Ultimate Concern

    9 is an animated film directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future ravaged by war between machines and humans. The plot of the film centers on a rag doll that awakens in this world and learns that he, along with others like him, holds the key to humanity’s salvation.
    Prior to the events of the film, we learn that a Scientist was ordered by a dictatorial chancellor to create an artificially intelligent machine that would be used to build other machines to wage war on enemy nations. However, the machine created to do man’s bidding turned on humanity and completely destroyed all life. To atone for his part in the destruction of humanity, and to restore life on Earth, the Scientist creates a set of nine rag dolls and a talisman that he uses to place his soul in the dolls and bring them to life.
    When the talisman falls into the hands of the machine, the machine uses it to trap the souls of captured dolls inside its self. 9 must recruit the others like him to take on the machine, regain control of the talisman, and free the souls of the dolls that are now trapped inside the machine. If he fails – no soul will remain and all life will be lost forever.
    What is interesting about this film, and its plot, is how it parallels with the idea that our lives are rapt in the system/machine of this world. In other words, we are completely convinced, or should I say, completely fooled by the notion that we must subject our lives to the world system. This is not a new fixation for it concerned OT Israel long ago. We learn in 1 Samuel 8 that Israel longed to be like the other nations and demanded a king. They were not satisfied in being ruled by God and defined by his existence. They wanted a king to bring them security and prosperity.
    Like Israel, our concern lies in a system established by men rather than the life that God offers us in Christ. We have allowed the world system to define our very existence. We have elevated something that is merely preliminary to a place of ultimacy and in so doing have subjected ourselves to an abstruse form of idolatry. We’ve lost sight of the life we were created to live and find ourselves trapped in concern over created things rather than the creator (Rom 1:25). Paul Tillich says, “Man, like every living being, is concerned about many things, above all about those which condition his very existence . . . If [a situation or concern] claims ultimacy it demands the total surrender of him who accepts this claim . . . it demands that all other concerns . . . be sacrificed.” (Dynamics of Faith, p. 1-2) One can, according to Tillich, be ultimately concerned about anything, including but not limited to one’s personal success, a national sovereignty, a political and social vision, the quest for scientific truth, or the God of the Bible.
    Jesus is the manifestation of humanities struggle with ultimate concern. His entire earthly existence was devoted to the establishment of a kingdom that contrasted that of the Roman world (Jn 18:36). Who better to demonstrate this devotion to ultimate concern than the one who forfeited his position as ultimate to show us what it looks like to be subjected to that which defines all existence (Phil 2). Everything Jesus did was in response to what the Father was doing (Jn 5:19). In other words, he was totally dependent on the Father and did nothing on his own accord. Jesus’ ultimate concern was God. When the external things of this world were exposed and filtered through that lens of truth they found their rightful place in the whole of Jesus’ existence.
    So how do we live in this world without allowing its concerns to consume our being? In the film 9, 6 tells 9 that he must go to the source, and that revolting against and eliminating the machine will only destroy the souls of those captivated within. Similarly we gain nothing in secluding ourselves from the world; rather we are called to and set apart in this world so that we might assist in releasing those who are slaves to it. 9 must be totally exposed to the machine to regain the talisman and free his friends. In like manner, although we are totally immersed in this world, the ultimacy of our concern must be found in the source behind its existence. When we subject ourselves completely to that source we will understand how it is possible to live in this world and not of it.