A few months ago, I rewatched Black Panther and it’s still as good as ever. Between having that in my recent memory and last week’s Come Follow Me reading, with Satan trying to tear down Moses, I had some thoughts.
T'Challa had barely begun grieving in processing his fathr‘s death, as seen in Civil War, when he was duty bound to accept any challenges of ritual combat. Most of the tribes in Wakanda conceded to him as the rightful king and Black Panther. But naturally someone had to challenge him: M'Baku
Something struck me during their fight during my recent feeling of the movie. While fighting M’Baku, the queen mother shouted at T’Challa, “ Show him who you are!” For whatever reason, this line hit me differently. In many ways, it defined the rest of the movie.
Even though he won the throne in that battle, T’Challa had some growing pains as the new king and Black Panther. Again, it had been mere weeks since the traumatic death of his father. He had let go of the anger towards Zemo, to whatever extent. But it wouldn’t be long until Killmonger challenged everything he knew about his father. Imagine learning details about your late father and how he treated his family while trying to grieve that loved one.
Learning that his father was instrumental in his uncle’s death, our beloved Black Panther was conflicted about what it meant to be king and what to do about Killmonger’s plan. In the end, I suppose he realized that Killmonger's motivation wasn’t completely flawed, though obviously the execution of that plan was dangerous and cruel to many innocent people.
In many ways, his mother’s words ended up having more to do with the coming fight with Killmonger than it did M’Baku. After the battle against his cousin, T’Challa add to decide what to do about the Wakandan tradition of isolation. What kind of king did he want to be? Would he keep the kingdom‘s secrets like his father? Or would he risk their livelihood by reaching out to the world?
I think it’s amazing that T’Challa, while respecting his father‘s memory, decided to do more. By reaching out to the rest of the world, providing technology and resources, mankind would never be the same. If nothing else, the Avengers wouldn’t have had so many allies in the battle against Thanos (granted, they lost the first round of that battle). Their king gave the Wakandan people a chance to show the world who they were.
To bring in a spiritual perspective, we are tempted every day to go with the flow or to stick with the status quo. Call it tradition. Call it a fallen world. Call it whatever you want. The adversary loves complacency and wants us to believe we're nothing more than flesh (see also Moses's experience in Come Follow Me last week) but we are sons and daughters of God. I love this quote from Christian author John Eldredge in his book Wild at Heart:
"The Enemy fears you. You are dangerous big-time. If you are ever really got your heart back, live from it with courage, you would be a huge problem to him. You would do a lot of damage…on the side of good."
Eldredge isn’t a member of the Restored Church, but the statement is true especially for Latter-day Saints. Like Moses, if we don’t have a sense of who we are (sons and daughters of God) and what our heart truly wants (see also the Plan of Salvation), Satan can take us wherever he wants to keep us from that goal. He can pull us down and downplay our divine identity.
Just as the Wakandans left their isolation and began outreach to the world, we are expected to be disciples of Jesus Christ, rising out of obscurity. Like the Wakandans we have so much to offer the world, but it’s easy to stay in our own little sphere. I’m praying and pondering almost constantly on this subject, as I tried to “[get] my heart back” and understand my relationship to our heavenly father on a deeper level. As each of us develops and deepens that relationship, I believe outreach will come naturally and powerfully. Like Moses, it's up to us to respond to the adversary, "Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten;"
