In the movie U-571, actor Matthew McConaughey plays Lt. Andrew Tyler, a World War II naval officer assigned to a U.S. submarine on a mission to capture a secret Nazi code from a damaged U-boat. During the mission, Tyler's sub is sunk, and the captain is killed. Tyler, now thrust into command, commandeers the Nazi U-boat with his remaining crew.

As they gather inside the U-boat, the Americans realize how desperate their situation is. They know they cannot radio for help because the Germans will likely intercept the message, realize the code has been compromised, and move to change it. The crew looks to Tyler, who says, "Do you think I have all the answers? Do you think I know how we are going to get out of this mess? I don't. I don't know how."

Later, Tyler is sitting alone when he is joined by Chief Klough (Harvey Keitel). Tyler reminisces about how he used to work on his father's rusty, noisy fishing boat. He vowed that he would never skipper a boat like that. Instead, he saw himself on the bridge of a battleship, "a real sea captain."

When given permission to speak freely, Chief Klough says to Tyler, "This is the Navy, where a commanding officer's a mighty and terrible thing; a man to be feared and respected. All knowing, all powerful. Don't you dare say what you said to the boys back there again, 'I don't know.' Those three words will kill a crew, dead as a depth charge. You're the skipper now, and the skipper always knows what to do, whether he does or not."

Any Christian in leadership knows the tension portrayed in this movie. People look to us as the "all knowing and all powerful skipper," and we feel the need to at least create the illusion that we know what to do, even if we don't. To show weakness and uncertainty (we think) kills the confidence of the people we lead.

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Content: U-571 was rated PG-13 by the MPAA for war violence and occasional profanity.