My son was taking Taekwondo when the remake of Karate Kid came out, so needless to say, we had to see it.
In China, where the movie was filmed, it is better known by the title: The Kung Fu Dream. The plot centers around a twelve-year-old boy named Dre, from Detroit, who moves to China with his mother and runs afoul with a group of bullies. The character, played by Jaden Smith, gets the tar beat out of him on the playground. Embarrassed and humiliated, everything in him wants to run and hide from his tormenter. He hates living in this unfamiliar place, and he cries out for his mother to take him back to America.
As the saga unfolds, he finds an unlikely ally in an aging maintenance man named Mr. Han, played by Jackie Chan, a kung fu master who teaches him the secrets of self-defense. Then we begin to see a gradual transition in the film where Dre evolves from simply wanting to defend himself into being a part of something much more glorious and far epic than he ever imagined. He will ultimately get to dance with destiny as he is afforded the opportunity to face his nemesis in a kung fu tournament.
Dre finds himself taking hard knocks all along this epic journey, culminating in a championship bout with his rival. In the match, he is wounded and carried back to the dressing room. The doctor advises that he should not go back into the tournament, which would by default crown his rival as the champion. But Dre wants to return to the match.
That’s when Mr. Han affirms him: “You’ve already accomplished everything you wanted to. Why do you still want to fight?”
Dre responds: “Because win or lose, I don’t want to be afraid any more. And I’m still afraid.”
Every time Dre gets back up after being knocked down he finds himself fearing less, and braving more. So it is with you and me. God is more concerned with preparing you for your life’s dance with destiny than insulating you from pain and discomfort. He wants us to become resilient people who fear less and brave more. Therefore life cannot be reduced to merely “not getting beat up” which most of our defense mechanisms are built around. There’s more at stake… there’s a greater glory… a bigger picture… and a BIGGER God we serve.
We all get beat up. We all fail. We all fall down. But it’s resilient people who are changing the world. It’s not the people walking through life unscathed who are shaping eternity. The people untouched by adversity aren’t shaping eternity; it’s being shaped by dogged resilient people, who, under constant fire from the enemy, just keep coming. They refuse to quit! That’s the kind of person God is in the business of shaping: resilient warriors.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 ESV)
(adapted from my new book 13-Foot Coffins)