We Were Voyagers!
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
Last year, God led me to spend my spring break on a mission trip to Guanajuato, Mexico. It was the first mission trip of my adult life, so I had more than a few reservations (read excuses) about going. And I quickly realized that I wasn’t alone. The word “evangelism” has struck unrivaled fear into the hearts of Christians for years, and in the weeks leading up to my Mexico trip I decided to get to the bottom of it.
After lots of prayer and brutal honesty, I found that my fear of evangelism was actually pretty straightforward: living on mission. “Living on mission” is a phrase that is typically used to describe a lifestyle of Christianity that embodies the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). But heeding the voice of God to put yourself out there and tell people about Christ can be an intimidating thing, and all too often that fear gives birth to what I call “agoraphobic Christians.” In other words, Christians who are afraid to step out of their comfort zones, answer the call of God, and reach out to those around them. I chose to answer that call when I decided to heed God’s voice and go to Mexico, but Disney’s Moana has given me a fresh perspective on this common fear and inspired me to “live on mission” everywhere I go.
Disney’s Moana tells the allegorical story of a curious and adventurous young girl named Moana. Moana is the daughter of the village chief on Motunui, a beautiful island of paradise. The island and its reef provides everything that the village needs to sustain a truly happy life, albeit a monotonous one. With all of their needs provided for, the entire village is content with staying on their island forever, all except Moana.
For her entire life, Moana has felt inexplicably drawn to the mystery of the open sea. But it isn’t just curiosity that lures Moana away from her comfortable life on the island. A mysterious plague known only as “the Darkness” has spread across the ocean and found its way to Motunui, poisoning their crops and driving away their fish from the reef. But Moana soon learns of a life-giving stone of legend called the heart of Te Fiti, and a demigod of the wind and sea named Maui who can help her on her journey. Led by the voice of her grandmother and the calling of the Ocean, Moana decides to leave Motunui in hopes of saving her island.
Moana and the Island of Motunui
One of the first conflicts that Moana juggles is her longing to answer the call of the Ocean and her desire to stay on her beautiful island with her people. The Ocean is mysterious and exciting, but also fills Moana with the fear of the unknown. Motunui is comfortable and safe, but Moana knows that the still small voice inside her won’t be silenced unless she leaves.
All too often, we Christians fall victim to the kind of passive thinking that entices Moana to stay on her comfortable island. Like Moana, many Christians hear the call of God to step out of their comfort zones and reach a specific person, people group, or region. Whether it’s taking a mission trip overseas or offering to pray for someone you don’t know at the grocery store, we all know what that calling feels like. The Bible is full of incredible stories of ordinary people who stepped out in faith to answer that call and saw God move in the most amazing ways. Yet for some reason, we allow our fear to outweigh the promise of God to be with us as we obey His voice. Doing this for long enough will cause us to become complacent like the villagers on the island of Motunui.
Early in the film, we discover a telling secret about the villagers of Motunui. Moana’s grandmother leads Moana to a hidden cave and tells her that an untold story about the island can be found there. To Moana’s shock, she finds gigantic ships hidden deep within the cave and markings that tell the story of their ancient voyaging ancestors. In the tribal song that follows, these words reveal the truth of their story. “Away, away! We set a course to find a brand new island everywhere we roam. Away, away! We keep our island in our mind, and when it’s time to find home we know the way.” In a moment of triumph and confirmation in what she knows is her true calling, Moana shouts, “We were voyagers!”
We were voyagers. Open up the Bible and you’ll find story after story of people doing essentially one thing: living on mission. Our biblical ancestors were actively partnering with God in the task of multiplication. It’s in our very blood; we were voyagers. This encompasses so much more than international missions. The call of God to share the gospel is burning within the heart of every believer, something Jeremiah 20:9 calls “a fire shut up in my bones.” Whether you’re sailing the open seas to a foreign land or simply inviting your neighbor to church, don’t allow the fear of the unknown keep you on the shore.
The Ocean and Gramma Tala
When the Ocean is first mentioned in the film, it seems to be merely an ethereal being of legend, but it soon becomes clear that the Ocean is as living, moving, and active as any other character. It chooses Moana from a very young age to restore the heart of Te Fiti to its rightful place and save her island from the coming darkness. Later in her journey, Moana asks the Ocean for help after capsizing her own boat, but the Ocean sends a storm causing Moana to shipwreck on what seems to be a deserted island. Moana directs her anger toward the sea, not realizing that the island she’s landed on is actually the island she has been sailing for the entire time! As the story continues, the Ocean is never too far to lend a helping hand, protect Moana from danger, or provide direction on her journey. And when the Ocean’s mysterious ways fall beyond the limited understanding of Moana and her friends, Gramma Tala is always there to offer words of wisdom and guidance.
Known as the “village crazy lady”, Gramma Tala acts as a mouthpiece for the Ocean when Moana needs encouragement or clarity on her mission. When Moana feels overwhelmed by the pressures and lofty expectations of becoming the next chief of her people, Tala leads her to discover her true identity and heed the Ocean’s call. Just before Moana departs on her mission, she learns that Tala is on her deathbed, but Tala leaves her with this promise; “There is nowhere you could go that I won’t be with you.” During a pivotal moment in the film, that promise is realized.
