Two years ago, I was standing in the TSA line at the San Diego airport when I looked up, and the guy in front of me looked a whole lot like Tim Robbins (best known for playing Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption). I took a second look at this guy, then a third, trying not to be too creepy.
Who knows if I was successful? I’ve rarely been accused of having tact. But I swear I tried.
Eventually, I decided that this guy didn’t just look like Tim Robbins. This was Tim Robbins. But it seemed like no one else recognized him. He had a beard and a hat and sunglasses on and was in the regular security line with the rest of us. Eventually, I sidled up to him—literally as we were taking our belts and shoes off—locked eyes with him, and said, “Hey man, I know.” It was a solid line. Maybe not Hollywood good, but solid.
He looked at me for a few seconds and smiled. I said, “I won’t tell anybody, but you gotta know that The Shawshank Redemption changed my life, and that’s saying something, because I’m a pastor and I’m in the business of life change.” He smiled and politely said, “Thank you.” And that was the end of our encounter.
I was kinda hoping he’d get pulled by the TSA for having something still in his pockets so I could say something as I walked by like, “Oh, so you can break out of a maximum security prison, but you still can’t get through a security line without being flagged, huh?” But he didn’t get pulled, so I lost my opportunity. It would have been a great line.
But I digress. The point (spoilers ahead!): There’s a scene in The Shawshank Redemption where Red, played by Morgan Freeman, is explaining to Andy Dufresne how prisoners often get used to prison conditions, and eventually, freedom becomes scarier to them than captivity. He says, “These walls are funny. First you hate ‘em; then you get used to ‘em. Enough time passes and you get so you depend on ‘em.”
Andy won’t have it; he thinks, “I’ve got to get out of here,” and he hatches this ingenious escape plan. After Andy escapes, Red eventually gets paroled, but after he’s out, he really struggles with the outside world and even contemplates giving up—either taking his life or doing something to get himself back in prison. Then he recalls something Andy had told him in the prison yard: “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
That’s not a bad motto for the Christian life. I’ve often found myself agreeing with Charles Spurgeon, who said that the most miserable people in the world are half-committed Christians, just enough into Jesus that they’re miserable in the world but just enough into the world that they are miserable in Jesus.
For many people, God has saved them, but they still live like they’re in prison. They live like slaves. Their lives lack the peace and joy of being the sons and daughters of God. It’s like they’ve trusted God to do the first part of salvation—taking them out of Egypt. Now comes the more important part, getting Egypt out of them. But like Red learned, it’s not easy to change your identity in a moment.
Slavery to the world or liberty in Christ. Imprisoned in your own desires or set free to follow God. The choice is yours: Do you want Egypt or the Promised Land?
That choice sounds easy, on the surface. But even the people of Israel yearned to return to their slavery in Egypt. The faith that is required to go into the Promised Land—for them and for us—is hard. But I’m telling you, the slavery in Egypt is harder. And if you’re going to go with Jesus, go all the way. Let him transform the fearful, idolatrous heart of a slave into the trusting, joy-filled heart of a son or daughter. Yes, it’s hard. But every bit of it is worth it.
It’s time for you to leave Egypt behind. God put an impenetrable ocean between you and your previous captivity, and all Pharaoh’s condemning soldiers are dead on the shore! So, like my TSA security line buddy Tim Robbins said: “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
What’s the Holy Spirit asking you? Do you need to say to God, “I’m ready to go all the way! I need you to give me the heart of a child, not a slave”? Maybe there’s an area where you’re having trouble trusting or obeying God, and you need to share that with him. Will you share that with him now?
J.D. Greear is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. He leads the Summit in a bold vision to plant one thousand new churches by the year 2050. Pastor J.D. completed his Ph.D. in Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Chick-fil-A since January 2022 and recently served as the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Pastor J.D. and his wife Veronica are raising four awesome kids: Kharis, Alethia, Ryah, and Adon. This article has been republished with permission from the J.D. Greear website and is under copyright law. It may not be republished without express written consent by J.D. Greear Ministries Team. J.D. Greear is the author of 27 Books including his newest book, Everyday Revolutionary: How to Trancend the Culture War and Transform the World.
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