Movie Quote: “You preaching Jesus is no different than Larry preaching ‘lubricants’ . . . or how to make money in real estate with no money down. As soon as you lay your hands on a conversation to steer it, you’re no longer a human being, you’re a marketing rep.”

Wow, is it that easy to revert to “selling” our religious wares? And to think we get pissed off when all those heathens aren’t interested in “buying” our Jesus.

Movie quote: “I’m saying that you’ve already done plenty of things to regret, you just don’t know it yet.”

Regarding the church, and society in general, you are spot on to say, “One usually gets a reputation for being of good character more often than not by just hiding his or her s#!+ better than others.”

I think the only cure to “salesmanship” Christianity and “s#!+ hiding” is the kind of humility and honesty that you and Devito’s character propose. I love your quote, “Character, then, is the honesty that comes from humility, the humility that comes from honesty.” Another possible translation:

“Character is the humility that comes from brokeness, the brokeness that comes from a life of repentance.”

Unfortunately, a word like “repentance” doesn’t get a fair trial in our day – it seems too rigorous and archaic when the truth is, it’s as relevant and critical to our lives as clean air and water (arguably more relevant in light of eternity). Repentance is a practice like breathing (in with the pure life-giving oxygen, out with the CO2 waste); it is not occasional event, but an ongoing, life-long process of healing and rehabilitation. Repentance means taking seriously our capacity for sin, but taking more seriously God’s capacity to forgive, heal, and restore.