Endgame - A Conversation Starter for the Gospel (No Spoilers)
Ron Davis | CORE Founder
After acquiring tickets on the second row only a few minutes after the pre-release tickets sales began, I marked my calendar and awaited what will certainly be the largest opening weekend of a movie…ever. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has created a cult like following that rivals (and probably even surpasses by most measurable data) the Star Wars enterprise that dominated the cinematic world in three separate story-telling occasions. The MCU, in about a decade of story-telling, has produced twenty-one films before Endgame grossing a staggering 18.5 billion in box office sales. These thoughts were running through my mind as I awaited the beginning of the end of the Avenger phenomenon created by the MCU…and then it began, and there was not a dry eye in the place after the opening scene.
A three hour journey brought my thinking to where it has been for some time concerning the Avenger phenomenon: this is a battle of competing moralities concerning the redemption (the best possible version) of an obviously fallen universe — and there is not enough room for both. One has to triumph, and Thanos’ morality has won (as seen in Infinity War ). Endgame opens with the remaining Avengers, and all of the universe, living within the aftermath of the infamous snapping of the fingers of Thanos, the most evil of all villains, i.e., he is the supervillain of the MCU, and he has intentionally been projected as this evil entity that must be stopped by “whatever it takes.”
When we think about the post-modern epistemic landscape that we find ourselves in, the obvious question is: why is Thanos a bad guy? I mean, he truly believes that killing half of all sentient creatures is the best possible moral choice. Who are we to question what he understands to be, not only right, but the only true path to a universe that will thrive? After all, he is, by far, the most powerful of beings in the MCU. Shouldn’t the Avengers simply change how they think about things and get on board with the morality of Thanos? No…a loud, screaming no! Innocent people have died, and Thanos has enhanced the suffering of an already broken universe. This must be remedied, if at all possible…and the Avengers were assembled for this ultimate purpose: to bring redemption to a broken universe.
You will have to watch the movie to see what happens, but I would like to encourage you to use this cultural phenomenon to engage people with the gospel. I know you are asking: how does this make-believe world of superheroes and villains provide an opportunity to discuss Christ and the beautiful message of the gospel? We want to follow the example of John, Paul and Christ as they leveraged a cultural phenomenon to point people to a relationship with the true and living God. John used the logos doctrine of the Greeks to introduce the reader to Christ as THE Logos (John 1:1-18). Paul referenced “the unknown god” to say to the Athenians, “I declare him unto you” (Acts 17:23). Christ uses a Roman coin to point out the claims of Caesar and God are mutually exclusive, and they must decide to whom their allegiance belonged. In other words, it is a good thing to engage cultural expressions of morality, purpose of life, and divinity for the sake of the gospel …and Endgame gives us a great opportunity to do so.
The MCU created a hero/villain world where the only real moral choice is to protect the innocent at all costs…and to do otherwise would have most-likely been a very mediocre series to be rejected by the masses rather than embraced and projected into the stratosphere of cinematic entertainment. Why? It is innate within humanity to stand against evil and do what is necessary to protect the innocent. This is where we can leverage the worldview of the MCU, and particularly the last two movies, to begin a conversation that will allow us to ultimately point to the God of Scripture. How do we do this? We bring into focus the following:
- There is a moral code that permeates humanity. Those who violate it, regardless of the depth and breadth of this violation, must be brought to justice. World War II substantiated this as Hitler, regardless of his stated moral foundation, was evil and had to be stopped. If there is no transcendent moral code, who gets to decide what is evil and not evil, what is acceptable and not acceptable? If there is no all-powerful, transcendent being upon which the moral standard of humanity is based, then mankind gets to develop our own morality. Humanity embraces a transcendent concept of evil because a transcendent God has written this moral code into his creation, and it flows from the very essence of his being, i.e., his character, and not ours, has established the moral framework by which we judge the world.
- The real world we live in is broken, and it needs to be redeemed …and not the concept of redemption in the MCU but true/final redemption where all things are made right. Some have asked, “If the world is broken, then why doesn’t God do something about it?” The answer: God has done something! Jesus Christ came into this world, as God and man, to pay for the sins of mankind, establish his Kingdom (the new covenant in our hearts), and ultimately redeem the broken world we live in (when he returns to establish the new heaven and the new earth).
- God has revealed himself in the Person of Jesus Christ, in nature, and in a written text. This text, called Scripture, has provided an infallible source of revelation about the creation of the world, the plight of man, the need for redemption, and the way in which mankind can be forgiven and reconciled to God through Christ. This text has all authority because it comes from the true and living God who has all authority.
- The love of God compelled Christ to do what mankind could not do: fix his broken relationship with God …and this wonderful redemptive act is available to all people, regardless of race, social status, nationality, etc. (Romans 10:13).
Engage people around you, and point them to the God of Scripture and the person of Jesus Christ. Start the conversation, and let the power of the Word of God do its amazing work. Echoing the words of Paul, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). May we walk wisely in the world, and may we use the evil days we are in to let the light of the glorious gospel shine brightly in our hearts and overflow into our world.
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