In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Michael Bay (the movie industry equivalent of a decepticon) decides to throw in a little subplot-Sam’s relationship with Megan Fox, and the buildup to the moment when he would finally say “I love you.” Right from the start, it annoyed me-I went to see a giant robot deathmatch in its purest form, without any human emotions involved! If I wanted to see a sappy love story, I would have cuddled up on a sofa at home and watched The Notebook… On a deeper level though, the movie gives a seriously shallow view of love.
Love isnt a word. Its not a feeling. Its a commitment. And its not proven strongest during the “perfect moment” (the movie moment when the words are uttered and suddenly everything changes.) In the Bible, love in its ultimate form is shown to us on a Cross, where an innocent man died alone for those He love. Some things stand out to me from Christ’s display that Hollywood always seems to forget:
-Love isnt selfish. Most relationships only last as long as both parties get what they want, and end with somebody feeling used. Shallow, Hollywood love would be quite good with Palm Sunday, the day when the world showered Christ with praise, but its nowhere near strong enough to stand up to Good Friday!
-Love doesn’t depend on perfection. Relationships grow cold when the people involved start to see imperfections. Intimacy makes it very hard to hide flaws. Christ knew those He loved quite intimately-He knows us as only a creator can. Every single flaw that every single person has ever hidden, all the hate, lust, perversion, and downright sin that plagues mankind was completely visible to Him! If anybody had a good excuse to call love off, He did-but, as the Cross proves, His love never changed.
-Love is unshakable. Shallow “really like”s depend on easy situations-when trouble comes, they die. Genuine love is proven in times of trouble-Christ’s love wasnt proven during a sermon, or even a miracle, as vividly as it was at His excecution. He didnt just love us enough to come to be with us, He loved us enough to die, rejected, as a criminal. He showed love through pain, and sacrifice-imagine the pain of the perfect Son of God bearing the weight of every imperfection in history!
Real love isnt easy. Life is all about plot twists, and sadly tends to lack the magical happy endings that send moviegoers home happy after 2 hours or so. Hard times that only require a 3 minute musical montage in a movie are significantly more difficult in real life! This is why most relationships fail. This is why too many marriages fail. Shallow love and real life combine to make breakups an accepted part of our society. Fortunately, God made us for more than shallow. A Christian is a person called and empowered to be like Christ-in every aspect of life, including love. When a Christian says `I love you`, it should be a commitment. With the empowerment of Christ, trouble will simply prove that commitment, it wont change it. After all, we have an amazing example to follow!
