I recently watched an intriguing movie this past weekend called The Soloist starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. The basic plot is that Nathaniel Ayers, played by Foxx, is a gifted cellist that was trained in New York’s renowned Julliard School who has become homeless because of his schizophrenia. Robert Downey plays Steve Lopez, an LA times columnist who begins writing a story about Ayers but becomes involved deeply in Ayers’ life and tries to help him. This film is adapted from the book of the same name, which is based on a true story.
Throughout the film, Lopez becomes less and less detached as a journalist and becomes more of a friend to Ayers. He obtains for him an antique cello and he even sleeps on the streets with him in the alleys of LA’s infamous Skid Row. The only recourse Lopez gives Ayers is that if he wants to play the cello, he must play it at the local homeless shelter called Lamp and not on the dangerous streets of Skid Row. Fandango has a small synopsis that contains the idea of what I’m getting to in this blog:
Steve Lopez hasn't had a good story in a while and the newspaper where he works is laying off journalists due to falling ratings. He had been looking for a story in all the wrong places when he happened upon a homeless violinist, Nathaniel Ayers, playing beautifully with only 2 strings. Ayers was a former Juilliard student who begins to trust Lopez, and a friendship grows, but not necessarily to the benefit of either. While Lopez's intention is to help Ayers; he isn't sure what he has in the end. Some believe Lopez saved Ayers, because he became his only friend. Can the act of caring be enough to help a person who has a mental illness? Even still, Lopez has been positively influenced by witnessing the musical genius he has found in Ayers.
The twist in this somewhat feel-good film is that the ending isn’t all that happy. By the end, Ayers still has socially crippling schizophrenia. At the apex of when Lopez has helped Ayers, Ayers psychotically turns on Lopez in a schizophrenic rage and tells Lopez that he does not need his help and that if he seems him again, he will “gut him like a fish.” Lopez does eventually see Ayers again and isn’t gutted like fish but still understands that this man is terribly ill due to mental problems and will have to deal with this as long as he helps Ayers.
The initial idea of the film is that it’s about a classically trained musician that has become homeless and living on the streets of LA. But by the end, it is a deeply introspective film that really makes you question and analyze the idea of helping people—especially when they don’t want help. At a very poignant moment of the film as Lopez is talking with his wife in tears about this friendship with Ayers, he questions whether or not he is helping him or if helping people at all is even worth it. He honestly brings up something that I think many people deal with in helping people who need help. Steve Lopez invested significant amounts of time, both physically and emotionally, into the life of Nathaniel Ayers but Ayers who, by no fault of his own, was too mentally damaged to process or appreciate this help.
My takeaway from this film was Lopez’ deep honesty of whether he should keep helping this guy that does not appreciate him or even understand what is going on. He was acquiring a tremendous amount of heartache and mental anguish by trying to help this homeless man further himself with the amazing musical talent that he had. But all of this was done seemingly in vain because Ayers was too mentally ill to process this and everyone else thought Lopez was crazy for continuing this relationship.
This movie made me think deeply about the idea of “good works” (James 2) and “loving your neighbor” (Matt. 22:39). As a believer, I stand on the Biblical truth that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves as illustrated by Jesus in the Gospels and that the fruit of our justification by faith is good works to our neighbors for God’s glory as outlined in the controversial chapter of James 2. But how about doing this when people don’t care or don’t want help? Let’s even forget the fact that Nathaniel Ayers was mentally ill. Should Lopez have continued to help him even if he was hostile and uncaring? Our immediate “Christian” response is “Yes, of course!” But put yourself in his shoes for a moment.
You have invested immense amounts of time physically and mentally into a person for months. You’ve sacrificed family time, work time, and public shame. And after many months of trying to help this person, they turn on you and seem to hate you for your patronization and empathy. They feel degraded because they now feel lower than you because they are being helped by you. How would you deal with this? How would I deal with this? Lopez came to a point in the film where he thought what he was doing was hopeless. I’ve felt this way before in situations where I was helping people. Have you ever encountered this?
For example, I currently spend time weekly with a very poor family that that lives in deep poverty mainly due to heir lack of education, job skills, and illiteracy. I am trying to help the children of this family in a small way by providing a weekly lesson in reading and writing and trying to bring them out of illiteracy. I think this will be a tremendous hand-up for these youngsters as they develop in life. I usually bring them small foods and drinks as well to just be a blessing to them. But the children will often complain about what I’ve chosen for them to drink or eat. They will complain that they don’t like the food and they want something else. Or they don’t like the drink because it is too cold. I’ve even made the two-hour journey to this family and they weren’t even home for the lesson. All of this can, and has, led to serious frustration. Just like Lopez, I am investing large amounts of time and effort into this family but I feel like sometimes they do not appreciate it.
But how do I respond to this Biblically? How would Steve Lopez respond to Nathaniel Ayers’ situation in a Biblical manner? How would you respond to these situations in a Biblical manner? The book of James says that faith without works is dead (26). It even goes on to make the bold statement that “a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone” (24). Now, this is an intense Biblical argument of whether or not we are saved by faith alone or that faith and works save us. I hold to Martin Luther’s reformed Protestant doctrine of sola fide, or by faith alone. James’ statement of justification of faith and works is that good works are the fruit of a person that is truly justified by the saving work of the blood of Christ. Quoting the ESV study Bible, “For James, ‘faith alone’ means a bogus kind of faith, mere intellectual agreement without a genuine personal trust in Christ that bears fruit in one's life.” So helping people and doing good works is an overflow and fruit of the justification that we have received in our lives through Christ.
Now, good works without faith in Christ does not save us. That is a derivative of heretical Liberal theology. Our good works and compassion for the hurting and lost is an overflow of the imputed nature of Christ that is now within us. So is it natural to want to help people that don’t want help? No. But because of the imputed nature of Christ that is within us, we are now working and flowing in a new realm of compassion and love: Christ-like love. Even when it seems like those we are helping have no appreciation or concern for what we’ve done for them, we soldier on because of the imputed nature of Christ in us that has given us a new capacity for compassion and love. We as well had no appreciation for what Jesus had done for us until we came to the place of understanding. So, when we are in these situations where we are helping people and they seem to not care, or are maybe incapable because of mental illness cannot care, we should pray that the Lord will given them understanding of what is being done for them.
But even if they never have that understanding, we must continue. We must continue to help the sick, poor, widows, orphans, lame, dorky, and overall icky people that don’t or will never appreciate what we do for them. Here is your solace: Christ appreciates what you’ve done. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, as you do unto one of the least of these, you do it unto me” (Matt. 25:40). What we do to the outcast and downtrodden of society, we do it like we’re doing it for Jesus himself. I am also a firm believer in the idea that hospitality and caring for strangers is a test: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb. 13:2).
May you meet the Nathaniel Ayers of your life. May you meet the poor, downtrodden, uncaring, and hostile people that need the love of God. And may you care for them impartially, as if your were entertaining angels or serving the Lord Jesus Himself. And may you not grow weary in doing good. Amen.
