America’s best products are movies and music. So what’s the deal with Christian movies? While they unfailingly have the best of intentions, they tend to share an overly saccharine sweetness. But is it that they’re actually too sweet, or that today’s society has become too sophisticated and jaded? The latter, of course. “Heaven Is for Real” falls solidly in the saccharine category; however, the story itself is quite interesting. It’s also true.
The Pastor and His Son
Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) is an Iowan pastor, volunteer fireman, wrestling coach, and business owner. He’s a do-gooder of extreme do-goodness. He keeps it real; his fracturing an ankle sliding into home at the local softball game is the type of experience that immediately goes into his small-town Sunday sermon.
When his wife, Sonja (Kelly Reilly), insists that it’s time for a vacation, the family sets out for Denver, shouting “We Will Rock You!” in the car.
Meanwhile, back home, word gets around. The entire community becomes engrossed in prayers for the pastor’s son. Colton lives.
Back to life as usual? Not really. The boy is starting to say some very interesting things. When they go to the Denver petting zoo to hold Rosie the tarantula, Colton says, “I’ve been here before.” He also says, “The angels sang to me.” When Todd asks when they did that, Colton replies, “When you were in the other room, yelling at God.”
Leap of Faith
You’d think that a congregation of true Christian believers would cotton to this. You‘d think that they’d cotton to it like multicolored cotton candy. You’d be wrong. No. Noooo. It scares people. If Preacher Todd keeps preaching like that, he just might get fired. Especially with newspaper reporters sniffing around, trying to get stories about the boy who went to heaven.When the article comes out, the teasing starts. In one of the movie’s funniest scenes, schoolyard brats and bullying boys tease Colton’s older sister. They didn’t know who they were messing with.
This, of course, sets up one of the many Christian teachings: “You should have turned the other cheek.” Which is the kind of thing a religious movie needs to be careful with.
It needs to be explained in detail why turning the other cheek is a good thing, because in this day and age, that’s long become something to scoff at, especially with everyone now embracing the concept of the inner warrior who takes no guff. And because most of us enjoy the concept of a tiny girl with tremendous Clint Eastwood attitude destroying some schoolyard punks.
More Colton Clairvoyance
“Did you know I have a sister?” “Well, of course you have a sister.” “No, I have two sisters. One died in your belly.” “What was her name?” “She didn’t have a name. You hadn’t named her yet.”
Sold! Heretofore skeptical mom buys the multicolored cotton candy on the spot. Now Sonja’s a believer. As Colton says, “I see it, so I believe it.”
Maybe if you see this movie, you’ll believe it too. Maybe. It’s a challenge. Because while we talk about faith, we usually mean faith where you believe without seeing. But when, all of a sudden, the reverse situation occurs, when someone has seen, has had a vision—we don’t really know what to do with that because we ourselves, personally, might not have had any such visions. It’s a little shocking. It’s comfortable to go to church and feel a warm feel about Jesus in heaven, but what if some kid actually goes to heaven, sees Jesus, hangs out with Jesus? Can we believe that?
Highly recommended for those struggling with belief in spiritual realities. Warning: Eat popcorn instead of candy while watching. Because what will you have if you combine candy with the saccharine sweetness of “Heaven Is for Real?” Diabetes. You will have diabetes. But if you’ve lost your faith—you just might find it again.
