"You should have left retribution to the law..."

I am a fan of the old martial arts movies, many of which are produced in China. They are filled with action, the dialog is dubbed to the point of hilarity, and they all have a "cheese factor," that is to say they all have things happen in them that could never happen in real life.

So last night I decide to watch a movie entitled "Awaken Fist." It is a 1973 film directed by Yuen Wo Ping, who in America is famous for choreographing fights in The Matrix, Kill Bill 1 & 2, and several others.

In "Awaken Fist," a young brash fighter swears to his dying father that he will never fight again. After the father dies, a greedy gang tries to buy the family's land. They try to intimidate and bully the young son, who is now the head of the household and owner of the land. The young man refuses, so the gang tries all sorts of things to force him to sell the land. Eventually they burn the man's house down, killing his mother, his sister, and the man courting his sister during the incident.

Naturally, this sets our hero off. He snaps and goes on a path of vengeance. He hunts down each member of the gang and kills them one by one. The fights get more intense as each opponent is better. In fact, the gang leader appears to be much more skilled than the protagonist, but his thirst for vengeance gives him the strength to overcome this dark villain.

Sounds like a pretty good movie right? The movie ends with the hero being arrested! He is taken to the court where he has 9 charges brought up against him, 7 of those charges being murder. The movie ends with the provincial official telling our hero "You should have left retribution to the law!" The movie fades with the last 3 words being repeated.

How is that a happy ending? This guy does the right thing in our eyes, yet he is arrested for being a vigilante and not going to the police! He has to say farewell to the only person he still has , and face punishment for wronging those who wronged him.

It seems familiar to me. Romans 12:18-20: "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD."

What we think needs to happen and what God tells us to do can sometimes be very different. Two wrongs do not make a right. You go through this whole movie, cheering on the hero, wanting him to avenge his family and make things right, only to learn at the end he is just as much at fault as the evil greedy gang who killed his family. "You should have left retribution to the law..."

Don't try to do God's work for him. Vengeance is his. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Scripture shows us that God's way is better, even if it is harder. This movie turns out to unintentionally be a great example of that.