“We listened to the demons. We let them get between us.” Rumi (KPop Demon Hunters) Read 2 Corinthians 12:17-20. Don’t be surprised if Rumi or Jinu show up at your doorstep on Halloween night. Rumi is the main character in the movie "KPop Demon Hunters". We continue to discover Christian themes in the movie and examine them. Although the main plot of the movie is Rumi trying to stop Demon Lord Gwi-Ma from stealing everyone’s souls, there are many subplots. One of the subplots includes the relationships of the members of Huntrix: Rumi, Mira, and Zoey.

Examine your relationships. Rumi has a secret and doesn’t trust her best friends with it. When Mira and Zoey discover her secret, trust is broken, and their friendship is in question. Their broken relationship puts them at a disadvantage against Gwi-Ma. Rumi has to take a hard look at how her lack of trust ruined her relationships with her two best friends. The church of Corinth was dealing with division in the first century. Paul addressed these divisions in his first epistle. In his second epistle, he takes the opportunity to examine his own relationship with the Corinthians, asking, “Did I exploit you? Did Titus exploit you? Did anyone I sent to you exploit you?” Our natural tendency when we are in a broken relationship is to blame the other person. Paul is basically saying, “Show me my fault.” He is seeking a healthy relationship with the people in Corinth. He then goes on to list a set of sins that ruin relationships: quarreling, jealousy, angry outbursts, slander, gossip, arrogance, disorder, and sexual impurity. He is not accusing the Corinthians of any of these, but he is hoping that when he returns to Corinth, none of these sins will be present among them. Why is this important? In order to achieve our mission of making disciples, we must be committed to God and to one another. When we bend toward quarreling, jealousy, and slander, we are using our energy staying divided, and we don’t have the strength and unity to pursue the mission. Instead of arguing over the superficial, we need to spend our energy on loving one another the way Jesus has loved us so that those who feel alone, isolated, and empty might find the one true source of life, who is Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, keep our focus on loving you and loving one another as we carry out your mission to make disciples. Help us to be unified in spirit and in truth. Guard our hearts and minds from the unhealthy thoughts and actions that would lead to divisions in our church. Amen.