Why do we fall Bruce?

I saw the Dark Knight Rises a few weeks ago... the midnight release actually. If you haven't seen it yet you are sorely missing out. Nolan does this amazing job capturing the essence of the first movie,Begins and drawing a firm conclusion for the trilogy in Rises. One of the critical moments of the trilogy happens in Begins. It's where Bruce Wayne, as a boy falls into a well. His father comes down the well, and these bats have just busted out over Bruce. His father reaches out his hand and asks, "And why, do we fall, Bruce?" The young Bruce is terrified and is effected by the trauma from the bats all the way into adulthood.

The reason I even bother to mention this quote is because throughout the three movies this scene shows at important points. Usually when Batman is fighting a villain or has to do some daunting task that many would be too scared to take on. Batman loses a battle or gets beaten down mentally, and then the memory of the well plays back. Bruce is left with the choice to get up or to stay down.

Generally, there is nothing significant going on before these pitfalls. Like the young Wayne falling down the well, we are usually just minding our own business, and then we feel ourselves get ripped away from our securities. This happens all the time in the church. This could be caused by people, worship styles, buildings, leadership changes, or any number of things. Maybe you are leaving youth group into adulthood, but you don't want to leave the youth ministry behind you. Or maybe something that we've had all along with our faith becomes tarnished or doesn't seem all that important anymore. All of a sudden we have a pitfall. These pitfalls are frantic and they happen at times when we don't feel ready for them, but we need to learn to get back up. "Why do we fall Bruce?" "So we can learn to get back up again?"

It's reminds me of the story about Joseph in the Bible who also ended up in a hole/well. Joseph was the favorite son out of his brothers. His brothers envied what Joseph had so they threw him down this well and he got sold off into slavery. Joseph didn't lose faith or purpose despite his circumstances. Rather, he worked hard, grew in favor of God, and was blessed during his time away from his family. Later it would be Joseph who would bring his family to come stay and have a place in Egypt, and would save them from a severe famine.

The church can end up focusing a lot on it's members, and meeting their wants and needs. We have become a society that is often catered to by our leaders. We are all Joseph's in this sense. We are the favorites and we all have something resembling a "coat of many colors." The difference between Joseph and many Christians is he never lost his faith after he was stripped of his coat and had his pitfall.

Bruce feared bats and the darkness they lived in, but then they became a symbol to him. He embraced the nature of the bats and became Batman. He learned to serve the people of Gotham, and not fear the darkness around him. We fear losing our luxuries and traditions, people, and places. God fears that we will never learn to stand up when these things get taken away.