April Conversations with the Culture

What, You Do Not Know What the Omega 13 Does? How can The Commander NOT KNOW Something about His Ship?

Because I’m Not The Commander, I’m an Actor! I Just Play “The Commander” On TV. By the Way, How Does my Hair Look?

    Digging Deeper

In the movie, Galaxy Quest, Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) is an actor who played Commander Peter Quincy Taggert, commanding officer of the PROTECTOR, on the Star Trek-like TV show Galaxy Quest. Now in syndicated re-runs, the Galaxy Quest cast make a living rehashing their stale old TV episodes.  Nesmith lives only for himself, content to use others to get what he wants. One day, Nesmith unwittingly agrees to make an appearance for real aliens, the Thermians, who have come to earth to recruit them to face an alien race seeking to destroy them. Getting the rest of his Galaxy Quest cast members to pilot a spaceship the Thermians have built based on the “historical documents” (past TV shows), they must fight a real intergalactic space battle. Towards the end of the movie, Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) is confronted by the alien commander, Sarris, regarding the function of something called the Omega 13 device. Nesmith tells Sarris he doesn't know what it does, but Sarris doesn't believe him, saying "You think that I am a fool, that the Commander does not know ever bolt, every weld, of his ship?” Nesmith is forced to admit that he’s not really the “Commander”, just an actor pretending to be something he’s not. To see a video clip of the scene, click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_tm38I26Gg&feature=related#t=3m18s  

In I Samuel 15, the prophet Samuel confronts King Saul over the sin in his life.  Saul has chosen to follow his own instincts, instead of obeying God.  In verse 11, God says “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.”  In reality, Saul was never interested in following God – he was only pretending!  Here is how Saul responded to Samuel when confronted about his sin (15:24-25):

Saul answered Samuel, "I have sinned. I have transgressed the LORD's command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them. Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the LORD."    

While Saul admits his sin, he shifts the blame to others. It’s not his fault – he was afraid of the people. They wanted him to do what he did – so he obeyed them. And, he wants Samuel to go with him, to put on a show, so that the people will believe that Saul is back in the Lord’s good graces. To the very end, Saul simply pretends to be “the commander”. But in reality, he’s just an actor. When Samuel won’t do as he asks, Saul sets out to destroy David, the man Samuel has been led by God to find as Saul’s replacement.  

Compare this to David and how he responds when confronted with his sin of having Uriah killed and taking his wife, Bathsheba, as his own. In II Samuel 12, his friend Nathan confronts him with the truth of his sin, telling him a story of a situation similar to the sin of David and asking him what the King felt should be done. In anger at the circumstances, David says (II Samuel 12:5-7)

"As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. He must restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.” Nathan then said to David, “You are the man!"       

Unlike Saul, David takes full responsibility for his act. After listening to Nathan enumerate his sins and the punishment he deserves to receive, David responds “I have sinned against the Lord.” (II Samuel 12:13). No excuses. No attempts to shift the blame or to have Nathan killed for accusing him. David simply accepts the judgment, along with the punishment he is due because of his sin. Why did David make this choice? Because, as “a man after God’s own heart,” David understood that he had violated the Golden Rule, which says (Matthew 7:12): 

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 

David realized that he could either destroy Nathan, the man who called him out and exposed him as a fraud, or face the fact that he was not who he said he was, the “valiant warrior” God had called him to be.  

Ultimately, this lesson from David’s life is about how we live the Golden Rule. If we run around demanding that others apologize for this or that, if we criticize others for being too controlling, if we hold others to account for broken relationships – but destroy the Nathans among us who might hold us to our own standards – we are nothing but a modern day Saul. In the end, we become merely pretenders who play to the crowd – and blame others for our failings, saying “they made me do it".

It’s not easy.  In the movie, Galaxy Quest, Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) has to admit his failings in front of everyone who believed that he was the Commander. David, too, had to admit he had sinned.

What about you and me?  Are we the “real deal”, or just an actor hired to play the part?