Is there more to life than Woody Allen thinks?

PHILLIP BLEECKER MAY 27, 2015 LIFE LEAVE A COMMENT

“What is life about? I’m gonna get old. I’m gonna die. My loved ones are gonna die…. What is gonna happen to me?”

These important questions were given added weight this week when the celebrated actor and director Woody Allen asked them in a room filled with celebrities and reporters at the Cannes Film Festival. Allen was discussing his new movie when he was asked why he, a man who has built his career on light-hearted comedies and dramas, made such a dark and depressing movie.

No one expected Allen’s answer.

“We live in a random Universe and you’re living a meaningless life, and everything you create in your life, or do, is going to vanish”

“There’s no positive answer to the grim reality of life…. Because in the end it [life] has no meaning. We live in a random Universe and you’re living a meaningless life, and everything you create in your life, or do, is going to vanish, and the Earth will vanish and the Sun will burn out and the universe will be gone.”

There was a polite, nervous laughter from the audience as he spoke that seemed to beg Allen to stop talking. The room grew tense as he spoke.

Allen continued, “Therefore, my conclusion, is that the only possible way you can beat it a little bit is through distraction…. So that’s what I do. I distract myself. And making movies is a wonderful distraction.”

Now here is what is amazing – Woody Allen is being completely honest here, and many other people share his beliefs. When you have no answers to life’s most persistent questions, it is best to avoid thinking about them. But is there more to life than Woody Allen thinks?

… as believers in Christ, we have a story that answers the doubt, fear and hopelessness Woody Allen is expressing

Hear me, Christian, and be encouraged – as believers in Christ, we have a story that answers the doubt, fear and hopelessness Woody Allen is expressing. Our story is bigger, deeper, and more beautiful story than this world can imagine.

We were separated from God and from one another. We were, indeed, hopeless. Our sin and rebellion separated us from God and we deserved death. Then He did something unimaginable – God sent His Son Jesus to live among us to live a perfect life. Jesus loved us with such a passion and ferocity that the world has never been the same, and He demonstrated that love by willingly dying as a punishment for our sins in our place. He died the death we should have died. By trusting in Him, we are made ambassadors to tell the world of His great story.

Because of Jesus, you and I get to be the storytellers, the proclaimers of this great and glorious truth. We get to tell people who are lost in hopelessness and despair and boredom that Jesus is the answer to our deepest fears, that we don’t have a meaningless existence whose only comfort is found in distraction. We are caught up in the narrative of heaven, and you and I are partakers in God’s great love story to the world. As Christians, we are not just saved from hell and damnation, but also saved to be salt and light to the people around us.

ExploreGod asked people from all over the world if their life had meaning and what they thought it was. If someone asked you, what would you say?