(gentle piano music over chirping birds)
- [Voiceover] All of us, each and every one
is hiding from someone or something.
Sometimes we even hide from ourselves.
We hide because we have secrets.
- Ready or not, here I come!
- [Voiceover] Secrets that we're scared
other people will find out.
We hide because we want to be like everyone else.
So we hide by pretending we're something we're not.
- Found you!
- Surprise!
- [Voiceover] When we hide, we do it without a shell.
But sooner or later, we have to come out of hiding
so that people can see us.
(crickets chirping)
- So did you have fun at Louie's house today?
- Of course.
Dad, did you just let me have cereal for dinner
'cause you can't cook?
- Why would you say that?
- Because mom never lets me
have cereal for dinner.
- Yes,
I let you have cereal because I burnt the spaghetti.
You're a perceptive kid, aren't you?
- What does persemptive mean?
- Per-ceptive.
It means you smelled the burnt dinner
and you figured me out.
- Oh yeah.
I'm pretty perzeptive.
- Per-cep-tive.
Although your English could use some work.
- Hm?
- Go get ready for bed.
- Okay.
Thanks daddy.
Maybe some day you can be per-ceptive too!
- Thanks Simon.
How do you burn spaghetti?
It's like burning cereal almost.
Well,
lucky I got that right.
I dunno how Michelle does this every single night.
- Dear God, please help my dad.
He's really busy and needs lots of help.
Please help him to finish all of his homework
so he can spend more time with me.
Also, please help Emma.
And also, please let Louie like
the birthday present I made him.
In Jesus' name, amen.
(voicemail beeps)
- [Voiceover] Chris, it's me.
I'm staying at my mom's house again.
I can't keep doing this--
(voicemail beeps)
(birds chirping)
- I hope Louie likes the frog catcher I got him.
But I really wanted to get him the robot spaceship set.
- I know Simon.
But the robot spaceship set cost a lot of money.
If I get this new job, maybe we can afford that
next time, okay?
- Okay.
(doorbell ringing)
- Remember, play nice and be friendly
with the other kids, not just Louie.
- Okay, I will dad.
- Hi Simon!
Bye, Mr. Carmicheal.
- Emma you can come back tomorrow
and play with Lucy.
She'll be home from camp after about four o'clock.
- Thanks.
Tell Lucy I hope she had a great time.
- Okay, I will.
- Oh, are you Simon's dad?
- Yes.
- Do you maybe have any other kids
at your house I could play with?
- Sorry, no.
- Oh well, do you have any odd jobs
that need to be done?
I have my own small business,
Emma's Odd Jobs.
I do windows, floors, rake leaves,
darn your socks, anything really.
- Sorry, I can't right now.
I don't have time 'cause I've got some errands to run.
But maybe some other time.
- Okay, thanks.
Bye, Simon!
- Bye, Emma!
- Simon, is that the girl Emma you've been praying for?
- Yeah, that's her.
Mr. Dale, how come Emma isn't staying for the party?
- She's not really the same age as you guys,
she's more Lucy's friend.
- She might like to come to the party though.
She doesn't have her dad,
and her mom works a lot,
so she gets lonely.
- How do you know that?
- She told me.
She usually sits by herself at lunch,
so sometimes me and Louie go eat with her.
- Surprise!
- [Simon] Happy birthday, Louie!
- So what's the deal with the girl?
- Emma?
She comes over here all the time,
even when Lucy or Louie aren't home.
Always lookin' for something to do.
She's kind of a pest, to tell you the truth.
- Hm.
- Is she gone?
- Yeah, I told her she can come back
after horse camp tomorrow.
- Thanks dad.
I just didn't wanna deal with her today,
she's so needy.
- I thought you told Emma Lucy was at horse camp.
- No, I said she can come back after Lucy gets back
from horse camp tomorrow afternoon.
- Okay.
- Like I said, she comes over all the time.
