Citizenship

In the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai, (spoiler alert) British soldiers are captures in WWII by Japan. The Japanese force their British captives to work on building a rail bridge over the River Kwai. It is a strategic supply connection for their war effort.

At first the British happily comply, but intentionally work slowly and constantly sabotage their work. Their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson oversees the building of the bridge and decides that, in order to maintain his men’s morale and professionalism, they should work to build the bridge properly. His men complain, but comply.

Near the end of the movie, the bridge is nearly completed. The British military had discovered the building of the bridge, however, and sent a group in to destroy it. They plant the charges and wait until morning to destroy it while the first train is going over it, but Nicholson discovers the explosives and tries to prevent them from destroying his bridge. In the end, several British soldiers are killed and Nicholson realizes he is trying to save the enemy’s bridge, and detonates the bridge.

Nicholson got lost captivity. He was so focused on doing a good job building the bridge he forgot it was not his bridge. He forgot it was not his home. The bridge was always supposed to be destroyed.

Sometimes we forget our home. We live in this life on earth for a short while. Heaven is our true citizenship, our true home. We can get so caught up in building our bridges (bigger homes, work promotions, accolades, etc.) and forget this will all be destroyed.