The Island

"I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)

What does "abundant life" mean? What makes a life "abundant"?

Does it mean living longer or more healthy? The Island is a movie that supposes that people in the near future will want to live an "abundant" life by harvesting clones to supply us with new organs if we get sick or injured or need something new in our lives.

The premise in this film is that these harvested clones live their lives in a controlled environment with all their meals, clothes, education, medicine, and housing provided for them. Is this "abundant" life since it is the dream of all of us to live this way?

In the end, we see that neither the original humans nor the clones are truly living "abundant" life in this futuristic world.

Enter Lincoln Echo Six, who serves as the Moses character in this Exodus story. Lincoln is a clone who thinks beyond his programming, who develops, for lack of a better word, a "soul." He sees the truth of his captivity, escapes from his "Egypt," and makes his way into a new world. He becomes a Moses character by returning into this oppressed world to free his people from their captivity as well. He has seen what real "abundant" life looks like, and wants to share this with others.

Today, we need more Moses characters in our world. We live in a society where we all walk in one direction, where personal safety and individual concerns are worth more than anything else, and where we fear going against the grain or bringing unwanted attention to ourselves. Yet we fool ourselves into thinking this is "abundant" life.

But Christ calls us to live his kind of "abundance." Beyond our health, beyond our safety, beyond our very selves, we are called to live "abundantly."

Christ called us to live the Reign of God, to live for one another instead of just for ourselves, to forgive as we want to be forgiven, to stand for justice and against oppression. That, to me, is what He meant by life in abundance. We are called to find that for ourselves, and when we do, to be like Moses and share it with the world, no matter what the odds may be.