Finding God in Cinema: The X-Men Films

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

When thinking about the X-Men films, and how these films contain elements of truth that can lead to discussion among believers, this verse kept jumping out at me. Galatians 6:9 is my favorite Bible verse. To me it is so inspirational and encouraging. It is a constant reminder to not be discouraged by failure, or by the evil of the world around us, because there is something worth fighting for, and a reward, the reward (which Jesus Christ made possible to us) worth working for. And so this verse stuck out to me when I thought of the X-Men, a team of super heroes that continue to fight for humanity and save those in need, even though they are hated by society. Now in these articles, I am making my connections from the movies I am writing about, but in this case, there is a little bit of information that I am going to draw from the comic books that will help make things a little clearer.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the X-Men back in 1963 and the comic was partially inspired by the Civil Rights Movement taking place at the same time. The comic book (and modern movies) revolved around a group of individuals called “mutants”—super powered beings that were considered to be the next form of human evolution. The X-Men has almost always been centered on the conflict between two men, Professor Charles Xavier and Eric Lehnsherr, who is probably better known by his mutant name, Magneto. Now these two men both want the same thing for their kind; they want mutants to be accepted by society. However, their methods for accomplishing this dream are very different (if this sounds familiar, it is possibly because Charles Xavier was partly inspired by Martin Luther King Jr, and Magneto by Malcolm X).

Judging vs. Evangelism

Xavier insists on peace in order to accomplish mutant equality, Magneto insists on violence. He believes that mankind will never accept them, and so mutants should use their power to assert their dominance. Now the anger and vengeance that fills Magneto’s heart is rooted in his childhood. As a boy, he grew up in a German concentration camp and witnessed the shooting of his parents. Because of the things he had to endure as a child, Magneto refuses to see the humans as anything but a mindless threat that fears what they do not understand. In 2011’s X-Men: First Class, Charles speaks to Magneto (before he becomes “evil”) and tries to explain to him that there is hope that mankind will accept mutants.

Xavier: “We have it in ourselves to be the better men”

Magneto: “We already are”

When I think of this conflict, a conflict between two individuals who both want the same thing, but go about it in different ways, I think of the modern Christian church. I think of how the Church is held in a negative light by much of society. And then I think of how the Church has failed society. And if you think I’m crazy, and you think that the Church would never do anything negative to unbelievers, then take a good, long look at this picture:

I know that America is not full of churches like Westboro Baptist Church, but there are plenty of churches that see themselves as “the better men,” just like Magneto. There are plenty of people, who claim to know Christ, yet refuse to believe that there is any hope in society, and so they turn to hate and judgment.

“God hates Gays”

“God hates Democrats”

“God hates Republicans”

“God hates Pro-Choice people”

It breaks my heart whenever I see the latest pictures on the Internet or signs like these being paraded down the highway. It breaks my heart that “Christians” are spreading these senseless lies, which are not in any way grounded in Scripture. It is wrong, it is sinful, and it is not evangelism. Yet, the people holding up these signs think it is evangelism. Just as Xavier and Magneto want the same thing for their people, to be accepted, those claiming Christ want the same thing... for the glory of God and the good news of Jesus Christ to be known over all the Earth. The problem is that there are some of us that go about evangelism the right way, and some of us that go about evangelism the wrong way.  There are those that think that because they are Christians, they are so much better than the “sinful” unbeliever.

Judging others, it is something that we all struggle with because in our sin, we try to make ourselves feel better by telling ourselves things like, “Oh I am so much better than that woman who had an abortion,” or “Oh, well I am nothing like that man who was responsible for the school shooting—THEY are much worse sinners than I am.” We focus too much on other people’s sin and not enough on our own sin. So often we forget that we have the same exact capacity for sin that every robber, murderer, and adulterer has. And it is this aspect of sin that leads to people holding signs on the side of the road, and hurting the witness of God’s Church. They forget that God sent his only Son to die for robbers and murderers and adulterers. In Matthew 7:3, Jesus speaks on judging others and says this:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye, and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" 

We want to spread the Word of God to others. But if we decide for ourselves that there is just no hope, and that some people are just “too sinful” to deserve being ministered to, then we become Magneto’s, we become people who have given up hope and turn to judgment and anger, and what it really comes down to is that we don’t have any faith in the power of God to transform an individual (a theme that I explored earlier in Pulp Fiction). On the opposite side of that, if we remember that even though we are full of sin God chose to save us, and that He has the power to save anyone He wants to, then we can move forward with healthy evangelism. We can be followers of Christ that never give up hope, just as Xavier never gives up hope on his mission…which brings me to my second point.

