Evan Almighty is the story of freshman congressman Evan Baxter, whose main campaign slogan was “change the world.” When he asks for God's help to achieve his goal, God responds in an unusual way—He commands Evan to build an ark in order to rescue a multitude of wild animals.
As Evan reluctantly begins to obey, he faces mounting ridicule from his coworkers, neighbors, and family. In one scene, God has commanded Evan to wear an old-fashioned robe to go along with his long hair and shaggy beard. Evan tries to skirt this command by wearing his business suit over the robe when he attends an important committee meeting.
The chairman of the committee introduces his co-sponsors and asks them to stand. Take a look (show Evan Almighty movie clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ U9jZQ54LM).
Reluctantly, Evan stands up. As he does, the rest of the committee gasps. Evan looks down and realizes he has been transformed back into the Noah robe and hairdo. People begin to laugh and his family gasps in shock as they watch the meeting on C-Span. In another room, Evan's secretary is also watching the meeting on television.
"Ladies and gentleman, please," the chairman breaks in, pounding his gavel, "Congressman Baxter has a tendency to embrace the theatrical in his support of this bill. Congressman, let me warn you that you are approximately 10 seconds away from committing censure."
Evan doesn't hear. Horrified, he stares out the window at a large flock of birds swooping down upon the Capitol. "Oh, no," he cries. "Would anyone mind if I closed the window?" But he is too late. The birds stream into the meeting room and are quickly joined by a menagerie from the hallways, including foxes, bears, and mountain lions. The animals all gather in formation, with Evan at their center.
The committee and audience begin to scream and run away, but the chairman shouts through the chaos: "Ladies and gentleman, please! These animals are trained. I have seen this circus act before." Addressing Evan, he says, "Congressman, I'm sure St. Francis would be envious; we, however, are not. You have five seconds. You march yourself and your little animal troop out of here now, or you will be forcibly removed."
Evan shakes his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that, sir. These animals are not trained."
"Congressman!" the chairman roars, but Evan cuts him off.
"I think they want me to save them."
Another committee member, Congressman Burrows, asks, "Save them from what, Congressman?"
Hesitantly, Evan says, "From the flood."
"A flood?" says Congressman Burrows. "This has been the hottest, driest summer on record, and you say we're going to have a flood. When might we expect this?"
Evan blurts out, "September 22nd at midday," which is what God told him during a previous conversation. As the crowd buzzes, he adds, "That's what I was told."
Congressman Burrows asks, "Might I ask who told you?"
Evan's face falls. He knows his answer will mean the end of his career. Back at home, his wife whispers, "Not in front of all those people. Don't say it…don't say it."
Unwilling to pretend any longer, Evan says, "God."
His wife covers her face. Sensing a kill, the chairman of the meeting asks, "God? You talk to God?"
"Yes," Evan answers.
"And God is talking back?"
"Yeah." Evan sighs, and then adds, "We've hung out a little."
"Congressman, your name is being removed from this bill," the chairman continues. "Obviously the stresses of this office have proven too much for you." He slams his gavel down and yells, "Please have the congressman removed!"
"No!" Evan cries. "Please, you don't understand. God commanded me to build an ark!" At this point, two uniformed officers grab Evan under both arms, but he continues to shout, "It's going to rain! There's going to be a flood! We have to prepare ourselves!"
"Remove him now!" the chairman roars, still pounding his gavel. He stands up as Evan is finally dragged from the room, but before he can get back to business, the flock of birds that had been standing with Evan swoop down and defecate all over his suit.
Back at Evan's house, his son asks, "Does this mean we're moving back home?"
"Home," his mother answers, "or Canada. One or the other." (Evan Almighty, 00:52:22 – 00:56:11, Universal Pictures, 2007, directed by Tom Shadyac; www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ U9jZQ54LM).
Sometimes, when you follow God’s calling on your life, the world thinks you’re stupid. You look foolish to your family, your friends, and everybody else. But that’s often the price you must pay to change the world. That’s what it costs sometimes to influence people to follow Jesus. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 4, 1 Corinthians 4, where the Apostle Paul talks about what it cost for he and the other apostles to turn their world upside down for Christ.
1 Corinthians 4:8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! (ESV)
Paul is being sarcastic here. The Corinthian believers, like the church in Laodicea, thought they were rich and in need of nothing. They were like a lot of American Christians, who may have wealth and power in the world’s eyes, but in God’s eyes, they’re wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17). They have no real influence on the society around them.
