By Eric Stogner ( February 2024)
I think it is high time for a rather large dose of encouragement and that we take a bit of a departure from looking so intensely at the vexing events of our day. While it is important to keep watch, let’s think of this article as a bit of a sabbath. I fact, if we remember correctly, God himself took a sabbath and in scripture he also commands that we take a sabbath. He also points out that the sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath. Imagine that, God wants to give us rest and we need to be commanded to take a break and enjoy what God created.
Here is what I am recommending – watch the movie Titanic. This isn’t a trick; I’m being completely sincere. I think we should all kick back and watch this movie. Although, I might point out just a couple parallels to our day, but I promise to keep it quick and to begin and end on a really high note.
Note: Spoiler alert. In this article I will be describing events in the film, because I assume that most people have seen this classic blockbuster movie, but perhaps they haven’t noticed the aspects that I hope to explore. But, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, I advise you to stop reading now, rent or buy the film ( I have the commemorative directors cut DVD set), and then come back to this article after you have watched the film.
So yes, everyone, watch the Titanic movie – ideally with some loved ones or your significant other. It is 3 hours and 15 minutes in long, but trust me – it’s worth it. And even if you have seen it already, it may have been decades since you last watched it and it has so much to offer. In fact, the messages in this movie may be just the tonic you could use to lift your spirits, give you hope, and remind you of some deep truths that tend to be overlooked by many these days.
What I like first about this movie is that it was released in 1997, way before movies went woke and it has a plot line that goes well beyond some docu-drama about a famous shipwreck. I mean, we all know what happened to the Titanic. They might take creative license to add some human interest to the story, but obviously the ship will be going down. As most of you know, this film was so much more – it is a classic romantic love story set in the midst of battle and disaster. With a production budget of $200 million, it was the most expensive film made at that time, and it was so successful worldwide that it is still the second highest grossing film ever and it is tied for first for winning the most Academy awards with 11 in total, including Best Picture.
Why? Because it hit a home run with men and women speaking deeply to their hearts and longings. And here is my take as to what makes it so great and why this matters today.
We are image bearers
Are you familiar with the books written by John Eldredge, especially the book that he is most commonly known for, ‘Wild at Heart’? It was John’s third book, and I notice that it was published not long after Titanic was released. In the year 2000, after serving as a Christian counselor with Focus on the Family, Eldredge set out to launch an independent ministry with a mission to, among other things, “equip men to rescue others.” The following year, he published his third book, “Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul.” That book had sold more than four million copies by 2016 and today, I would imagine that sales may be approaching ten million. That book was described as “the book that revolutionized ‘Christian manhood’”. And I would agree. I first read Wild at Heart in 2006 and have devoured it and all of the other 12 to 15 books he has written since then. They are all that good.
In 2005, John’s wife Staci wrote a similar book titled ‘Captivating’ that is a kind of mirror image of Wild at Heart – focusing on the deep longings in the hearts of women. In those two books, John and Staci do a phenomenal job exploring the deep desires that God has placed in the hearts of men as men and women as women. He points out that indeed, we are image bearers of God, and that we bear that image as men or as women. There is no ambiguity about this, and, in fact, there is a great glory to it. We may have once been merely sinners with hearts that are deceitfully wicked, but when we come to faith, we become new creatures. We have a new heart and come to reflect the very image of God in a deeper and deeper way. That is the mystery and wonderful transformation that occurs when we come to faith. We now have new and good hearts. And we reflect that in our gender which is our identity given to us as image bearers of God.
What a revolutionary and yet what a deeply true and orthodox concept. These books thankfully came out back when gender was not a point of confusion and when it was still possible, though getting rare, to call out and celebrate the glorious strengths and differences that God created when he created men and women, The Eldredge’s did a fantastic job of describing what deep down we all knew was true, but perhaps hadn‘t heard articulated so well – a set of truths that were also starting to get deconstructed in a world that was departing from the faith and embracing all sorts of twisted ideas of gender theory, etc. You know all the woke buzzwords of today. They had their origins in trends that started decades ago.
For men, Eldredge pointed out the three core desires God put in men. These are to have a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. I won’t summarize the whole book, but I just wanted to share these core categories for your benefit (and I definitely recommend this book or video or live retreat experience to everyone); but also I share this as a proof text as to why the film Titanic was such a roaring success.
