Warning: this movie review contains spoilers.
Earlier this week, I watched Raya and the Last Dragon with my wife and daughter. Part of the reason we looked forward to watching this movie is that it was intentionally made to reflect a SE Asia setting. We lived in Indonesia for fourteen years. We really love the people there and we miss things about Indonesia, including the food! The movie did include some foods we recognized and some other aspects of SE Asian culture. So that was nice, although we didn’t feel like the cultural aspects went very deep. But, hey, it’s a Disney movie, and it was generally fun and enjoyable to watch. But there is a lot more to Raya than the cultural setting.
Disney movies often have some type of message or messages, and Raya certainly did. The message is made clear in many ways. You don’t have to dig deep for the message, it’s right on the surface throughout the movie. What is that message? My best attempt to sum it up is this:
We should trust people, even when they have hurt and betrayed us in the past and even when there is no reason to think they have changed.
As a Christian, I want to examine that message in the light of God’s Word. But first, I have a few thoughts as a parent. This is a message marketed to children, although Raya will certainly be viewed by many adults as well. I wonder how many of the folks at Disney teach their children to trust people who have hurt and betrayed them in the past when there is no evidence that the person has changed? I wonder if they do that in their own lives? Would you do that? Should you?
Let’s look at what the Bible teaches relative to this topic.
The Bible Calls Us to Trust God, not People
The Bible speaks a lot about trust. But you might miss some of it.
The word translated “believe” in John 3:16 (and in many other verses) includes
the idea of trusting someone. We aren’t called merely to agree with certain
facts about Jesus, we are called to trust Him with our lives and our hearts.
Indeed, throughout the Bible we are encouraged to trust God and our Lord Jesus
Christ. Here are just a few verses:
ESV Psalm 9:10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
ESV Psalm 40:4 Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!
ESV Psalm 115:9 O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.
ESV Psalm 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
ESV Psalm 125:1 A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
ESV Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
ESV Isaiah 26:4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.
ESV John 14:1 "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
ESV John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
CSB17 2 Corinthians 1:9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.
CSB17 1 Peter 4:19 So then, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.
Here is the list of all the verses I could find, after careful research and using several methods of searching for them (not to mention many years of constantly reading, studying, and teaching the Bible myself) that say that we should trust people:
I couldn’t find a single verse that indicates that we should trust people in general, much less that we should trust those who have done us harm and whose actions indicate that they are ungodly.
Not only is there no encouragement to trust people in general, the Bible often warns us to be on guard against people and in many situations not to trust people! Jesus Himself, who had perfect judgment in these matters, did not trust people in general:
CSB17 John 2:23 While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing.
24 Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all
25 and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.
The reason the Bible does not encourage us to trust people is that, in general, people are not trustworthy. In fact, all people are sinful. And many people are downright evil and depraved and if you trust them, they will hurt you without a second thought if they sense any benefit for themselves in doing so.
But don’t we have to trust people in order to live in this world? I mean, when you order a hamburger aren’t you trusting that the people making it aren’t poisoning it? Actually, no. I don’t usually know the people making my hamburger. Instead, I know God, Who is in control of all things. And I trust that He will not allow me to be poisoned unless He has a good reason for allowing it. But this doesn’t mean I’m supposed to put God to the test by trusting people in ways that are foolish.
So, the first main point is that the Bible never teaches us to trust people in general (although some individuals are generally trustworthy), and instead focuses us on trusting our Father in Heaven.
But aren’t we supposed to do good even to our enemies? Yes, but that is not because we trust them . . .
We are called to love our enemies, not to trust them
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” – Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:44 ESV)
God calls us to love all people. He calls us to love all our neighbors, even those from groups that are hostile to any groups we are in (remember the Good Samaritan!). God even calls us to love our enemies. As my family discussed the movie after watching it, we agreed that a similar movie could easily have been made that was about loving our enemies instead of trusting our enemies. That could have been a powerful movie with a beautiful message in harmony with God’s truth! But alas, that is not what we find in Raya.
Loving someone is not the same thing as trusting them. Loving someone means that we seek their good, even if we do not trust them. Loving others means we are willing to take risks to reach out to them, not because we trust them, but because we love them and we trust God to ultimately protect us (He may allow us to suffer in this life but will use all our suffering for good if we love Him).
