Recently I watched the movie Matchstick Men starring Nicolas Cage. Whilst I wasn’t blown away by this tale of con-men, it got me thinking plenty.

In the movie Cage plays Roy Waller, a chain smoking con-man who over the years has developed an extremely bad case of conscience; he is basically crippled through fear and guilt bought about by his chosen profession. He has worked scams for many years and has gained a ton of money, but it does him no good as it’s simply locked away in a bank safety deposit box. He is a desperate loner whose only friend, and partner in crime, is his younger protege in the fine art of ripping off the old, the rich, and the gullible.

To cut to the chase, the movie ends with Roy losing all of his money; he himself is scammed for everything he has by his very own protege. But, in a twist of fate he ends up with much more than the money he lost.

In the final scene of the movie, Roy walks into his home, a place where earlier in the movie he had battled with his inner demons. This time, however, instead of going home to an empty, lonely nest, he is greeted by a woman, presumably his wife. And to cap things off she is expecting his child.

The movie reminded me of someone going through life and gaining the whole world. So many people think that making money is the means to fulfillment and happiness in this life. However, as noted above, Cage’s character had plenty of money stashed away, but he was far from happy. In fact, he was slowly, but surely losing his will to live.

Personally, I have known many people who have had lots of money, but were miserable, unhappy, and unfulfilled. Jesus said it best, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36 – NIV)

In the book The Day America Told the Truth, the following statistics reveal some alarming facts:  When asked, “What are you willing to do for $10,000,000, two-thirds of Americans polled would agree to at least one, some to several of the following:

• Would abandon their entire family (25%)
• Would abandon their church (25%)
• Would become prostitutes for a week or more (23%)
• Would give up their American citizenships (16%)
• Would leave their spouses (16%)
• Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%)
• Would kill a stranger (7%)
• Would put their children up for adoption (3%)” (1)

It’s not a far cry to think that any one of us could fall into one or more of the above categories. We all have sin in our lives, and therefore, we are all prone to sinning. We all lie, cheat, steal, and so on, often to get what we can out of life. But what if all of it was taken from us? What if, in one foul moment, everything we worked so hard for, just vanished? What then?

The more I think about it, the more I love the final scene in Matchstick Men. The only time that Cage’s character shows pure joy is not when he’s ripping people off or counting all of his ill gained cash; it’s right there in the final scene, when he hugs his new found love and reaches down to touch the new life growing inside of her.

If we look at this through a lens of faith, he had lost a lot, but gained a whole lot more. And this is the very offer that Jesus makes to people even today; “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” (Mark 8:35 – NLT)

Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
October, 2008

Image: R. Goodwill
References:
(1) The Day America Told the Truth by Peter Kim & James Patterson – Prentice Hall Trade, 1991

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