After a failed attempt to defeat the legendary lava monster named Te Ka, Maui leaves Moana, who then gives up on her mission to save her island. In despair she cries out to the Ocean, saying that it chose the wrong person and begging it to choose someone else to restore the heart of Te Fiti. It’s in this moment of brokenness that the spirit of Gramma Tala appears to Moana and sings over her, “The people you love will change you. The things you have learned will guide you, and nothing on earth can silence the quiet voice still inside you. And when that voice starts to whisper, ‘Moana you’ve come so far. Moana, listen, do you know who you are?’” With the fate of her island hanging in the balance, Moana has a revelation of her identity. “I am a girl who loves my island, and the girl who loves the sea. It calls me … I am everything I’ve learned and more, still it calls me. And the call isn’t out there at all it’s inside me! It’s like the tide always falling and rising!”
The Ocean and Gramma Tala showed themselves faithful to Moana during every step of her journey, and God’s promise to be with His children as they spread the gospel is an even more powerful reality. God’s ways are indeed infinitely higher than ours, and His will is often difficult to understand. But while God doesn’t always promise understanding, He does promise that we will never be alone. Deuteronomy 31:6 commands us, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” While our greatest desire in the midst of trials may be to understand the “why” behind what we’re going through, God wants us to rest in the promise that He is ever-present.
Answering the call of God to share the “Good News” is never easy. I believe that’s why God promised to be with us because we literally can’t do it without Him. But just like Gramma Tala, God also promises to speak peace to us in the middle of our storms. Psalm 85:8 says, “I will hear what God the Lord will say; For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones …” Notice the confidence that the Psalmist has while declaring this absolute truth. It’s like he’s proudly saying, “The Lord will speak to me, and when He does, I will listen.” Like Moana, sometimes our cries for help are answered by a divinely ordained storm designed to thwart our own plans and place us squarely in God’s will. But when we can still our anxious souls, and trust that the Lord’s voice will speak louder than our circumstances, then we can rest in the promise that He will speak exactly what we need.
The Darkness and the Heart of Te Fiti
Moana and Maui face many dangers on their journey, but what motivates them to face those dangers head on is the threat that the Darkness poses to their island and the hope found in restoring the heart of Te Fiti. With the heart of Te Fiti gone from its island home, the Darkness continues to spread, draining the life from island after island. Crops being grown on Motunui are rotting from the inside and fish are seeking shelter in the depths of the ocean still untouched by the Darkness. The threat against Motunui is so palpable to Moana, that nightmares detailing the loss of her family and livelihood haunt her dreams. The heart of Te Fiti, on the other hand, is said to possess the power to create life itself and carries with it the hope of restoring life to Motunui and the entire ocean. When in its proper place, the heart sustained life on every island and encouraged voyaging to discover other islands. The heart’s life giving power sent waves of vitality throughout the ocean, touching each island and everything in between. The Darkness poses a very real danger to Motunui and the entire ocean, but the hope found in restoring the heart of Te Fiti is enough to set Moana on her journey and eventually save every island from destruction.
We live in a day and age that seems to be consumed by darkness. Unthinkable acts of terrorism and hate have become a regular occurrence, and the way of truth seems to be continually maligned and mocked in our culture. But the light of hope found in the gospel casts out the darkness of fear instantly. Similar to the heart of Te Fiti, the gospel of Jesus Christ dispels the darkness in a person’s heart and breathes new life into their soul. It literally changes everything it comes into contact with. The gospel is true to its meaning (the Good News), but it’s also so much more than a collection of inspiring words. 1 Thessalonians 5:1 says it this way:
“For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.”
Moana had faith that the power held within the heart of Te Fiti would heal her land and bring life to her people. She recognized that all of their efforts to save themselves were in vain, and they were in desperate need of a greater power. Too often we can allow the pressures associated with sharing the gospel to convince us that the responsibility to save someone’s soul lies on our shoulders. But nothing could be farther from the truth! Jesus Himself says it this way in John 10:28-29:
“I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
God has taken full responsibility for the souls of the people He loves. If He has spoken to you to reach a person or people group, it is because He has already called them to Himself, and He wants you to share in the blessing of ushering them into His presence. In light of this truth, we can have confidence and absolute assurance that the Good News will penetrate the hearts of those who hear it and will lead them into a life-giving relationship with their Creator!
Final Thoughts
It’s not every day that a movie inspires me the way Moana did. I left the theater feeling convicted, inspired, and passionate about sharing what I believe with everyone who will hear it. Sharing the hope we have in Christ is essential to our lives as disciples of Jesus, and it doesn’t have to be an intimidating thing. When we consider our biblical heritage as believers, the promises of God given to us, and the incredible power we carry through the gospel, sharing the gospel becomes an invitation to join in the blessings of the greatest story ever told.
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