“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39
There is a scene in the recent Marvel movie Dr. Strange in which the lead character (Dr. Strange) is told by another character (called “The Ancient One”) something to the effect of, in order to gain what he thinks he truly needs (namely, full use of his hands, after a car accident debilitated him, in order for him to continue to be the supreme surgeon that he was prior to the accident) he must actually surrender everything; that surrendering what he thinks he needs in order to satisfy himself will in turn give him true satisfaction.
This sort of thinking is completely counter intuitive and counter cultural at the same time. When everything inside us and all around us tells us that we should follow our hearts, chase our dreams, make our own luck, and get what we want when we want it, the idea of surrendering what we think we need in order to truly gain everything is as ridiculous as telling a child that candy is so bad for them (Kids don’t understand the ill effects of candy. To them, it’s the best thing ever).
The Human Heart Is A Terrible Evaluator
But herein lies the problem. We cannot properly evaluate what we need the most (i.e. what is best for our lives). Why? Because we are sinful and our hearts are bent towards chasing after the temporal things of this world, thinking they can provide for us true satisfaction. Rather than chasing after the One who created everything and who is gracious to give us all of these inherently good things as gifts but that we turn into gods. Somehow we are convinced that we will be happy and satisfied with created things instead of THE Creator. The Bible has something to say about this:
“Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” Romans 1:22-23
Finding The Hope Of The Gospel In Dr. Strange
In the end, Dr. Strange realizes that his identity is larger than his ability to use his hands and be the best surgeon. He realizes that there is more to life than just that. He does end up surrendering those things, and in turn ends up saving the world. This ultimately pushes us to a greater world saving event - the gospel; and a greater world saving Redeemer - Jesus, who…
“though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:6-8