Salvation lies within?

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Po is a panda, a fat panda, who dreams of being a Kung Fu warrior. However, working alongside his father running a noodle restaurant in a small Chinese valley he could hardly be further from his dream. Kung Fu Panda tells Po’s story of how, by a strange turn of events, he is chosen to defend his valley and become the legendary Dragon Warrior. Not everyone, though, is pleased with this choice:

Shifu: Master Oogway, wait! That flabby panda can’t possibly be the answer to our problem. You were about to point at Tigress and that thing fell in front of her; that was just an accident!
Master Oogway: There are no accidents.

With Master Oogway believing in him, Po joins the iconic Furious Five (those chosen and trained in Kung Fu since infancy) and is faced with the biggest challenge of his life. He has dreamed about Kung Fu, but now he needs to learn it, and it proves a lot harder than he thought. Po struggles, especially as the Furious Five are not initially supportive, seeing him as an intruder who has stolen their chance for glory. Despite this, Po works extremely hard trying to prove his worth, training morning till night. However, when the news arrives that the evil snow leopard Tai Lung has escaped from jail and is heading back to the valley, Po has a crisis of belief. Even with the training he has received and the progress he has made, he still can’t see how he is going to defeat the terrifying Tai Lung, especially when the five masters return defeated after trying.

Master Shifu: He could have killed you!
Crane: Why didn’t he?
Master Shifu: So you could come back and strike fear into our hearts, but it won’t work!
Po: Err, it might. I mean, a little. I’m pretty scared.
Master Shifu: You can defeat him. Panda.
Po: Are you kidding? If they can’t, they're five masters, I’m just one me!

Even though Shifu now believes in him as well, Po feels the need for more help in order to defeat Tai Lung. They turn to the legendary Dragon Scroll, meant to give the appointed Dragon Warrior power to conquer the greatest enemies. The shocking truth, however, is that the Dragon Scroll holds no great advice or power. Po is devastated. He doesn’t believe he can become the Dragon Warrior and returns home despondent, still confused by the scroll’s meaning. While preparing to flee the valley with the rest of the people, though, a conversation between Po and his father casts light onto the scroll’s meaning. Mr Ping decides that now is the time to let Po in on the secret success of his noodle heritage, the secret ingredient.

Mr. Ping: The secret ingredient is . . . nothing!
Po: Huh?
Mr. Ping: You heard me. Nothing! There is no secret ingredient.
Po: Wait, wait. It’s just plain old noodle soup? You don't add some kind of special sauce or something?
Mr. Ping: Don't have to. To make something special you just have to believe it's special.
(Po takes out the dragon scroll and looks at the blank page)
Po: There is no secret ingredient . . .

It is here that we see the strongest message of this film shine through. It’s the same as in so many other kids’ films, Hollywood’s biggest lie: that greatness lies within us and all we need to do to achieve what we want is to believe in ourselves. This message is one which encourages us to view ourselves as all we need, that our success is intrinsic and that anything can be achieved by self-belief. On the surface this sounds like an extremely positive message: it affirms the individual and allows us to be ourselves. However, when we look closer we see that in the real world this message brings not happiness, but disappointment.

Po was different; he was selected by Oogway, set apart as special and trained as such. But what about those of us who aren’t destined for greatness? It’s all very well for Po the panda to find that within him dwells a Kung Fu warrior, but in reality we often don’t achieve our dreams. We often cannot achieve all that we want, and simply believing that we can is no secret ingredient for success. Simply believing something to be true, however nice it may make us feel, does not make it true. Po looks within himself to find greatness, and finds the confidence to fight Tai Lung.  Po was chosen, and was transformed from a clumsy, unfit panda into a Kung Fu warrior. This happened because he followed his master, and believed what was said about him. There was a process of transformation taking place in his life.

So what about the rest of us? Can we change, and where does it leave us if we are not one of those who will achieve success? This is where the good news of Jesus Christ and all that he has done speaks so powerfully. Jesus presents good news, that salvation is not just for a chosen successful few, but for all who believe. It’s not dependent on our hard work, achievements or success, only on faith. And the news gets better: with Jesus there is not just salvation, there is transformation. Po followed his masters, and believed in what they said. By believing in what Jesus has done, believing in who he is and what he says, we ourselves can be transformed.

So the message of Jesus is tremendously liberating for those of us who, like Po, are struggling with who we are. When Shifu asks Po why he stayed and kept going he says: ‘I stayed because every time you threw a brick at my head or said I smelled it hurt, but it could never hurt more than it did every day of my life just being me.’ Po didn’t like who he was, he didn’t like his identity, but the gospel of Jesus allows us to be who we are. Unlike our society today, Jesus does not demand that we conform to a prescribed definition of success, or be trained before we can be saved. All that is required is faith in what he has already achieved for us. Po was transformed as a result of trusting in his masters. Jesus transforms us when we believe in him, not taking something from our identity but actually fulfilling it, making us more like who we were created to be. Kung Fu Panda would have us believe that salvation lies within, and all we need do is believe. Unlike the gospel, this message does not work in real life. The liberating truth Jesus tells us is that salvation does not lie within, but in him.

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