CBN.com – The Apartment
(1960)
American Film Institute Ranking: 93
AA: Best Picture; Billy Wilder, Best Director; Best Original
Screenplay; Best Art Direction; Best Film Editing
MPAA Rating: not rated
Read: Genesis 39
[Wisdom] will save you also from the adulteress. (Proverbs 2:16)
C. C. (“Bud”) Baxter (Jack Lemmon) knows that the quickest
way to the top is through the bedroom. It’s his bedroom, all right,
but his bosses are the ones doing the bedding. In The Apartment,
Baxter provides a rendezvous point for his philandering superiors, including
his callous boss J. D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), and earns a series
of quick promotions. But things get out of hand when he falls in love
with elevator operator Fran (Shirley MacLaine), Sheldrake’s mistress.
Eventually Bud must choose between a swanky office and a one-way ticket
out the door.
Adultery never pays. It always ends in ruin. The Bible warns us about
the dangers of adultery. The adulterer of Proverbs says, I have come
to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly. (Proverbs
5:14)
Joseph had an opportunity to have a liaison with Potiphar’s wife,
but Joseph did the right thing: he refused her. That earned him a one-way
ticket to jail. Some promotion, eh? But thankfully the story continues
and Joseph not only becomes second in command over the whole prison; he
eventually takes charge of all Egypt. Now, that’s getting ahead
God’s way!
Adultery, or any kind of cheating, might get you ahead in the short term,
but dire consequences are sure to come. Ultimately, it isn’t the
consequences we face on earth that count; it’s facing God that really
matters. Our actions have eternal consequences. Each person will have
to give an account of his or her sins before God, adultery included. Marriage
is the only approved context for sexual expression—that’s
God’s way. When we play by these rules, we experience God’s
kindness and favor. It’s the surest way to the top in his kingdom.
PRAYER IDEA: Ask God to give you strength to resist sinful temptations.
Excerpted from Reflections
for Movie Lovers by Matthew Kinne, published by AMG Publishers/Living
Ink, Chattanooga, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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