.



Oh and in case you’re wondering, He gets frustrated with Back-Seat Drivers just as much as you do!

Core Beliefs - Part 1 - Creative God

These Core Beliefs are intended to help tell the story of God's work in history.


Today I'm writing about the first, but I want to start by listing all of them.

1. Creative God

2. Damaged Humanity

3. Restoring Jesus

4. Transforming Holy Spirit

5. Privileged Mission

6. Infallible Word

7. Glorious Future



With that list, here's the discussion from this past Sunday on our Creative God

1. Creative God

a. God is creative and has a great imagination. Just look at the diversity of creatures and wonders of nature. From deep sea creatures to nebulae in deep space—all of it finds their origin in the creativity of God.

b. “In the Beginning, God created” is one of the most debated and controversial topics in today’s culture and philosophy. Many times, science begins with Carl Sagan’s axiom, “the universe is all there is or ever will be”. This is a total materialistic universe according to them and God is not even a necessary concept as Stephen Hawking has published recently

c. This is partially in response to the fact that the Big Bang Theory as it is popularly known, in the minds of many, supports the biblical concept of creation because based on observation, the universe as we know it had a definitive beginning and is not a static, eternal universe with no beginning as argued in the previous theory.

 d. This universe and all the heavens “declare the glory of God”—in other words—the complexity and design of everything points to a designer. Paul goes further to say in Romans 1 that just by the testimony of creation itself, human beings are without excuse in acknowledging God’s existence. Instead of worshipping the Creator, we would rather, in our sin, worship the created thing—but which is greater? By far, the Creator.

e. God is THE creative Creator with an amazing imagination for diversity, complexity and beauty. Genesis 1 records the systematic way He builds layers upon layers in order to make His work of art. Starting in Day 3, He begins stepping back and taking a look at what He has just done and He sees that it is “good”. Good in the artist’s sense of—“that part is done and I like it, I’m ready to move on to the next part of my work of art.”

f. The last step that God adds to His creation is Adam & Eve—the only part of creation that is described as made in the image of God--It is not until God creates Adam & Eve—as the crowning achievement of what He is doing that we see Him step back and declare that it is all “very good”.

g. We have a special and unique place in God’s creation—and in relationship with out Creator. No other part of creation can claim the stature of human beings—all the previous creative work was building a background canvas for His masterpiece. That’s how we are described in Ephesians 2:10—we are God’s “worskmanship”—the word there is Poema—similar to poem—it can also be translated, “masterpiece”.

h. God is creative and He has poured His creativity into creating a world for those made in His image. And this creativity is something that God has designed and built into the very fabric of our being. Because He is creative we too are creative.

i. You can see that pointed out in various places in Scripture. In Exodus 31 God says of a man named Bezalel “4-- I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts-- 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.”—Bezalel was given these gifts for the building of the first Tabernacle—the housing of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tent of Meeting with God. God does not want things shoddy or cheap—He understands beauty and how things that please the eye often please or soften the heart. Bezalel’s gifting improved the worship of God’s people and strengthened them as a community.

j. Later in 1 Corinthians 12, you see—“ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 1CO 12:7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

k. The continuing discussion of spiritual gifts come with this understanding—God now gives gifts to His people, His church for the building up and magnification of His name and the strengthening of His people. Each person has a different set of gifts and a different calling of service. We are not uniform, exchangeable cogs in some great wheel—but specially created and gifted to serve His Kingdom in a uniquely creative way.

l. Just as Bezalel was beautifying the Tabernacle, what would become the future Temple of God, so too our gifts build up His Temple that is the Church

m. God has ingrained His creativity in our design—too often growing up I used my creativity to discover ways to get myself in trouble—but God wants us to use our creativity for His glory and to strengthen the worship of His people. As a believer, God has given you a gift for you to use—do not let it sit idle but instead fan that gift into flame by use. Also, given you are uniquely gifted, don’t just do anything and plug yourself into something for the sake of doing what someone else needs or wants (though that may very well be necessary for a season) but instead cultivate your gift and use your creativity to find new ways of bridging the ancient faith to modern life.

God Shaped Hole and more

I heard again on Sunday the now familiar phrase, something like, “You have a God-Shaped hole in your heart that only He can fill and satisfy.”

I don’t really have a problem with this statement, besides its potential overuse. This life is not satisfying, we are missing something, that connection to our Creator and nothing else can take His place.

But the statement got me to thinking… as much as God designed a special place for Himself to reside in our existence, He designed a special place for us in His existence, in His kingdom: a place that you or I are uniquely created and gifted for, a role, a task, a responsibility, a position that God designed within the plan of the universe for you fill.

As much as there is a God-shaped hole in your heart, there is a “you-shaped cog in the in the Kingdom of God.”

Some have said that God is an Artist. Others have compared Him to an Architect. In any event, He is a Designer of unparalleled precision. He designs everything down to the very last cell. The smallest jot or tittle (dotted “I” or crossed “t”) is accounted for. And your place and mine is not an accident, but integral for the whole house to function as it is designed. We need each other to take up our place in His Kingdom.

God often describes us as, and a part of a building project.

1 Corinthians 6:19—“ Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price.”

Ephesians 2:21-22—“ 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

There is a special place and reserved for you in His Presence, in His Temple.

Revelation 3:12—“Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.”

There is a part of the Temple which God has designed for you to be—are you going to miss out on it?


As much as you have a God shaped hole... it's amazing to think that God has a you-shaped hole of His own.