On the other hand, those with real influence, those with real power, look like losers in the world’s eyes. They look like fools. Look at what Paul says about the apostles, those with real influence in the 1st century. Acts 17:6 says they “turned the world upside down” with their preaching in just a couple of decades.
1 Corinthians 4:9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men (ESV).
Paul draws from the imagery of a general, returning to Rome after victory in battle. He leads the procession with his legions of soldiers behind him, carrying the spoils of war. Then “last of all” come the prisoners of war. The general and his legions have conquered these sorry souls, who will be marched to the arena where they will die in gladiatorial fights or be torn apart by lions. They are the entertainment for the citizens of Rome. They are a spectacle, literally a theater, put on display for the whole world to see.
Now, most people think the power is in the front of the procession with the returning, victorious general. But God says the real power is at the end of the procession, among the prisoners of war, because His people are there.
1 Corinthians 4:10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute (ESV).
Paul is using a little sarcasm here. They think they are wise. They think they are strong. They think they are honored, compared to the apostles, but their pride has blinded them to their true condition. Look at Paul and his fellow apostles, those who have the true influence.
1 Corinthians 4:11-13 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things (ESV).
Did you ever have to throw away some food after burning it in the pan? Remember how bad it smelled? Remember that yucky black stuff stuck to the bottom of the pan? What did you do with that stuff? You scraped it out.
That’s how Paul describes those with real influence. They are the black scrapings off the bottom of a pan. They are the off-scouring, or as it is translated here, the “scum” and “refuse” of the world. It’s not a pretty picture, but that is the cost of having true power. That is the cost of influencing your world for Christ. So, if you want to change the world…
GO TO THE BACK OF THE LINE.
Become the “scum” and “refuse” of our culture, and dare to live like a fool for Christ.
I think about Abraham Lincoln, one of America’s greatest presidents, who defeated slavery and changed our country for the better. Yet the level of suffering he endured throughout his life is astonishing. His mother died when he was 9. His first love died when he was a young man. Later, three of his four children died in childhood. His wife probably endured mental illness, and he, no doubt, suffered clinical depression.
His political path was no easier. Though considered a hero today, Lincoln was unpopular in his own times. The media portrayed him as a hapless hick from the backwoods. Eastern society rejected him and his wife because they were from Illinois—then considered the rough western frontier. And when he ran for president, leaders in Southern states made clear that if Lincoln were elected, the country would divide. With 82 percent voter turnout in 1860, he won with less than 40 percent of the popular vote.
Sure enough, after his election Southern states made good on their threats and began seceding from the union before he even took office. Then, roughly a month after he took office, all-out civil war erupted. His popularity grew during his presidency until, four years after he took office and just six days after the Confederate surrender, he was shot and killed in a final tragedy that helped to bring the nation back together in their grief (Amy Simpson, “There's Power in Showing Your Scars,” Amy Simpson blog, 4-29-13; www.PreachingToday.com).
Lincoln shunned popularity to become one of the most powerful presidents of all time. He became the scum and refuse of his day only to be recognized as a world-changer in our day.
Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, speaking to the Knights of Columbus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, once said: “God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools… and he has not been disappointed… If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world” (Penny Brown Roberts, Scalia: Faithful Live for Christ, theadvocate.com; www.PreachingToday.com).
My dear friends, that’s what it takes to change the world! Unlike most of our politicians, dare to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world. Dare to be a fool for Christ.
When William and Catherine Booth caught a vision for reaching the poor of London, people mocked their simple ways. But Catherine Booth said, “I would lead Hallelujah Bands and be a damn fool in the eyes of the world to save souls” (Catherine Booth. “William and Catherine Booth,” Christian History, No.26).
What are you willing to do to save souls? If you want to influence your world for Christ, then go to the back of the line and dare to live like a fool for Christ. In other words…
IMITATE PEOPLE LIKE PAUL.
Mimic those who seem week in this world’s eyes. Copy those with a true servant’s heart.
1 Corinthians 4:14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children (ESV).
Paul doesn’t write these words to shame his audience. He writes these words to keep them from shame. His words are a warning to the proud—Pride goes before a fall. With haughtiness comes humiliation every time.
1 Corinthians 4:15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel (ESV).
Paul led these people to Christ. He was their spiritual father.
1 Corinthians 4:16
Literally, “be mimics of me.”
1 Corinthians 4:17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church (ESV).
What were Paul’s ways in Christ? We just saw them in verses 12 and 13. He labored with his own hands. He spoke well of people when they cursed him. He endured persecution, and he answered kindly when people slandered him. The world considers these actions foolish, but that’s what God calls you to do if you want to change your world.
