CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – A clip of the movie Angels and Demons appeared on my YouTube feed this week. It’s the Tom Hanks movie where he plays a symbologist who unravels a plot to destroy the Vatican.
The Tom Hanks character, Professor Robert Langdon, is an atheist.
In one scene, Professor Langdon is asked if he believes in God. He says faith is a gift he has yet to receive, and he doubts that he ever will. And at the end of the movie, after the plot has been foiled, Cardinal Strass thanks God for sending someone to protect his church. Professor Langdon says he doesn’t believe he was sent for such a purpose. “My son,” Cardinal Strass says, “of course he did.”
It raises the question of whether God works through non-believers or people of other faiths. The answer is ‘yes’. Jesus said it himself, in John, Chapter 10: “But I have other sheep that are not from this flock; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.”
Most biblical scholars believe Jesus is saying that he is not here just to save Jews, the chosen people, but Gentiles, who are not. Jesus says clearly that salvation comes only through him: “No man comes to the Father but through the Son.” But I believe that God tries to reach us through all possible means. A reasonable viewer of Angels and Demons would conclude that Professor Langdon probably isn’t there by random chance. That he is, indeed, God-sent.
There are people in your life who are non-believers. Remember, they’re from a different flock, and God is still working on them. Watch and learn from them. What you see can strengthen your own faith.
Chris Conley
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