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By Mallory Mattingly
In a culture addicted to viral moments and loud praise, Movieguide® CEO Robby Baehr suggests that we should look to a different kind of hero: the quiet one.
Baehr reflected on SCHINDLER’S LIST, Bonhoeffer and those who lived through World War II. It’s evident that history, and even faith, are shaped by people who choose to take small steps of obedience.
“There’s that powerful scene in SCHINDLER’S LIST at the end where he says, ‘I wish I could have done more.’ But the dude saved thousands and thousands of lives consistently,” he said in a recent Movieguide® podcast.
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“I just feel like it’s a great lesson for our time,” Baehr continued. “We live in an age with so much more talk than action. Social media expands that — everyone wants their 15 seconds of fame, so you have to be bombastic and huge, but you only last a few seconds, literally on a TikTok.”
This is an especially important reminder as over half (57%) of Gen Zers say they want to be influencers, and some are simply “very excited about the idea of celebrity, fame and money,” said Victoria Bachan, president of talent at influencer agency Whalar.
“This is kind of a dark turn, but there was an interesting case recently in Utah about a woman who was a social media influencer,” Baehr explained. “On Instagram, she looked like a perfect mother, but she was actually abusing the kids to get the Instagram shots. She’s in prison now, but it’s a prime example of the fakeness of the age.”
Ultimately, instead of striving for likes, follows and fame, we should endeavor to live out Jesus’ call in Mark 12:30-31.
“I just found it so profound — what if people just loved their neighbor? If you think someone’s hurting, why not support them?” Baehr asked. “What was powerful about the church for so long was that if you knew your neighbor was hurting, you just helped them. You took care of them.”
Now, if someone needs help, people assume someone else should do it. However, Baehr emphasized, the way the world changes is “through small, simple acts.”
“The Bible says, ‘He who’s faithful with a little will be faithful with much.’ These little actions make such a grand impact,” Baehr declared. “And it’s weird that even for us, as an evangelical Christian movement, the person we tend to praise out of World War II is Bonhoeffer — a guy who didn’t stand up at the beginning, ran to New York, and yes, did good things too. Obviously, he tried to kill Hitler. But we don’t praise the Schindlers of the world the same way and the fact that he saved so many people.”
Though culture may praise the loudest voices and most dramatic gestures, let’s remember that real change happens in moments of unseen love and faithfulness.
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