"The Imposter" Message

I've been asked, most recently on the Facebook Imposter Movie group, what is the message of the movie? As I interviewed the actors on the set, what surprised me is how, to each person, the message was different. I'm glad for this.

So what is the message as I see it? I don't want to give too much away, and I also don't want to influence your take when you watch it. I'll answer the question with broad strokes, but I'd also love to hear from those who have seen it what they think the message of the movie is.

I believe that to draw close to Jesus is to increasingly understand and comprehend exactly who my true identity is. In the first chapter of James, the author writes that the double minded man, unstable in all his ways, looks at the mirror and forgets what he looks like.

There is Truth. And there is my reality based on my own experiences. Which isn't necessarily Truth. But I might have convinced myself it's Truth.

To put it into the movie's terms-- Johnny C, at the beginning of the movie, sincerely believes that he's a Christian. He grew up in church. Walked down the aisle as a teen, cried and got goosebumps, and thought he got his ticket to heaven, or fire insurance, or whatever you want to call it. Is this his reality? Yes. Is it Truth? No.

Also, Johnny believes he is a good father and a decent husband. Now to those looking in, it's clear and obvious he's not. But Johnny doesn't see objectively. BTW, neither do I on some glaring, personal character issues. And neither do you.

So Johnny, fed by the stardom of his status as lead singer for a hot Christian band, is miles away in his reality from what the truth is. (Which we would call "delusion.")

So I believe that we are all some distance away from marrying our own "reality" with God's Truth. As I pull off a mask, throw away a costume (like the "dad of the year" one I wore for a time, while living selfishly for myself at their expense), I turn closer to Jesus.

The Truth? Found in God's Word. Ps. 139, God says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Romans tells me that there's the flesh and the spirit. The flesh is bad. It cannot be educated, made to smell better, or tolerated. That part of me must be killed. And the guy that wrote most of the New Testament spoke about having to die daily to the flesh. But the spirit is the handiwork of God. I am specially made and created by Him. (And so not to get a "better than thou" mentality), I am made special, just like every single one of you.

This is one message of the movie.