Sometimes Lucy just doesn't wanna play with her
and Emma doesn't take no for an answer.
But enough about the girls,
how's it goin' with you?
- Fine (sighs).
I mean, good.
How are things with you?
- Fantastic!
I'm too blessed to be stressed, right?
- Right.
- Do you wanna come in and see
the new theater in the basement?
- Hey sorry guys, we really need you
out back for the stallion races.
- Stallion race?
- Louie wanted horses at this birthday party!
What can I say, business has been good.
- [Chris] Mmhm.
- Each kid gets to ride his own horse.
- I'm sorry, who wanted horses?
I'm gonna be back, five minutes.
Alright c'mon boys, who wants to ride horses?
- [Voiceovers] Yay!
- [Voiceover] Yeah!
- So you still on for poker tonight?
You think Pastor Tom will still come?
That might be awkward, especially with you
taking over as senior pastor now.
- I haven't gotten the job yet.
But I doubt he'll come.
Listen, I've gotta run.
I've got some errands,
and I'll catch ya later?
- See ya.
Oh,
is Michelle gonna still pick up Simon tonight?
- Uh, no.
I'm gonna pick him up.
I should be back around four,
that's when the party ends right?
- [Dale] Yup.
- Okay, sounds good.
God bless.
- (laughs) He has.
- Stallion race?
Movie theater?
Must be nice having all that money.
- Chris.
- Hello Tom.
How're you doing?
- Fine.
I was just here picking up my last check.
- Okay.
- I never liked direct deposit,
I like to hold my check in my hand, you know.
- Yeah I guess.
- Well I guess I'll see ya around.
- Are you coming to the poker game?
- Um, maybe.
We'll see.
- Okay, well I hope to see you there.
I better get going, I've got some papers to drop off.
- Do you?
- I'm sorry?
- Do you hope to see me there?
- Sure.
Why wouldn't I?
- 'Cause it's awkward.
Nobody wants to be seen with me anymore,
and you're about to take my job.
- (sighs) Tom, I'm sorry.
- I don't blame you for that, Chris.
I don't think you plotted to get my job or anything,
and I know you could use the money.
- We're doing okay.
- But what really gets me is,
you would rather have just said you were fine
and ask me how I was doing so I could say fine,
and then just keep on walking.
- I'm sorry, what do you want me to say?
- Why don't you ask me what happened?
- Do the details really matter?
- Don't they?
- You had an affair, you lied to the church about it,
and now you've left Betty.
Does that about sum it up?
- Well there's a lot more to it than that.
You don't know what I had to go through.
- No, I don't.
And it doesn't really matter.
(scoffs) I mean, it doesn't justify
what you did and are doing.
- My wife was constantly bringing me down.
She wanted the role of pastor's wife
but she didn't wanna be my wife.
- And that's relevant how?
- She expected me to be perfect.
Always correcting me, trying to make me match up
to some picture perfect ideal life she had.
She was always worried about what others thought,
but she never actually cared what I thought.
- I know marriage is difficult, Tom,
you've preached on that many times.
But you know it doesn't make your sin right.
- Well, it's too late to go back.
I know it sounds selfish but
I think God really does wanna provide for my needs too.
- (scoffs) Tom, there is nothing that I can tell you
that you don't already know.
But you do know what the right thing to do is.
- Well maybe the right thing isn't as black and white
as we once thought.
Will God really abandon me if I don't
stay married to Betty my entire life?
- Now that's not exactly fair.
But for the rest of your life,
that is the word you gave to Betty and God.
I don't know that God will abandon you,
but I do know that divorce and an affair
aren't part of God's plan for your life.
- My life.
What about the plan for your life?
- What do you mean?
- I talked to Michelle.
- What are you saying?
- How do you think the board will react
when they find out about your personal life?
Things you'd rather keep secret?
- I don't have anything to hide.
- (laughs) Chris look,
I'm on your side here.
I'm just trying to open your eyes.
The truth should set us free,
not make us afraid of what others might say.
