It's A Wonderful Life and the Battle for the Soul of the City

”Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?” – Clarence

What is the basic plot of It’s a Wonderful Life?

• The main plot of It’s a Wonderful Life takes place in the 1930s in Bedford Falls, NY, a fictional town so small that everyone knows everyone, yet big enough to have many thriving businesses including a theatre, an emporium, several restaurants and local stores, and a local bank and savings and loan institution

• This quaint town has a not so quaint robber baron named Mister Potter. Driven by greed and selfish ambition, he won’t stop until he owns every square inch of Bedford Falls and remakes it into his own image, an image of corruption, where every vice would be common

• However, the equally ambitious, yet pure and innocent George Bailey inherits his father’s saving and loan institution, the town’s last refuge against the growing tentacles of Mister Potter

• George had big dreams to travel the world and build big things, but to his chagrin, he must stay in Bedford Falls, fighting the good fight of nickels and dimes to keep his father’s business afloat, while keeping Mister Potter at bay

• His life is full of blessings, including a loving wife, many kids, and a large house custom renovated for them. Yet, seeing his brother and friends going off to bigger places and building big things and reaping great riches from them, George is miserable most of his life staying in the small town of Bedford Falls and fighting the good fight of nickels and dimes

• This discontentment plagues Goerge until it reaches a boiling point when someone at the savings & loan makes a big mistake (with Mister Potter’s help) when the business is being audited. The mistake leads to strong accusations from Mister Potter about George and his character

• This leads to George becoming scared and angry to the point of wanting to take his own life and wishing that he had never been born·        

• Thankfully for George an angel is sent to save him and to show George what the world would look like if he had never been born·        

• To George’s great shock and dismay, if he had never been born, many lives would have been lost, because he wouldn’t have been there to save his brother as a kid, who would grow up to save a bunch of soldiers in the military

• If George had never been born, his wife would have never married and their kids would have never been born

• If George had never been born, people like Mr. Gower and Uncle Billy wouldn’t have had the second, and sometimes third, or fourth chances they needed to live a decent and honest life

• If George had never been born, Mister Potter would have taken over the town, renamed it Pottersville, and filled it up with vices such as casinos, strip clubs, and liquor stores

• If George had never been born, hundreds, even thousands of families would have been forced to live in Mister Potter’s slums instead of in the decent houses George Baily provided in Baily Park  

• In fact, instead of the life-giving Bailey Park, would have existed a cemetery, a place of death

• Without Goerge, many lives would have been lost, many lives would have never existed, and the whole town would have fallen into the abyss  

• The battle for nickel and dimes, it turns out, was much bigger than George could have possibly imagined

How does the plot reveal the nature of God or the reality of life as revealed in Scripture?

• Success from a Kingdom perspective looks a lot like George Baily. Maturity in Christ means dying to self and putting the needs of others and the community before one’s own. Like George Baily, a person who is living for others can have a large ripple effect on the community around them

• The way of the Kingdom of God is about dying to self to serve others, while the way of the world and the devil is about idolizing the self to the detriment of others       

•  It’s a tale of two cities and the stakes are high. The battle between George Bailey and Mister Potter represents a spiritual battle happening in every town, city, state, and nation in the world. Those in Christ are His representatives of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is the duty of the Christian to bring that Kingdom and the culture of the Kingdom wherever we go, in every industry and neighborhood. The ways of the Kingdom of God (such as generosity, unconditional love, forgiveness, joy, selflessness) lead to life and human flourishing. But the ways of the world and the devil (sexual immorality, sensuality, greed, selfishness) as represented by Mister Potter lead to death and destruction. Which “kingdom” has more dominion in a location can be evidenced in the physical world with the types of businesses & institutions there, and the quality of life experienced by the people, especially the vulnerable

• The Kingdom of God does not advance through force or through any one’s own efforts, but rather through living in communion with Christ and thus bearing the fruit of the Spirit wherever you go.        
• Because of this, everyone in Christ is essential and lives a life of meaning and purpose, even if they do not have the fame, fortune, or a cool mission

• Most people will not live a life that achieves great fame and fortune, but that doesn’t make life any less meaningful        

• George Bailey had big dreams to travel the world, build big things, but never had the chance to do any of these, yet lived a very significant life that greatly impacted his family and everyone in town.

• As George Bailey discovers to his shock, if he never existed, the town would have fallen into a depressed, corrupt place, many lives would have been lost, and many livelihoods would have been lost

• Being a faithful plumber, policeman, banker, etc. is just as important as being a faithful minister or major influencer        

• The process of building anything meaningful, a business or non-profit, or even a family, takes a commitment to long-suffering, to sticking with a vision through the hard work and sacrifice for a period of time before seeing any real results. This often means choosing the life of George Bailey (saying no to flashy distractions like expensive vacations or a nicer car, or nicer house) and ignoring the allure of other people’s success. Learning to be content with what you have and resisting the urge to “keep up with the Jones’s”  

• Christians are the light of the world, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden

• By being a faithful presence in our workplaces and cities (being devoted to good works and bearing the fruit of the Spirit as we abide in Christ) we bring the culture of the Kingdom to those places while also pushing back against the forces of darkness (as represented by Mr. Potter)

• Without the presence of the Church in every facet of society, our cities and towns would look more like Pottersville instead of Bedford Falls        

• Success from a Kingdom perspective does not always look like success from a worldly perspective. Your life may not have much material wealth or fame, but may be rich in relationships and love, which are the things that really matter in the Kingdom 

Key Scripture:

• Matthew 5:14-16 ESV “ ‘You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.’ ”

• Jeremiah 29:4-7 ESV “ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughter; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bears sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.’ ”        

• James 3:13-18 ESV “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

• James 4:1-4 ESV “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

• Galatians 5:19-24 ESV “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”   

• Galatians 6: 7-10 ESV “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” 

• John 15:4-5 ESV “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”     

• 1 John 2:15-17 ESV “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life-is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does that will of God abides forever.”  

• John 10:10-12 ESV “ ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’ ”  

• Matthew 5:43-45 “ ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.’ ”  

•  Psalm 126:5-6 ESV “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

• Psalm 128:1-6 ESV “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! May you see your children’s children! Peace be upon Israel”

Food for Thought:

• If you are a Christ follower, do you see how important it is to both be in communion with Christ daily and to go out into the world and live out the ways of His Kingdom in daily life. To bring the culture of the Kingdom of God to your school, office, board room, etc. Imagine a world in which every industry and institution in your city was more influenced by the culture of the Kingdom than the world? Imagine a world in which every industry and institution in your city had no representatives of Christ and were fully under the influence of the world and the devil?    

•  If you are not a Christ follower, do you see the stark contract between the culture of the Kingdom of Christ and the culture of the world and the devil? One produces love, joy, peace, and selflessness, and leads to flourishing (at both the individual and societal level). The other produces greed, sensuality, selfishness and leads to destruction (at both the individual and societal level). Which kingdom do you want to be part of? Which king do you want to follow?