‘The Untouchables‘ is a four time nominated Academy Award film from 1987 based upon the autobiography memoirs of Eliot Ness, published in 1957 about the capture of crime boss Al Capone.
In the film, government agent Eliot Ness (actor Kevin Costner) alongside a hand selected team including officer Jimmy Malone (actor Sean Connery), later to be called ‘The Untouchables‘, set out to stop gangster leader Al Capone (actor Robert De Niro) because of his seven year reign of corruption during the prohibition.
In the film Al Capone is seen as invincible. Through the power of persuasion and influence, any crime that could be connected to him quickly dissolved. He had informants and inside men in different fields of work that allowed him to become like the federal agent group after him, untouchable.
Robert De Niro as Al Capone
Even though the film title refers to the group of law enforcement agents, the thing that strikes me is the untouchability of Al Capone. Untouchable means that the nature of something cannot be touched, it cannot be moved. Al Capone had this nature.
Do you know that men (universally speaking) can have untouchable natures? The very essence of who they are cannot be touched. For a person to be untouchable it means that an area of their life, mind, emotions, will and hearts cannot be penetrated.
Exodus 32:9 I have seen these people,” the LORD said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people.” (NIV)
Acts 7:51“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! (NIV)
The Bible, in the Old Testament (days before Christ, Jewish history) God and those he spoke through always talked about proud people and the turning away of God. It was also spoken of in the New Testament (days of and after Christ, birth of the church, etc). To be stiff-necked is to be proud.
Are you untouchable like this? Is there a part of you that cannot be moved?
Can people speak to you about issues in your life without you taking offence?
Are you a know-it-all or can you listen to what others say without shutting them or yourself down?
Are you in a delusion of humility but really oozing of pride?
Are you open to be wrong about something or someone?
We can ask ourselves many rhetorically questions to find out whether or not we have an untouchable nature within ourselves and lives. Natures can be formed and re-formed.
In my last blog post I wrote about your character speaking for you. What you choose to do in action will speak before you in words. The nature of a person is very important, your lifestyle and character show people who you are.
Al Capone’s lifestyle was an example of this, he allowed crime, violence and corruption to form his untouchable nature.
Not all is lost in this nature as it can take on two forms, good or bad, proud or humble. Humility is having the qualityorconditionofamodestopinionor a knowing of one’sownimportance,rank,etc. Even Jesus knew he was more than that which he chose to take on (Philippians 2). Al Calpone represents the negative but Paul from the Bible is an example of an untouchable nature in the positive.
Saul of Tarsus (his name before his encounter with God) persecuted followers of Christ until his encounter with God on the Damascus road, which completely changed Paul’s nature (his name after his encounter of the risen Christ).
In the Bible, Paul in the New Testament records;
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39– NLT).
After Paul was changed from his encounter, he became untouchable in the things of God, speaking up for what he believed in and sharing it with people, even when it put him in prison. He still had his issues, like we all do, but he chose to become moved by God only.
We have the choice of which side of untouchability we become. We become incorruptible and unmoved in good or we become corruptible and unmoved in wrong.
Never under-estimate the power of an untouchable nature. Look within yourself to see what type of untouchable you are.
Gollum from Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit is a fascinating character. His transformation from Smeagol to Gollum through his journey of corruption, deception and covetousness all because of one thing… a ring… a DEEP DESIRE.
Most of us know the journey of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. To summarise this in relation to my blog post; Gollum finds a ring created by the evil dark Lord Sauron which he created to rule over all the other rings of power and ultimately all of Middle Earth. This ring attracts all by causing them to yearn and desire it, the power it holds to rule and live selfishly. This ‘wanting’ is what ultimately led to Gollum’s demise and is something that I want to relate to real life; deep desires.
1. Smeagol2. Transformation Process3. Gollum
The Latin word for desire is dēsīderāre which means to long for, desire, feel the want of, miss or regret. Desires are something that all humanity have. As created beings we always need or long for something; whether it be a person, food, drink, money, knowledge, material goods or even power just to consider a few examples; we want something. Dating back to Biblical context even the very first human, Adam, needed something and God gave him Eve (Geneis 2:18-25).
Wanting or needing something is not bad as that is part of life but when you begin to covet, this becomes another issue as you begin to worship that which you eagerly seek.
James 1: 13-15
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (NIV)
To summarise the above Biblical reading it states that God does not tempt us but we are tempted by our own evil desires. Temptation speaks of enticing or alluring to do something often seen as unwise, wrong or immoral (Dictionary.com); and within the scripture is connected to our own personal desires. Let me just add that I am not saying all desires are wrong but those which we know are wrong but to continue to go after are the ones I am referring to. These desires give birth to sin (that which is wrong in God’s eyes) and eventually leads to death. The ring was evil and Gollum was attracted by the evil of the ring as was Eve being attracted to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3); not by might but now by personal interest; now what we call man’s nature. Does this sound familiar to you? Whether you are Christian or not the above Biblical principal stands as we can all relate to wanting things that are not good for us and them leading us down the wrong path in life.
