I See You

“Avatar” is all the rage right now, with “Avatar: The Way of Water” surpassing “Avengers: Endgame” for all-time highest-grossing film. Though I missed the excitement the first around, I recently took the opportunity to see what I’d missed; it was good. The rest of my comments are based on the assumption that most readers will have at least some familiarity with the storyline of the first Avatar movie.

Maybe because of my course of study (contextual leadership,with a focus on cultural competency), how Jake Sully engaged with the Na’vi people really caught my attention. Rather than coming in with his mind full from years of study, (spoiler alert) Sully had no such experience. He looked at a pamphlet or something before being thrown into the chaos and craziness of Pandora. But in his ignorance (colorfully highlighted by Dr. Grace Augustine), Sully had “room” for learning. Another spoiler alert, maybe that is why Jake Sully was able to accomplish what other “dream walker” (even Dr. Augustine) had been unable to do, commune with the Na’vi. His ignorance, and willingness to learn, turned out to be tremendous assets.

As part of his introduction to the Na’vi way of life, Jake had to learn the Na’vi greeting of “I see you.” While I have done no meaningful investigation into the nuances of Na’vi culture, seeing and being seen also struck a chord…

When you’re a hammer, everything is a nail. And my “pet issue” is recognizing intrinsic human value, so I see it everywhere. I really do believe a key element to recognizing intrinsic human value is seeing and being seen. At the root of our value as human beings is our identity as God’s image bearers. Our intrinsic value comes from God, the God who sees!

Part of what I’m studying right now is how to be a good ambassador, something we’re called to be as Christians (2 Cor 5:20), so it was interesting to watch Sully’s story arc and character development. He went from seeking to learn about the Na’vi as a means of exploitation to falling in love with the people and (another spoiler alert) embracing them completely in the end. Technically, I guess, that means he wasn’t a great ambassador; the goal is to represent your country well (with integrity) and to help your country’s leaders better understand the culture you’ve been sent to. Sully ultimately did neither well. But, looking from a biblical perspective, I so appreciate how he began to see the Na’vi people.

In some ways, I can see that I’ve been following Sully’s story arc. I have been trying to understand the people outside my faith community, so I could be a good ambassador in that space. But in so doing, I’ve lost connection with some of the people inside my faith community. I haven’t gone to the extreme Sully did, nor do I want to – Jesus has the words of life (John 6:68). Yet, in trying to understand people outside the Body of Christ, I’ve confused some of those inside who don’t understand my mind or heart. That’s where Sully’s story can be informative for me… I need to continue to be a student of both my “home” culture and the culture I’m called to minister to; I need to “see” my home community and allow myself to be “seen” more clearly.  

It's an interesting thought… the need to continue seeing and learning about my home community. I guess before beginning school, I thought culture, in general, was static. It is not. Neither are people. We are constantly learning, growing, and changing, even if we don’t recognize it. I am changing, my community is changing, even the greater culture is changing. It requires a willingness to see changes, to make space for them (as much as possible within a biblical framework), and to adapt as necessary (again, as much as possible within a biblical framework). It makes me think of Hudson Taylor. His example remains instructive for me today. Maybe I don’t need to change my clothing or hairstyle, but are there areas where I do need to adapt? Is there language I have learned from the greater culture that communicates ineffectively in some spaces? Is there language from my subculture (as a Christian homeschool mom of many, I am part of a very small subculture!) that doesn’t translate into the greater culture?

Being a homeschool mom brings up another aspect for consideration… how do I equip my children to be good at engaging different cultures? How do I help them see others who are different, without being afraid of those differences? How do I protect them from following Sully’s path, abandoning their “home” culture to embrace a different one? More importantly, should I? Valuable questions I still need to wrestle with… maybe a topic for a future blog…