Who really is The Chairman?

 "Have you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary;     his understanding is unsearchable."

                                                                                     Isaiah Chapter 40 verse 28

 Last week I watched Matt Damon's "The Adjustment Bureau". I knew, vaguely, that the film asked questions about the sovereignty of God, but I had thought little of it.

   Firstly, I would like to say how good it was to watch a film which actually had a meaningly question at its heart. Matt Damon tends towards staring in 'meaningful' films (with the odd exceptions) and he, I thought, acted brilliantly. It is rare that a film ventures further than pure entertainment: occasionlly we a treated to a political or romantic adventure but nothing of any real 'life or death' substance. This was an exception to that rule. The acting was solid, the backdrops and music was perfect and the effects were just as reliable. The plot was one which, while having a high level of tension and 'on-the-edge-of-the-seat-ness', allowed the watcher to immerse themselves in the drama and excitement. There were however several large- some would say gaping- holes in the questions which, though never faced directly, were implied throughout the plot.
   The film is based around a US Congressman running for Senate. While following his election trail we are introduced to a shady organisation which operates across New York. Men in overcoats in cool hats are always watching and whispering. These men, we soon learn, belong to the 'Adjustment Bureau'. Their job is to make 'adjustments' in peoples lives so that they continue to- unknowingly- follow 'the plan'.

   Early on in the film, however, one of these men makes a mistake and fails to delay the congressman from getting on a bus. This leads to a series of events through which David Norris discovers the existence of the bureau and of The Chairman- someone shrouded in mystery,  the one who actually wrote The Plan. You can see the not-so-subtle allegory here?!
   We soon learn that these people have been running planet earth for some time, and have often intervened- if not entirely manipulated- human history. They know all about us, and each carry a little black book which show both us (small pulsating red dots) and also our own small contributions to the overall plan.

   The story which follows is one in which the Congressman attempts to forge his own plan and to be reunited with the one woman he ever loved.
    By the end of the film we are left with mixed feelings about the bureau and its chairman. One of the adjustment men- angels?- leaves us with some words of- seemingly- great wisdom.

    It was an enjoyable film, if only for its drama (and the cool hats). However, as one would suspect of a secular film group trying to understand God, they really missed the best scene of all!
    By suggesting that Norris's plans were greater than The Chairman's they were greatly underestimating God and his wisdom. The Bible tells us that God was the one who created us and continues to sustain us: doesn't it go without saying that he knows and wants only the best for us?
    Contrary to God binding us in shackles and sending angels to force us into his will, we read in the New Testament that God often allows us to follow our own desires and to see for ourselves the problems and wickedness of our own plans.

"Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.......For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.........And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done."

     The Angel-like men in T.A.B. are concerned that men, if left to their own devices, lead the world into war and darkness, (they probably have a point there!) and are more concerned with leading the world to a brighter future than in allowing individual people (like Norris) to flourish and be happy.  This is where the film writers really have missed the greatest scene of all!
  
     The Bible tells us that God so loved people- like you and me- that he sent his own son, Jesus, to become a man and to live among us. God knew that, rather than being slaves to his 'plan', rather we are slaves to our own sinfulness and wickedness. That is why Jesus had to die at the hands of Roman soldiers. So that we- the individual men and women that he created and loves- could be freed from slavery and could be reunited with God!

    In pitching The Chairman as a distant, secret, hidden man who orchestrates world affairs behind a closed door, the film fails to see God as he really is.

    If you really want to know God, then don't watch The Adjustment Bureau; but turn to the Bible, starting in the Gospels, because there you will meet Jesus and, trust me, you won't help but be amazed!