As the movie began, memory whisked me away to an elementary playground. My fellow conservative 10-year-olds marched with me, proud signs reading ‘Nixon for President.’ My first foray into politics included kicking sand on the shoes of the lowly 4th grade McGovern supporters.
I no longer march or kick sand. But I sat ready to enter the world of politics again. It didn’t take long for me to realize that “Frost Nixon” did not center on politics, but rather on a battle of wits between two men. The movie was interesting, but I am glad I didn’t spend money at a movie theater. Just rented it.
So was God in this film? Absolutely. Frost and Nixon, for all their differences dealt with the same issue many of us Christians deal with: Pride.
Nixon resigned from office but never admitted wrongdoing. Pride.
Frost interviewed Nixon to get a confession for ratings. This consumed him. Pride.
Neither were sympathetic characters to me. Pride is simply not attractive. It isn’t attractive to my Father in heaven when I am consumed with it either.
But then Frost asked the right questions with the right timing. Nixon humbled himself and admitted he had let everyone down. He confessed to his wrong doing.
For the first time since I was in 4th grade, Nixon appealed to me. Humility has a quality that draws us like a moth to a flame or a bee to honey. Humility smells sweet whereas Pride walks into a room with too much cologne, wanting to impress. Humility has the self control to sit quietly and listen, whereas Pride can’t wait to add his/her two cents to every conversation.
At the end of the movie, I didn’t care about Frost. He got what he wanted. So what? But I empathized with Nixon, a man who admitted that “My political career is over.”
Pride is sneaky and ubiquitous. Humility is to be sought and savored.
Yep, great lesson. In a movie, too.
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