Thinkpiece Thursday

Crisis of Faith

There are plenty of movies like Silence, The Last Temptation of Christ and Noah that tackle characters experiencing a Crisis of Faith. They work because they address something most of us will face in our lifetime, whether or not you are religious. We all face cliff-edges in our life, and can either stay where we are, or take a Leap of Faith.

Characters like Noah (Russell Crowe), Jesus (Willem Dafoe) and Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) find that an event comes along with makes them question everything they thought they knew- in this case, their relationship with their God.

However, these examples are either fictional, biblical or historical. In the last few years, a brilliant TV series has shown a man of God in the modern world. This man faces constant Crisis of Faith, but when he overcomes his doubts, he is a better person for doing so.

Rev.

This BBC sitcom starring Tom Hollander depicts the Reverend Adam Smallbone (Hollander), married to an ambitious and talented solicitor, Alex (Olivia Colman). Despite reluctance from Alex, they leave their cushy country parish in a well-to-do area to go and run a parish in one of London’s poorest areas.

His best friend is an alcoholic homeless parishioner he shares beer and cigarette breaks with. His family is harassed by a clueless drug addict who is always trying to scam them.

Adam faces constant threats of his church closing down, a faith school that has little to do with its parish, and the bureaucracy of the Church of England. Adam, not only experiences challenges on a daily basis that make him feel as though his church is irrelevant.  The strain it puts on his marriage and the kinds of tragedies he witnesses within inner-city London make him also question whether he truly believes in God.

We always hear him talking to God throughout the show’s quieter moments, but he’s always wondering if God is listening to him.

Empathy

Rev. works so well because our lead character, who preaches the word of God, is just as flawed as the rest of us are, regardless of our faith. Everyone who believes in some sort of God places their love and trust in this faith. It is only natural they would doubt themselves, and feel all sorts of emotions if something terrible happens. If their faith is not rewarded when they feel they need intervention, they can feel abandoned.

Despite preaching the word of God, Adam struggles on a daily basis as he attempts to hold together his marriage, his community, and his church. At one point, he seriously considers abandoning his faith forever. If you want to know whether or not he takes the Leap of Faith required to keep everything he holds dear, you’ll have to watch the show!

Leap of Faith

I often talk about Characters having to take a Leap of Faith detailed more thoroughly in my Character Map eBook and available in my online store. It takes courage to overcome the leap in the face of our fears. Characters will go on a journey throughout a novel, or a film, or a TV series, to discover what they want vs. what they really need. And if they have the courage to live an authentic life. By the end of their journey, they face a choice– to live in fear or to live in faith.

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