- So (laughs)
your truth about your affair has set you free?
- In a way.
I was living a lie before.
But now I'm gonna start living
the life I was meant to live.
The kind of life I've always wanted
with someone who actually loves me for me.
- Tom, I am sorry that your life with Betty wasn't easy.
I wish I could help.
But you know what I think you need to do.
And it isn't to move in with the church's secretary!
- Don't worry about us.
We'll get by somehow.
- Okay well, I'll be praying for you both.
- Chris I've come to realize that I was wrong.
I was wrong for not being true to myself.
And I'm sorry things had to happen like this,
but I think it's all gonna be for the best now.
- (laughs) I don't even know what that means!
- That means that most people are living a lie,
and I was one of them, but not anymore.
- Okay, I've gotta go.
It was good to see you again.
- Look, I'm sorry if I came off a bit hostile.
But I really think we all need to
come clean and be honest.
And I really do hope that you and
the rest of the church are able to do that.
- Well, I don't agree with what you're saying.
Think it's better if you don't come to the game.
See you later.
Can't believe him.
Selfish jerk.
Can't believe I didn't see what a phony he was.
(crickets chirping)
- You okay, Chris?
You look tired.
- Late night.
But I'll get my second wind soon.
- Second wind?
(scoffs) I think you just need to know your limits.
Like, me?
I'm good 'til 11:00 PM, then that's it.
- Good at what until 11:00 PM?
Certainly not cards!
Besides, Chris is upset, Bob just took all his peanuts.
- I'm fine guys, really.
It was a good game.
Why don't we close out with some prayer?
Does anyone have any requests?
- I think we need to pray
that we find a new senior pastor and soon.
(sighs) That guest speaker last week
was just plain scary.
Seriously, Gandalf is a heathen wizard from the future?
I mean, I wanted to grab Gandalf's staff
and just take that guy and send him to
a Orc dinner party (laughs).
- Okay.
Anyone else?
- I'm prayin' hard that the Ravens
make the playoffs this year.
There was way too many questionable calls
last season, am I right guys?
- Seriously guys, what can we pray for?
- Seems like we're all good.
How about you Chris?
What's been going on with you?
(somber piano music)
- (sighs)
Everything's fine, I'm good.
(voicemail beeping)
- [Voiceover] Chris, it's me.
I'm staying at my mom's house again.
I can't keep waiting for you to finish
your perfect success plan.
I'm not happy with the way things are now.
You need to figure it out, okay?
I'll see you tomorrow.
- Sorry Chris, I don't know what to say,
but is there anything we can do?
- No, I'm fine.
We just have some stuff to work out.
- Okay, we don't have to talk about it.
I'm glad he doesn't wanna talk about it,
I don't know what to tell him.
Besides, he probably got himself
into this mess anyway.
- Sorry Chris,
my sister and her husband went through something like this.
I'll definitely keep you guys in prayer.
- Thanks Jim, but it's really not that big of a deal.
Don't worry about it.
- [Voiceover] With our pastor having an affair,
and now our assistant pastor having marriage problems too?
We're really going to start losing people at the church.
Our numbers are down as it is.
I don't want to go to one of those tiny churches.
- Yeah, you know,
everyone has problems in their marriages at some point.
You know, I wouldn't worry about it.
Don't let it wear you out.
In fact, I have a place you can stay,
you can stay in my spare room if you want.
- Bob, no one's moving out.
Okay, we're good.
- [Voiceover] That's too bad.
I missed helping out the church last week
and I need to get some credit somewhere
and this woulda been easy.
- Well we'll pray for Chris and Michelle
to work things out.
We'll also pray that our senior pastor position
gets filled soon.
Oh,
and that the Ravens make the playoffs.
- Thanks Dale.
But don't spend too much time praying for me, okay?
Michelle will be back tonight and we'll
work everything out when she gets back.
Can we just please stop talking about it?
What else do we need to pray for?
