Dig a Pit, Land in the Hay (Proverbs 26:27)
Exhibit AKey Evidence
- The scene: Brink! (1998). āIs that all you got?ā
- At the Aggressive Inline Skating Championship, the whole title comes down to a head-to-head downhill race between Andy āBrinkā Brinker of Team Pup āNā Suds and Val Horrigan, captain of the sponsored Team X-Bladz.
- Val has a track record of winning dirty. Earlier in the film, Brink confronts him for putting gravel on the road during a downhill race against Gabriella; she crashed and the doctor ordered bed rest.
- In the final, Val shoves Brink into a parked car. Brink bounces off, catches up, and asks, āIs that all you got?ā Val swings at him again, loses his line and flies into the hay bales at the side of the course.
- Brinkās team wins the race and the championship. Afterward the X-Bladz sponsor drops Val for cheating.
- Scripture: āWhoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on himā (Proverbs 26:27). Schemes built to bring someone else down tend to come back on the one who built them. It is a picture of how God has ordered the world, not a license to get even. āBeloved, do not avenge yourselvesā (Romans 12:19). Brink never hits back. He keeps skating, and the race takes care of itself.
- Win clean or donāt bother winning. A trap set for someone else is a trap youāre standing next to.
Exhibit BFrom the Word
“Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.”
“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, āVengeance is Mine, I will repay,ā says the Lord.”
“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Clip: Brink! (1998), dir. Greg Beeman. Used for commentary.
ClassifiedFull Briefing
"Is that all you got?" š¼
The championship downhill in Brink! (1998). Val has already tried to win dirty. He spread gravel on a road that put Gabriella in bed, and now he shoves Brink into a parked car mid-race. Brink gets back up and keeps skating. Val swings at him again and ends up upside down in the hay bales. Brink's team wins, and Val gets cut from his own team for cheating.
Scripture called it long before Disney Channel did: "Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him" (Proverbs 26:27, NKJV). The trap you set for someone else tends to find you first. Leave the scorekeeping to God and skate clean (Romans 12:19).
Run your race with integrity. š
š¬ Clip: Brink! (1998), dir. Greg Beeman. Used for commentary.
Sources:
- Brink! (1998), Disney Channel, dir. Greg Beeman. Dialogue checked against the film's English subtitles.
- Proverbs 26:27, Proverbs 16:18 (NKJV), checked on BibleGateway