David Briggs talks about his father, who he describes as an ordinary man who lived an ordinary life. He worked at a screen-printing company in New Haven, Connecticut. However, his example of humble faith and faithfulness permanently shaped David’s life.
Before David was old enough to go to school, his dad often took him into work with him on Saturdays. David watched his dad sweep the floor before he began, and soon Dave had that job. His dad was hired to sweep floors and eventually became president of the company, but he never lost sight of the dignity of all work.
Faith was just part his life. One of the best memories David had from childhood was the adventure of walking together with his dad down a long hill with snow up to his chest during a heavy storm to be greeted by a surprised pastor on Sunday morning. His dad would not miss Sunday worship.
And where there might have been self-pity, there was joy in his life… Later in life, Dave noticed that his father would not speak a bad word about others. At the dinner table, he talked about customers who defrauded him by asking for large amounts of work in advance and skipping out on payments. But there was never talk of revenge or fighting back. He just said he would no longer deal with them.
During the 1960’s, when racial tensions boiled over in cities like New Haven, Dave’s father delivered food once a month to the poor in the city. He walked up to the top floor of apartment complexes to make sure families received their groceries.
As Dave’s father lay dying, Dave wrote him a letter in which he talked about their walk to church during the snowstorm. In that same letter, Dave told his father, “The lesson I learned about faith came from seeing you live your life. You genuinely loved everyone.”
David says, “My father was born into poverty, lived a humble life, and died in bleak, spare surroundings reserved for veterans with limited resources. So what do I want to do with the rest of my life?” David asks. “I want to be like my father” (David Briggs, “What I Learned About Faith from Watching My Father Die,” Christianity Today, 6-17-16; www. PreachingToday.com).
Dave’s father set the example of humble service, and you and I would do well to follow the example of such people, people with true power.
If you want to influence your world for Christ, go to the back of the line and imitate people like that. Finally, if you want to make a real difference in the world…
STOP BOASTING AND START ACHIEVING.
Get rid of the pomposity and demonstrate real power. Shut your mouth and get something done. Look at what Paul says starting in verse 18.
1 Corinthians 4:18-20 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power (ESV).
What you SAY impresses on one, only what you DO. For the kingdom of God is not about talk. It’s about the demonstration of real power as you and I depend on Christ
1 Corinthians 4:21 What do you wish?, [Paul asks]. Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? (ESV)
Paul was coming to Corinth to see if their walk matched their talk. He could care less about their arrogant accolades. He wanted to see their actual accomplishments for the Kingdom.
According to Ruth Tucker, when William Carey, the “father of modern missions,” first tried to convince fellow Baptists that the Great Commission required them to go out into all the world and make disciples, they fiercely resisted him. At one meeting, an older pastor interrupted Carey's impassioned pleas, saying, “Young man, sit down. When God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid or mine.”
He loved talking about the sovereignty of God but failed to appreciate one fact repeated time and again throughout the history of the church: When God pleases to do anything on earth, he uses people like you and me.
Thankfully, William Carey would have none of this man's bad theology, and he ended up going to India as a missionary. As a result, he inspired hundreds and thousands of other 19th–century British and American Christians to do the same. Today, millions in China, Africa, and Latin America claim Jesus as their Lord because God used some person, missionary or friend, to bring them the good news of Jesus Christ (Ruth Tucker, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions, Zondervan, 1983, p.115; www.PreachingToday.com).
Oh, my dear friends, in humble dependence upon the Lord, go beyond just the talk and get something done for God’s Kingdom. Don’t boast about your own gifts and abilities, for Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Instead, humbly depend on God’s power, for the Bible also says, “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).
If you want to change the world, go to the back of the line, imitate people like Paul; and with God’s help, get something done!
In his book Vanishing Grace, Phillip Yancey writes about a Muslim man who told Yancey, “I have read the entire Koran and can find in it no guidance on how Muslims should live as a minority in society. I have read the entire New Testament many times and can find in it no guidance on how Christians should live as a majority.”
Yancey comments, “Christians best thrive as a minority, a counterculture. Historically, when [Christians] reach a majority, they have yielded to the temptations of power in ways that are clearly anti-gospel” (Phillip Yancey, Vanishing Grace, Zondervan, 2014, page 258; www.PreachingToday.com).
Yancey is absolutely right. So, as our culture increasingly marginalizes Christians and grows more hostile, resist the urge to conform and learn to thrive as a minority. In other words, make a difference by being different.
