LEAN ON ME (1989)

Directed by: John G. Avildsen
Written by: Michael Schiffer
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Robert Guillaume, Lynne Thigpen
Rated: PG-13

About the film:
Joe Clark is selected to be the principal of a run-down, inner city high school. Through sheer determination and a no-nonsense approach to education, he manages to turn the school around. But he makes plenty of political enemies in the process.

Movie Quote:
“Discipline is not the enemy of enthusiasm.”
Joe Clark (Morgan Freeman) in Lean on Me (1989)

Bible Quote:
“Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”
Proverbs 25:28 (NIV)

Commentary:
It is hard to respect anything if there are no rules; no framework; no standard to indicate right from wrong. And yet the minute we identify or agree upon a standard, we automatically initiate the need for discipline to help teach us how to stay within the boundaries of that standard.

God’s Word is the standard of truth. As such, it contains the reproof which helps us to discipline our minds to stay within the framework which He has designed. Far from being an “enemy of enthusiasm,” discipline can be a tool by which enthusiasm is increased.

No one enjoys doing something poorly. If we are taught – via instruction, reproof and correction – how to do something properly… even to the point of excelling at something, our enthusiasm for that skill reaches new heights. It does so because of the discipline which taught us how to excel.

Without discipline, especially self-discipline (which is a learned quality), we become vulnerable to any temptation that comes our way. Temptations do little more than to draw us outside of the standards that define success.

Questions to consider while watching the film:
1. Joe Clark adopts some pretty severe rules in order to accomplish his goals. Was he justified? Can morality and discipline be forced by abolishing human or civil rights?
2. Why did the students who remained in the school respond to Clark’s environment of learning? How is discipline conveyed from teacher to student?

Michael Elliott
http://screensermon.blogspot.com