There they are miles from the shore. Their boat old. Their ship leaking. The three would-be heroes of the 1970s classic Jaws discover the depth of the dilemma. They’ve brought lightweight tackle to catch a heavyweight killer, the 25-foot shark lovingly known to fans as Bruce, and he’s about to have them for lunch. What will they do?
How we respond to adversity tells a lot about us. The lead characters of this film, the young know-it-all Hooper, the old salt Quint, and the less-than-heroic sheriff Brody resonate still today with viewers because we see a lot of ourselves in them.
The Hoopers in our churches will attack the problem head on, analyzing, planning, and plotting. That is, they’ll do that until the problem is bigger than they are. Then they fall back, regroup, and try to figure it out again. These are the businessmen of our churches who’ve never been told “no.” These are the pastors who’ve figured everything out while still in seminary and have never faced real difficulty before. Whoever they are, the Matt Hoopers of the Christian world have it all figured out and they’ll take care of things, if we’d just let them.
The Quints of the world have been through it all already. They’re not going to be surprised by what life throws at them and they’re not going down without a fight. Like Quint, they often refuse to wear a life vest because they’ve seen firsthand what can happen when you float through life’s problems. So, they too will solve their problems in the only manner they know how…by doing something, even if it’s the wrong thing. They’re willing to die trying.
Finally, the Chief Brodys of the world enter the scene. The Chiefs in our lives are those folks who are fine when things are going according to script, when the comfort zone is really comfortable. Then, when adversity rears its ugly head, they crumble. They complain. They balk. Then they cry for mercy, beg for mercy, and hope for a bigger boat.
The problem with each of those responses—the one who relies on education, the one who relies on experience, and the one who relies on little else—is that all of them have too low a view of God. The Hoopers assume that God needs their help. The Quints assume they don’t need God’s. The Brody’s know they need God’s help. They’re just not sure, if He’ll come in time. The symptoms are different but the diagnosis is the same. Their God is too small. They need a bigger God.
The God of the Bible is just such a God. He created the world. He’s the master of the seas. He holds the storms in check. He controls the trials in our lives. He is God and we are not. That God is much bigger than anything we’ll ever face.
Hear Jonah’s cry from the belly of his big fish: “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me.” (2:2). After all, “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” (2:9)
