I recently watched an episode of the T.V. show House in which the main character, Dr. Greg House was released from a lengthy stay at a psychiatric hospital with a party called his re-birth day. He spends a large portion of the episode making life miserable for everyone to prove that he’s “better” and ready to leave and get on with his life. He refuses to take his meds. He’s mean and disruptive. Then he’s sees what he perceives as the mistreatment of another patient, a young man who is delusional and believes he’s a superhero.
Pride Goes Before a Fall
House smuggles this patient off the grounds and takes him to a carnival where they go on a ride that simulates flying and play the “strongman” game where you use a hammer to send up a puck that rings a bell. After what appeared to be a fun time the young man climbs up to a ledge in a parking garage, and still believing he can fly, jumps from the ledge and is badly injured.
House realizes he was wrong. He couldn’t fix the young man’s delusion, and had in fact made it worse. The next scene shows House taking his meds. He is confronted by his roommate, who was also refusing meds.
Roommate says, “You let them get to you. They broke you.”
House replies “They didn’t break me, I am broken.”
I loved this. I saw Peter echoed here. At first so proud and confident to Jesus… “Though all deny you I will not deny you, I will go with you to death.” Then he denies Christ 3 times. Once he is humbled and recognizes his weakness is Jesus able to ask him to “feed his lambs.” Before his denial he was too strong and proud to serve anyone but himself. After his denial and repentance he had a full view of his own brokenness and his need for strength from a source outside himself.
When I am Weak then I am Strong
Over the course of the rest of the episode House learns how to open up for real to his therapist, stop trying to fix everyone else and apologize to and move on with the delusional man. Toward the end he suffers an emotional hurt and instead of going back to his addiction he seeks out his therapist and admits his pain and fear. It is at this moment the therapist tells him he’s finally ready to go back to “normal” life.
We can’t live a real Christian life until we admit that we can’t really live the Christian life! Paradoxical, I know. Paul explains this in Second Corinthians:
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:17
At a prayer meeting earlier this week a friend reminded me of the sermon on the mount where Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We are poor in spirit when we recognize we have a spiritual need and see God as the only answer to that need.
We have a choice to make every day. We can either stand in pride and do everything possible to gain and maintain our own kingdom, or we can surrender and trust the God who made us, who is trustworthy and true. We can seek His kingdom and know that He will give us everything we need in this life and the next. Even if it’s what God gave Paul, “sufficient grace.” And isn’t His grace worth more than anything this world has to offer?
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