24 and The Great Commission
Two for one deal today, ladies and gentlemen! I had this cool thought about 24 and figured this is what most people have blogs for, so I might as well use mine to work this thought out a bit.
Put simply, there isn’t a single “good” person on 24. All of the characters are flawed in some way or another, even the people you’re rooting for to save the country from whatever terrorists they happen to be fighting. Jack Bauer, the show’s main character (who I see as the toughest Jack on television, no disrespect to Jack Bristow or my friend The Kize) , is consistently forced to deal with troubling personal problems, while putting his life on the line to save his country. From having his wife murdered, to dealing with a heroin addiction, Jack’s seen a lot of hardship over the three seasons of the show, and yet he always manages to come through and save the day. And lest we think Jack is some kind of super-human, able to repress his feelings all the time, the writers show us bits of his humanity from time to time. A particularly good example of this comes at the end of season 3 where, after facing his 3rd twenty-four hour day filled with terrorists, near-death situations, and personal problems to boot, we’re left with a shot of Jack breaking down in tears in his car – fade to black, season over.
This season, Tony Almeda returns as a character that has fallen from grace. We find in this most recent episode that the former director of CTU has done time in prison for last season’s decision to help terrorists who were holding his wife hostage. Jack has pulled some strings to get him released, but his anger has driven him towards drinking, and his wife away. He seems to be making a change for the better, however - despite his saying that he wants nothing to with Jack or CTU, he decides to help Jack take down a key bad guy at the end of the episode.
Jack always manages to get the job done when he’s called upon to do it, with aid from his allies at CTU and elsewhere in the government and I’m expecting to see a similar outcome with Tony (although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tony’s life sacrificed in some way to save the day, much in the same way as George Mason and Ryan Chappelle have done in previous seasons). Because of all he has to overcome, Jack’s eventual triumph is that much better. It would be one thing to see a guy who has it all together save the world, but having someone deal with severe emotional and even physical handicaps do the same job makes a much better story.
That’s God’s point of view, too. He calls us to do various things for Him and His Kingdom while we’re here on earth, all of which work to fulfill the Great Commission He’s given us: to “…go and make disciples of all nations…” But He doesn’t use people who have it all together. Rather, He uses the people who are broken, and know it. These are the people who, after they’ve accomplished something great for the Kingdom, don’t immediately point to themselves and say “Look what I’ve done!” because they know there’s no way they did it on their own. They’re clear that their calling was from God, as was the support they needed to get the job done. When they finish, they’re not looking for attention, but if it’s given to them they are quick to deflect it, giving God the glory for what they’ve accomplished.
By using this type of person, God makes himself look better! In sports, a coach who wins with a team of losers is a hero, while one that wins with a team of superstars is often referred to as a babysitter and receives little credit for the team’s success. God handpicks his team, and fills it with people who know they couldn’t succeed apart from Him, or even people you’d never expect to see on His team in the first place! Check out what Paul (whose name was changed from Saul) was doing before he became a Christian and wrote a large chunk of the Bible.
I’m really looking forward to see how the writers of 24 will restore Tony this season. I guess I can’t be sure that they will, but I know their usual pattern: Jack’s life has always taken a turn for the better after completing one of his mega-missions. By the end of the season, Jack still faces his problem, but with a renewed sense of determination to fight it and win, with help from his friends or family. We can get the same determination by working at the jobs God has called us to. By recognizing our inability and weakness, but relying on His strength, He brings us through safely on the other side with a job well done, and a better appreciation for His faithfulness.
Pretty cool when God shows himself through pop culture, huh? I’d love to hear what other people think about this, so leave some comments!
Put simply, there isn’t a single “good” person on 24. All of the characters are flawed in some way or another, even the people you’re rooting for to save the country from whatever terrorists they happen to be fighting. Jack Bauer, the show’s main character (who I see as the toughest Jack on television, no disrespect to Jack Bristow or my friend The Kize) , is consistently forced to deal with troubling personal problems, while putting his life on the line to save his country. From having his wife murdered, to dealing with a heroin addiction, Jack’s seen a lot of hardship over the three seasons of the show, and yet he always manages to come through and save the day. And lest we think Jack is some kind of super-human, able to repress his feelings all the time, the writers show us bits of his humanity from time to time. A particularly good example of this comes at the end of season 3 where, after facing his 3rd twenty-four hour day filled with terrorists, near-death situations, and personal problems to boot, we’re left with a shot of Jack breaking down in tears in his car – fade to black, season over.
This season, Tony Almeda returns as a character that has fallen from grace. We find in this most recent episode that the former director of CTU has done time in prison for last season’s decision to help terrorists who were holding his wife hostage. Jack has pulled some strings to get him released, but his anger has driven him towards drinking, and his wife away. He seems to be making a change for the better, however - despite his saying that he wants nothing to with Jack or CTU, he decides to help Jack take down a key bad guy at the end of the episode.
Jack always manages to get the job done when he’s called upon to do it, with aid from his allies at CTU and elsewhere in the government and I’m expecting to see a similar outcome with Tony (although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tony’s life sacrificed in some way to save the day, much in the same way as George Mason and Ryan Chappelle have done in previous seasons). Because of all he has to overcome, Jack’s eventual triumph is that much better. It would be one thing to see a guy who has it all together save the world, but having someone deal with severe emotional and even physical handicaps do the same job makes a much better story.
That’s God’s point of view, too. He calls us to do various things for Him and His Kingdom while we’re here on earth, all of which work to fulfill the Great Commission He’s given us: to “…go and make disciples of all nations…” But He doesn’t use people who have it all together. Rather, He uses the people who are broken, and know it. These are the people who, after they’ve accomplished something great for the Kingdom, don’t immediately point to themselves and say “Look what I’ve done!” because they know there’s no way they did it on their own. They’re clear that their calling was from God, as was the support they needed to get the job done. When they finish, they’re not looking for attention, but if it’s given to them they are quick to deflect it, giving God the glory for what they’ve accomplished.
By using this type of person, God makes himself look better! In sports, a coach who wins with a team of losers is a hero, while one that wins with a team of superstars is often referred to as a babysitter and receives little credit for the team’s success. God handpicks his team, and fills it with people who know they couldn’t succeed apart from Him, or even people you’d never expect to see on His team in the first place! Check out what Paul (whose name was changed from Saul) was doing before he became a Christian and wrote a large chunk of the Bible.
I’m really looking forward to see how the writers of 24 will restore Tony this season. I guess I can’t be sure that they will, but I know their usual pattern: Jack’s life has always taken a turn for the better after completing one of his mega-missions. By the end of the season, Jack still faces his problem, but with a renewed sense of determination to fight it and win, with help from his friends or family. We can get the same determination by working at the jobs God has called us to. By recognizing our inability and weakness, but relying on His strength, He brings us through safely on the other side with a job well done, and a better appreciation for His faithfulness.
Pretty cool when God shows himself through pop culture, huh? I’d love to hear what other people think about this, so leave some comments!
posted by Kyle at 11:14 PM
1 Comments:
Kyle, that's great! I think they definitely are setting Tony up to be the character who finds redemption then dies for this season. Of course, I hope he lives on to return to CTU in season 5...
I think Jack Bauer and Jack Bristow are actually of equal toughness, but Bristow wins the tiebreaker. His daughter is much, much cooler than Bauer's.
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