While loving people and trusting people may look the same on the outside in some situations, in other situations it will produce very different actions. Sometimes the differences are stark, sometimes they are subtle. If a stranger offers your child a ride home in his van, you don’t want your child to trust him! That doesn’t mean you don’t love that stranger and shouldn’t help them in a different setting (of course, if you have reason to think their motives were evil, you should protect your children and others by reporting them and helping them into prison). A more subtle example involves strangers who ask for money to buy food. I’ve had this happen to me in both the US and in Indonesia (but more often in Indonesia, where the amount and level of poverty is much greater). How do I know they won’t misuse the money if I hand it to them? I don’t. I don’t trust them and I’m not called to trust them. But I am called to love them. So, both in Indonesia and in the US, I have sometimes gone and bought them food. Sometimes I took them to the grocery store, set a limit, let them shop, and then I paid for it. Even doing this there is no guarantee that they will not trade the food for drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes. But I don’t have to trust a person to take some risk and help them. I can be wise and reduce the risk of my help going astray, but ultimately I help them out of love, not because they are trustworthy. Jesus helped many people who were not grateful to Him. Trust and love are two different things. Raya and the Last Dragon does not seem to understand this. But then, being made by Disney, I guess we shouldn’t expect them to.
Some people are basically trustworthy, many others are not
The issue of trusting people is complex. Disney oversimplified the issue to the point of being misleading. Biblically, although only God is completely trustworthy, some people are basically worthy of our trust. For example, Paul charges Timothy to pass his teaching onto faithful men who can teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). Here, “faithful” basically means the same thing as trustworthy. Paul calls some individuals faithful: Tychichus (Ephesians 6:21), Ephaphras (Colossians 1:7), and Onesimis (Colossians 4:4). Peter calls Silvanus “faithful” (1 Peter 5:12). However, Paul warns his readers to be on guard against Alexander the copper smith specifically because he had done great harm to Paul (2 Timothy 4:14-15). We should carefully evaluate people before we trust them. Some people are trustworthy, some are not. The dragon’s advice to Raya in the movie is to trust someone who has already done her great harm even though there is no evidence of change. That’s really bad advice (of course in the movie it works out well, but in real life it rarely will).
Other issues in the movie, good and bad
The movie ends with something similar to a resurrection of many people who had been turned to stone. To me this was a moving scene. It is a faint (imperfect, and in some ways inaccurate) picture of the resurrection we look forward to when all evil will be overcome and we will live in peace and harmony with all of God’s people in a perfect world.
Raya was courageous and persevered in a long and difficult mission to rescue her father and her people. Examples of courage and perseverance in the face of evil and many difficulties can inspire us. God calls us all to contribute to His mission of spreading the gospel and making disciples and it does require courage, sacrifice, perseverance, and being willing to face danger.
Different dragons and different people have different gifts and skills in Raya and the Last Dragon. This reflects how God works through different people with different gifts in the church and in ministry. We need to work together to be fruitful.
Raya engages in an occult-like ritual to call forth the last dragon. Obviously, this is fiction, but people really do use somewhat similar occult practices to attempt to communicate with the dead. In fact, I’ve seen it done. I didn’t know it was going to happen at an event I attended overseas, and I didn’t approve of it in any way and in fact prayed like crazy against it when I saw what they were doing. At best, these practices are simply fake and empty. However, there is a real risk of demonic influence coming into the lives of people who participate in such things. It should not be taken lightly. Disney’s movie Soul also showed occult activity in a positive light. We need to guard ourselves, our families, and our church members from such influence. It really is dangerous.
Dragons providing for people and giving people guidance is a terrible substitute and does not work as a symbol for the truth that God provides for us and gives us guidance through His Word, His Holy Spirit, and His people.
Conclusion
If you choose to watch this movie with your kids, I think it is important to discuss some of the problems in it and some of the wrong messages it sends. We should trust God, not people. The world is not broken because we failed to trust people, but because people have failed to trust God. The Bible does teach us to love our enemies, but this is not the same as trusting them. And occult activity is dangerous and sinful.
May God watch over our families, our church families, and especially our children.
Related Blog Posts:
Is Disney’s Soul Good for Yours?
Frozen 2: Biblical Lessons and Christian Thoughts
WandaVision: 7 Christian Themes Seen in Marvel’s Show
Avenger’s Endgame: Lessons for Christians
Thanatos is a Worse Enemy than Thanos
A Million American Witches Need Jesus
Church Growth: Unity leads to teamwork leads to church growth
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .