Learning from Tom Cruise
INsights 078, Friday 23rd May 2025
Learning from Tom Cruise
INsights 078, Friday 23rd May 2025
Once upon a time, when I was a boy, my uncles used to run a successful movie rental store in South London.
So the whole family got special early access to all the latest releases. I grew up watching and loving movies.
I was 12 when Mission: Impossible first came out.
Like millions of others around the world, I absolutely loved it and have watched all of them since.
With the recent release of the last instalment of the series - The Final Reckoning - there has been huge recognition of Tom Cruise's contribution to the entertainment industry. In that realm, the man is already a legend and will long be remembered as one after he's gone.
Whatever you might think about him, one thing is undeniable: his consistent and absolute dedication to excellence.
Whenever I see anyone in single-minded pursuit of mastery, I find it hugely inspiring.
I also find it embarrassing.
How can someone give 1000 times more effort to their worldly pursuits and show 1000 times more courage than I am able to give or show for God Almighty Himself?
In his own words, "I take great pride in what I do. And I can't do something halfway, three-quarters, nine-tenths. If I'm going to do something, I go all the way."
He's not lying.
Watch a single video showing what went into him pulling off just one of the cutting edge stunts that he's been involved in and you'll realise the level of daring, the amount of resources, the excruciating attention to detail and the extent of the coordination required. Just for one stunt.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this one human being's focus and capability for his mission seems to exceed what millions of us combined are able to pull off - or perhaps I should say unable to pull off - for God's cause, the only mission that matters in the end.
One verse that always comes to mind when I think about these things is this one:
From amongst people are those who take partners other than God, whom they love as they should love God. Those who truly believe are stronger in their love for God. (Chapter 2, The Cow, Verse 165)
The sad reality is that most of us don't love God more than Tom Cruise loves whatever he's worshipping.
For as long as that is true, how can we even say we truly believe?
Love isn't just a feeling.
Love is action. Love is sacrifice. Love is total dedication.
I don't want to be outdone by Tom Cruise in having a clear focus. Do you?
I don't want to be outdone by Tom Cruise in the level of effort I make. Do you?
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to strive for God's cause.
If not you, then who?
If not now, then when?
As one of the characters in the final movie of the series says with a serene smile on his face when he realises he is facing certain death, "This is my mission. This is what I was born to do."
That's the feeling I want when I die: an internal clarity that I identified my mission for God and that I left this world pursuing it.
So find your God-given purpose.
Find what you were born to accomplish.
Then give it absolutely everything until your last breath.
Nothing less will do.
Until next time.
Peace.
Iqbal
~~~
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