The Croods can teach us how to survive.
I have caught a bits and pieces of a movie entitled, "The Croods" over the years. The few minutes I have watched seemed to be funny so I decided that I wanted to watch the entire movie at some point. I had never caught the beginning or the end so I really didn't know what the storyline was all about. I could tell it had something to do with a family of cavemen on a trip. I finally got a chance to watch the entire movie this past weekend. I did enjoyed it and learned a good lesson.
Basically, the Croods is the only remaining family of caveman living in a cave. All their neighbors had died off and that made the father become over protective of the family. They couldn't leave their cave except in a group and they only left to find food. They would stay days at a time in the cave. The father taught them to "Always be afraid." He also told them all new things were dangerous, curiosity was a bad thing and fear was the only way to survive. Everything was going good for this family until the daughter got tired of the cave. She wanted to explore. She argued with her father that the way they were living wasn't really living. Then came the big problem, a boy. Any father of a teenage girl will understand the struggle there.
To make matters worse this boy was a thinker. He had something the Croods had never heard of, ideas. The father didn't like that at all. He also spoke about the end of the world. This was the movie's explanation for the world breaking into different continents. He told about how the earth would shake and split apart. He was trying to get to "Tomorrow" which was a mountain top that looked far away.
The Croods were not going because the father said they couldn't leave the cave. That all changed when the cave was destroyed by the earth shaking and splitting so the Croods were off to "Tomorrow" with this boy.The daughter seemed to like the boy more and more.
As the movie went on the boy kept coming up with ideas that made the trip easier. He made shoes, umbrellas, stilts, a better way to hunt, and he taught the Croods how to swim. As he kept coming up with great ideas that made life better, I kept waiting on him to come up with bacon. The whole family loved the boy and his ideas except for the father who wanted to cling to the old way. The father would always try his way first before finally having to admit the boy's new idea would work better. Finally, toward the end of the movie the father started to embrace the boy's new ideas.
Not to give away the ending, but with time running out and a huge problem ahead of them the father turned to the boy for a new idea to help them survive once more. The boy had none. Then the father had an idea. It took a combination of the father's old way and the boy's new ideas to save the family and to get them to "Tomorrow". Just like most movies, everyone lived happily ever after.
As I watched the movie I could see many churches having the same battle as the Croods. They want to survive so they hide in a cave they call church. They are sacred of everything new and don't want to hear any new ideas. Their slogan is, "It worked 50 years ago, it will work now." The results may say otherwise but that is a fact they are willing to over look. They understand the father's "always be afraid" attitude.
On the other side of the battle is the thinkers. They think because it is new it is better. They want to change just for the sake of change. Their slogan is, "It will work because it is new." They don't stay with any one thing long enough to find out if it does work though. They refuse to do anything the "same old way" regardless if it is working or not. They refuse to go back into the cave.
Like the father realized, it takes both to survive. You need the shelter from the storms but you can't live there forever. You need the new ideas to fix the things that are not working or to make things work better. You need the old ways that work as a foundation to build the new things on. The age of the idea doesn't matter, the results of the idea does. Once the Croods stopped fighting within and joined forces they couldn't be stopped. When the church stops fighting within and joins the old school with the new school it will not be stopped. After all, who said God can't come up with new ideas? Who said His old ideas are bad ones? We should live by the father's new slogan, "Never be afraid."
Parting Thought: Have you heard of the Law of Coffee: As soon as you sit down with a hot cup of coffee your boss will ask you to do something that lasts the same amount of time it takes your coffee to turn cold.
Basically, the Croods is the only remaining family of caveman living in a cave. All their neighbors had died off and that made the father become over protective of the family. They couldn't leave their cave except in a group and they only left to find food. They would stay days at a time in the cave. The father taught them to "Always be afraid." He also told them all new things were dangerous, curiosity was a bad thing and fear was the only way to survive. Everything was going good for this family until the daughter got tired of the cave. She wanted to explore. She argued with her father that the way they were living wasn't really living. Then came the big problem, a boy. Any father of a teenage girl will understand the struggle there.
To make matters worse this boy was a thinker. He had something the Croods had never heard of, ideas. The father didn't like that at all. He also spoke about the end of the world. This was the movie's explanation for the world breaking into different continents. He told about how the earth would shake and split apart. He was trying to get to "Tomorrow" which was a mountain top that looked far away.
As the movie went on the boy kept coming up with ideas that made the trip easier. He made shoes, umbrellas, stilts, a better way to hunt, and he taught the Croods how to swim. As he kept coming up with great ideas that made life better, I kept waiting on him to come up with bacon. The whole family loved the boy and his ideas except for the father who wanted to cling to the old way. The father would always try his way first before finally having to admit the boy's new idea would work better. Finally, toward the end of the movie the father started to embrace the boy's new ideas.
Not to give away the ending, but with time running out and a huge problem ahead of them the father turned to the boy for a new idea to help them survive once more. The boy had none. Then the father had an idea. It took a combination of the father's old way and the boy's new ideas to save the family and to get them to "Tomorrow". Just like most movies, everyone lived happily ever after.
As I watched the movie I could see many churches having the same battle as the Croods. They want to survive so they hide in a cave they call church. They are sacred of everything new and don't want to hear any new ideas. Their slogan is, "It worked 50 years ago, it will work now." The results may say otherwise but that is a fact they are willing to over look. They understand the father's "always be afraid" attitude.
On the other side of the battle is the thinkers. They think because it is new it is better. They want to change just for the sake of change. Their slogan is, "It will work because it is new." They don't stay with any one thing long enough to find out if it does work though. They refuse to do anything the "same old way" regardless if it is working or not. They refuse to go back into the cave.
Like the father realized, it takes both to survive. You need the shelter from the storms but you can't live there forever. You need the new ideas to fix the things that are not working or to make things work better. You need the old ways that work as a foundation to build the new things on. The age of the idea doesn't matter, the results of the idea does. Once the Croods stopped fighting within and joined forces they couldn't be stopped. When the church stops fighting within and joins the old school with the new school it will not be stopped. After all, who said God can't come up with new ideas? Who said His old ideas are bad ones? We should live by the father's new slogan, "Never be afraid."
Parting Thought: Have you heard of the Law of Coffee: As soon as you sit down with a hot cup of coffee your boss will ask you to do something that lasts the same amount of time it takes your coffee to turn cold.
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