Living Life Like a Rat...

Have you ever seen the Pixar movie, Ratatouille?  This animated adventure follows Remy the rat as he discovers his undeniable ability to cook and create in the high-pressure world of Parisian fine dining.  Along the way his exploits lead to self-discovery and to his ultimate commitment to more than what currently is and to far more than what he thought he could ever be.  His dad, voiced excellently by veteran actor Brian Dennehy, struggles with Remy's emancipation and the idealistic tendencies of his independent son.  At one point, Remy's father guides him to a shop filled with instruments of death (rat traps, poisons, etc.) and the exchange between the two is revealing:  "Take a good long look Remy. This is what happens when a rat gets too comfortable around humans.  The world we live in belongs to the enemy, we must live carefully.  We look out for own kind, Remy.  When all is said and done, we're all we've got."  As his dad slowly walks away, Remy's reply is quiet but firm, "No."  And as the two rats stand in conflict, one clings to memories from the past while the other holds on to hopes for an undetermined future.  They eventually part ways in tender disagreement...resolution seeming unattainable due to the painful experiences of a cynical but protective father and to the optimistic dreams of an ever-hopeful son. 

This past week I had a great conversation with one of our Sunday School teachers; we talked all about our ideas for the missional potential of Calvary Baptist Church.  We discussed our hopes for the future, our belief about outreach to the community, about aspirations for ministry and the uncertainty of what the future has in store for Calvary.  It may not sound like it, but as he walked out I was filled with undeniable hope.  You see, from my perspective, being "missional" is more far-reaching than setting aside money to support mission trips; being "missional" is a lifestyle.  it's living like Christ and making the world a better place by simply living in a community. I was filled with hope because this Sunday School teacher is a former "missionary" who spread the Gospel in places all over the world.  He is close to 70 years old but that doesn't limit his thinking; in fact, he thinks more "missionally" than many younger pastors that I know.  We relate so well because we mutually realize that in order to see Monte vista and the San Luis Valley transformed we have to live in and among the people of the Valley.  This goes for anyone who wants to make an impact in their culture and community.


I kept thinking about Ratatouille this past week and specifically about Remy's dad's line:  "The world we live in belongs to the enemy, we must live carefully.  We look out for own kind, Remy.  When all is said and done, we're all we've got."  I kept thinking about it relation to the church and my thought was that we sometimes live a little too much like Remy's dad.  In attempting to spiritualize rat conversations let me phrase it in this way:  Followers of Jesus would probably all agree that we live in a world dominated by that which is not of God...those actions and activities that are painful and destructive, those things which destroy and breathe death not life.  There's a need to understand the world we live in and to let that impact our perspective on the seriousness and importance of this life.  It makes me think of 1 Peter 1:13-21:

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.  Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

Peter was calling on Followers of Jesus to live lives worthy of the name of Christ...to live obediently and humbly, to live alert and aware of the struggles, temptations, traps, and distractions that would limit their impact on friends, family, and acquaintances.  Remy the rat was echoing the words of Peter when he stated his hope in the possibilities of a different future, a new way of living, and impact made that could change the relationship between two species.  The church and the world have for too long been separated; the "circle the wagons" mentality has infected the church with isolationism, fear, and utter confusion at the distinction between that which is holy and good and the "rest of my life".  Peter's call to holiness was not a call to fear and abandonment but a call to living life as an example to people everywhere of the monumental change that can be found in Christ.  "Looking out for our own kind" may be necessary and appropriate in rat culture, but in the church it's a practice that has very little to do with the Gospel and more to do with self-preservation and false humility.

So this week, I want to encourage you to live like a rat...to live like Remy.  This week, I want us all to think less about surviving and more about impacting the world for the change that you would like to see.  If you call yourself a Christ Follower, then let go of the past and cling to the hope that Jesus and His love are bigger than the obstacles, traps, and predictable strategies of the enemy of our souls. If you're not sure of where you are in relation to Christ, then try to go through this week loving like Jesus would love...embracing your enemies, putting others before yourself, and living with the hope that things in the world can change.  Living like Jesus is harder than it seems...my hope is that you might look to Him more and more as one worth following and modeling your life after.  Wherever you are spiritually, let this week be a time of renewed passion for others and a time where we all can live with the hope that things can be different. 

It’s not something you hear often, but I hope that living like a rat may allow you  to give the world one more chance.  It's in our hope that we permit ourselves to dream and it's through our dreams that God sometimes works most dramatically. 

Have a great week!