HBO’s BARRY recently wrapped up its third season in June and yet again it showed why it continues to receive near universal acclaim from critics and viewers alike. Masterful directing, phenomenal acting, tight scripts, and an uncomfortable ability to effortlessly shift between comedic antics and soul deadening moments—often so quickly you become unsure which is which—make it a show that is more than worth watching. Honestly, it is probably the best show on television right now, or is at least tied with/a close second to AMC’s Better Call Saul.
If you cannot tell: I love the show. Ever since I stumbled upon it, bored and browsing HBO back in 2018, it has stayed amongst the ranks of my favorite television shows of all time. It wrestles with complex themes of identity, revenge, and transformation, all while having some of the best-directed, most exhilarating action sequences in American media outside of the John Wick films. And, unlike that franchise, the sequences in BARRY, while undoubtedly entertaining, are shot in a way that lets you understand the quick brutality of gun violence in a not-so-fun way. Sure, Season 2’s “ronny/lilly” episode dives into the absurd, at times feeling like an ultra-violent Three Stooges bit with hand-to-hand combat instead of silly eye pokes, but almost every time a gun fires off you feel and see the devastating repercussions.
With that said, BARRY’s strengths are nonetheless best highlighted by its character work. Season Three in particular really hammers home the idea that actions speak louder than words and that the presence or absence of certain actions are what define a person, not any self-professed nothings regarding growth and change. No matter how many times Barry may claim that he is leaving his dark past behind him—no matter how many times he promises not to kill again—his actions show otherwise.
That truth, the idea that one must back up their words with actual change and that one’s actions both reflect who they are and shape who they are, is not something that is being introduced to the world for the first time with this television show. It is something that has been present within media, literature, and philosophy probably for as far back as you can and want to go. Season Three of BARRY just happens to be a recent example of an eternal truth.
From a Christian perspective, one needs only to look at St. James’ writings in the second chapter of the Book of James to see a deeper reflection on the truths that BARRY is touching on:
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
James 2: 14 - 26, ESV
What St. James is hammering home here, quite forwardly, is the role of actions as a sign of inner change. If you claim that you are something, that something should be evident in your life.
Imagine the utter ridiculousness of someone walking up to you and telling you that they are a hiker and that they love to travel; you would expect that they have seen a few sights and marched their way through a couple of trails, right? Well, what if that person then admits that they have actually only ever walked around their backyard? You would laugh them off, either to their face or to yourself. The same is true with anyone who claims to be nearly anything but has nothing to show for it. Picture a baker who has never baked, a baseball player who has never swung a bat or thrown a ball in his/her life, and so on and so forth. I am sure that you get the point by now.
So, my question with all of this is: do we do the same with ourselves or others when we/they claim to be Christian?
Of course, as with most articles on this website, I am speaking pretty broadly and stereotypically, but I do believe that we as Christians accept other people’s Christianity or even our own as authentic far too easily. We see the tree and assume that it is one that grows fruit, or we see the fruit but never check to see whether or not it is rotten.
Yet, St. James cannot be more clear when he declares time and again that faith without works is dead. Those works do not bring about salvation—for we have been saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8)—but they nonetheless are the proof in the pudding. A Christian is/should be a new creation; for it is not the Christian who lives but Christ in them (Galatians 2:20). Consequently, actions performed by the individual post-conversion MUST point towards Christ, and sinful habits and tendencies MUST be gradually worked away from. No one will ever be perfect in their walks, but if an outside observer, or especially a close friend or family member, is surprised to learn that you/someone else is a Christian, maybe it is because the conversion never actually took place to begin with.
BARRY factors into this conversation again by having its titular character exemplify a false conversion. Repeatedly across its three seasons (and a fourth just entered production at the time of this writing), Barry cries out “starting… now!” in an attempt to signal to himself a turn from his murderous ways.
In and of itself, such a restart, for lack of a better term, is not a bad thing. People mess up and need forgiveness all throughout their lives. There is a reason why the Jesus prayer—“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”—is so popular, at least within the Eastern Churches; it is an effective way to communicate one’s sinful, earthly circumstance and their need for Christ. When somebody sins, a prayer of repentance is necessary. Repentance, however, is not simply a quick phrase you fire off and are then in the clear. It must be followed by change and an active effort to avoid falling into the same error. If that change and effort are nonexistent, then repentance is nonexistent as well. Where the challenge lies is figuring out just how that change becomes a regular part of an individual’s life.
The aforementioned passage from the Book of James makes it abundantly clear that works are a necessary sign of salvation, but getting to a point where said works are continually occurring is difficult. Much has been written about the formation of habits, with a common refrain being that “it only takes three weeks to establish a habit!” but, in actuality, the exact time frame is far from conclusive. Each person is different and what may take someone three weeks to incorporate into their daily routine could take someone else one week, two months, a year, and so on. Accordingly, the specific length of time is redundant and the importance then shifts to what one does to form habitual actions within that window. For Christians, I believe that forming these habits is essential to transforming one’s faith and becoming more aligned with Christ.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20, ESV
As someone who was raised within a Protestant background—non-denominational evangelical—I have personally witnessed a lot of hesitancy when it comes to performative actions of faith. Whether those actions have been related to a fiery, emotional Pentecostal exclamations or dances, or a humble but equally passionate Catholic Rosary Prayer made on bent knees, they are generally met with thoughts of “they need to test the spirits more” or “now that is way too stiff, where is the relationship?” Of course, there needs to be an evaluation as to whether one’s actions are truly reflecting Christ and are not either being influenced by another spirit or are purely surface-level, but those actions can legitimately assist in placing oneself in the proper position before God.
All throughout Scripture we see examples of how people are to physically worship God. For example, Psalm 95:6 reads “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” and St. Paul, in his First Letter to Timothy, writes how men should pray “lifting holy hands” (1 Timothy 2:8). I could list more but that would take too long. The point is that we are expected to have some sort of physical acting-out of our worship and prayers to God. Going back to the proof in the pudding comparison from earlier, imagine if someone told you that they were an avid gym member but never went to the gym. Or if someone said they were a baker but never baked a single cake or pastry in their life. In either of those circumstances, their actions, or lack thereof, show that their self-proclaimed categories are nothing but empty words. Yet, by beginning to go to the gym or by starting to attempt baking—even if they are met with failures and hurdles—those people gradually become gym rats and Paula Deens. Their actions reflect their desired identity, but their actions also shape their actual identity.
I believe that it is similar for Christians.
If we want to start aligning ourselves more with Christ, fully embracing the truth of the fact that it is not we who live but Christ in us, then we need to act it out. Yes, that will inevitably result in giving to the poor, housing the homeless, and sacrificing for friends, family, and strangers alike, but it must also start through the simple ways in which we worship and pray. It may feel uncomfortable to kneel, lift hands, bow down, yell in worship, etc., but if we want to adopt those habits and fully shape our identity around Christ then we need to just do it. The transformation may not be immediate and it may feel “forced” for a very long time, but the more we kneel, lift our hands, and act out our reverence and love for our Heavenly Father, the easier it will be to keep doing so. Eventually, we will perform such gestures purely out of genuine emotion and awe and then our actions will accurately reflect our identity. That is when an amazing cycle begins wherein our actions reflect our identity and that identity then fuels us to do additional things and adopt further behaviors which further reflect our identification with Christ. And this continues in perpetuity until we finally arrive upon the white shores of Eternity.
To wrap it all up, I want to end with this passage from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthian Church:
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27, ESV
Have that discipline. Act out your faith. Let your conversion be true.
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Oh! Also: watch BARRY.
Great points to reflect upon
I appreciated your post!