The movie Jumanji does not fail to align with real life, even as the story of kids being literally transported out of this world into the world of a video game is far from our current technological reality. Our nearest possible similarity is that of simulation technology. Simulation technology can transport us visually into another world or place, even emotionally. But we have yet to discover how to transport our entire physical selves.

We do a good job of transporting ourselves visually and emotionally, though.

Fancy technology isn’t even required for this. Normal, everyday technology can do the trick. The desire to escape or numb ourselves from reality is alive and well today. We don’t need the game of Jumanji to haunt us with the possibility of hijacking our lives, we are exposed to that possibility more often than we may realize on a daily basis. Often, our chosen game of escape leaves us less whole, less engaged and more damaged than when we began. And often, we can play our game in the privacy of our own world. Isolated from our fears, foes and failures – and also from our family and friends. So, in a sense, perhaps we are transported to another world. Our own fantasy world. A fantasy world that steals us away from reality. The game of Jumanji does just that, but in the game of Jumanji the stealing away seems to eventually empower healthy, courageous engagement with reality and with one another, rather than fearful, damaging withdrawal to an isolated, imaginary place. In this made-up jungle, lives are changed for what appears to be the better. What can we learn about what is real from this certainly unreal story?

A lot.

There are three things in particular: interdependence, strengths and weaknesses. That’s about as real as it gets. In fact that is so real that it goes all the way back to the beginning of time. Before the earth was formed. What existed then? In the darkness? According to the Bible, God existed. And He existed as three in one. Father, Spirit and Son. How do we know this? Not to delve into a deep theological discussion, we know this because in Genesis 1, after having created the world, God created man and said:

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” - Genesis 1:26

Combining scripture as a whole, again, not to get into the deep theological discussion, when we read that God created man in our image, we are introduced to the truth that God exists in community. Otherwise, we might read, "Let me make man in my image." But we don't. In fact, He exists in interdependent community. The Father, Spirit and Son, together being God, work together, have differing roles, supporting one another. Ultimately the Spirit and the Son obey the Father. If the Son begins to want the Father’s role, or the Spirit wants to behave as if He is the Son, their interdependent relationship is compromised, weakened, even non-existant.

But they do exist in interdependent relationship and because of this, interdependence, strengths and weaknesses have been around from the beginning. And since by design, we were created in this image – in the image of relating interdependently, relying on one another’s strengths and weaknesses to live fully, we were made for such relationship, too. Relationship that, by design, equips us to engage with and find life in reality.

But living interdependently demands something of us: acceptance, dependence and faith.

And sometimes, we just don't want to accept and we want what someone else has. Or we just don't want to have to depend on anyone else, or to deal with them at all. We want to set up our world to keep it as we like, perhaps not being so weak as to have to have faith in a crutch to make life survivable. We'd prefer to control it to make it that way. So, we do what we want and we decide we’d like to choose our own strengths and weaknesses. This is where Jumanji aligns with reality; we don’t get to choose. And faith isn't fantasy, just like in the game, Jumanji wasn't fantasy - someone could really die.

So, accepting, depending and living by faith is necessary, by design. Easier said than done.

At times, we feel like we have been given the Dr. Bravestone package, that's not so hard to accept. But, at other times, it feels more like we have no real strengths at all. Regardless of what package appears in the floating screen when we place our hand over our chest, we’ll miss our strengths, or allow them to become our weaknesses, if we believe we exist solely to serve ourselves, to bring glory to ourselves. We’ll miss our strengths or even our weaknesses if we hide from them. Or if we hide them from others. Certainly we’ll miss them if we retreat to our chosen form of isolated escape, running from acceptance, dependence and faith.

Here also Jumanji aligns with reality. The choice to isolate, fear failure or want a different package isn’t an option for survival. Survival is dependent upon their interdependence and their willingness to be aware of, accept, depend on and by faith appropriately offer both their strengths and weaknesses. And yes, survival was even dependent on the willingness to offer up a weakness, knowing that the particular end result of the “failure” was in the best interest of all.

By design, we are made for this because we were made in the image of our interdependent, relational God.

“So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.” - Geneisis 1:27

We are made for relationship, for interdependence, for relying on one another’s strengths and weaknesses for life. For offering up our strengths and weaknesses in community with others. At the end of the movie, Dwayne Johnson’s character, Spencer, toys with the idea of staying in the game of Jumanji as Dr. Smoulder Bravestone, the only character with no weaknesses whatsoever. Why would he do this? Why would he not want to return to reality, to real life? Why would he not? In the movie, he got the girl. He looked the part the world says we should look. He transcended reality by existing with no weakness, at all. Struggle seemed distant. His package was reliable, powerful and good. He had become confident in his ability to lead and protect and even depend on his friends. Why would he want to return to what he considered a lesser personal gift-mix package, a world where people and life would let him down and hurt him and where courage may not again be found?

It’s a big reason why our games tempt us and hijack our lives, isolating us and stealing us away from this reality. We create - or find - places where it's easy, even if they are fake. But here is another alignment Jumanji has with reality. Their design was hard-wired - it just needed to be trusted. The question for us is, just as it was for the kids in the game, will we trust. The characters in the movie had to trust their hard-coded, innate strengths and weaknesses. Courageously.

We, too, are hard-wired by design with strengths and weaknesses, created in us by our Creator and for our Creator. How willing are we to believe He created something strategically useful when He created each of us? How willing are we to discover and accept our design? To place our hand on our heart and read the list of strengths and weaknesses that pop up for all to see? How willing are we to accept this unique design? And live interdependently, offering our strengths and weaknesses without judgement. Others may judge – but will we trust the Designer, even as others may compare us to a standard we were never designed to match. For us, we have all that we need for life and godliness:.

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence," - 2 Peter 1:3

If we will only believe.

The final alignment the game Jumanji has with reality is that an end was inevitable – either die on Jumanji or accomplish the task at hand, lift the curse and return home. For us, an end will come. We will die on this earth. And when we die, we will either be reunited with our Father in Heaven or we will not. This is where Jumanji breaks from reality - in that game, if all three bars on your arm disappeared, you lost. Game Over. But, in reality, we have a guarantee that we do not and will not lose. In fact, we know for certain today that we have won. We can be certain of being with our Father in Heaven for eternity. Game on forever. How do we know that we have a sure and certain hope of survival? Because of the work of Jesus Christ.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." - Romans 5: 1-11

So we have not only been given a design, we have been given restoration and hope of salvation. Our hope of salvation covers over the truth that sin in this world is the destructive, distorting and deceptive force that makes Spencer consider staying in Jumanji - the curse had been lifted there. The difficulty, pain, imperfection and evil had been defeated. Our reality, too, is that because of the work of Jesus Christ, because of his life given as a ransom for many, He defeated sin and death. And He will one day return and destroy Satan and sin once for all.

Until then, we live in a sin-marbled, imperfect, but hope-filled reality. Let’s trust our reality and be courageous together, offering ourselves and experiencing here on earth the joy Spencer felt from a game. Let's accomplish the task for which we were created. When we do, we eventually hear from our Jungle Tour Guide, "Well done, good and faithful servant".

Content