Making A Difference

Two weeks ago I went to see the movie The Grace Card with my friend Connie.  Being a movie critic is not something I normally do.  However, this movie illustrated so well what it takes to really make a difference in the lives of others that I want to share some thoughts with you. That too is my desire.  I want to make a positive difference in the lives of those around me by sharing how living the Christian life is playing out for me.

In many ways I felt the story line was unrealistic.  But the lessons portrayed through the story line echo truth.  Receiving the grace of God and offering it to others is the key to making a positive difference.  That was what the main character learned.

The main character, a Caucasian father was a hurting and bitter man.  His marriage and his family were struggling and he was struggling in his job as a policeman in the city of Memphis, Tennessee.  About seventeen years before, his five-year-old son was hit by a car and killed. The car, driven by an African-American was leaving the scene of a drug transaction.  That incident colored the father’s entire life.  And it was the impetus that drove him into law enforcement.

As the story begins, his second son is a senior in high school.  He is not doing well in school or in life and his relationship with his father is very rocky.  The father’s bitterness is being passed down to his son.  Life is not good!

Since the first son had died, the father’s wounds and hurts had festered.  They were poisoning him and everyone around him.  He was making a difference, a very negative one on everyone with whom he came in contact. 

At one point in the movie, the father is asked, Why did you want to become a policeman?  His answer was, I thought I could make a difference.  In other words he thought that putting on a uniform and having a certain job would cause his life to count for something, to make a difference.  

The plot spirals down.  Others were passing him by on his job.  His family life is unraveling.  And at about this time, he is given a new police partner.  He is an African-American, a believer and is learning about grace.  Although the turn around takes a while and has a lot of ups and downs, their relationship is the key to the end of the story.

The father does finally learn about grace, both how to receive it and how to give it.  He did get his desire, that he would make a difference.  But it didn’t come because of a uniform he wore, it came because of a relationship.  He came to the end of himself.  He was a totally broken man.  But he accepted the grace that was offered to him and was able to pass it on.  He made a positive difference.

“…“My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness”.  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

 II Corinthians 12:9