Psalm 42:1
As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God. (KJV)
I think we can relate to this within a broader context. As a dear thirsts for water, the psalmists soul pants to God. In our world this speaks to our desires going deeper than we think but actually our SOUL wanting these things. To pant is to breathe hard and quickly, to gasp for air or to long something with breathless or intense eagerness; yearn (Dictionary.com). When you want something and are enticed by it enough, you will go after it at any cost. The desire has been fed and the slavery has begun… the habitual habit has formed. It becomes something you worship. Dan Blythe from Hillsong church ministered a message a while ago about worship and taught on what worship was. However in the message he spoke about addictions and how we do not have addictions but we have a worship problem. When we continually desire after something that is wrong we enter into coveting after it and that now is something we worship as it is all we want; which is what you can see happened to Gollum.
Romans 5:12-21 talks about the differences between Adam and Christ in nature and act. When Adam and Eve sinned against God (did wrong in Gods eyes- Genesis 3) then every other human being did by default, sin became human nature and something we were born into (Psalm 51:5) but Christ was the opposite. Isn’t it interesting that Eve was the first to experience covetousness…
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Genesis 3:6 KJV
Believe me my friend you are not the first or the only person in the world to have desired something which you know is wrong. Eve desired to know more eve when she was told not to eat of this particular tree in the garden, the mythical beings from Lord of the Rings desired the power of the ring to rule man and do as they pleased, even Paul felt the battle between wanting to do right whilst still yearning to do that which he knew was wrong.
Romans 7:14-20
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.c For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (NIV)
Simply take a look at humanity today; we desire what feeds us, what feeds our souls whether right or wrong. Craving and yearning for something so much that it nearly destroys you mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually. Have you ever just needed to get that quick fix again; to have what you once had, never had or what someone else has because of that yearning and deep attraction pull inside your inner self? This is exactly what happened to Gollum. Even though the ring attracts life, Gollum moved into the state of coveting after the ring as it now became the very thing he wanted at no cost. He deceived Frodo and Sam, almost killing them in order to have the ring to himself. To covet is to wrongfully desire something with no regard to others or eagerly wish for something- Dictionary.com (notice this is different to hope as it causes you to take action into your own hands in an incorrect manner). It is a selfish act of obtaining ones own desire.
Luke 12:34
Your heart will be where your treasure is. (God’s Word Translation)
Desires are connected to our minds and hearts. As they are things we want they connect, react and pull on what is already in us. Emotions follow these and the thought, life and energy we give to them in our hearts and minds determine the impact of the impulses we act on. For instance once Gollum had the ring he wanted it so much that he did all he could to get it, even murder. When a drug abuser has had that all time high they want it again and again and again. When someone loves sex they want it more and more and more. Your appetite for what you desire has to be fed regardless of the consequences, the habit must meet the desire.
Romans 8:12-14
So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! (MSG version)
You don’t have to do what you want to do. You have a choice to not do what you want to do but it takes a lot of will power to not do so. However when you have become a slave to a habit then the breaking away from it is not so easy. We turn to what we think will help break these habits; prayer, counsellors, rehab groups but when we keep failing to break away from giving into these evil desires we can fall into giving into them and no longer fighting their sting.
Romans 1:28
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. (NIV)
When we give up the battle and power to fight against what is wrong, we can make the mistake of giving into it; surrendering to it. If you are a Christian then we are to acknowledge God and invite him into the situation. For those who do not follow Christianity then this principle still applies; not necessarily by inviting God in depending on what you believe but there is that need to share or tell someone so you can get help. When you feel defeated or give up on fighting against the wrong desire then you will eventually give into it, as so for Christians when God will give them over unto their own evil desires.
I am not saying that you must convert to Christianity but what I am saying is that deeply re-think about what you have become accustomed to worshipping. What habits have enslaved you because of being enticed time and time again to your wrongful desires. Pastor Michael from New Nation Destiny Centre shared a brief word about not feeding the wrong seed, feeding the wrong thing. To summarise it was about making sure we feed what is right and not what is wrong. When the church was in trouble Paul would always use the word ‘urge’ as an expression of his love and yearning for the people to re-consider and change their ways before it was too late. Seek good advice, counsel and even turn to prayer as prayer is not just for a select nation on getting out of your worship problem.
Desires are not wrong but when you become enticed by the wrong desires and covet after them you will eventually die; whether this be physically, mentally, spiritually or emotionally. T.D Jakes used the expression “spiritually rejuvenated but emotionally handicapped”. Don’t think you can control something when you are enslaved to it, recognise it has a hold over you and turn to the right source in order to deal with it and break its hold over you. Don’t allow your evil desires to run untamed, control you and cause death. Learn from Frodo and fight against the wrong desire with the help of others rather than give into it and have no one like Gollum. Let Gollum be a reality of what your future will be if you do not control the wrong deep desires within you.
Also read: The Analogy of the Ring, a great blog post via The Analogous Truth which I found in relation to Gollum and addictions.
Impressional Imprint 