Fence Painting
In 1984, a film came out that became very popular in many churches to illustrate a vital part of Christianity. That movie was ‘The Karate Kid’.
It was successful, which led to a few sequels, and it was also remade in 2010. There has also been a television series running since 2018 called Cobra Kai.
The original story is about a young teen called Daniel who moves to Southern California with his mother. Once there he finds himself the target of a group of bullies who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo.
Fortunately, Daniel befriends Mr. Miyagi, an unassuming repairman who just happens to be a martial art master himself. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wing, training him in a more compassionate form of karate and preparing him to compete against the brutal Cobra Kai.
The reason this was used in churches back in the mid-80s is because of the strong theme of training, or in other words, discipleship. There are a few memorable clips, that I saw many times at church…
Mr. Miyagi made Daniel paint fences and wax cars. At the time Daniel complained about doing it. The film dramatically shows the ‘revelation’ moment in a training session when Mr. Miyagi goes to attack Daniel and calls out ‘wax on, wax off’. At those commands Daniel makes a move to block Miyagi and Daniel sees that he has been in training all this time!
There are many references about discipleship in the Bible, but for me, this one stands out…
“We do not enjoy being disciplined. It is painful at the time, but later, after we have learned from it, we have peace, because we start living in the right way.”
In this verse the word discipline is used. That word can sound and feel negative: It may conjure up an image of a schoolteacher with a pupil or a parent with a child. In both these pictures the pupil or child is a victim, and the discipline does not do them any good.
However, when done in the right way, and in the right context discipline is positive. After all, it is the same route word as discipleship.
There were times when our children were young and growing up, that we had to discipline them. This was done because we loved them dearly and were caring, protecting and shaping them. It was discipleship!
When I saw that God really loves me, and that He sees the big picture and that He longed to have a relationship with me, my perspective and outlook changed. I have been through some difficult times, but coming through them, I have seen that God has ‘discipled’ me, and my life is better for it.
God loves you! If you love Him, there will be times when He will disciple you into the person that He longs for you to become. May you see it, embrace it, and allow it to shape you for the better!
God bless you :)
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader