Beauty and the Beast with Paul McDonald and Corey Stumne
This week on the Men at the Movies podcast, we explore the truths of the gospel in Beauty and the Beast. We relate to the Beast, feeling like no one can truly love us. We want our children to be like Gaston, successful and popular. But we discover that the freely given love of Belle transforms us into the princes we are mean to be. Be our guest as we unwrap the beauty of the gospel and discover God’s truth in this movie.
About Corey
Corey Stumne is a fully time youth minister and part time tennis coach living in Jacksonville, FL. He is the author of The Man Called Messiah (The Man Called Messiah: A Novel https://a.co/d/fZFm1IP ). Since his wife is a Disney Travel agent (book your next trip here: https://linktr.ee/disneywithmeg ) and his two young daughters are princess-obsessed, he spends his fair share of time watching animated movies and searching for the Gospel nuggets hidden in each of them. You can connect with Corey at coreystumne.com or on social media.
Quotes
Jesus tells stories to communicate deeper truths. He says this is like that.
Our story is about how we can get back to where we came from (Eden).
Self love and self hate walk hand in hand.
Parents want their kids to be like Gaston.
It made no logical sense for Belle not to marry Gaston.
We have to leave the good intentions behind to pursue the great ones.
Salvation means that Jesus shares everything that’s His with you.
Love isn’t love unless it’s free.
Themes
The story of the Bible:
His whole world becomes cursed through him, and is dependent on him to break the curse
Who could learn to love a beast—we can’t break the curse of being the beast on our own
The beast is when we love ourselves more than we love God
Belle offers to trade places out of love.
Gaston is who the beast would’ve become without intervention
Gaston as a metaphor for Satan, he can’t hurt Belle, so he goes after the one she loves (her father and the Beast), convinces everyone that the Beast is dangerous, accuses (“Were you actually in love with her, Beast? Did you honestly think she’d want you?”)
The love of Belle is what transforms the Beast.
The Beauty of the Gospel is that we are fully known AND fully loved.
Resources
The Man Called Messiah by Corey Stumne
“So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.” - Acts 17:22-29 (NLT)
“For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.” - Romans 8:19-23 (NLT)
I am the Beloved by Jonathan David and Melissa Helser
Known by Tauren Wells
Questions
How can you engage with younger men and women?
How is the story of the prince similar to the prodigal son? How is it different?
How does the beast reveal itself in your life?
What do you want most for your child(ren)?
More info
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Edited and mixed by Grayson Foster
Logo and episode templates by Ian Johnston
Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead).
Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock
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