During a recent interview with a co-star from Hollywood’s
new dramatic film, Fury, Ellen DeGeneres said, “No matter how you’re reaching for it, everybody is trying to
fill themselves up in some way. You’ve got to find out what that is . . . to figure what [it] is that makes you feel
whole.”
For those of us who grew up in the mid to late 90s, we knew
him as a gangly, troublemaking, misfit teenager, who starred in Disney’s hit
television show series, Even Stevens. But
our parents might recognize him better from movies like Transformers and Disturbia.
Fans, friends and family might tell you that Shia LaBeouf’s
acting career has been on quite the rollercoaster ride over the course of the
past decade.
After being arrested more than three times over the last six
years for misdemeanors including drunk driving and assault, LaBeouf told Ellen
he has finally found a salvation.
A few months ago, LaBeouf decided he would publically
apologize to his fans in L.A. for his criminal acts by allowing them to say, as
well as do, whatever they wanted to him. After person upon person and fan after fan talked with
him, LaBeouf became a little surprised by the acceptance and “forgiveness” he
was receiving.
“It was very human.” LaBeouf said about his fans’ reaction
to his ‘public apology’. “I got into this industry cause I had this void . . .
so I thought being good at being an actor would somehow fill that void . . . a
lot of entertainers are this way, and so I think people [his angry fans] just
really want to make a mark. I think we suffer from the same thing, which is
just a lack of attention and love.”
I read in another article online (separate from Ellen’s
interview) stating that LaBeouf has found more than just salvation. He found God.
While it surprises me that a young, good-looking, successful,
Hollywood actor has somehow managed to ‘find’ Jesus, it surprises me more that
he understands a concept most people struggle to grasp over the course of an
entire lifetime.
Here is a man who understands the beauty and magnificence of
grace. Of mercy. Salvation and forgiveness.
As Ellen said, we all long for something to fill our empty
hearts. To not be lonely. We all desire something to make us ‘whole’ and
satisfied. But what if our desire cannot be fulfilled by this passing world?
C.S. Lewis said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that
nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we
were made for another world.”
What if this simple, but mind-blowing statement is in fact
the answer? What if the human race focused on laying up treasures in Heaven
instead on this world? Would we be satisfied?
Second Corinthians says, “For this light, momentary
affliction [the world] is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond
ALL comparison!”
David writes in the Psalms, “Because Your love is better
than life, my lips will glorify You!”
And even the prophet, Jeremiah—in the middle of his
suffering said, “Oh my God! FOR YOU SATISFY the WEARY and those who are
hurting!”
Everyday, I hear stories of friends and family and coworkers
looking for that one thing—that one thing to give them hope and comfort and
love, maybe even salvation. And I think to myself, why do they not know about a
God whose love is deeper than the ocean and more powerful than any amount of
money or fame? Why is Christianity such a joke in my society? And worse, why
don’t I tell people about Him more? Why
don’t I love Him more.
Godliness isn’t a book or a religion or a title or a rule.
It is a relationship, a friendship, a shelter; it is a love that cannot be broken by anything. To love God is to be filled up,
to have hope; it is to suffer and to be persecuted at times—because He suffered
for us. To be a Christian is to be forgiven and to be promised eternal life. It is the ability to lean on the Creator of the universe and to rely on Him, a Being who will never fail at anything.
Christianity is believing in a God who is able to fix a 'broken' person, a screw-up, a failure.
And this man-- this once broken and sinful man, who has the world at his fingertips, a pocket full of cash and a big screen career, credits this same God with the power that saved him.
"As surely as I live, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that I am God."
Romans 14:11