The film follows the story of a love interest that develops between Jack Dawson (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose Bukater (played by Kate Winslet). And the film perfectly illustrates all three of these categories of the masculine soul. Jack is engaged in battle after battle, first to get on the ship, and then in fights against the villain of the story (the other man interested in Rose). Jack also is embarking on a great adventure – to literally sail from Europe to America and start an entirely new life in a distant country with nothing but the clothes in his back. He is taking life by the horns and riding it where it may lead. And finally, he discovers a beauty, Rose, to pursue and rescue. He first rescues her from a life of misery with the villain, and then he literally rescues her life and gives his life as a ransom for hers during the actual sinking of the Titanic. It doesn’t get any more powerful than that – greater love hath no man than he who would lay down his life for another. Can you see any biblical similarities yet? And, this human love story, as powerful as it is, is still merely the backdrop for the whole larger story.
Likewise, there are similar deep truths portrayed for the women in the audience. As Staci points out in her book ‘Captivating’, there are three core desires set in the heart of a woman. These are to be romanced and pursued, to be part of a great adventure, and to offer beauty that is to be delighted in.
And, again, the movie Titanic hits another home run in all three categories speaking to the deep heart of a woman. Rose is pursued intensely by 2 men, one who she doesn’t love and who pursues her for evil reasons; but then she is also pursued by Jack, the hero of the story who has a good heart and is the man she actually desires deeply. And Rose also is no shrinking violet, she is a strong woman with a heart for adventure and she is willing to be bold and step outside the safe life of being engaged to be married to the villain to embark on an adventure and a life with Jack. Their love bursts to life as they boldly stand up against the pressures of the outside world and discover true love as they famously stand at the very prow of the ship, enjoying the wind in their hair and the adventure of their lives together on that magnificent ship. And as for beauty, well let’s just say she does have a beauty that she unveils for Jack as the artist in him comes alive as he draws a sketch of her. And he is … captivated by her.
So – it you think I am trying to sell you on either the movie Titanic or these books by Eldredge – you are correct. Because I know they will do your heart a great good to enjoy this timeless love story and to read some great works that will reawaken the deep desires in your heart that the Lord put in there.
Analogies to our situation
Ok, now for a bit of comparison of the movie to events of our day. (but I promise to keep it quick – we are supposed to be taking a sabbath). Let’s just look at the obvious. The Titanic is a microcosm of the world. It is life as we all wish it to be, and that the world tries to promise – a grand adventure sailing with others across the great sea of life. It starts out with lots of promise and has some wonderful plot twists along the journey. But there are also a few villains along on the way and great hardships to endure as well – some that are downright dangerous and murderous. This is true in our lives as well. The world can never deliver all that it proports to, and all that our hearts secretly long for.
And then there is the hubris and arrogance of man. The entire audacious endeavor of building a ship that they claim to be unsinkable was undertaken to show the power and triumph of man. The Titanic was billed to be unsinkable – a false promise from the ruling class that ended up all going terribly wrong and that proved all too quickly to be false. The designers were so self-confident that they didn’t even bother planning for enough lifeboats because they never anticipated a need for them. Likewise, the leaders chose to sail rough-shot through dangerous waters in disregard to traditional wisdom, norms and restraint.
That already sounds a lot like the world we live in where people do not feel the need for nor see the wisdom of having the proper fear and respect for God and his ways. They think they know better than God and will endeavor to try to be like God. And they will fail and lead many to their death and destruction.
Finally, there is the analogy of the Titanic and the world we are living in during these last days. Both are ships that inevitably will be going down. Relatively few people will be kept safe in a lifeboat when the ship really starts to sink. Faith in Christ is our lifeboat, and, in this hour, that should be our primary focus. We should be insuring we are on board and have a space reserved on Christ’s lifeboat and helping others to claim their spot as well. It is voluntary, but it does require that the individual claim the offer. Coming to faith is like showing up at the muster station for the emergency drill. The crew won’t go looking for you. You have to take that one step of believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that Jesus is your savior. And in many ways, it will be the equivalent of claiming your own personal lifesaving jacket.
