Directive

(For those of you who haven't watched the movie yet, this might contain slight spoilers)
























"After 700 years of doing what he was built for, Wall-E discovered what he was meant for."

There's a critical moment in the movie where Eve and Wall-E are thrown into the trash chute, and Eve must make a decision to either save Wall-E or to bring the plant to the center of the Axiom ship. Wall-E's controller card had been fried by Autopilot, and he was almost at the end of his battery life. Eve, now emotionally invested in Wall-E, insisted on looking for a replacement controller card for him, but Wall-E kept on pushing the plant into her face, repeating "directive... directive" because he knew the importance of the ship returning to Earth, not only for his own sake of getting replacement parts but also because Earth needed the humans to return.

How accurately this can apply to our Christian lives as well...

Wall-E was "built" for trash compacting, but who would have guessed that this humble, rickety, lovesick robot was meant to play a role in the "salvation" of humans out of their own gluttony and laziness and back into experiencing what life truly is -- pizza trees, dancing, and hoe-downs included.


Similarly, we humans may be "built" for schooling, working, producing... but there's so much more. Jesus' last command for us it to: go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28: 19-20). This is our directive, this is what we are meant for. I mean, let's look at Jesus' directive:

Matthew 20:28
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

John 10:10
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Jesus came to give us life in all its fullness. What if he hadn't come and made a way for us to have this eternal life? You all felt how incredibly sad it was seeing those people on the Axiom wasting their lives away, but how much more does your heart break for people who aren't experiencing the fullness of God's infinite love? John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Eternal life starts here and now.

Our directive is this: Make disciples of all nations, baptize them, teach them to obey, open their eyes to see the life they can have. What a great privilege it is to do so; it's no wonder Wall-E was willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of the passengers on the Axiom.

So we can choose to be like the old Wall-E, living our lives day after day comfortably compacting garbage, but I believe that in our hearts there is a deeper aching for something greater, something of far worthier purpose.