Let There Be Movies

This is part 2 of this month’s moral dilemma dialogue on the film Seven Pounds. Before reading this you should read part 1, then come back here. If you haven’t seen the film it might be good to give it a watch before reading these posts. We cover some pretty major spoilers.

Below you’ll find Gene’s take the moral dilemma of whether suicide, as presented in this film, was a good or right choice. As always, Logan and Gene may hold different opinions personally on this matter, but are presenting two sides to the issue here to encourage discussion and come to a better understanding of where God would have us fall on this issue.

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Gene

John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no man than this; that one lay down his life for his friends. But only in split second life or death situations, or if you’re already dying of something.” See what I did there? Avid Bible students are likely aware that when there is a word added to the Bible that is not in the original text, it is often italicized to let the reader know this is the translator’s addition to help with context or sentence structure. I’ve done that here, to a far greater extent, with John 15:13. Jesus never said that whole last sentence. I include it here in jest to make an important point: it’s not about how you lay down your life, it’s about why you lay down your life. Tim Thomas laid down his life for honorable reasons. Through this his love was shown and by this his act is pleasing to God.

I could drop the mic right here. Walk off the stage and sign autographs. But we can probably drive this home a little more.

Tim is living a tormented life. Seven seconds of looking down at a text message on his phone cost the lives of seven people, including his wife. In the years to follow he’s haunted by images of the wreck, the touch of his wife’s hand, and the names of the others who died. Will Smith does an amazing job in the film portraying the true pain, both emotionally and physically, this has put Tim through.

Think about all the things most people turn to when faced with this type of torment. Maybe they turn to alcohol. They might turn to a bottle of pills or a gun in their mouth to ease their own suffering. That is not what Tim does. Instead, Tim turns to love. He turns to look for good people who could really use a break. He makes restitution for the lives he was responsible for taking. In doing this he gives seven people the opportunity to live when they may not have had the chance to.

One of the greatest things is how Tim goes about finding people to give his organs to. Not only do they have to meet certain biological requirements, but they must pass Tim’s tests on their character as well. This is a refreshing element to the story, because I think it’s what we would all want out of someone who was receiving life-saving assistance from us, or our loved ones. How mad would you be if you found out that the one who got your liver went home and down a case of Budweiser? Or if the person who got your lung lit up a cigarette as they walked out of the hospital? Such actions would be a disgrace to the gift they’ve been given, and to the one who gave it. You see, Tim’s painstaking background checks on all these people actually go to show he has a high value of life. He knows that his life is just as valuable as theirs, and he refuses to be part of saving someone’s life who he believes will abuse that gift. You may fault him here for playing judge and jury, but that’s really a separate issue. He was making an effort to do good for good people.

If you really think about it, what Tim did was not so different from your typical idea of self-sacrifice. He’s giving his life so others can live. We exalt the parent who steps in front of an armed robber and takes a bullet to spare their child. We revere soldiers who willingly put themselves in harm’s way to protect our freedoms. What is so different about Tim’s choice that we might find fault with him?

Finally, to book-end my case here with more scripture, I’ll remind you that Tim was putting others’ interests above his own. No, killing himself didn’t bring back the lives already lost in the car accident. But it did extend the lives of seven others whom he put above himself. And if putting others above yourself isn’t a Godly trait, then I don’t know what is. Philippians 2:3, “…in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

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Suicide isn’t an issue we’ve tackled much here at LTBM with these moral dilemma dialogue’s. But, it’s an issue that can certainly divide some crowds. We’d love to hear your take on Tim’s suicide in this film, and please vote below on which side of the argument you agree with.