In the movie Remember the Titans, playing in a game fixed against them the Titans overcame the seeming inevitable and won a game the devil should have won—except for the steel integrity and web of love underlying and surrounding the Titans. At a key moment, the assistant coach said he didn’t care about worldly honor if being in the state Hall of Fame meant being a cheater. But with this simple courageous decision he sent the devil packing.
This movie flows from the root of American culture and I believe it portends disaster for the devil in his attempt to rend God’s nation asunder. The central problem we have at the moment is wealth distribution and the inability of the capitalistic system OWN ITS OWN for realizing the divine mandate for justice and mercy. While capitalism is a necessary condition for realizing this dream, it is not a sufficient condition because it fails to award the true value of labor in many cases.
American will meet head on this issue and come to affirm “It is what it is; let’s deal with it.” I have talked with the affluent middle class and I have talked with the economically deprived, and though I’ve heard anger and resentment on both sides, I have never heard hate. The devil knows his plans are doomed so long as this condition prevails. America is fundamentally a nation of love and truth telling, not hatred and deception and this is giving the devil fits.
Paradoxically, the goodwill of Americans can foster ill-will. For we are very much like the couple that don’t want to antagonize or hurt their spouse, so refrain from flat out stating something like “I wish you'd help me out with washing the dishes once in a while.” Rather, we bite our tongue, but with the passage of time resentment grows even greater towards hatred—giving the devil much hope. But I predict that the time is not far off when Americans will not avoid or seek to escape the underlying problem (with the consequence that only symptoms are addressed), but rather will successfully meet the underlying issue head-on. And like with the Titan movie, it will not be a free ride of ease and indulgence, but will require a measure of conflict. But this conflict, due to its necessity and testimony to frankness, will please the Lord.
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