The Popularity of "I Can Only Imagine"

I have always really liked the song “I Can Only Imagine.”  Having a vivid imagination, I related to the singer’s quest of trying to imagine what heaven will be like when we meet  Jesus. I’ve also been following MercyMe for over fifteen years and seen them live two or three times. So when I heard they were making a movie about the song, I though that was pretty cool. Let me tell you, it went way beyond just cool.

The movie, “I Can Only Imagine” surpassed the neat and tidy viewpoint of a Christian movie. It smashed expectations and was a huge hit opening weekend. Why did it resonate with us? Because it reached deep into the soul, addressing many current issues, though focused primarily on abandonment, child abuse and forgiveness. The movie portrayed the struggles so many of us have with our past life, the hurts we incur from family, and the pent-up anger many of us carry around because of these wounds. It also deals with the incorrect image we have of God, religion and ourselves.

Forgiveness is a powerful antidote for all the hurt, but when the wounds are deep as in the case of lead singer, Bart Millard, forgiveness doesn’t come easy, especially when we run away from the one who wounded us. For Bart, he found healing in music, which many do today, especially with a lot of high quality Christian music available. But the song, “I Can Only Imagine,” transcended the Christian music charts and reached into the psyche of Americans, with its spiritual ponderings and musical adeptness.

As the movie demonstrated, the song was a career maker for Bart because he reached into the depth of his love for music and God and wrote a powerful song inspired by the very father, Bart called a “monster.” However, his father didn’t remain this way and the movie demonstrates what the amazing love of God can do. Since I don’t want to spoil it for you, I recommend you see it for yourself. You can also read a review at http://mbcpathway.com/2018/03/26/review-i-can-only-imagine-shatters-expectations/

The movie surprised Hollywood, being the third most attended movie and money maker on its debut weekend. It came out above “A Wrinkle in Time” which received a lot of press since it’s a Disney flick. Yet I believe the theme of forgiveness coupled with the popularity of the song resonated with the audience more than super heroes and other such movie faire. The dynamite acting from both Dennis Quaid and J.Michael Finley along with the story line also made “I Can Only Imagine” a huge success. Yet it went beyond just an entertaining movie and possessed the ring of truth to it, which is exactly what Americans need and obviously a good portion long for.

Why not check it out yourself and tell me you think.