As a child of the 80s, I experience no small degree of satisfaction that two of my favorite franchises, Star Wars and the Karate Kid are once again near the very top of cultural popularity. And probably my two favorite current shows, The Mandalorian, and Cobra Kai are both wildly successful by any possible metric, and each hold pride of place on their respective distributing channels, Netflix and Disney+.
As excited as I am about both of these shows however, I’m grieved to say that they both expound on a foundational principle of Christianity more effectively than anything I’ve heard from the Church in a very long time; that Jesus is an entire way of life.
The title of this article was likely scandalous to some who will read it: What does the Church need to learn from a couple of TV shows? NOTHING. Bill have you gone apostate? Or even worse… liberal?
I hope not, and I don’t think so.
I’m simply making an observation that both of these two tv shows center around a concept that should be so obviously present in Christianity.
But for some reason, it’s sadly not.
While Christianity clearly and obviously involves holding to a certain set of beliefs, including what is necessary to be “saved”, it is meant to be more than that. Jesus meant more for his followers than that they agree with his theology of salvation (not less than that, but certainly more). Remember - Jesus’ repeating clarion call was actually “Follow me.”, not just “agree with me.”
We understand the idea of devoting oneself to a way of life; dedication to a controlling philosophy that affects not just our beliefs, but our decision-making processes, our actions, how we spend our time and money… that transforms everything about us. But we tragically understand this concept in 2020 largely because it’s illustrated in shows like Cobra Kai and The Mandalorian, and not so much because of our reading of the four Gospels.
The practice of the Way of Jesus should be a testimony from the church to the rest of the world of what this looks like. Sadly, the current state of things is the reverse, and far too many of us Christians need to look up and learn a few things from pop culture.
Let’s look briefly at these two different worlds, and then come back and see why the call of Jesus should be more compelling than either of them.
Exhibit 1: The Way of the Fist
Kreese: What do we study here?
Students: The way of defense, sir!
Kreese: And what is that way?
Students: Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy Sir!
Now, these were obviously the bad guys. Well, at least Kreese was the bad guy. Jonny is apparently a misunderstood victim. I get it. Illegal kick, #justiceforjonny, and all that.
The entire premise of the Karate Kid franchise, and continuing now in the wildly popular Cobra Kai series is the conflict between two “ways”. The way of Cobra Kai Karate is aggression. It is merciless. It is in-your-face straight forward force. The way of Miyagi-Do Karate is peace. It is defense in favor of offense. It is above all -- balance.
And for better or worse, what we see in these movies and shows is that the adherents of each of these “ways” of karate actually follow in those ways, beyond karate. Aggression, domination, and constant offense are not only indicative of Cobra Kai karate, but these traits are seen in Cobra Kai practitioners in their personalities, their words, their actions, etc. The lives of Cobra Kai students are transformed by their devotion to Cobra Kai karate.
On the other hand, one of the key moments in the original Karate Kid film occurs when Miyagi, having just given Daniel a car for his birthday, tells him,
“You remember lesson about balance? Lesson not just karate only… Lesson for whole life.”
And that was Daniel’s actual problem, wasn’t it? Not just that some bullies liked to beat him up. But that his entire life had been thrown out of balance. Karate for Daniel wasn’t just a way to protect himself physically, it was a way for him around which to organize his entire life.
When we watch The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai, we unquestioningly accept and admire how these silly teenagers’ lives are deeply impacted, influenced, and directed beyond fighting and self-defense, into whole-person transformation, according to the teaching of their respective sensei.
Maybe that’s what’s missing in Christianity today – We (rightly) want Jesus to be our savior… but maybe we forgot to make him our Sensei.
Exhibit 2: This is the Way
Din Djarin: I’m a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion.
Even though the show was instantly popular, Star Wars fans took a while to acclimate to the title character in the Mandalorian. Mandalorian characters already existed in the films, the books, the animated series, and even the video games (Canderous Ordo, anyone?), but this new Mandalorian’s rules seemed different than anything we had previously experienced. And whenever he did something strange, rather than providing any real explanation, he simply stated, “this is the way.”
Early in the show, the writers make it clear through Din Djarin’s interactions with others within the small enclave of other Mandalorians, that “the way” controlled all decision making, practice, and action for this group of warriors. Reward for honor? --“This is the way.” Crazy mission assigned? -- “This is the way.” Fist fight in the armory? --“This is the way.”
“The Way”, in this show refers to “the way of the Mandalore”, which turns out to be a religion practiced by devotees who are dedicated to restoring the ancient practices of their society (the most overt being not removing one’s helmet in front of a living being). As the plot of the show develops, we find out that followers of the way of the Mandalore are seen by other Mandalorians as a minority sect, or even cult; a cult which Din Djarin apparently didn’t even realize he was a part of.
Students of the New Testament ought to have recognized the picture of religious devotion to a certain set of life-controlling principles called, “the way” from the book of Acts. Where the early Christians were not called “Christians”, but were literally called, “Followers of the Way.” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14)
What way?
The way of Jesus. Who called himself The Way (John 14:6).
Not “believers of the Way”. Followers of the Way.
Yes belief is important. Yes doctrine is essential. But what if New Testament Christianity was meant to be a whole-life system of religious devotion to the Way of our Founder and Teacher, which might seem a little “off”, if not crazy to the outside world?
Wait, you love even your enemies? – This is the way.
How can you give away so much? Why don’t you keep more for yourself? – This is the way.
You’re being persecuted. Why are you rejoicing? – This is the way.
You have rights! Why aren’t you insisting on what you deserve? – This is the way.
Perhaps if there were more following of the Way of Jesus, there would also consequently be more asking for a reason for the hope we have (1 Pet. 3:15).
The Best Around
The greatest difference about Jesus is of course that He’s a real person. He is the most important, most influential, most profound person ever to walk the earth. We organize our calendar by him. More books, movies, songs, art etc. have been written and created about him than any other person.
And as appealing as we might find the Way of Cobra Kai karate, or the Way of the Mandalore from time to time, the Way of Jesus is the only hope for the real world.
No, we can’t get to heaven merely by our attempts of “doing” the life of Jesus. We are saved by the grace of God alone (Eph. 2:8). I’ll argue to my grave about that. But what about the rest of the gift of life on the earth he’s given us? Did you die today? No? Then what does your Christianity mean? Does it even matter at all, beyond the day you die? I hope so.
Is the meaning of your faith essentially to be the world’s police on social / moral issues, and the church’s police on orthodox doctrine? You know, there was a religious group I read about in the New Testament that sounds just like that… and it wasn’t the followers of Jesus.
More and more I feel called to return to the most very basic sense of my Christian Faith. Following Jesus. Yes, of course believing Jesus. But can we really say we believe him if we don’t actively follow him and do the things he says to do? In fact, isn’t he the one who said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, but not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46)
We need Jesus to be our sensei. We need to unswervingly and religiously follow HIS Way. For many of us that will require becoming reacquainted with his basic teaching on a variety of topics. But it’s worth it. Let’s make 2021 a year of being filled with, loving, worshipping, and following Jesus.
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