- [Voiceover] Maybe your anger issue.
Though really pray that the Ravens win.
I have a lot of money riding on this game,
if Darlene finds out I've lost another $5,000,
she's gonna kill me.
- [Voiceover] I hope they believe me that
this isn't a big deal.
I don't wanna lost that senior pastor job.
Besides, these guys have their own issues
they need to take care of.
- Now, maybe we should pray for Tom too.
I know that he messed up and all,
but maybe we can pray that
God shows him the error of his ways?
- Okay.
I'll pray for us.
But Chris, don't worry,
your secret is safe with us.
Let's pray guys.
Dear Jesus, please forgive us for our sins.
Thank you for all the blessings
you've poured out on us.
And thank you for giving us the chance to help others.
Please work things out with Chris and Michelle.
Please show the elders who to choose
to replace Pastor Tom,
and help Pastor Tom too.
Oh, and please let the Ravens do well this season.
Amen.
- Amen.
(doorbell rings)
- Dale, did you forget your phone again?
Dale, I thought I...
Oh, Michelle.
Why'd you ring the doorbell?
- My hands are full, can you help me?
- Oh, yeah.
- Where's Simon?
- He's in bed, but I don't think he's asleep yet.
Why don't you go tell him goodnight?
- [Michelle] I will in a minute.
- So how's your mom?
- She's fine.
Chris, let's not do this.
- Do what?
- Pretend that everything's fine when it's not.
- What do you want me to do?
- You know what I want.
- (sighs) You know I saw Tom today?
Actually in the parking lot.
- That's great, I saw him too.
What's your point?
- He's...
So blind to what he's doing and how wrong it is.
- I actually feel sorry for him.
- (laughs) How can you feel sorry for him?
- He's just trying to make himself happy!
I never liked Betty anyway.
She always seemed too bossy.
- What about what he's doing to Betty and to the church?
- He's always miserable!
- (sighs) Happiness isn't everything,
that's part of your problem.
- And what's that supposed to mean?
- You just want me to take the job
at your dad's company so we can
have more money to buy more stuff.
You just don't want to make sacrifices.
- What is so wrong about having
a little extra money in our pocket for a change?
And to have some stability?
To have you home at nights and on the weekends?
All the other wives I know get that!
- My job is more than a job.
It's about serving others.
Life is about more than money.
- Well I wouldn't know that, we never have any.
- Do you hear yourself right now?
Do you realize how shallow that sounds?
- Fine!
Then I sound shallow.
But when am I allowed to have anything for myself?
- I don't know, but I need to do
what I feel called to do.
- And do you feel called to do this?
Did God tell you this is what he wants you to do?
- I believe so.
- Well, did he or didn't he?
- You know he didn't audibly tell me.
But this is what I feel I'm supposed to do.
- And what if
it's just what you want to do?
To be the hero for everyone but your own wife!?
- What do you want me to do?
I can't quit my job.
I made a commitment.
And this is what God wants me to do.
- I can't keep sacrificing for your job.
(phone rings)
- Hello?
No, it's not too late, I was up.
Yes?
Oh really?
I just didn't know you were gonna
make the decision so soon.
Yeah?
Well yeah, I definitely want the job.
No, that sounds great.
Sure, yeah, I'll see you Sunday.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Alright, bye.
- Well?
- I got the job as senior pastor.
- What!?
- Yeah, can you believe it?
- No!
After everything we've just talked about?
Aren't we going to make this decision together?
- You're putting me in an impossible situation
to choose between you and God.
- Chris, life is short.
I want to enjoy my time with you
and with Simon.
And I want to enjoy the things that God has given us,
is that so wrong!?
- Michelle!
I understand what you're saying, I really do.
But when I look out there,
all I see is a buncha phonies.
All I see are people who are not truly living
what they believe.
I don't want to be one of those people.
- I've said all I can.
You do what you want.
You always do.
- (sighs)
Why is she so selfish sometimes?