Doing Good Amidst Persecution

The X-Men are a team of heroes who never give up hope on the mankind. Through thick and thin they stay true to the belief that one day they will accomplish their mission, and that they will be accepted. But they still struggle with the idea that maybe they are wrong. Maybe what they are fighting for is not worth it. In the first X-Men released back in 2000, Wolverine is struggling with where he stands in the whole mutant debate. He doesn’t know whose views make more sense, Xavier or Magneto’s. So in his time of doubt, he says this to Storm when she asks him to help the X-Men on their quest:

“You're a mutant. The whole world out there is full of people who hate and fear you and you're wasting your time trying to protect them? I've got better things to do!”

This line is key. It is one of the big lines in all of the X-Men films that sums up the ongoing theme—a theme of never giving up amid persecution. Now when I read this line, I re-imagined it with a few words being replaced with other words and this is what I got:

“You’re a Christian. The whole world out there is full of people who hate and reject you and you’re wasting your time trying to minister to them?”

Now I can see someone, believer and unbeliever alike, asking this exact question to me (or anybody). And on some days, it would be hard for me to answer this question. Because some days when I turn on the news or read the headlines of the Internet, it’s very easy for me to say to myself, “There is no hope.” It is very hard for Christians to look into the face of modern society and not question what God is doing. And because of that, we doubt. We struggle with why we are trying to evangelize what we deem as a “hopeless nation” because we cannot even begin to comprehend God’s plan.

                  
When Wolverine is struggling with his doubt that there is any hope for him and for mutants, Xavier takes him into a room with a machine called Cerebro. This machine allows Xavier to see and track the whereabouts of any mutant. So at first, Wolverine sees all of the humans on Earth, projected in the room as white dots on a map, but then he sees all of the mutants, projected as red dots, and he is amazed at just how many there are. And then Xavier tells him, “You see, Logan (Wolverine’s alias)? We’re not as alone as you think.”

                  
And that’s what I say to myself, and what I would say to other Christians when we struggle with doubt and hopelessness regarding our world and our mission of evangelism. We are not as alone as we think. Sure we can turn on the news and see the terrible things happening but not everything is bad. Whether we see it or not, God is constantly working in our lives, in the lives of those around us, and in the lives all around the world. He knows what He is doing. He has a plan. He tells us this in Jeremiah 29:11:

                  “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

God is working all around us. Even in my first semester at Florida State University, a public university that many would dismiss as a place of sacrilegious activity and secular pleasure, I felt the presence of God around the campus. I can see the many Christian organizations around campus and recall all of the fellow believers I have met and say to myself, I am not as alone as I think. That is something we all need to remind ourselves of.

Conclusion

Now you can say to me, “How can you try to relate us to X-Men? They have all of these powers that make them stronger. We don’t have any powers.” Yes, it’s true, we don’t have the power to walk through walls, or read people’s minds, or bend metal to our will. We don’t have any superpower. But we have a power living within us that is greater than any superpower—the power of God. A power that no Earthly thing can overpower, not even death. A power that God has granted us through the death of His only Son. And he has given us tools to channel this power through. He has given us the Church, where we can gather to worship and glorify him. He has given us the Bible, His holy word through which we can become closer to Him, and seek to show others about God’s grace, mercy, and love. And he has given us the Holy Spirit, the changing agent within the world that convicts the sinner and gives the Christian power to overcome the mastery of sin in their lives. So with these things in mind read Galatians 6:9 again.

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

I have said before that movies are modern-day parables. Pieces of art that can contain hints of truth that can reach to Christians and Non-Christians alike. In the X-Men films, we see a group of heroes that continue to fight for a people that hate them. We see two men, one who is determined not to be weary of doing good because he has faith that they will succeed. And then we have another man who has given up hope on doing good, and turns to hatred and judgment as his tools to get what he wants. And through these stories we can take the example of what the X-Men stand for and apply it to our own lives.  God has a plan, and we will never fully understand it, but that is no reason to doubt the goodness in it. We cannot grow weary of doing good, because we know that God has a reward in store for us, a reward of an eternity with Him, made possible through Christ, and the reward of knowing that we have accomplished our mission as Christians, to bring other lost souls into a relationship with our Lord through evangelism. And that…is a reward worth fighting for.