The first time I heard anyone cheer at the end of movie credits was when I went to see Iron Man on its opening weekend in April. I had been told to stay through the credits, but I always do anyway. The stay was definitely worth it. Samuel L. Jackson cameos as Nick Fury and tells Tony Stark, “I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers initiative.” Now I realize that only comic book geeks like myself understand why that is one of the coolest things to ever hear in a superhero movie, but trust me when I say it was worth the wait.
It’s Been Around for Decades
Frankly I don’t get it. Why everyone feels a sudden rush to get up and leave the movie when the credits start to roll is beyond me, especially when people know there may be an extra scene at the end of the credits. I can’t tell you how many people I know—people who are huge X-men fans—who were filled with regret when I told them about the resurrection of Professor X in a scene that followed the credits—a scene that they missed.
Showing scenes at the end of the credits is not new. All of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies have them. The Phantom Menace (Star Wars Episode I) ran a subtle Darth Vader breathing sound at the end of its credits. I can remember scenes in or after the credits in movies as far back as History of the World, Strange Brew, Airplane (and its sequel), and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The lesson is a simple one: “Stay through the credits!” Don’t leave until the story has ended. And that’s a great lesson for our lives.
The Very, Very End
There have been times when I felt like walking out on the story—not the story of a movie but the story of the Christian life. David felt it too when he wrote, “How long, O Lord, how long?” (Psalm 6:3). Sometimes we get discouraged and feel like quitting. We want to cry to God, “How long until the story is over?” The bad parts in our own story seem so long sometimes that we may be tempted to think: (1) maybe it’s not a story at all—that it doesn’t have any meaning; (2) it’s a story that has no happy ending; or (3) there is no author governing the story—no God to make it matter or make it good.
But the New Testament writers were clear in saying that we’ve got to persevere: “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance” (2 Thessalonians 3:5). “You know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:3, 4). “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Hebrews 10:36). The Christian life isn’t always about growth and new learning; sometimes it’s about stubborn, persistent, consistent perseverance. And the biblical message is clear: Don’t quit! Stay to the end. Stay through the credits. In fact, in the Christian story, the credits are one of the best parts.
In Revelation 3:5 Jesus says, “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.” And at the end of Revelation, the book of life is opened and the credits are read out loud:
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-15)
I don’t know about you, but that’s going to be one time in the story when the credits really matter to me. To hear my name called, to be told, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:23). That will be credit indeed. |L
Dr. Charlie Starr teaches English, Humanities, and Film at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky.
OTHER COLUMNS:
November 8, 2009 - Why I believe in God
October 25, 2009 - Commuting in days of evil
October 11, 2009 - Poets and don’t know it
September 27, 2009 - How Hollywood proves abortion is wrong
September 13, 2009 - Significance
August 30, 2009 - Dance alternatives
August 16, 2009 - Gluttons for gossip
August 2, 2009 - Truth from Twilight
July 19, 2009 - Visitor-friendly churches
July 5, 2009 - The Shack
June 21, 2009 - When forgiveness fails
June 7, 2009 - Re-imagining Education (Part Six)
May 24, 2009 - We are not alone
May 3, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part five)
April 26, 2009 - Conviction
April 12, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part four)
March 29, 2009 - An evangelistic proposal
March 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part three)
March 1, 2009 - He makes me sick
February 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (Part Two)
February 1, 2009 - Spiritual insecurity
January 18, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part one)
January 4, 2009 - Church and politics
December 21, 2008 - Heaven’s music
December 7, 2008 - The church and marriage
November 23, 2008 - God and the president
November 9, 2008 - A time for courage
October 26, 2008 - Likes and dislikes: the Prince Caspian movie
October 12, 2008 - What’s that noise?
September 28, 2008 - Modesty matters (part two)
September 14, 2008 - All it takes is some TLC
August 31, 2008 - Modesty matters (part one)
August 17, 2008 - What would you fight for?
July 20, 2008 - Honor to whom honor
July 6, 2008 - Tyler Perry and the movies you’re missing
June 22, 2008 - The peaceable kingdom
May 25, 2008 - Another generation grew up
May 25, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part two)
May 11, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part one)
April 27, 2008 - What is truth?
April 13, 2008 - And the geek shall inherit the earth
March 30, 2008 - A charactered God
March 16, 2008 - The college choice (part two)
March 2, 2008 - Good news can be hard to hear
February 17, 2008 - The college choice (part one)
February 5, 2008 - Ten suggestions for a godly standard of living
January 20, 2008 - Expelled: that “Bueller” guy’s pro-God movie
January 6, 2008 - Choosing a lifestyle
December 23, 2007 - Teachable TV?
December 9, 2007 - Owners or stewards?
November 25, 2007 - Christians teaching Christians to change TV and film
November 11, 2007 - My money is God’s business
October 28, 2007 - Navigating under the radar
October 14, 2007 - The things God values
September 30, 2007 - Movie moments
September 16, 2007 - God’s economics
September 2, 2007 - The best books to read
August 19, 2007 - There’s a rat in ‘separate’
August 5, 2007 - The art of reading
July 22, 2007 - Atheist chic
July 8, 2007 - Why books matter: the sequel
June 10, 2007 - Books: why they matter
June 3, 2007 - The non-impact of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
May 27, 2007 - The universal gospel
May 13, 2007 - Loving Muslims through culture
April 29, 2007 - Hope
April 15, 2007 - God in the dark
April 1, 2007 - The gospel goes to the movies
March 18, 2007 - What the Bible movies can teach us
March 4, 2007 - What will you hurt for?
February 18, 2007 - Why Heroes . . .
February 4, 2007 - Give peace a chance
January 21, 2007 - When fairy tales are true
January 7, 2007 - WYSIWYG lives
December 31, 2006 - What’s coming next?
December 17, 2006 - Mercy, mercy
December 3, 2006 - Proof of evolution!
November 19, 2006 - Hungering for God
November 5, 2006 - Violence and government, war and peace
October 22, 2006 - The mighty meek
October 8, 2006 - The Battlestar and the Bible
September 24, 2006 - Soap for the soul
September 10, 2006 - Right vs. cool
August 27, 2006 - The painful truth
August 13, 2006 - More Lies Hollywood Tells
July 30, 2006 - Christian counter culture
July 16, 2006 - The lies Hollywood tells June 16, 2006
July 2, 2006 - Roll over, Da Vinci July 2, 2006
June 18, 2006 - Blockbuster season June 18, 2006
June 4, 2006 - All things to all men June 4, 2006
May 21, 2006 - When media attacks! May 21, 2006
May 7, 2006 - Culture critiques church May 7, 2006
April 23, 2006 - Responding to The Da Vinci Code April 23, 2006
April 9, 2006 - The Matrix (but not the movie) April 9, 2006
March 26, 2006 - The inside scoop Mar. 26, 2006
March 12, 2006 - Teach your children Mar. 12, 2006
February 26, 2006 - Lessons from the Lost
February 12, 2006 - Syncretism, shmyncretism Feb. 12, 2006
January 29, 2006 - Holy Hollywood?
January 15, 2006 - A people under the Word
January 1, 2006 - Lessons from Kong
