​By Andy Kind *  

The film that spawned an infinite number of sequels and (bizarrely) a state governor, The Terminator is the 1984 action horror that many have mimicked, none have bettered. And yet the film itself is a pale imitation of a story already told further back along our timeline.  What you may have missed in this epic horror/blockbuster is a surprisingly accurate rendering of the incarnation of Jesus. Come with me if you want to read on.

Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) is sent into our time on a rescue mission by his own son (OK, so the father is sent by the son on this occasion, but stick with it). His mission is to save humanity – starting with someone who doesn’t know him. He arrives naked and vulnerable and the weaponry he would otherwise use can’t make the leap, so he has had to give up his full power to get here. He arrives in the early hours of the morning and the authorities are quickly onto him (like a thief in the night?). The only witness of the event is a bearded vagabond who asks Reese if he ‘saw a bright light?’ This homeless man is the John the Baptist figure who testifies to the light coming into the world.

The rest of the film centres on Reese’s attempts to get between Sarah Connor and death (Arnie’s Terminator). At the climax of the film, he lays down his life for hers, and takes death down with him. Because of the brain-melting paradox of time, Kyle Reese saves Sarah’s life in a time before his own physical birth. This is a nice allusion to John 8:58, where Jesus says, ‘Before Abraham was, I AM’. The decision to save and rescue predates the incarnation.

Now obviously, plenty of films use the idea of self-sacrifice as a plot device. But they use it because it’s a theme that has universal resonance. The theme of self-sacrifice itself has an origin story though, and it’s found in the pages of the New Testament. The Terminator is a fictional retelling of a real, historical event.

But why do we resonate with themes of rescue, self-sacrifice and redemption. I think because we are wired to respond to them. The temptation at this point might be to say, ‘Well, it’s not just Christianity – all religions have these themes.’ But that’s just not true. You will not find any other religion where God offers to rescue you. You cannot find another worldview where you are worth dying for. No other religion says that God is coming to find you, or where death itself can be conquered. With any other God, your cries for help are either unheard or unheeded.

If there is no God at all and atheism is true, then The Terminator is a fictional story about a very real truth – that Death is coming for you. So listen and understand: that Terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead. The words Reese used to describe the T101 apply absolutely to your relationship to Death on an atheistic worldview.

Maybe that’s why the movie is so terrifying. Because on some level we sense the slow pursuit of Death which will one day come for us, whether we are ready or not, whether we think we deserve it or not.

But what if there was a real story about the unstoppable foe of Death bearing down on you…but then a hand grabbing your arm, looking you in the eye and saying, ‘Come with me if you want to live’? What if that person didn’t just stand between you and death and say, ‘Run, save yourself, I’ll hold him off as long as I can’? What if the person who offered to save you could not only beat death but offer you ‘fullness of life’? What if the relief we feel when Kyle Reese drags Sarah Connor out of the Terminator’s line of fire isn’t just about the thrill of entertainment – what if we are wired to respond to that story because that’s the rescue plan God decided on long before we were born?

What if salvation wasn’t just a poorly-rendered spin-off, but the direct sequel to saying ‘yes’ to that offer of rescue?

*Andy Kind (@andykindcomedy) is a comedian, preacher and writer. This article is reproduced with the author’s kind permission.

So you are one of the many millions of people on twitter? Great! 

So you are one of the many Christians on twitter? Maybe we should talk. 

According to a report published by the Pew Research Center, fifteen percent of adult Internet users in the United States are on Twitter, and that number is multiplied many, many times, of course, in nations around the world.  Of these millions of twitter users, a great many are Christians –  few of whom give much serious thought to how they use the service and the effect they are having on others through it.

The writer and speaker Jon Acuff once said that “Social media’s like a brick — you can use it to build an orphanage or throw it through somebody’s car window.” That statement graphically summarizes the good and bad that can come even from Christians’ use of twitter. 

In saying this, we are not even talking about the kind of content a person tweets.  Most (though sadly not all) Christians are in the habit of tweeting positive, clean and uplifting messages that are not attacks on individuals (Ephesians 4:29-31).  It’s sometimes the behind the scenes –  but still visible – aspects of twitter use that can be problematic.

