A Knight’s Tale with Paul McDonald and Britt Mooney
Paul McDonald and Britt Mooney celebrate the 20th anniversary of the movie A Knight’s Tale starring Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Rufus Sewell, Paul Bettany, and Andy Tudyk. No matter how hard we believe or as much as we try, we are unable to change our stars, our nature, or our destiny on our own. God will often ask us to lay something down, to kill it, in order to redeem it. And we can only receive our true name which is beyond contestation through Christ.
Join us as we discuss God’s truth in this movie!
Quotes
“Can the Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can the leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you have always done evil.” Jeremiah 13:23 (New Living Translation)
A man can’t change his destiny just by believing harder.
Without Christ, we have a certain destiny.
It’s a universal desire to look at the world, see our limitations, and go beyond them.
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” –CS Lewis
We have a desire for a perfect world, but are very sure we cannot produce it.
If I can’t even control my weight, how am I going to control who I am?
God wants to take us on an adventure, invites us into the story of changing the world.
Just because Adhemar has the title doesn’t mean he has the heart.
If you really want to show that you love me, you’ll lose.
In order to redeem it to himself, God will ask us to lay something down that we think we’re good at because He doesn’t want us to find our identity in it because it is temporary.
The only one we can look to for our identity is the One who made us.
Unless we redeem our earthly talents by the Cross and we die to them, we will never use them for God. You’re using them for you. But it feels like death to lay them down.
If it’s in the little things, it’s in the big things, and vice versa.
Themes
Our ability to change our destiny, change the nature of the universe
We have desires for home (heaven, Eden) and know who we could be, but find ourselves unable to get there on our own. We don’t measure up to our own standards—how do we reconcile that?
Changing our stars means changing the very fabric of the universe.
We know that we need our stars changed, and spend years (sometimes our lives) trying to change them on our own.
William as a Jesus figure—came from nothing, sent from his father, recruiting his followers/misfits by inviting them to a higher life, thumbed his nose at the system of the day, submits himself to the law and judgement.
We focus on a lesser life and immediate needs, but God invites us to a greater calling.
Jesus asks us to lose, to die to ourselves, to do the thing that feels like death so that he might be our everything.
William’s greatest flaw is also his greatest strength.
Jocelyn calls William to see what matters most.
Our gifting and talent is not to be used for temporary validation of our identity, but to further God’s Kingdom in those around us. God asks us to lay it down, until the time when He invites us to pick it back up again because we have learned how to use the authority He has given to us.
Jesus has declared us righteous and it is beyond contestation.
The purpose of the law is to condemn, to show what we could not do.
In the Old Testament, our lineage is physical. After Jesus, our lineage becomes spiritual.
There is a moment when the truth is revealed.
After William is knighted, there is still a battle to be fought, and William fights from the truth of his identity.
Everything that we have given up for the Kingdom will be returned to us a hundredfold.
God is in the common, and when we see Him in the common, we know our true name.
Questions
Can a man change his stars?
How have you measured up to your own standards? Where have you succeeded? Where have you fallen short?
When or where do you feel like an imposter?
Where do you find yourself pointing out the imposter in others?
When have you experienced an empty victory?
Where have you tied your identity with results (“If I lose, that means I’m a loser”)?
How do you define winning/success?
What frustrates you the most about yourself? How is that an extension of your greatest strength or ability?
Is God asking you to put something down? Are you in service to it, or it serving you/God/the Kingdom?
What is God asking you to take up? What did you set aside that it is time to take up?