Have you been seen Captain America: Brave New World? I’ve seen it twice.
In BNW we find Sam Wilson, formerly the Falcon, doing his best to fill the shoes that Steve Rogers once wore. If you saw Falcon and Winter Soldier, you know how his focus has been working with the US Special Forces and how he has dealt with issues of power after the blip brought people back from the snap.
We first find him on a mission to recover a stolen item from the Serpent Society. After this mission, he finds himself invited to a state meeting with President Thadeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and various international dignitaries at the White House. He receives the invite over the phone while working out with Isaiah Bradley, the black super soldier from the Korean War that was unjustly detained for 30 years and experimented on by the US government. Mr. Bradley is very upset Sam is even talking to Ross but Sam convinces him to come.
Sam is open to working with President Ross because he wants to help unite America. He wants the division to end and is trying to be a peacemaker. He knows that in a deficit of unity hatred, racism, and selfishness will fill that gap.
Ross does give him an opportunity in asking him to restart the Avengers. This begs a question. Ross and Wilson were not on the same side during the Sokovia Accords. Why the sudden interest in working together?
Ross is trying to change. Yep. Thunderbolt Ross is trying to change and wants to get this diverse nation to work together for once. Ross has always been known for anger and military prowess. He is known for controlling people and things. Never for uniting anyone, especially from different viewpoints. Now he claims to be trying to change.
Things go wrong quickly and throughout the show we find him both trying to do right (such as visiting the Japanese Prime Minister) and very bad choices (such as keeping the Samuel Sterns, the Leader, a secret even after his intervening is leading to war).
Changing on our own never really works. Even the apostle Paul who wrote a huge portion of the New Testament admitted he struggled.
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Romans 7:15-18
Ross has a long way to go in changing. He needs to learn that power isn’t always the right way to fix things, and we often make the same mistake with our sin. We think we can change ourselves on our own or that Jesus is just telling us what to do and leaving us.
Paul resets our focus. Jesus’s value isn’t just as a consultant, but as a redeemer.
“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord” Romans 7:25
Soon after this is Paul’s declaration in Romans 8:37 that we “…are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” This isn’t just about our life situations. Jesus redeems us by cleansing us of our sinful nature, so the conquering starts with His work in our hearts. Not a hurtful conquering but a redeeming conquering. Changing us from the inside out.
Jesus told us that we speak out of our hearts and a bad heart can only produce bad things while a good heart can only produce good things (see Matthew 7:18). If Thunderbolt Ross were to let Jesus change him from the inside out, his change would be much more profound. But he is a fictional character. Jesus is not and you are not. Jesus’s redemption is available. Not just a ticket into heaven; but a wholehearted change beginning with Him.
If you need a place to start, begin by reading the Gospels, attending a church, asking God to work in your heart. Admit your need to Him and He will meet with you.