Films and Musicals

Heidi and I recently saw the musical version of Back to the Future for my 60th Birthday. As with many musicals, it got me thinking about how the story connects to scripture. The film’s famous parting line, ‘Your future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one,’ sounds wonderfully liberating. However, our future is not a blank page.

In the film, time is fragile, and Marty’s choices in 1955 nearly erase his existence. The whole premise is that the future is dependent on human choice. But the scriptures offer a different perspective. Isaiah 46 tells us that God is unique - He stands outside of time, declaring ‘the end from the beginning’. While we are trapped in the here and now, God knows our whole story. Psalm 139 reinforces this truth: ‘Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be’.

This is in stark contrast to Doc Brown's assertion that the future is unwritten. While making plans is fine and right, Proverbs 19:21 reminds us that ‘Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails’. We may try to be the captain of our own destiny, but our human plans are fragile. Our choices should be aligned with God’s prevailing will.

God does promise us a future and a hope in Jeremiah 29:11, but we often miss the context. The Israelites had to wait 70 years in exile for this promise to be fulfilled, enduring suffering and waiting. The future God promises is what He is making of you, which involves patience and trust. That word often translated as ‘prosper’ is actually Shalom, meaning peace, wellbeing, and contentment - not material success.

Back to the Future is a fantasy about controlling our destiny. I prefer the Biblical reality: God creates, God knows, God governs, and God restores. Our future is not whatever we make it. For us, it is not "back to the future" - it is back to the Father.