What Batman Taught Me

I just realised my last entry was inspired by a movie. Guess what drives me to put my thoughts in cyberspace this time?

Batman Begins

This started out originally as an email to close friends. Was told by Joe that I should put it in my blog. (You really think it's that good, sweety? Heh heh.) Why not? Hey, if I'm going to prepare a sermon (as he put it), I might as well plonk it where the whole world can see...

Watched 'Batman Begins' for the 2nd time last night.

This time round, several themes from the movie struck me as having similarities in the Bible. For those of you who haven't watched, don't read on... it will spoil the experience.

For those of you who have watched, remember that unforgettable line
"It's not who I am underneath; it's what I do that defines me."

What does that tell us about our actions? What we do and what we say and how we represent ourselves as followers of Jesus to other people? Look at James chapter 2:

v 17: In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
v 20: Do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
v 22: You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

So it's not just what we believe in our hearts - it's how we behave in our everyday lives that matter. The movie reinforced this for me.

Other memorable themes were that of vengeance vs compassion and forgiveness, and standing up for what's right even against overwhelming odds, and not to let cynicism and world-weariness make us jaded.

There are so many parallels between Gotham city and our world - so much that is wrong, corrupted and twisted. It's easy to give in to despair and not bother about making a difference. But that's precisely what the Bible calls us to do - to be salt and light, even when the 'meat' is completely rotten like Gotham, KL or New York.

We may not have an ultracool Batmobile, a super anti-gun, anti-knife, anti-bomb Batsuit, or nice gadgets to help us jump and fly around rooftops. But what we do have is a lot of super-duper holy armour from God:

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

And Amen to that!!!

Good movies are a treasure. For those who haven't watched, go catch it quick before the Bat flies away from cinemas!


I like this picture - the silent observer, standing in the rain.


It was a tough fight between this or the one above - the still, contemplative hero shrouding his being and his thoughts behind his dark cape.