It’s always fun to encounter biblical principles in unexpected places. Oddly enough, Silence of the Lambs, a crime thriller involving two serial killers, has an outstanding example of biblical counseling.
For starters, we all make assumptions about the way the world works. We interpret things based on these assumptions. It’s called a worldview. The biblical worldview is pretty straightforward. God is eternal, all-powerful and perfect. In the beginning, He created a perfect world. Humans are made in the image of God. The first humans, Adam and Eve rebelled against God. Their sin brought suffering and death into the world and their rebellious nature has been passed on to us. There are no good people.
A key scene in Silence of the Lambs demonstrates the difference between a biblical worldview and a man-centered worldview. Clarice Starling, the investigator, is on the hunt for a serial killer. She’s getting help from an imprisoned serial killer, Hannibal Lecter. Hannibal offers her some advice, saying, “Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?” Perplexed, she replies, “He kills women.” Lecter responds, “No! That is incidental. What is the first and principal thing he does, what need does he serve by killing?”
Here’s where it gets interesting. Clarice gives the standard, politically correct answer. She says, “Anger, social resentment, sexual frustration.” In other words, she blames society. It’s not his fault that he kills. Society made him this way. If he just had a better environment, he wouldn’t murder people. Put differently, man’s nature isn’t the problem. This is how the world thinks, because people naturally don’t want to be held accountable for their actions. Trying to counsel people with this mindset is like giving someone who needs heart surgery a band-aid.
Amusingly, a frustrated Lecter cuts her off, explaining, “No, he covets. That’s his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer.” She fumbles and says, “No, we just…” Lecter interrupts again, concluding, “No. Precisely. We begin by coveting what we see every day. Don’t you feel eyes moving over your body, Clarice? And don’t your eyes move over the things you want?”
There it is. There is no difference between the serial killer and the investigator hunting him down. They’re both sinners. One of them just sins in a way that’s more socially acceptable. Clarice’s covetousness leads her to be ambitious, seeking out professional advancement. Buffalo Bill, the serial killer being hunted, murders people to satisfy his covetousness. Yet, at the end of the day, their lives are based on satisfying their lusts and ambitions. They want everything the world has to offer.
There’s only one solution to man’s corrupt nature: repentance. We acknowledge the truth we’re not God. We recognize God makes the rules and we dedicate our lives to serving Him. When this happens, our self-centered life is been replaced by a Christ-centered one. We become new creations in Christ. The world no longer influences us; we live by the Holy Spirit.