- Dad?
- Simon, I thought you were in bed.
- I was, but I heard you and mommy.
You guys were loud.
- Sorry buddy.
- Did you get the new job?
- Yeah, I did.
- How come mommy isn't happy then?
- It's complicated.
Well, I, she just,
wants me to have more time with you guys.
- I want that too.
- I know.
- But this means we'll have more money right?
- Yeah, we'll have a little bit more.
- Maybe mommy doesn't understand that,
I'll go tell her.
- God,
what do you want me to do?
(birds chirping)
- Hey dad?
- Not now, Simon.
- But I have something for you.
- Sorry Simon, not right now, there's no time.
- But it'll only take a second.
- Simon, I said no.
I don't have time right now,
I'll look at it later, okay?
- Good morning everyone.
- [Voiceover] Good morning.
- Good morning, everyone.
- [All] Good morning!
- Much better.
Before our morning announcements,
I have a special announcement to make.
After a long and thoughtful search,
and with much prayer, our elders
have decided to hire a new senior pastor,
our very own Chris Billings.
(applause and cheering)
Yes, he definitely deserves it.
We're looking forward to Pastor Chris
leading us as God wills.
Chris, is there anything that you'd like to say?
Would you like to come up?
(tense music)
- (sighs)
Thank you all for the encouragement.
Lemme say thank you to the elders for
choosing me to fulfill this role
of senior pastor here at the church.
Uh, I look forward to being able to serve all of you,
and I have some great ideas for our future.
I know we've had some difficulty lately here at the church.
- [Voiceover] (coughing)
- (clears throat) Um,
I know that I...
I mean we have had some difficulty.
But it's time that we set our priorities in order.
But it's time that we put our priorities in order
and we focus on what's important.
It's time that we move forward
and focus on what God has called us to.
It's gonna take some time
to make things right.
But I'm going to focus my attention on this church
and getting us back on track.
(music swells)
But when I look out there all I see
is a buncha phonies!
All I see are people who are not truly
living what they believe!
I don't want to be one of those people.
Stallion race, movie theater?
Must be nice having all that money.
Selfish jerk.
Can't believe I didn't see what a phony he was.
I hope they believe me that this isn't a big deal,
I don't wanna lose that senior pastor job.
Besides, these guys have their own issues
they need to take care of.
- Dad?
- Not now Simon.
- But I have something for you.
- Sorry Simon, not right now, there's no time.
We all need to take a deep hard look
at where we've come from
so that we can have a vision to move forward.
(clears throat)
Uh, um.
Sorry, uh.
I prepared these words, but I just can't say them.
I think the first person who needs to take
a deep hard look at himself is me.
I don't deserve this.
Uh.
I'm not really the person who you think I am.
I don't deserve this.
I'm not sure I'm even the person I thought I was.
I have my own problems,
but you know sometimes I look down on others
and think that I'm better than them.
I say that I wanna be there to help people,
but my first priority is getting what I want.
I looked down on Pastor Tom for having an affair,
but I haven't been spending enough time
with my own family.
I, I, uh.
I want to be successful in the ministry,
but I've made that my calling,
rather than hearing God.
Over these past several years,
I've been chasing that success to get here,
rather than spending time with my family and others.
I could go on, but I don't think I need to.
All this time I've been worried about those
who I thought were the phonies around me.
I've, uh, I've missed the phony right in the mirror.
This church
all of you,
my wife, my son,
and most importantly God,
deserve better.
So I'm sorry to disappoint you but,
I'm going to have to decline on being senior pastor.
At least for now.
(somber piano music)
- Uh,
uh, that was quite a, um,
unexpected speech, Pastor Chris.
Uh, our board of elders will be
looking at the situation and um,
will be answering any questions
that you may have in due time.
Let's get back to the morning announcements.
- Wanna thank you all again
for coming to our Saturday afternoon bible study.
Or as some have jokingly called it,
phonies for Jesus.
