Inside Out and Upside Down

Here is a passage of Scripture containing a verse that was brought up last Friday by Dr. Marc Newman of Movie Bible Study, related to the new movie, Inside Out, about which I'll have more to say on The Meeting House program.   This is from 1st Peter 4:

12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;
13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

Even though we face trials in this life, yet we can be confident that God is producing in us fruit to His glory.  We can know His joy and peace because we know that He is walking with us.  And, even if we may encounter sadness along the way, we still know that He is glorified - we can know His presence even as circumstances change of may even go against us.   Our aim is to be pleasing to God, and that can give us great satisfaction.

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In 2nd Corinthians 7, we read about how God will produce His desired work of restoration, even out
of the midst of sorrow:
9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Well, there has been plenty of buzz about a new film from the folks at Pixar, who have acquired a reputation for making entertaining, heart-warming, and even thought-provoking films that have endeared them to a wide audience.   And, there is plenty of good will to go around about their newest effort, called Inside Out.  The basic premise actually sounds maybe-a-bit-too-basic - you essentially go inside the animation-rendered mind of an 11-year-old and meet her emotions, which are expressed through 5 characters - Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust.

This young girl named Riley had a lot going for her, with a nice family, wonderful friends, the enjoyment of playing hockey - after all, they lived in Minnesota.  She had been making plenty of wonderful memories, fueled by the dominant emotion of, yes, Joy.  But, then the family moves to San Francisco and the resulting life changes and a few bumps in the road cause upheaval in Riley's life - and her emotions.  For most of her early life, the Type-A Joy was in control, holding off the bumbling Sadness, who has tried to get her hands on some of Riley's Joy-filled memories, which have been built into core memories.  But, the move causes an emotional tug-of-war and plenty of mayhem inside Riley's mind.

Ultimately, when Joy and Sadness are whisked away into a different part of Riley's brain, away from the control center, the other 3 take control, with rather disastrous results.  And, actually, Sadness plays a key role in restoring order, if you can believe that.

Dr. Marc Newman of Movie Bible Study offered a number of ideas related to Inside Out that are worth considering.  You can access that conversation here.   He brought out that God's ultimate goal for us is not happiness, it is joy.  And, as he rightly says, joy will sometimes require unpleasant experiences to mature.   He mentioned 1st Peter 4:12, which says: "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you..."  The next verse reads, "...but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."

He also explored the role of grief and sadness in our lives, in making us whole people, even though we don't want to deal with them.  In order to understand concepts of forgiveness and grace, we have to be presented with situations that require forgiveness and demand grace.

In the Plugged In movie review for Inside Out, Paul Asay writes, referring to director Pete Docter:

He and his moviemaking team also fleshed out a message that feels truly countercultural: Happiness isn't everything.

Our age values happiness a great deal. We're supposed to be happy, jettisoning anything and everything that makes us unhappy: spouses, careers, obligations, our own identities, you name it. If we're happy, that's all that matters, we tell ourselves. And if we're not happy, well, that means something's wrong.

Without giving too much away, here is another passage from the review:

But by the time Inside Out finishes, we realize that Sadness isn't the villain. She's the hero. She allows Riley to grieve over the losses she's sustained in her big move/life change and, eventually, move on and change for the better.

What a brave message that is—that our goal isn't to be happy all the time. We're supposed to be … us. We're supposed to experience life in its wholeness, even in its sadness. Happy smiles don't get us all the way there. Running clear of anything that might potentially upset us doesn't either. Sometimes we need to be sad. And that sadness—indeed, all of those prickly emotions we see in Inside Out—can be catalysts for a much deeper joy down the line.

So, this is definitely a movie that can make you think.  And, I believe that I may have overthought the film at the expense of my being entertained by it.  But, the lessons are very compelling.  Yes, it's true that God does not promise a happy life, dependent solely on the externals, but His goal for us is to experience His joy.   And, even through negative circumstances, we can experience the joy of His presence.

There was a degree of protection that the emotional character Joy wanted to provide for Riley.  Her goal was to make sure all the stored emotions were happy ones, and she was really intent on doing that.   But, the fact is, we are not protected from those things in life that can cause pain and uncertainty, that can produce anger and even fear in our lives.  But, as we come face-to-face with those emotions that would be described as negative, we can learn to exercise self-control and Christlike character.

All in all, through those times of adversity, we can know that God is doing His work.  And, when we miss the mark, we can experience the wonderful love and restoration of our Lord Jesus.  As we are sorrowful for our sin and that Godly sorrow produces repentance in us, we can gain a greater sense of the love of the Lord for us.  Sadness will come, but out of great sadness can come a deeper and more fulfilling joy.