Rambo is no Missionary
The new Rambo movie hits theaters tomorrow. Judging from the trailers and early reviews, we can expect the same extreme violence and over-the-top heroics that characterize the rest of the epic series.
But this time there’s a twist. In John Rambo, Christian missionaries are at the heart of the story. After renouncing his violent past, a reluctant Rambo is persuaded to rescue a group of missionaries being held captive by the brutal Burmese army.
Sounds good, right? Finally Christians can cheer on a hero who fights for a noble cause.
Not so fast, says Glenn Penner of Voice of the Martyrs, a ministry that aides and advocates for persecuted Christians around the globe. Penner pans what he called “the most violent Rambo film yet,” in which the hero “shoots and stabs the missionaries to freedom.”
His main beef is not with the movie’s violence per se; he takes exception to the film’s underlying message.
“The call (should be) to take up the weapons of prayer and the pen, not the bullet and the Bowie knife.”
I wholeheartedly agree with Penn. Killing is always tragic. It is especially tragic when done in the name of Christ, the One who met violence with only silence and love. Any serious suggestion that we should take up arms to violently rescue persecuted Christians would be truly tragic indeed.
But there’s the rub. Rambo is hardly “serious.” I can’t see any guy with an IQ higher than his shoe size expecting a serious moral message from this mindless action flick. And besides, can you imagine how boring a Rambo movie would be where Stallone talked his way out of the jungle? So in the final analysis I’m inclined to give Rambo a break—just as long as it stays on the screen.
But this time there’s a twist. In John Rambo, Christian missionaries are at the heart of the story. After renouncing his violent past, a reluctant Rambo is persuaded to rescue a group of missionaries being held captive by the brutal Burmese army.
Sounds good, right? Finally Christians can cheer on a hero who fights for a noble cause.
Not so fast, says Glenn Penner of Voice of the Martyrs, a ministry that aides and advocates for persecuted Christians around the globe. Penner pans what he called “the most violent Rambo film yet,” in which the hero “shoots and stabs the missionaries to freedom.”
His main beef is not with the movie’s violence per se; he takes exception to the film’s underlying message.
“The call (should be) to take up the weapons of prayer and the pen, not the bullet and the Bowie knife.”
I wholeheartedly agree with Penn. Killing is always tragic. It is especially tragic when done in the name of Christ, the One who met violence with only silence and love. Any serious suggestion that we should take up arms to violently rescue persecuted Christians would be truly tragic indeed.
But there’s the rub. Rambo is hardly “serious.” I can’t see any guy with an IQ higher than his shoe size expecting a serious moral message from this mindless action flick. And besides, can you imagine how boring a Rambo movie would be where Stallone talked his way out of the jungle? So in the final analysis I’m inclined to give Rambo a break—just as long as it stays on the screen.
posted by Drew Dyck at 6:03 PM
12 Comments:
There's a time for peace and a time for war. The absence of war is not peace and of course there's the peace through strength adage.
My point here is simply to suggest that while “The call (should be) to take up the weapons of prayer and the pen, not the bullet and the Bowie knife.” is how, perhaps, it should be, there comes a time when the bullet and the Bowie knife secure the prayer and the pen.
Jesus himself realized this and so should we.
I heard Sylvester Stalone say on The Today show a couple of days ago, "The natural state is war; peace is an accident." It echoes Rev. 6:4. Of course, I have not seen the flick, yet, and would not do so under the illusion that it is a "Christian" film or resonates Christian values, but it is perhaps a sign that Stalone is thinking in the right direction.
I agree with "jeffreyp." There IS IN FACT a time for peace and a time for war. Look at the book of Joshua. There DOES comes a time when the bullet and the Bowie knife secure the prayer and the pen.
I think Christians get on the war band wagon way to fast. Jesus was never violent and we need to be very very careful when we advocate for war. I'm not saying that there is never a place for war, It is just that we are called to be peace makers. We have spiritual weapons and the holy spirit to guide us.
Anonymous is wrong. Jesus was was violent in the Temple clearing house with a whip in his hand. He also instructed his Apostles that now there is a time to take your sword and that he did not come to bring peace but a sword. I believe the time for "Lovey Dovey" Christianity is coming to an end. Although I am willing to take a punch for my faith, I will not stand by with a posture of in-action while someone is being attacked or is in need of rescue. The enemy is on the attack, it's time to fight back!
Once again Jesus is pictured as all love and peace. He did display these characterisitics along with grace, long-suffering and the like. But he stood in the faces of the Pharisees, and called them 'sons of vipers'. We have a saying very similar in our society today, except we call them sons of dogs. He also cleared the temple by throwing them out with his bare hands, and a whip, so to say he was a mild and meek man is distorting the truth.
That is one BIG thing wrong with the Church today. It is time to stand up for what is right, even if sometimes it means getting 'in their face' just as Jesus did. Quit being a bunch of wimps and worried about the Politically Correct crowd.
Of course, my rant has nothing to do with the film, just with the comments by anonymous, and johnny. BTW, Johnny, I wholeheartedly agree!!
And if I go see a Stallone movie, especailly one called Rambo, I expect kill 'em up action, just as in the other 329 prior Rambo movies he's made up to date. Isn't he drawing social security by now?
