I find myself in the minority. Everyone I have talked to who has seen the movie, Minority Report, has enthused about it. I thought it was just so-so. It starts out as a sci-fi movie and morphs into a who-dun-it. Its actually quite a respectable who-dun-it though the final denouement would have come as no surprise to anyone. The movies’ depiction of how technology would shape the day-to-day experience of life fifty years from now is impressive. Its stated basic philosophical question however, is not really treated with any depth.
“If you could accurately predict when a murder will occur do you have the right to arrest the would-be murderer as though he had actually committed the crime?”
This is a very intriguing query, paralleled by questions like; did God know that humankind was going to sin before He created them? But the question is not answered adequately, even with one of the protagonists (Colin Farrell) having attended Fuller seminary for three years! Minority Report remains a summer action/who-dun-it movie with some clever moments.
Two themes in the movie however, rang true. First, there are indeed those who are so obsessed by power that they would do anything to hang on to it, even lie, cheat and kill. Second, is the frightening portrayal of how human beings use each other with or without the excuse of it being for some higher good. ( By the way, Agatha the pre-cog [Samantha Morton], gets my vote for the best acting in the movie.) We encounter these two themes everyday in real life. So much so that Paul’s description of the work of Christ in Philippians 2:5-8 is really in the minority.
“Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.” NLT
Even as I write this column a friend is undergoing the last stages of being evaluated for a senior management position. He sees leadership as empowering those who work with him. He wants his team to be vision-driven but understands that their welfare is very much part of that process. And as his career progresses, he wants to give more time to family and ministry. Sounds too good to be true? I would think so too—if I didn’t know him personally.
Leaders who are not addicted to power and position. Leaders who do not use people for their own ends but who genuinely want to bring out the best in those under their care. Such leaders are in the minority both in the church and in the marketplace. They shouldn’t be.