At the Movies: The Little Mermaid

What would you do for love? Longing desperately to love and be loved can often drive us to do terrible things—like trading your voice for a shot with a handsome prince. Instead, what you it look like if you lived your life as a deeply loved person?

Transcript

INTRO

This is our last week of At the Movies. Each week, we’ve looked at one of the summer blockbusters for its major themes and see how the Bible can speak into them.

We’ve talked about identity in Barbie and the duality of human nature in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Today, it’s The Little Mermaid. This is the latest in Disney’s live-action cash-grab… I mean, remake of their animated classics.

Here’s my review: It was enjoyable but forgettable. I thought Halle Bailey was wonderful, and her voice is amazing. The underwater CGI was excellent. It made Aquaman look like an 80s Saturday morning cartoon. I loved all the sea creatures—considering that my original college major was marine biology, and in my younger days, I spent hundreds of hours SCUBA diving with my dad. So, it was still fun. 

If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the trailer.

LITTLE MERMAID OVERVIEW

Now, I could go through the plot of the movie, but come on, it’s been out 34 years. If you don’t know the story of The Little Mermaid by now, either:

• You've been living as a hermit.

• You have an irrational fear of mer-people.

• You don’t have kids or grandkids or have ever been a kid.

 Instead, here’s a child’s summary of the movie:

"Okay, so there's this fish-lady named Ariel who really wants feet. She has a super loud voice, but she trades it for legs with a super mean octopus lady. Then she goes on land, and there's this handsome guy, Eric, and she wants to smooch him to get her voice back. There's a crab singing about how great the water is and a fish who's kinda scared a lot. Oh! And a seagull thinks a fork is a hairbrush! In the end, there's a big water fight, and the fish-lady gets her voice back and also gets feet. They live happily after, and the crab sings some more!"

There you go! Thank you and amen.

THE CONFLICT BETWEEN WORLDS

The movie sets up a few conflicts:

• There’s obviously father vs. daughter.

• Good vs. evil. (I’m looking at you Ursala.)

• Are fish friends or food? (Oh wait, wrong movie.)

But the real conflict in this movie is between worlds—the human world vs. the undersea world. There was animosity on both sides. King Triton hated the humans and the humans hated and feared the mer-people.

And then there’s Ariel. She longs to be “part of that world.” It has sun and sand, and it’s got “gadgets and gizmo's a-plenty.” And she thinks that on land dads “don’t reprimand their daughters.” You know, the seaweed’s always greener…

And, of course, the human world isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. So, there’s a constant tension between these two worlds.

IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF THE WORLD

It reminds me of the common Christian saying— “Be in the world but not of the world.” Have you ever heard that? Probably. It’s been shared in sermons, included in devotionals, and posted on social. It’s based on the verses you just heard from John 17.

But what does it actually mean? For some, it means avoiding worldly places or situations. For others, it’s about doing the right behaviors and not doing the wrong ones. For others, it’s about fighting for Christian causes and opposing non-Christian ones.

Be in the world but not of the world.

But what if I told you that there were two major problems with this bumper sticker theology? First, generally, Christians don’t live it out. And second, more importantly, it’s not even a good representation of what Jesus really said. Let’s break that down.

THE CHRISTIAN REALITY

With as common as this saying is around churches, you would think Christians would really be living this out. However, the complete opposite is true. Christians actually seem to live “not in the world, but of the world.”

First, Christians are extremely separated from the world around them. Bill Hybel’s book Just Walk Across the Roomdescribes this cocooning effect where the longer a person attends church, the more isolated they become from the non-Christian world. Also, we have an entire subculture of Christian events, music, clothes, coffee houses, and more so that we rarely have to interact with those horrible heathens.

Second, Christians seem to be looking more and more like the larger population. Research from Barna has consistently shown that the choices, behaviors, and morals of Christians show minimal difference from their non-Christian counterparts.

How could Christians get this so wrong? It can be traced back to a misunderstanding of what John 17 really says.

LOOKING AT JOHN 17

Let’s read the passage again.

14 I, Jesus, have given them, the disciples, your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you, Father, take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Going back to this slogan, “be in the world but not of the world,” you might notice something off about it.

It begins with the premise that we’re stuck in this fallen, wicked world, and what we really must do is keep our Christianity pure and make sure we’re not part of that world. We have to separate ourselves from worldly, secular things. Many of you have probably been told by pastors or parents—don’t go that place or hang out with those people or listen to that music.

This mentality starts with our condition—we’re stuck in this wicked world—and then gives our mission—don’t be a part of it and don’t be corrupted by it.

But that’s not what Jesus says. He starts with a very different condition and gives a very different mission.

In our John 17 passage, Jesus gives us our condition—twice.

• v.14 – They are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

• v.16 – They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

If you’re a Christian, you don’t belong to this world.

• In Philippians, Paul says, “our citizenship is in heaven.” (3:20)

• Hebrews says we are “foreign citizens and strangers on earth.” (11:13)

• 1 Peter describes us as "foreigners and exiles” in this world. (2:11)

We are not of this world. This isn’t our home. For Jesus, “not of the world” is our starting point, not our destination. It’s our condition, not our mission. 

Don’t think for a moment that Jesus wants us to gather up in our holy huddles and keep separate from the secular world. In fact, it’s just the opposite. In verse 15, in between these verses, Jesus asks the Father not to take us out of this world but instead to protect us from the evil one. Jesus knows who the real enemy is.

Why does Jesus want us to stay? Because that’s exactly where he sent us. In verse 18, Jesus says, “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”

We share Jesus’ divine mission. To be sent into this world. The movement of the believer is not away from the world but toward it.

Jesus was sent into the world to reveal God to humanity, to teach, to heal, and ultimately to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus' coming into the world was intentional, purposeful, and sacrificial.

Same with us. Jesus has intentionally sent us into the world to reveal God to others, to love and serve, to be his examples, to share his teachings, and to make disciples of all nations.

Jesus had a mission into the world. So do we.

David Mathis, Executive Editor of DesiringGod.com described it like this,

“Jesus’s true followers have not only been crucified to the world, but also raised to new life and sent back in to free others. We’ve been rescued from the darkness and given the Light not merely to flee the darkness, but to guide our steps as we go back in to rescue others.”

AN ALTERNATIVE SAYING

So, maybe it’s time to update the old saying to something that better reflects Jesus’ mission for us: We are not of this world but sent into it.

Remember that your citizenship is in heaven. Your home is in heaven. Your identity is heaven.

But Jesus is sending you into your world.

• Into that hobby group, sports team, or workplace.

• Into that circle of friends that you’ve known since high school.

• Into that coffee house, that apartment building, or that

CLOSING

Remember John’s famous verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

If you really believe John 17:18, that your mission is the same as Jesus’s mission, maybe this verse can apply to you as well: For God so loved the world that he sent YOU into it… so that people can hear that whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life.”