“Warrior” Bible Study Guide
posted by Evan Derrick | 5:53pm Tuesday August 23, 2011
Part of my issue with Christian films or films that have Christian elements is that, in terms of quality, they’re almost always terrible. The preachy message part of the film trumps the story/acting/cinematography, leaving Christian audiences with lukewarm feel-good films that hardly even register on the movie-of-the-week quality scale.
Lionsgate’s latest feature film release, Warrior, however, is different. Set within the heart-pounding world of MMA, or mixed martial arts cage fighting, it actually looks good. Seriously! I’m no fan of mixed martial arts or anything, but I’m actually intrigued. It also stars Tom Hardy (Inception), Joel Edgerton (Legend of the Guardians) and Nick Nolte (who’s been in, like, everything), so the cast is nothing to laugh at either.
Lionsgate has also put together a nice Bible study guide to accompany the film. This would be perfect for youth groups, church small groups, and even Sunday sermons. If you’re having trouble seeing the guide below, you can find it by following
SEE BELOW….
A FILMCOMPANION
A POWERFUL FILM WITH A CHRISTIAN MESSAGE
In many respects, the movie
WARRIOR
is a contemporary cinematic re-telling of the parable of the Prodigal Son(s) from Luke 15. It involvesan “extreme sport” popular in military circles today—Mixed MartialArts (MMA)—cage ghting. The Dad, played by Nick Nolte, is anIrish Catholic war veteran who has been ghting in a cage of hisown making ever since Vietnam. He has two estranged sons, each ofwhom are also ghting in locked cages largely of their own making.The multilayered family story deals with the stresses thesecharacters experience when they re-enter each other’s livesafter a lengthy and soul-crushing absence.The lm breaks open scriptural principles thatinspired us to prepare this Companion Guide.Faith-based and military audiences willrespond passionately to
WARRIOR
because ofhow these principles elevate the tense, high-stakes storyline.
ABOUT THEDISCUSSION GUIDE
WARRIOR
is an excellent vehicle for bothpersonal reection and discussion in youngadult, marriage, and recovery groups. Itprovides an opportunity to discover the manyways in which we can challenge ourselves to bemore loving and responsive to those whomwe’re sometimes most likely to neglect—our own family members.With this booklet in hand, anyone is ableto protably reect on the lm’s richJudeo-Christian themes. It can be usedfor ministry, personal scripture study, oras a means of more deeply appreciating thecinematic arts. Reading this guide is a great way touse a rst-rate Hollywood movie to grow in the Faith.
WARRIOR
is anemotional crowd-pleaser that packs a hefty spiritual punch. The lmtranscends others of its kind by dramatizing actual love in practice,as opposed to shallow attachment; actual forgiveness, as opposed tomere lip service; andactual family unity, with all the messy real-lifechallenges that entails.The lm centers on a failed husband and father who turns to God forhelp in repairing his broken life and cleaning up the relational messeshe’s created. It involves conquering addiction, the struggle to providefor one’s family, listening to the still small voice of our conscience,and engaging in the spiritual battles that confront us whether weacknowledge them or not.Moreover,
WARRIOR is about keeping our marriages together inan age when the institution of marriage is threatened by easydivorce and other stresses. It’s about the indomitable natureof a father’s love and the lengths to which a parent will goto support and reconcile with his children. It’s about takingrisks and stepping out in faith vs. surrendering and giving upthe struggle. Most of all it’s about the beautiful things that canhappen when you get back up after falling hard and losing it all,rm in the conviction that nothing is impossible with God.
WARRIOR
is a riveting father-son story, a thrilling underdog/herosports journey, and a rst-rate family drama for faith-based audiences.
INTRODUCTION
WARRIOR - A FILM COMPANIONWARRIOR - A FILM COMPANION
Nick Nolte plays Paddy Conlon, a Vietnam vet and boxer-turned-steel mill worker whose family was torn apart by his alcoholism. He eventually returns to his Catholic faith and enters Alcoholics Anonymous, whereupon the now sober and remorseful dad welcomes back his youngest son Tommy (Tom Hardy) and trains him to compete in a major MMAtournament. Tommy and his older brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton), who are estranged from each other, end up on a collision course in the ring that could tear them, and their father’s heart, to pieces.Every family has eternal signicance because it reects the Holy Trinity itself. It is an arrangement that comes from the hand of God, who brings a man and a womantogether to love, support, and help each other and their children get to heaven. Families are the fruit of that love, created with the help of the Lord. They are “little churches” that parallel the love of Christ for his people. They are intended to represent lifelong commitments, a safe harbor to build strong ships, and a dwelling place of God’s spirit.But as
WARRIOR
also reminds us, families also represent a demanding vocation that requires mutual support, encouragement, and self-giving in order to thrive. It is a place where the virtues are learned and practiced and the Golden Rule rst applied. It is where we learn to accept people as they are and deny ourselves for the good of others. The well being of society is closely tied to the healthy state of family life. If our homes are lled with conict we can be assured that we have a long way to go in our growth as people of faith.
QUESTIONS:
Is your home and family life marked bypeace or turbulence? If the latter, have youever considered that the discord may bethe result of your own self-centeredness?How much of an effort have you made todevelop an interior life, a life of prayer andself-giving? Is this a course that you wouldconsider possible with God’s help?
READ: Ephesians 6:4; Col. 3:21“Parents, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord… Fathers,do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”Parents should not purposefully do thingsthat make their children scornful, angry,resentful, or discouraged. There is adifference between appropriate disciplineand angering your children unnecessarily.While it is a mother’s role to be nurturingand supportive, it is more often due to afather’s neglect that children carry heavyemotional baggage into adulthood. Manyfathers are either too busy or too selsh toproperly rear their children. Others can betoo overbearing or abusive, both physicallyand emotionally. These things can and willeventually provoke a child to wrath. Theproblem traces to the fact that too fewfathers are spiritual men, a situation thathas created a crisis in our culture.
READ: Psalm 127:3-5 “Behold, children are a gift from the Lord,the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who lls his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he contends with his enemies at the gate.”
The Judeo-Christian tradition celebratesthe love between husbands and wives.This special, sacramental love is caughtup in divine love and is essential not onlyfor the happiness of the spouses, but alsofor the health and stability of children—and, indeed, the culture. As a result ofthe weakening of the Faith over the pastdecades, many couples have enteredmarriage without a deep understandingof the beauty and true meaning of thiswonderful vocation. Consequently,destructive patterns have been allowed totake root in their households. Fear not,however, for with the Lord these challengescan be overcome. It is never too late tobegin the process.
LESSON TO LEARN:
We all experience times when we fail tolove our family members properly. Thekey is to communicate love in your homewith action and by example. By all meanslearn to pray as a family! Make every effortto treat your spouse with love and care toset an example for everyone else in thehome. Attend church together and insiston a common family meal time. Fill yourchildren’s emotional tanks and correctthem with gentleness. Pray for the patienceto do all this, and for the Holy Spirit to beyour guide.
WARRIOR - A FILM COMPANIONWARRIOR - A FILM COMPANION
