A Science Fiction Show Challenged My Faith

The television show I am going to describe is not my endorsement for you to view it.  The show contains elements that can be offensive to many people.   Allan  I wrote this back in October of 2009 and the show didn’t last!

I am a science fiction fan.  I’ve enjoyed it since my youth.  Growing up I loved watching Lost In Space, Time Tunnel, and The Twilight Zone. Through the years that  list has grown quite a bit.

There is a new science fiction show I have been watching titled Flash Forward.  It’s a  show with a very interesting premise.  One day for 137 seconds every person in the world loses consciousness.  As you might imagine all sorts of tragedies result as planes fall from the sky and cars careen out of control.  For all of the survivors, upon awakening, they find they each had a vision while unconscious.  As things unfold it appears that each person had a vision of their future.

Not all of the visions are upbeat as some have visions of falling off the alcohol wagon, infidelity, or somebody trying to kill them.  Soon many are convinced these event are going to take place.  Characters respond in various ways as others are trying to figure out what exactly took place.   It makes for interesting viewing.

The latest episode had a story arc that really challenged me as a Christian and how I live my life.  In this episode there is a character named Ned.  He is driving a bus when he blacked out and the bus ends up into a lake with most drowning.  He is able to pull out a young woman and the two of them make it to the surface and survive.  Some time later Ned shows up at the hospital to have his injuries checked out.  For somebody who narrowly escaped death he is quite upbeat.  It’s quite comical really.

Ned is set for surgery because of some internal bleeding and this brings two characters to the forefront.  One of these is a doctor who believes in the flash forwards and the other who is a doctor who sees everything as business as usual.  Here’s where I’ll share what Ned saw in his future.  He saw himself in leather pants at some happening nightclub.  No biggie but the kicker is he sees himself as an African American as opposed to being Caucasian.  The believing doctor decides to do some research and discovers there is a disease that causes a condition that affects adrenaline and hormone secretion, causes pigment change over time and, most importantly, can cause major problems in high-risk surgeries such as the one Ned’s about to endure.

The unbelieving doctor is set to do the surgery and is warned not to do it because there is a disease that validates Ned’s flash forward.  The surgery proceeds and Ned flatlines due to the disease.  The unbelieving doctor then responds to the disease her cohort warned her of and saves Ned’s life.  Happy ending for Ned.

How does one tie this into mental illness?  I’ll try as I believe there is a lesson for all of us to pick up on.  The whole deal with Ned is he always acted like he was at Disneyland and not approaching a major surgery.  He was so nonchalant it made you wonder what else happened to him.  Ned was indeed fearless and no matter what happened his giddiness wasn’t about to change.  So what’s the deal with Ned?  When asked why he was so fearless he had a very valid answer.

Ned explained that he had seen his future.  His future showed that he was a hip African American who was in a nightclub wearing leather pants.  That’s not the ideal thing we should be hoping for!  Ned so believed in his future that nothing could rob him of his happiness no matter how bad things might become.  Ned knew his future and had 100% confidence it was around the corner.  He had unwavering faith in what he saw.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things we hope for, the certainty of things we cannot see.

Granted  this was a television show but I couldn’t help but draw an important parallel between Ned and each of us.  As believers we know the end of the story.  We know our future and it’s an eternal one.  It’s not some worldly pleasure as Ned saw but an  eternity in the presence of God Himself.

2Corinthians 4:8  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;

Many of us have known despair.  Some of us have despaired of our very lives.  The Apostle Paul did.

2Corinthians 1:8  For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

We could quickly go through the Psalms and read of despair.  David knew it well.  Despair is not something that disqualifies or diminishes us as believers.  Yet satan would love to condemn each of us in any way possible.  Those who suffer emotionally are easy targets for him.  Despair is a difficult and at times a seemingly impossible place to be.  It isn’t.  God will always give us the ability to make a move, no matter how big or small it is, away from despair.  In our own strength there is no way out of this despair.  It is only by the grace of God that we can do anything at all.

I can’t answer why some suffer so much longer than others.  I don’t know that anyone can.  I do know that God will never condemn us for losing hope or being small in our faith.  Condemnation is not of God.  It is a tool of the devil.

Our future is written in God’s Word and can never be altered.  We belong to Him and nothing can snatch us out of His hand.  When trials come our hope is in God alone.  He has revealed that hope to us in His Word.  When things are dark and there seems no way out we must seek to cling to Him and His Word He has left for us.  That is our hope.  Not a vision of the future in a science fiction show.  May God bless and keep you.

1Peter 1:6  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
1Peter 1:7  so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.