In the film, there is a very memorable scene that almost captures the often-repeated expression “this is like re-arranging deck chairs in the titanic”. We all know what that implies. It means that whatever people are presently doing, they are wasting their time and effort because the whole enterprise is about to collapse and it is a poor use of the limited time that remains. There are life and death dangers happening and people are wasting time doing things that will soon be irrelevant.
In the film, indeed there is a lot of time wasted as most of the passengers seem undisturbed even though they have all heard the bump and scraping sound when the ship first hit the iceberg (and tore a gash in the side of the hull). Ok, the passengers didn’t know yet the extent of the damage, but they did ignore what should have been a clear warning sound. Even those in charge ignored the warnings, and they told the masses not to worry essentially saying there was ‘nothing to see here’, and that the ship is unsinkable and will continue to sail onward. As a result, almost everyone went on with what they were doing – eating and drinking, dancing in the ballroom, etc. Does this sound familiar? People have ears, but they don’t hear and instead they ignore warning signs. They so want things to just go back to normal and don’t want to pay attention to the signs of the times. Meanwhile, a few watchful people are seeing the danger, investigating it, and starting to sound the alarm. Awareness builds way too slowly, and most passengers are caught unaware.
There is even a touching and almost humorous scene involving a trio of stringed instrument players who continue to play music on the deck, even after it is clear that the ship is going down and mass panic is erupting. But they play their music anyway, perhaps now, not so much for entertainment purposes but as a means to comfort others as much as possible in the final minutes of their lives of futile struggle. There is a peace and a dignity to these musicians who seem ready to accept what is to come, and they are more ready than most of the others on board – perhaps they were people with real faith. These men, and some of the crew seem to be a picture of what a settled believer should look like – who does not worry or grieve or panic as the unbelieving world does. This is who we should be becoming, people who are at peace in this life, regardless of what happens, and eager to comfort others who don’t know the peace that comes from God.
As you relax and watch this film, just think about how the action scenes compare with our world today. It is a world that is sinking fast, yet most people are oblivious to it. Both the film and life have serious life and death struggles that takes most people by surprise. Some face this with peace, but for many mass pandemonium and panic sets in. Which category are you a part of? The wide path that leads to panic and destruction or the narrow path that leads to peace and true life.
The triumphant climax
Now, back to the good stuff of this movie. You eventually realize that, in case you forgot from the opening scene, that this whole story is being told from the point of view of Rose. And she turns out to be a survivor of the famous shipwreck, but the story doesn’t end or even climax with the great and terrible sinking of the ship. There is more – much more.
In the next to last scene in the story, we are returned to the present day where Rose is now a very old woman and she is aboard a boat accompanying a modern day salvage and exploration crew that is attempting to find the sunken wreckage of the Titanic. They hope to locate it, take videos of it, and perhaps even locate a special treasure – a diamond of great value that was said to have gone down with the Titanic and that they are searching for (and that Rose knows something about).
Rose continues to narrate the story, describing what her life has been like and the deep love of her life – Jack, and the film seems to be coming to an endand on a sad and mournful note. Here an old woman is reminiscing about the past and lamenting the hardships and the loss of life. And she has that diamond in her possession and always has had it, unbeknownst to everyone else. She has kept it all these years, perhaps at first for its monetary value, but clearly, she saved it for sentimental reasons.
She drops the diamond that the others are searching for into the sea – as if to demonstrate that the real riches and treasure that people seek is not or should not be a shiny rock, but to recapture the love and joy of being with loved ones, often times the love of their youth. People want to experience again the fleeting moments that we treasured most dearly in life, and they want those moments to go on and on. The theme song is a haunting tune titled “My Heart Will Go On”. That is what Rose longs for deep in her heart. Ah – finally the deepest truths – that we were all made with a deep longing for God and to be in a deep intimate loving relationship. That is her heart’s desire, even in her last season of life, or perhaps especially in that season.
And the camera sweeps down into the ocean, essentially following the descent of the diamond as it falls to the dark and lifeless abyss on the bottom of the sea. The same place that the once great ship Titanic rests, torn to pieces and fading into the past as it rusts and decays in the depths of the ocean. This is a picture of death – where all hope seems lost and there is no life left in us. It just seems so sad and heavy and yet runs counter to every fiber in our being. We were made for life, not death.
