Taking What I Want...

I recently read 2 of the books from the series by Stieg Larsson, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” After reading some of the books, I decided to watch the first movie. (FYI—I am not recommending this movie per se. It is very violent and graphic if you decide to check it out). There was an interesting line that struck me towards the end of the movie. A guy who was a murderer and a rapist was asked why he killed innocent women. He responded back with a striking comment—“I was just doing what every man wants to do—to have exactly what he wants.”

Interesting motive. He was just taking “what he wanted.” And after all, this is every man’s dream? Although it really disgusted me at the time, I realized that what he said was true in one sense. Every man (and woman) at the core of our beings has a desire to “have” what we want.

I thought back to Adam and Eve in the Garden. Wasn’t that their desire as well? “You can eat of any tree except…” And what did they do? They weren’t satisfied with all the other trees in the Garden. They had to “have” the one that they wanted.

Augustine reflected on one aspect of this in his book "Confessions." I happened to read this section right after I watched the movie. Let’s see what he has to say…

“So the soul fornicates (Ps. 72:27) when it is turned away from you and seeks
outside you the pure and clear intentions which are not to be found except by
returning to you. In their perverted way all humanity imitates you.
Yet they put themselves at a distance from you and exalt themselves against
you. But even by thus imitating you they acknowledge that you are the
Creator of all nature and so concede that there is no place where one can
entirely escape from you…Was it possible to take pleasure in what was illicit
for no reason other than it was not allowed?”

Augustine is reflecting upon a time in his youth when he and his friends stole a bunch of pears (comparable to breaking into a video game store in our day :)). His act of stealing was a way of “imitating God.” He acknowledges that as humans we take pleasure in “imitating” God—who is all powerful and is over all things. We put ourselves in a position of authority and choose to take what we like. We like to try to exert our autonomy and “freedom,” yet must come to the realization that “there is no place where one can ultimately escape.”

Our “freedom” in taking what we “want,” will only lead to bondage and fear. The man in the movie found this out. I can personally attest to that as well. Freedom apart from God is not freedom at all. The objects that we covet for the “taking” will end up “taking” us instead.

As Paul says in Romans 7: "For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing... What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Yes, thanks be to God who rescues us from this body of sin and death!