My Journey Of Faith
Some are called sports fans in a culture smothered in hero and idol worship, while the show is appropriately named "American Idol." Doing the right thing becomes increasingly difficult the further a culture leaves godly morality. From God's perfect viewpoint, idolatry is the chief of sins.
Maturing in faith is connected to the one that illuminates the right way, enables our hearts to choose the right way, and continually imparts the character to do so. I walked away from a religion that professes a lineage back to the Apostle Peter and that the decisions it makes are always correct because they say their highest leader is the "Vicar of Christ" and refers to the pope as the visible head of the church on earth, acting in His place.
Doing The Right Thing For Family
If we live with our eye upon the prize of pleasing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we will grow in His grace and knowledge. We then benefit from our closeness to Him by receiving His wisdom and power to live an abundant life, not by increasing our net worth and buying more things but by improving our character, moral standards, unselfishness, and love for others.
In the movie Ransom, it becomes clear that there is a great deal of love between the father, mother, and child. The father wants to spend more time with his son, and the son appreciates his father and loves his mother. Discipline is present, but also patience, kindness, and understanding.
Doing The Right Thing Without Compromise
As they realize their son has been kidnapped, they struggle to keep their composure, as their emotions are running high. The dad, Mr. Standard, is a millionaire, a tough businessman, clear-headed, and made of strong moral fiber. He realizes when talking to the police chief and newspaper reporter that he needs good information. Who is he dealing with, and what percentages he is facing?
He comes to realize that the ransom money will not affect the outcome at all. "So why do people pay, he asks." It becomes clear that public opinion is why people feel pressured to pay the ransom. Therefore, even though he decides not to hand the kidnapping over to the next family chosen by thieves who feel sure they will be paid, public opinion turns on him also.
Doing The Right Thing Even If Costly
The problem with following the crowd is that, in ignorance, people don't know how much they don't know while always thinking they are right. How could they be wrong when everyone else feels the same way?
In Ransom, the public assumes that the millionaire whose son has been kidnapped is more interested in his money than his son. However, instead of allowing a T.V. host to change his jacket as a signal that he's ready to pay the ransom, he goes on T.V. and speaks directly to the man he talked to on the phone who is holding his son, hostage. He puts the amount stipulated by the kidnapper, half a million dollars, on the kidnapper's head, dead or alive. Later, we find out that if the perpetrator is not found or his son is killed, the money is to be used in the following case of the same kind. It was never about the money for the father, no matter what the public thinks. For this father it became doing the right thing.
Doing The Right Thing For God
Doing the right thing is never, by personal opinion, an option or without cost. God is holy, and He demands perfect holiness. God is so determined that His chosen people live perfectly holy before Him that He sent His only Son as a sacrifice to ensure they can live perfectly holy forever. "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace..." Ephesians 1:5-6.
After the father could not stand anymore, his wife at his brothers, his son's bloody shirt was found; walking up the stairs, he collapsed in tears, and his servant ran to his aid, held him, and quoted David after losing his son, "And thus he said as he walked, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Samuel 18:33)
In the final line of the movie, the servant quotes Jesus from Luke 15:24: " For this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found."
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