End of the Spear - the power of forgiveness

This weekend my wife and I saw what may be the best movie of the year because it is true and gives us a very powerful message. Of course, I'm a little biased because of the content of the message. If you plan on seeing End of the Spear and don't know the story and don't want it spoiled for you, then skip the next two paragraphs or STOP READING NOW ;-)



Man, what a powerful movie. I've known the story of Jim Elliot and the other four missionaries that were killed by the Waedonis (us white Americans called them Acusa's which meant "naked people"). And I knew the ending of how the wives of these men moved into the village ANYWAY because sharing the Gospel was too important. But this story focused very little on Elliot. It centered around Nate Saint, the pilot of the mission and his son Steve. Steve later came back as an adult to live with the Waedoni to help them cope with the change in their society as they tried to integrate into the modern era.

There were a couple of lines that were extremely powerful. Right before Nate Saint takes off in his plane with plans to make contact with the violent Waedoni, his six or seven year old son Steve asks, "Will you use your gun if they attack? Will you defend yourself?" Nate stops and looks at his son and says, "I can't. They aren't ready to go to heaven yet." Forty years after the event, one of the Waeadoni who was part of the attack that killed all five missionaries recounted the story to now adult Steve. He described seeing heaven open up to receive the souls of the men, very much like Stephen witnessesd in Acts chapters 6 & 7. The leader of the tribe who actually killed Nate finally admitted his act to Steve, opening himself up to be killed for his act. Nate's response to Mincayani was, "No one took my father's life. He gave it!"




Forgiveness was woven throughout this film in a powerful way. And what it made it so easy to do was because it was true. We're not talking forgiveness for stealing something from me or for lying to me. This was about forgiving you despite killing someone I loved. And of course the ultimate act of forgiveness was the fact that God allowed US to kill his son so we COULD be forgiven! Now that's a concept that can be hard to wrap your mind around.

I don't have any original earth shattering thoughts of my own. I do have some questions that continually run through my mind. I am curious about the role or frequency of forgiveness in our society. I wonder if I could ever be as forgiving as the families of these men. I wonder if anyone else wonders about forgiveness. I wonder how many people out there are crippled because they need forgiveness and can't find it or maybe they're crippled because they are withholding it. I know where the true power of forgiveness comes from. If you are looking for such a power yourself and don't know where to start, I'd suggest this movie. It will definitely help you on your faith journey.