Throwback Thursday - Kung Fu Panda

(originally published in 2010)

Ok I know this might seem like a strange post but I gotta share this. Have you ever seen the movie Kung Fu Panda? It's about a lazy panda who accidentally becomes a Kung Fu master. It's a pretty cute movie and we all enjoyed watching it. But there is one scene in there that had some major, and I'm talking major, truth in it and it has stuck with me and I can't shake it.

So the scene is this: The sensi (teacher), who is a fox named Master Shifu, is afraid of the meanest bad guy ever, who is in a maximum security prison and under extraordinary security measures.   He is worried that the bad guy will escape from prison. Because of this fear he sends his assistant (a duck) to the prison to check on the security and make sure that this bad guy is never getting out.  While there, the duck loses a feather and it drops down into this huge hole where the bad guy is being kept chained up and guarded.   A few minutes later in the movie the bad guy uses the missing feather to unlock his chains, free himself, fend off hundreds of trained guards, escape the prison and begin his journey back to the village where the sensi lives.  The sensi's nightmare is coming true.   All because he had to make sure to make sure that the bad guy was properly guarded and never getting out. 

Here's the truth.  What we fear, and actively try to prevent from happening, can very well happen as we try to prevent it.   If Master Shifu had never sent the duck to "check on" the bad guy, there never would've been a feather to unlock anything and he would never have escaped.

Think about that in the real world, non-cartoon life.   Parents who are afraid that their teens will rebel and put the lock down on everything they do to "ensure" that they can't rebel, can very easily wind up with teens who rebel.   Husbands or wives who are afraid of affairs can become controlling and jealous and actually push their spouse away and end up with a spouse who cheats.  A person who is afraid of friends who will betray them can tend to push them away and actually create dysfunctional, fearful, relationships that are actually completely opposite of what they want and possibly be betrayed.   Our fears, one way or another, come out in our actions. And many times we become a self fulfilling prophesy.

Parents can say -- I knew they'd rebel.   A spouse can say -- I always knew they were a cheater.   A friend can say -- I could've told you that they were going to betray me.  Do you see what I'm trying to say here?

God's word says that perfect love casts out all fear.  When we are controlled by our fears it breaks down trust, honesty and true intimacy.   We become so afraid of a possible outcome - not a guaranteed one - that we do everything we can to avoid that situation and wind up in bondage to our fear.

Why would we want to live that way when God designed us for relationships? With Him and with others.   The only relationship that we can ever ever have that is risk free is our relationship with God.  He will never rebel, never cheat, never betray, never leave us, never disappoint us, never hurt us.  People will. That's not a fear it's a fact.  Humans are incapable of being everything to everybody.  Is that any reason to avoid people?  Absolutely not.  Yes it's scary to have real, honest, loving relationships with anybody.  It's a risk.  And yes sometimes you will get hurt.  That's the nature of a fallen world.  The problem is that we expect people to provide for us what only God can give.  But, I know that God wants us in relationship with others and that when we look to Him to cast out our fears we can have meaningful relationships.

I have been one who is fearful as well as one who has been the object of fear.  I hate being in either place.  I have been challenged to love and to risk despite whatever may happen.  I do not want to be controlled by my fear and, by my actions, cause that fear to become a reality.  If something happens I will deal with it then but for now I pray that I can love others the way that Christ loves me...without fear.