Just a Character

I've never written a book. I certainly enjoy reading books (primarily fiction) and think that it could be a fun adventure to my hand at writing. I think the most exciting idea of writing is that, as an author, you are completely in control. An author has unlimited choices when writing the book. He can create and destroy, give and take. The author can do whatever he wants because it is his story.

Let's think about a recent movie to help me illustrate that point. The Dark Knight. If you've seen it, do you remember Detective Anna Ramirez? No? Well, she was the detective that worked for Lt. James Gordon and she ended up helping the Joker and Two-Face. Anyway, my point is that she was a relatively small character in the movie. What if, after reading through the script, she said, "I think this story should have me in it more. You're focusing too much on the Joker and Batman. The real story here is my role in deceiving everyone." What if she said that? The author/director would probably explain to her that the movie wasn't about her. The story is really about how Batman saves Gotham City from the Joker and in the end sacrifices himself for the greater good. It wasn't about Anna Ramirez, but she did get to be part of the story!

Let's think about another story for a second. The Story of the World. You are in it, whether you want to be or not. You are playing yourself and, I hate to break it to you, but you have a fairly small role. The title won't have your name in it, most people probably won't even notice that your in the story.

But you are. You are in this story. It's just not your story. It's God's. And just like Detective Anna Ramirez, you can think, "this story should have me in it more. You are focusing too much on [Jesus]. The real story is my role." Okay, Okay. I know that you would never say this. But how much do you think it? How often do you stop and realize that this story that you are taking a part of is not about you at all? I know I rarely think about it.

The story is really about how Jesus saves us from sin and in the end sacrifices himself for us. The story was not ever about us. We are just a character in the story, but we get to be in the story!

God is not in my story, because it is not my story. I am in His story. Just a character, and a minor one at that. But I am glad God saw something in me to give me the part.