Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Shang-Chi is a man whose past comes to catch up with him instantly. His mother came from a mystical people who held themselves with grace and protected multiple dimensions from an evil creature seeking to devour without sparing a single soul. His father was a man who had found a set of ten rings that gave him eternal life and power, an ability which he greatly abused. When Shang-Chi was child, he and his younger sister watched as their mother was murdered by a group of her husband’s enemies from his past. From that time forth, Shang-Chi’s father trained him to become a highly deadly assassin. When he was 14 his father sent him on a mission to kill the man who killed his mother. Not able to go through with it, he settles in San Francisco, leaving his sister behind with his father in the process. 11 years later, the evil creature previously mentioned cunningly entices Shang-Chi’s father with the cries of his late wife asking for her husband’s help. These cries are so enticing that he believes that his wife is actually still alive and being held captive. In the final battle, Shang-Chi is trying to explain what’s going on to his father as he breaks down the wall holding the evil creature back. The creature becomes free and devours his father’s soul, killing him.

This experience is a lot like spiritual warfare. Peter tells us that the devil “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 ESV). Satan is very cunning as is temptation and even our own hearts along with the world. All of these forces - Satan, the world, and our own hearts - are very sneaky in figuring out the best way to entice us further away from God and His desires for our lives. They can use your very desires to lure you into something that has the appearance of good (for it will appear to be very real but really is an illusion) but, in the end, will lead to your ruin.

Shang-Chi’s father allowed himself to be lured into freeing the soul-sucking, evil creature and he was the very first victim to die at its hand. Shang-Chi, seeing things clearly, tried warning his father but to no avail. Part of what it means to be obedient to the Lord is not giving into our own selfish desires for doing so only leads us to fall into the snares of the devil. It is important in times of such temptation to assess whether the outcome will fulfill our selfish desires or bring glory to God. It is helpful to ask someone else about their perspective on the situation to help you to see what you, yourself cannot see.

Have you been giving into temptation lately? In what ways has doing so led you away from your relationship with God? Are you going through temptation right now? Consider looking into Scripture on the matter. Why don’t you ask a trusted, God-loving friend about their perspective on the matter? Will you take your desires to God, himself, and allow them to shape them for His glory?

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