We’re always being told that the 1980s was the decade of materialism and spiritual dryness. But if that is the case then what happened with Field of Dreams – arguably one of the most spiritual film ever to come out of Hollywood, but made, of all times, in 1989?

Of course there are those who claim that Field of Dreams is just about baseball, or even that its message is to forget religion because baseball is really where it’s at. Indeed that may or may not have been director Phil Alden Robinson’s intention. Then again, film theorists generally agree that films often say far more than their directors intend them to. And as the Bible also tells us that God can even speak through a donkey (and if you’ve not read the story in Numbers 22 then really you should) then his potential to speak through a film in spite of it’s creators intentions should not be ruled out. So even if this was his intention then he would have to be seen as a modern day Balaam, opening his mouth intending to speak against God, but unable to prevent himself becoming his mouthpiece instead. Let's face it if Field of Dreams was simply about baseball then there is just no way it would have been a hit over here in baseball apathetic Britain.

The story starts sometime after Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) and his wife Annie (Amy Madigan) have moved to Iowa to take up farming. Ray is the classic example of a white, middle class college graduate who has seemingly "lived" his whole life in as bland and clichéd a fashion possible. By his own admission he has got to 36 and "never done a crazy thing in (his) whole life". Then one day, whilst walking in one of his corn fields he hears a voice say "if you build it, he will come", and sees a vision of a baseball stadium built in one of his fields.

What is remarkable about the scene is that director Phil Alden Robinson and Costner make this supernatural encounter believable in a way that no biblical epic ever has. By letting the audience hear the voice and see the vision, Robinson puts us in Ray’s shoes, knowing that (at least within the narrative) Ray is really experiencing this, whilst surprising us so that we share his astonishment. We expect God to speak to Moses at the burning bush in The Ten Commandments, but we don’t expect people to be spoken to in twentieth century Iowan cornfields. It also helps that Field of Dreams dispenses with the stodgy piety of the epics, and intersperses its mystery with understated humour. Ultimately it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and somehow that makes it easier to listen to.

It would have been easy for the film to overplay the Kinsella’s decision making process. Lesser films would have resorted to a painful montage of Costner sat at a desk with a calculator looking troubled, and then him flicking mistily through baseball picture books, and finally he and Madigan wordlessly flapping their arms at each other whilst Celine Dion reached a crescendo. Instead Ray and Annie decide, with the kind of disproportionate calm and clarity that occasionally surrounds momentous decisions, to trust the voice and build the baseball field.

One of the strongest resonances that his film has for me is with the story of Abraham. Thankfully Field of Dreams is not a twee, clumsy allegory replete with a sacrifice bound son and an awkwardly pregnant female employee. Instead it catches the spirit of the man and provides a perfect context to explore the nature of unwarranted faith. It’s easy to forget looking back through 2000 years of church history and a further 2000 years of Hebrew religion just how alone and out on a limb Abraham was. No bible, no fellowship, no tradition, no elders and no blueprint for monotheistic faith, just a voice telling him to leave the security of his father’s house and country to follow a God that no-one had really heard of.

For Ray, it’s a different circumstance, but the same (blind) faith that has to trust the voice and plough up his valuable cornfield to build his baseball ground. The voice may have been unmistakable, but it still would have been easier just to ignore it. As with Abraham, there were no guarantees, no authority, no past record, just an improbable command, and an inner conviction that it should be obeyed. It’s the same faith we see time and time again in the bible (neatly summarised in Hebrews 11), requested by a God who is also a bit of a risk-taker. How else can you describe Jesus leaving heaven to live on earth, and then leaving earth again afterwards and trusting a handful of humans to deliver the great commission? Biblical faith requires us to trust God, not because he offers us a gospel of prosperity which promises material gain, but just because. We, of course, have the advantage of knowing God’s track record and ultimate promises. What is so special about Ray and Abraham is that they somehow act without even knowing the voice they heard was trustworthy.

It would be great if once such an agonising step of faith was taken, we quickly received undeniable confirmation that we had made the correct decision. Sadly life is rarely like that, and so Ray and Annie have to live with the consequences of their decision. Their reduced crop leaves them faltering with their mortgage, and whilst the appearance of what seems to be various members of the infamous 1930s Chicago "Black Sox" baseball team is some consolation, many of the Kinsellas’ questions remain unanswered until the final scenes.

Meanwhile, Ray hears the voice speak to him again telling him to "ease his pain". Ray takes this to be in reference to 60s activist author Terrence Mann who has subsequently become a recluse. The voice later speaks for a third time telling Ray to "go the distance". As Ray and Mann drive back to Iowa they pick up a mysterious hitchhiker who appears to be Archibald Graham, another 30s baseball player who failed to face a ball before he left the baseball to become a doctor.

Robinson’s screenplay, based on W.P. Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Joe, skilfully manages to combine the varied lives of these three men into a single fluid story without compromising its structure or pacing. They all face different, but interrelated issues. Kinsella faces disappointment with the insignificance of his life, and regret about his relationship with his late father. For Mann it is the hurt he carries from his rejection by society, and his consignment to the sidelines by those who once praised him so enthusiastically. For Graham it is regret that he never achieved his dream. Ultimately the three all experience healing, Kinsella in reconciliation with his father, and by seeing his field truly become something; Mann in finding his voice again, and Graham, by seeing his choice clearly juxtaposed as one between saving lives and mere baseball. It is ultimately in the self giving of these three characters that they become more whole and are able to move one - rejecting the pain of the past for a less inhibited future.

Personally I will never forget the experience of watching Field of Dreams for the first time. Stuck with a hateful 75 minute commute to a deathly boring short term job, I wondered if the sacrifices I had made for my faith as a younger man were all a big mistake. Field of Dreams gave me fresh eyes of faith to carry on, and keep trusting - to go the distance.

I also remember it featuring in the sermon that was preached at one of the first Open Heaven meetings I ever went to. It was still a relatively new church plant and people knew what was being giving up to try and do something that seemed so impossible. Rich spoke using the 3-4 phrases that Ray hears. Whilst there hasn’t been a stream of headlights all down the road, looking back there is a sense of gratitude to God for those that did come.

Of course it’s possible to push the spirituality of Field of Dreams too far, but it is disappointing that many Christians gloss over the depth of material that the film has about faith, settling instead for a shallow similarity between "the field" and heaven. Such a reading sits awkwardly with the flow of the narrative, and only detracts what the film is actually about. Faith, risking whatever is necessary to live the calling that God gives us, is rarely easy, but his kingdom is on earth as well as in heaven. And if we build that, then one day He will come.