I was given the opportunity to see the movie, 90 Minutes in Heaven, the story of Don Piper who died in a horrific accident only to come back to life after spending 90 minutes in Heaven. I didn’t know what to think when I first heard about the movie, and honestly, I didn’t feel all that compelled to see it but when the opportunity came up I thought, sure – why not.

Off the top, I would say – go see it. But not for the usual reasons you might go to a movie.

I could speak to the acting, the cinematography, the basic cohesiveness or strength of the story line – kind of all the things that you might normally write about in a movie review. These were good- not “Jason Bourne” stellar but good.

Instead, what sticks with me are the following three thoughts:

First, this is a movie that will challenge your understanding of what it means to live, “your will done on earth as it is in heaven” – that phrase in the Lord’s prayer we tend to pray (whether we go to church or not) without really thinking about it.

Don’s experience challenges us to not pit heaven against earth. He has a taste of heaven and as a result wants nothing to do with earth anymore. He becomes so “heavenly minded and attached” that he becomes no earthly good because he does not want to be back. That just isn’t God’s heart at all. He came from heaven to earth because He couldn’t stand heaven and earth being separated and against each other.

On the flip side of that same coin, we are not to endure earth until we get to heaven. Earth is not a stop in a cheap, sketchy (maybe even dangerous) motel along the way to the five-star resort. Instead, we are to allow our encounters with God and the tastes of heaven he gives us (whether it’s 90 minutes in heaven or some other amazing experience) to compel us to live life to the full and to motivate us to share with others so that they too may have opportunity to not only taste heaven, but one day experience its fullness.

Second, the movie portrays a raw, pain-filled journey. I’m not sure if anyone can watch it without being touched in some similar places in their own hearts. There is no dancing around the anger, self-pity and pain of Don (though these are not blown up either for the sake of “drama”) and the impact on those around him, especially his wife who was put through the wringer by Don’s anger at being “sent back”.

There are no pulling of punches around some tough conversations from people who weren’t afraid to speak hard truths and essentially tell Don to smarten up and get his act together. It’s a gutsy portrayal of human nature and interactions all too familiar to most of us, which is what could make it hard to watch. Because it is longer than what you might think it should be, you don’t get a chance to get past this before it can grab your heart. This piece is long enough to force you to sit in the truth; to know that the suffering was real and you can’t just watch it and coast with your emotions.

Third, the movie was a call to blessing, offering, and perseverance, and to believe for others when they don’t, won’t, or simply can’t anymore. The movie portrays people picking up the balls of faith, perseverance, compassion, hope and down right gritty fight for the next steps. These had been dropped through Don’s unwillingness to fight, his unbelief in any good reason to fight and his disengagement with all those that longed for him to get well and go home to his family and ministry.

In short, see the movie. But not for entertainment. See it to see yourself and to see the amazing things that can happen when you pray, “your will done on earth as it is in heaven.”