This week on Geek Devotions, Dallas takes a look at the Crunch Roll Original series, The God of High School. This martial arts based Korean Anime has a lot of fascinating drama and action, but one particular character has inspired Dallas. Who is this character? How has she inspired Dallas? How might she challenge you? Find out today!
This week on Geek Devotions we are taking a look at “God of High School” a Korean webtoon manga turned anime that is on Netflix. It is a beautifully illustrated anime that centers around a particular High School mixed martial arts tournament. On the surface, the tournament is designed simply to determine the strongest high schoolers. But throughout the series, you discover a deeper, more sinister, purpose to this tournament. While the main character reminds us of Asta (Black Clover) and Goku (Dragon Ball), the person we want to focus on for this devotion is a young lady named Mira Yoo.
Mira has inspired Dallas in a lot of ways. She a young swordswoman who is also the last person to know of a particular sword style called “Moon Light Sword.” At the beginning of the series, she makes it clear that her purpose for being in the tournament is to show the world her family’s special technique. This sword style is precious to her, she cares about it dearly. Throughout the series, she deals with people manipulating her and friends “stabbing her in the back.” Even so, she refuses to allow these things to stand between her and her mission.
As Christians, we too are on a special mission that should be near and dear to our heart. That mission is what we call, “the Great Commission.” This is found in Matthew 28:19-20:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 English Standard Version (ESV)
We can learn from Mira in a lot of ways in our mission to pass on the Gospel and to help make disciples but we want to point out 2 specific things:
- She made social sacrifices to accomplish her goal
- In the series, you see a flashback where Mira decides to devote time to her study of her sword style instead of spending that time doing certain social activities. Not that these things are bad. But she was willing to emphasize her studies.
- In the same way, we should be willing to sacrifice certain social activities so that we can study the word and spread the word. Again, hanging out with friends, watching anime, taking part in a hobby, etc. these aren’t bad things and they have time and a place. But when these things become a hindrance to us spreading the Gospel, then we need to begin to make some hard choices.
- She didn’t allow poor decisions of friends to keep her from her mission or to become a root of bitterness
- In the series, there is a moment where one of her friends goes out of his way to hurt her because he needed to accomplish something. His desires were not bad, but the way he hurt her was. Yet still, she did not allow this to become a root of bitterness or keep her from accomplishing her purpose. In fact, she encouraged other friends to show compassion and love for this guy.
- As we do our best to serve God, sometimes people do dumb things and we end up hurt. When these things happen we have to ask ourselves; “Am I going to allow this wound to keep me from accomplishing my mission? Am I going to allow this wound to be an excuse to walk away from God?”
Have you found yourself in a place where you’ve allowed distractions to keep you from accomplishing the mission God has given you? Have you found yourself in a place where you feel hurt and betrayed; and you’ve started to allow that to be an excuse to turn away from God; please reach to us. We’d love to pray with you and help you find healing.