For instance, many people –  many Christians included –  seem to view twitter as a giant game of  “get followers.”  As a result, many do not choose to follow people back who follow them because they want an impressive follower/following ratio.  It’s always a bad thing if we allow our mental approach to become focused on an attitude of “get” and an unwillingness to give, and this is certainly a situation where the golden rule can be followed (Matthew 7:12).

But even more disturbing is the habit of many (and yes, many Christians) of following people back  and then,  a day or two later, dropping them.  If the person who has followed us is not tweeting objectionable material, dropping them simply to improve our own numbers is nothing short of selfishness, and we should consider how this looks to others.   If we don’t want to receive a follower’s frequent messages regarding what they had for dinner last night or whatever, twitter does have a “mute” button. If we need to we can mute followers where unfollowing is not called for.

Being a Christian on twitter is not just about numbers, though.  When we receive follows from others and don’t follow back, or follow back then drop them, we lose one of the great ways social media can be used for good by depriving the person of ever reaching out to us through Direct Messages.  In our own @tacticalbelief and @livingbelief twitter accounts we receive many DMs every week from people asking for guidance, encouragement, prayer, or just basic information about Christianity. Not following back or dropping followers unnecessarily limits engagement with others whom we might help and  denies them the opportunity to receive “an answer regarding the hope we have” (1 Peter 3:15) –  in an area of our lives where we might be most likely to be asked. 

There are many other ways that we should perhaps consider how, as Christians, we come across to others on twitter, and how we either serve them or perhaps cause them to stumble through our twitter behavior.  But basically, being a Christian on twitter can be boiled down to three simple things. 

First, we need to realize how conspicuous we are as Christians on twitter and how hypocritical it can appear to others if we label ourselves as “Christian” or quote Bible verses in our twitter bios, but are knowingly following porn or treating people selfishly in our social media practices. 

Second, we need to resist any temptation to “flame” or ridicule others by always being desirous to “tweet  others the way we would want to be tweeted.”

And, finally, we need to remember – as one preacher so aptly once put it (in a tweet): “Your words will tell others what you think. Your actions will tell them what you believe.” That is just as true on twitter – or on any other social media –  as it is in other areas of life.

The 2013 American science fiction film Elysium, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, creates the world of 2154 in which Earth has become ravaged and slum-like, and the rich go off-planet to live in Elysium, a space station-like perfect environment named after the blissful afterlife region of the ancient Greeks.  Separated from Earth, Elysium is a paradise of pleasures and, through scientific advances, its wealthy inhabitants are healed of all sickness and disease and are essentially able to live forever.

It’s sad that for many who do not understand Christianity, the popular Christian idea of going to heaven is very much like the fictional Elysium – a place or time where the privileged go and live blissfully while everyone else gets to live and die in misery.  An unfortunate corollary of this understanding is the feeling some have that Christians are mainly in it “for the perks” –  specifically the desire for eternal life.

Now the Bible does make it clear that Christian life leads to eventual blissful eternity, but even we ourselves can lose sight of the bigger picture if our focus is on being saved and living forever – we can come across to those who do not understand as “Elysium types.” The apostle Paul left us a clear summary of what our understanding should be in this regard.  Notice what he told his assistant, Titus, about our life in Christ: “Remind the people … he saved us … so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7). 

So eternal life certainly is the Christian’s hope –  but Paul continues by showing it doesn’t stop there:   “… And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good” (Titus 3: 8).  Paul tells us here that we who trust in an outcome of life that is even better than any “Elysium” need to devote ourselves to doing good – and “doing good” means to others, not to ourselves.  Paul continues to stress this fact a few verses later:  “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives” (Titus 3:14). In fact, the New International Version of the Bible titles the whole chapter of Titus 3  “Saved in order to Do Good” 

It’s a basic truth found throughout the Bible. We see it everywhere and perhaps nowhere better summarized than in the Book of Psalms: “Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever” (Psalm 37:27 ESV).  We are called to much more than a life that turns from sin – we are called to doing good – and that’s not just the prologue, but also the purpose in this life and the next. Christianity does offer a wonderful afterlife; but we should be clear in our own minds, and in sharing the truth, that true religion involves not just “getting saved,” but also doing good wherever we can. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).  True religion is turning from sin and actively doing good. Real religion isn’t just an entrance requirement for Elysium – it goes far beyond that.

* For more on this subject, see also the blog post “Why Were You Called?” here on our sister site, LivingWithFaith.org.