Men in Black 3 in China
Today was a meeting set for the young church leaders in one of China’s most metropolitan city. They asked me what time the meeting was and what the agenda was. I asked them to check what movies were showing and get the screening hours. The list consisted of movies from Hollywood, Bollywood and local Chinese. We decided to watch Men In Black 3. They thought I was joking. I wasn’t. And they did not find it funny. They were expecting me to teach them how to be good disciple makers and leaders. I assured them was watching a movie was vital to learning how to make disciples. And watching movies is also a good way to teach.
Years of relating with these young leaders have earned a level of trust even though it was obvious that they were wondering what in the heck this was about. Fortunately the movie was entertaining and funny. Yet they sat quietly watching the movie probably still wondering what’s this got to do with leadership and discipleship.
At lunch the men were still puzzled, “what was that about?” Then I asked, “Can you tell which parts of the movie had the Gospel in it?” They were stunned. The Gospel in MIB 3? Yes. Of course, why not? If God is at the core center of all of life and the full expression of His love for us is manifested in the Gospel it only stands to reason that we can find a connection in the day to day affairs of people, that includes MIB 3. They couldn’t respond. They did not even know where to start.
I said I spotted three clear instances. To write all three would make this post too long. But the first one was when Agent J (Will Smith) was attempting to travel back in time. To do so he would have to jump from multiple stories of a building and wait for the right moment to click the hand held machine that would bring him to his desired date in the past. As he positioned himself to jump the man who gave him the machine said, “you must love your friend so much for you to do this” (not exact quote).
Taking high stakes risks for someone always makes for a good story. That’s why movies are made of it. It’s a sure fire formula to lure viewers. Something inside of us feels good about these things. To take a risk for a significant other. Why? Because somewhere inside of us is a heart that responds to the Gospel. Unfortunately we would rather believe make believe celluloid that gives us a momentary massage to make us feel good rather than the Holy Spirit who continually speaks to us saying “that’s what Jesus did for you.” The truth of Gospel is eternally more powerful and potent than a momentary make believe movie.
My young friends could not believe that there were two other instances. But my point to them was simple. As ministers and church leaders who make disciples we must be able to show the people that Gospel is everywhere and it is as relevant as the day Jesus walked the earth. Leaders should not limit their ability to reach others to just a Sunday morning preach.
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