Gatsby and Jesus
Two men with great power and influence - but only one is the real deal.
I like modern twists on classic stories. I like movies that take place in New York and the 20’s. I like Gatsby’s massive closet and wardrobe. I like his confidence and his use of the phrase, “Old Sport”. I like how important he seems - I mean, everybody owes him one and his phone is constantly ringing.
I like that he crashes and burns. We all do. Because, in one way or another, we can all relate to it and that’s what makes this story fascinating. At some point, we’ve strived to become something we’re not, in order to get something that’s not ours. Though we dreamed about our plan working, it never did, and we’re left trying to figure out what we should have done differently.
Trying to succeed
Gatsby is born poor. He leaves his home and totally abandons his family. He sets out on a journey to become someone else. To be good enough for himself, he has to change.
He meets an alcoholic millionaire and learns to be a gentleman. He then heads out to war to become a hero. That’s when he meets Daisy and falls in love. He decides that she is the one for him but for him to become the one for her, he has to first engulf himself in fortune. To be good enough for Daisy, he has to change.
So Gatsby becomes a wealthy bootlegger. He throws magnificent parties for all of the most important and interesting people. He owns a mansion that would take any dignitary's breath away. His wardrobe is infinite and flawless. He reunites with Daisy and asks her to tell her husband that she never loved him but she finally admits she did love him and Gatsby (instead of just Gatsby). On the way home from that conversation, she hits a woman while driving and things get worse for Gatsby from there ...
Gatsby and Jesus
In all of Gatsby’s greatness he never achieves “good enough”.
We do the same thing. We daydream about becoming better. We think we become better, and then we will be happy with ourselves.
We wish for better friends or a better status and we strive to change in order to deserve those things.
This causes our soul grief because there is no end to striving for “good enough”.
Thankfully, there’s a way out of this self-destructive striving.
There is one person who accepts us right where we are. We don’t have to change in any way to earn his love. Instead of us changing on our own, he changes us to eventually become fully like him, the only one who is truly good enough.
He waits on us. He throws parties for us. He robes us in infinite glory. He builds us a mansion. He brings us back to our first love. But unlike Gatsby, he succeeds.
His name is Jesus. He is the answer to the cautionary tale of Gatsby.
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