Stuck on the Sidelines

July 30, 2009 in Des Moines,God with 10 Comments

907603811_9372af6d94Last night I went to the Des Moines 48 Hour Film Festival with my wife and a group of other friends. Hollywood it wasn’t, but I was treated to a wonderful batch of original short films by some of Des Moines’ finest.

Some were funny,
Some were touching,
Some were weird,
Some were just plain awful.

Before we left the historic Fleur Cinema, I was struck with a thought: “These people are making it happen.“ Regardless of the artistic merit of their film, they took a chance and created something that did not exist before. They assembled teams, all of various sizes and skill levels, picked a genre, and then made a film in 48 hours (or less.) They acted on their passions instead sitting on their haunches, waiting for the film to make itself.

Impressive.

The film makers had a dream (more than one of them mentioned pursuing a film career full-time would be a “dream come true“) and they did something about it. It left me feeling overjoyed (for them) and convicted (for me). I felt convicted because I couldn’t remember the last time I took a chance like that, putting all my skills, talents, hopes and dreams on the line without knowing the ending.

Without knowing what people would think.
Without knowing how the bills would get paid.
Without worrying if it was “Christian” enough.

I determined that I’m tired of being stuck on the sidelines. I’m tired of hiding inside of my holy huddle, pretending to close my eyes to all the beauty and light and life I see around me in the lives of people who don’t go to church. I’m tired of thinking in “Us” (Christians) vs. “Them” (non-Christians) categories. It’s not that I don’t want to be a teetotaler, it’s just that I can’t.

Some of the films last night were crude, lewd, and non-sensical. I blushed at a few of them. The filmmakers cussed. And I’m pretty sure that one of the film’s entire crew was high for most (if not all) of the process. But for some reason, I felt more “ministered to” by the passion of these filmmakers than I have anything else in quite awhile. How does that work? I don’t know.

Could it be that God works through people, powerfully even, who don’t know him?

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10 Responses to “Stuck on the Sidelines”

  1. Jay July 30, 2009 at 6:30 pm #

    Good post.

    So what are you going to do?

    • Justin Wise July 30, 2009 at 10:35 pm #

      That is the most awful and wonderful question ever.

      I feel like you just kicked me in the groin and gave me a banana split all the same time.

      Well done.

    • Justin Wise July 30, 2009 at 10:35 pm #

      That is the most awful and wonderful question ever.

      I feel like you just kicked me in the groin and gave me a banana split all the same time.

      Well done.

      • Jay July 31, 2009 at 1:17 am #

        Hmm. Umm….Well….

        Thanks?

        Tell you what…..I'll be praying for you in the hope that you'll be able to figure it out.

        But really. It was a great post and I appreciate the fact that you're bold enough to be transparent about that.

  2. Sam Mahlstadt July 30, 2009 at 7:41 pm #

    Wow man, these are the moments in our lives when everything changes. Moments where what we are doing right now don't line up with where we want to eventually be. Moments that move us, sometimes quite literally – geographically, to fulfill the dreams that God has placed inside of us. The best piece of advice I have received to date concerning these moments "God gives us the desires of our hearts." That and, "go." Praying for you, man. I'm with Jay, now what? Keep in touch.

    • Justin Wise August 1, 2009 at 6:21 pm #

      Now what? I don't know. But I know I have to do something!

  3. Michelle George July 30, 2009 at 10:26 pm #

    I beleive God uses whoever and whatever he needs to to get our attention :) ____Great article! Thanks for the encouragement. Sometimes us creatives think far too much…i know I do :)

    • Justin Wise August 1, 2009 at 6:21 pm #

      Thanks Michelle… How has God encouraged you recently?

  4. Jeremy Anderberg August 1, 2009 at 4:49 pm #

    I've noticed recently that once you actually start LIVING out your dreams and working on them, they become way more real, and way more doable. You just have to find that will to start. It looks daunting getting into, but only because Satan likes to make our dreams look unattainable.

  5. Mikes August 3, 2009 at 7:32 pm #

    Amazing reflection.This has been a revelation to me lately as well.I mean God's plan for our lives is for us to be on TOp and be the HEAD, if that's not true yet then we must be doing something wrong. we must be stuck on the sidelines as you would say. Let's now accept with open arms God's plans for our lives and be the people he purposed for us to be