Who is the neutered weenie who wrote this review?? Check out Shamgar, Joab, Peter, David's mighty men. There is a place for the sheepdogs who protect and rescue the sheep and it's not always pretty.
Yes, there is indeed a time for peace for war and a time for peace. Christians must however remember that "the weapons of our warfare are not canal..." Christ, who is depicted as 'violent' by the temple incident told Peter in Gethsemane that those who live by the sword will die by it. Let's face the sober truth: violence may attract attention and give a sense of 'doing something about it' but it also destroys both victim amd 'victor'. The greatest weapon is still prayer said on the knee in the quiet of night and God's Word which is sharper than any sword.
Is their anyone who believes that Israel won the six day war without God's help? Read the Psalms of David again. This king and military man always put his past, present, and future in God's hand in situations much more sevire than anything we have to face. Times to turn the cheek, to run, and times to fight and kill.
Im glad to see that there are other men who are tired of the (overly)passive wimpy expectation the church has of us. Christ was lovingly bold and boldly truthful, standing in he face of immorality and unjustness. Sure Davids mighty men and Joshua and all the countless battles of the Old testament were under the old covenant but they were righteous none the less. Jesus did not call us to lay down arms and stop fighting, but to fight for those who cant and stand up for those who arent accepted or persecuted ( i think violently if neccessary) I saw Rambo and came out thinking that those soldiers only understood one thing. There was a scene where He gave a group of them 4 or 5 chances to reason with him and they wouldnt and he knew what would happen to his people if they talked anymore. My friends father was a missionary to Burma (where the story took place) in the middle of the film he looked at me and said, " It is like this there to this day and no one is doing anything about it" Someone has to stand up for people in need by giving there lives and fighting if they have to. My 2 Cents.-J.Quain
I agree with the above post by J. Quain. Becoming a Christian doesn't automatically make you a pacifist and honorary folksinger. What does it mean to defend the weak, when we walk by seeing a child raped? To go home and pray about it? Or to DEFEND THE WEAK. I'm not saying all or most conflicts require any form of violence, but some certainly do. Some crazed animal tries to attack my wife, I'll not stand idly by and let him. "I pity the fool" that thinks becoming a Christian means we get the bonus of a neutering in the process. I was a Christian policeman, and martial artist, and know that they don't conflict with my faith. To read more about this, see: http://mwkworks.com/onsheepwolvesandsheepdogs.html
I have seen Rambo one time and have tried to think through whether or not there were any intended theological implications.
I wrote on my blog when Rocky Balboa came out that Stallone intended the last installment of his most well-known saga to have a subtle Christian message. I agreed 100 percent with what he was trying to say and accomplish through the character of Rocky. It also quickly became one of the most read articles on my website:
http://www.forerunner.com/blog/2006/11/rocky-balboa-christian.html
But the Rambo movie is tougher to analyze. One good thing that came out of it is that people may be forced to pull out an almanac and look at where Burma is on a map. It's between China and India and has been ravaged by the same conflict that overtook Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam for the past 50 years. Over ten million civilians were killed under Pol Pot and Ho Chi Minh. Stallone is forcefully reminding us that this is still going on. So on that level it serves an important purpose.
At a more basic level, you have a hero who has a violent and turbulent past. Rambo is at war within himself. He is at odds with his family and his country. He believes that no matter what the Christian missionaries in Burma try to do: "You ain't gonna change nuthin'!"
Partially, I agree. Apart from a supernatural working of God's grace, we each remain totally depraved. Without Revival and Spiritual Awakening a blood bath like Burma lurks in the hearts of each of us and in every nation.
But there is a more subtle message. Rambo is changed in the storyline by the heart of a Christian woman who is captured and subjected to atheistic brutality. Of course, Rambo has to kill dozens of communist soldiers to save her.
Early in the dialogue -- and there is not much of it -- she asks him if he has a family back home.
He mentions a father and says he doesn't know whether he is still alive. She asks him why not and he simply grunts: "What for?"
Rambo is completely nihilistic. He believes that only force can solve conflicts. There is nothing "good" in any man. He doesn't believe in the Gospel or the Christian mission. If Americans aren't supplying the rebels with guns then there is no hope.
His only advice to the missionaries: "Go home!"
But he takes on the job after the woman in the group proves herself through sincere persistence. Later the group is captured and the bishop of the missionary organization hires mercenaries to rescue them.
After rescuing the same Christian pietists who would rather be slaughtered themselves than violently resist pure evil, Rambo does have a change of heart.
In the last scene as the credits roll he arrives at his home in Arizona and the camera pans back to show him walk for a few minutes about a quarter of a mile toward his home.
So there is a simple message of reconciliation in Rambo. He's no longer divided form his country and his family. The message is that we need to solve the division between ourselves and God before we can resolve external conflict.
The message is very subtle but it's there. It's buried underneath the violence that surpasses even Mel Gibson's Apocalypto -- which also ironically ends with a subtle Christian message.
I don't think it is a consistent Christian message in that a lot of the violence is purely gratuitous.
But I am no pietist.
I agree with JeffreyP: "There is a time for war."
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