- [Everyone] (laughs)
- I want you all to know first off,
that our goal here is to be
open and honest with one another,
and to get to know each other for real,
so that we can be honest with ourselves
and we can truly share the gospel
in an authentic way.
We've all been phonies at times,
and we tend to put on masks
because of our fears and our selfishness.
But no one here is judging you,
because we're all in the same boat.
So let's pray,
and then we'll set up for our meal
before we actually start our study.
Dear God, thank you for this meal
and for everything you give us.
Not just for the obvious blessings that you give us,
but also the difficult situations
that you allow into our lives,
that you use to teach us and build character in us.
In Jesus' name, amen.
- [Voiceovers] Amen.
- Can we play?
- [Chris] Yes you can.
- Emma, can you come here for a minute?
- [Emma] Yes, Mr. Carmichael?
- Is your mother going to be joining us tonight?
- She'll be here just in time for the study,
as soon as she gets off work.
- Great.
I'm so glad you could come too.
- Thank you for inviting us,
and for letting us stay in your basement apartment.
- You're welcome.
You and your mom, you were paying too much
for that tiny house anyway.
Glad to help.
- That's really nice of you to rent out
your basement to Emma and her mom.
- It was your idea, but it shoulda been mine.
We certainly have enough space,
and I really didn't need that theater.
Emma and her mom were livin'
in a terrible little shack.
- Well the bright side is this will help you
recover some of that money you lost
on those football games.
- It would have.
- What do you mean it would have?
- It would have if I was chargin' them anything.
- Wow.
That's great for you to help that way.
But you know, it might make them
feel a little more part of the community
if you charged them a reasonable amount for rent.
- I told Emma's mom they can stay with us
for a couple months 'til they get settled
and are caught up on some of their other bills,
then we can discuss rent.
- So what about the $5,000 you lost?
- I hate to say it, but I've lost
more than that over the years.
But in truth,
I think I need to feel the pain for my mistakes.
Some things we can do without,
like individual horses at my son's birthday party.
- (laughs) I wasn't gonna say anything,
but I did think that was a bit much.
- You know, those horses were probably
more for me than him anyway.
Louie doesn't even like horses all that much.
- I know what you mean.
You'd be surprised at the things we think we need
but we actually don't.
- Let's go get dinner.
I would love to taste some of your wife's
famous potato salad.
Then we can talk more about this whole
less is more idea.
- You got it.
- [Voiceover] It's okay to wear masks
for fun, to pretend,
but not in real life.
Otherwise, we might miss out on
what God really has planned for us,
and true friendship.
God's given me some great friends,
including my dad now that he has
more time to spend with me.
- Exicted about that?
- So uh,
you on for poker tonight?
- [Voiceover] How about you Chris?
What's going on with you?
- [Voiceover] In the cloud,
no one knows what you're wearing.
- (laughs)
- [Voiceover] Not the reaction we were getting.
- [Voiceover] Scene five take five.
- [Voiceover] I'm fine guys. - [Voiceover] Ac--
- [Voiceover] (laughs)
- [Voiceover] Okay.
- [Voiceover] Action.
- [Voiceover] I'm fine guys,
really, it was a good game.
Why don't we close out with some prayer.
Does anyone have any requests?
- I think that we should be looking for a new or,
ahh, try it again.
- [Voiceover] He can turn up the top of the line right?
- [Voiceover] Yeah. - Yeah.
I'll just go.
I think we need to pray that we find
a new pastor, senior pastor and soon.
That, that, okay.
- [Voiceover] Start over.
Does anyone have any prayer requests?
- I think that we need to, ah (sighs),
gettin' way too, getting way too late for this.
- You're welcome, you and your mom
were payin' too much for that tiny apartment anyway.
I'm glad to help.
- [Voiceover] Fun fun fun.
- [Voiceover] You need to give her some direction.
- Yeah, you're confusing me!
- [Voiceover] Act more natural!
- [Everyone] (laughing)