But then, the film’s final scene reveals the deep spiritual truth to show us what I believe is the greatest climax of the film. What we see portrayed right before our eyes through the magic of movie special effects seems almost too good to be true.
Suddenly, there is a beam of light that comes piercing down from above through the darkness of the deep sea. It strikes the sunken hull and light grows brighter and larger. And in a what feels like the twinkling of the eye, the whole ship is raised and restored, and the passengers are likewise resurrected and shown to be alive again. The ship is gleaming and new again, the wood shines, the chandelier glitters, and the people are all back and very much alive. They are dressed in their finest clothes and looking handsome and beautiful again.
And then the romantic climax of the movie also occurs where Jack, who is now young again and very much alive, runs up the elaborate main staircase of the restored ship. And Rose, who is alive and beautiful is running toward him and they embrace with a deep and passionate kiss. And we all are undone and in tears as we watch and are overwhelmed and perhaps even caught off guard by the stunning joy that this scene evokes.
Suddenly, all is right with the world. The ravages of time and decay and the reality of death itself has been reversed and done away with. This is the deepest longing of the human heart – and God put that longing there because he fully desires and intends to satisfy that longing … for whosoever will accept his offer of eternal life.
This is the great climax of the entire gospel. And this final scene of the restoration of the Titanic is a perfect picture of the restoration promises in the gospel that believers will experience when they enter heaven. Heaven will be a place where, there are no villains, no more shipwrecks, or rust, only a restored world full of happy friends for eternity, all rejoicing in the spender and glory of the life that has been resurrected. This is why the movie was such a smashing success. It is illustrating, better than any sermon from a pulpit, the good news of the gospel – the resurrection of the dead and the restoration of all things!
This is the grand finale to an already fantastic movie. And friends, this is the same grand finale we too will experience as believers. No matter what happens in this life and in these last days, or how bad the villains or the way we suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that the world throws at you – as a child of God, you get all the good parts back. And without the bad parts of life – every tear will be wiped away. You will be restored to your youthful glory and then some. The loving people in your life will be with you and they too will be restored and radiant. I believe we will even have our beloved pets restored in the kingdom of heaven.
To quote a line that Eldredge uses often – he says that great movies like Titanic are great because they are re-telling the deepest and truest story of all – the biblical story. And all the great movies are borrowing the power of the gospel – God’s larger story of rescue and redemption. If you really want a great picture of this, read or watch the video portrayal of John Eldredge’s book titled simply “EPIC”. In it he reveals the gospel story to be the epic that it really is. It will blow away the Titanic in terms of an awesome story – because it is God’s story.
And here is a thing that is a shame. The fact that the bible is a great epic story that is true, but people often don’t recognize it as such. People can watch a great movie like the Titanic, and be moved in their hearts, and not see the parallels with the Gospel. If they did, they would be running to the Lord, and not on the wide path that actually leads to death.
So, wrapping things up, we have a loving creator father-God who has set us in a world at war, with villains and beauty and where things are not always safe. There are battles to be fought and adventures to be braved. But, if we accept His offer to become children and disciples of God, we will receive salvation and everlasting life that looks a lot like what they portrayed in that final scene of Titanic. We will receive an inheritance that far outshines anything on this earth.
So – sit back and enjoy that film sometime soon and reflect on all the ways it stirs your heart as a man or a woman, and how it gives you a deep sense of peace and longing for heaven, even though we are living on the titanic ourselves these days. God’s word does not pass away, and he is faithful to bring to completion what he has begun.
Here are just a few of the many verses that tell of God’s faithfulness:
- Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
- Revelation 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True
- Joshus 21:45. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
Our spot in the lifeboats can be secure and we have a really wonderful eternity to look forward to as we use this image of heaven as an anchor of hope in our lives today. Because we also will be resurrected and restored to something even more wonderful than being young and on a cruise ship when we are robed in white at the wedding feast of the Lamb – when we arrive one day soon in heaven or what I like to call “Into God’s County”. But that’s another story for another time.
Be blessed and encouraged.
Our audio podcast channel on 
