It’s officially summer. Bring on the beach, backyard barbecues and “blockbuster” movies. We certainly get one of those this week with the latest installment in the Transformers franchise, Transformers 4: Age of Extinction. The Transformers are straight out of my youth, although I never watched the series or played with the toys. A fact that I was severely heckled for when a good friend of mine took me to see the first Transformers movie. He loved the series as a kid and began reminiscing with people in the couple rows surrounding us before the movie started. I was enjoying the banter, that is, until he announced to the crowd that I never played with Transformers as a kid. Oh yeah, sharks in the water and I was the bait! I was finally saved by the dimmed lights and the opening sequence. And in like manner, we move on…
Transformers 4 picks up in the devastating aftermath of the battle that ended Dark of the Moon. Earth was once again saved, but it was decimated in the process. Four years have passed and a whole new set of human characters and a several new robots move the story forward. Autobots and Decepticons have all but disappeared, and a shadowy collection of scientists, businessmen and a government agent pose a new threat as they attempt to use technology to build a new army of Transformers. In a theme that seems very resonant with our “today,” they push the boundaries of technology to a place where they ultimately lose control. There is no shortage of epic action in this reboot of the Transformers franchise, but I also noticed some biblical undertones that fight to bring the story and its potential point, back to earth. I should be clear, however. Please don’t go to this movie expecting to hear the gospel message
There was one brief poignant moment in the midst of an otherwise smorgasbord of explosions that stuck with me. It involved an exchange between Optimus Prime (the leader of the Autobots) and the main human character, Cade Yeager. Humans have turned on the Autobots (their repeated defenders), and Optimus laments, “How many more of my kind must be sacrificed?” Cade quickly responds, “You gotta have faith, Prime. Maybe not in who we are, but who we can be.”
That last sentence settled in my soul and stuck with me … “Maybe not in who we are, but who we can be.” This is the truth of our transformation in Christ. This is the truth that made the great risk of Christ leaving this earth and His gospel in the hands of the messy bunch that was His disciples, a bold and beautiful stroke in God’s plan (remember Plan B?).
At birth, we bear the very image of God, but the curse of sin separates us from Him and causes us to act in ways that oppose Him. The epic battle of our way back to Him sometimes makes the Transformers on-screen battles look like a cartoon trailer before the main feature. But in dying for us, Jesus made a way … way to get from who we are to who we can be.
