I recently saw the movie “A Winter’s Tale” with my wife Vicky for a date night. I loved the movie and would highly recommend for many reasons. On the drive home, I was listening to a Christian radio station and sure enough, the movie review segment came on and it was a Christian review of “A Winter’s Tale.” The reviewer went on to complain about “new age themes”, “sex outside of marriage,” etc, etc., and because of those things, he couldn’t recommend it and gave it two stars.
Really? I mean, that is really what you see when you are reviewing a completely secular movie made by a secular producer who would not identify at all with so-called “Christian-values?” As a devoted follower of Jesus, that negative attitude really grieves me. I don’t see it that way at all.
I saw the unmistakable, indelible fingerprints of God all of the story in the movie. Since God is real, and his principles are real, it is impossible to make anything that has any value, that will not display the fingerprints of God. Take sex. Who invented sex? God did. Who invented the pleasure, and unique, intimate connection that comes along with sex? God did. In the movie the main character pledges his eternal love to the main female character. He promises to love her, and only her, forever. In fact, his single-hearted love for her and her alone is so strong that it enables him to escape death. That’s how I want to love my wife. Seeing the love scenes and how he talks about her reminds me so much of how I feel about Vicky. It moves me to see that depth of connection in a movie because that is what I experience in my marriage, and that is supposed to be an example of God’s great love. I’ll take that portrayal of sex and love from a secular movie any day of the week. There wasn’t even any nudity.
The movie goes on to say that no person ever born is any more important than anyone else. That we are all super important. In addition, every single one of us as an incredible important destiny and mission in life, “our miracle.” Everyone, great and small, rich and poor, famous and obscure. In fact, the demon character remarks that sometimes the greatest miracle is nothing that seems special on the outside, but it’s a life that is lived with such great love that is impacts everyone who sees it. Wow! My favorite verse in the whole bible is Ephesians 2:10 that talks about each and every one of us being created as a unique masterpiece of God, with good works that are designed for us, specifically for us, by God, before he laid the foundations of the world.
I don’t see many secular movies at all that get that. Most secular movies worship fame, fortune, the rich, the beautiful, etc. A Winter’s Tale reminds us of the intrinsic value of every human being and the importance of each of our unique missions in life. How the world is lacking if we do not become who we were born to be, and do the things that we were born to do. That’s awesome! Not only that, but when living out your mission gets hard, you get supernatural help. In the movie it is in the form of a fantasy horse but so what. Show some imagination.
This movie is written by a guy who is not a follower of Jesus, who is not trying to promote a Godly message, but, cannot help himself but do so.. Why? Because the story of God is a great story. It’s the greatest story ever told. If you want to tell a good story, you cannot do it without telling parts of God’s story. You cannot tell a good story without including the fingerprints of God all over it. So no one prayed the sinners prayer doing the movie, and no one waited until they were married to have sex. Big deal. It’s a secular movie. Get over it. We should be running out en masse to support movies like this. We should be inviting our secular friends and neighbors to see it with us. We should be having meaningful discussion about it after words, gently leading people to the fingerprints of God, and leaving them wanting more.
When I see A Winter’s Tale, I see the fingerprints of God all over it. I see elements of the greatest story ever told. I see the power of monogamous, intimate, romantic, unconditional love. I see Ephesians 2:10 value, masterpiece and mission all over the plot of the movie. I see a supernatural force that is not distant, but one the injects itself into the moment when needed most. I see God all over this movie, and we should be walking with the secular world and helping them to continue connecting those dots. Jesus says that from the abundance of the heart comes evil and good. If all we ever see in this world is evil, what does that say about our hearts?
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